This week on my Patreon I wrote about the maps that I did for @birgitconstant.bsky.social's books in "The Northumbria Trilogy", set in post-Conquest England. I also maybe threw some shade at Brepols' prices The post is free and publicly available, so give it a read! www.patreon.com/posts/hum-an...

Lovely video of an American eel just hanging out and living it's eelsome best life.

This week on my Patreon I wrote about the maps that I did for @birgitconstant.bsky.social's books in "The Northumbria Trilogy", set in post-Conquest England. I also maybe threw some shade at Brepols' prices The post is free and publicly available, so give it a read! www.patreon.com/posts/hum-an...

It’s been a day for drawing things. I like this guy. He looks to me like he’s asking for food.

It’s been a day for drawing things. I like this guy. He looks to me like he’s asking for food.

Inside of you there are two chickens…

Shrikes don't beat around the bush. They get right to the point.

Demanding love, and trying to command it, rather than earning it. Checks out.

Shrikes don't beat around the bush. They get right to the point.

Know a #cartography lover? Want to create one? Take a look at SEL's maps!

Shrikes. Not to be fucked with.

Wherever I go, there too go the eel history facts. My relevance travels with me, man.

Shrikes. Not to be fucked with.

You should do this instead of whatever huge thing you were going to do.

I hate to talk about Christmas at a time like this (it being only Sept.), but if you're thinking about commissioning a gift map for Christmas...'tis the season! I've done a number of gift maps over the last few years, and they take a while. So now's the time to get in line!

A drawing from this evening. A woman, I think. But dancing? Reading an instruction manual? Entering her PIN at checkout?

A drawing from this evening. A woman, I think. But dancing? Reading an instruction manual? Entering her PIN at checkout?

Once, in grad school, I illustrated a little booklet version of William of Malmsbury’s story about the man who was devoured by mice. This was one of the mice.

It's Friday, which is a great excuse to remind you that I've got subway-style maps for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Narnia for sale on my Etsy store. You can get them as prints or as digital versions, and the Hobbit map looks great on a coffee mug! www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...

I hate to talk about Christmas at a time like this (it being only Sept.), but if you're thinking about commissioning a gift map for Christmas...'tis the season! I've done a number of gift maps over the last few years, and they take a while. So now's the time to get in line!

So. You've got a bunch of eel leather, & you're not sure what to do with it all. Have you thought about making whips? Eel-leather whips, called anguilla or scotica, date back to the Romans. Pliny & Isidore both wrote about them being used to punish disobedient schoolboys. 1/2 🗃️🧪

I've thought this forever, and now that I draw maps for a living, I think it even harder

So. You've got a bunch of eel leather, & you're not sure what to do with it all. Have you thought about making whips? Eel-leather whips, called anguilla or scotica, date back to the Romans. Pliny & Isidore both wrote about them being used to punish disobedient schoolboys. 1/2 🗃️🧪

I've thought this forever, and now that I draw maps for a living, I think it even harder

Fell asleep listening to podcasts and then had a dream that I was chairing a conference panel and completely lost control of the Q&A to the point where people kept talking no matter what I did.

A drawing from this evening. It looks to me a bit like a witch among the brambles. But ego knows?

A drawing from this evening. It looks to me a bit like a witch among the brambles. But ego knows?

Asked if he minded being run down in PUNCH, Winston Churchill said no, and that politicians must get used to criticism from the press, just as eels are used to being skinned. And...yes. He was wrong about the eels (there's a whole history to that expression). But he wasn't wrong otherwise.

Asked if he minded being run down in PUNCH, Winston Churchill said no, and that politicians must get used to criticism from the press, just as eels are used to being skinned. And...yes. He was wrong about the eels (there's a whole history to that expression). But he wasn't wrong otherwise.

This week I've been doing a fun map for the Invisible Worlds project that's connecting storytelling & placemaking in Alderley Edge in England: invisibleworlds.ac.uk The team wanted something that would reflect the Edge's mythic history. I like when academic projects get creative with their maps!

always happy when reading an arc and I see "[MAP (Credit: John Wyatt Greenlee, Surprised Eel Mapping)]" @greenleejw.bsky.social

It's time for eels & contract law! In 1890, Charles Hobbs sued the Massasoit Whip Co. He'd delivered a load of 2k eel skins to the company, but not been paid. Hobbs won, with the court finding that the company's silent acceptance of the shipment constituted purchase of the eels. 🗃️🧪

It's time for eels & contract law! In 1890, Charles Hobbs sued the Massasoit Whip Co. He'd delivered a load of 2k eel skins to the company, but not been paid. Hobbs won, with the court finding that the company's silent acceptance of the shipment constituted purchase of the eels. 🗃️🧪

A drawing from this evening. This one came together very late in the process.

Some food for thought: if you're reviewing a book & it has good, useful maps, say so in the review! And name the mapmaker if you can. Often, folks writing books don't know where to go for good maps. Making mention of them in your review helps everyone. #skystorians #midievalsky #historians

Friends! It's the feast day of St. Hildegard of Bingen, an abbess, polymath, mystic, & eel truth-teller. Medieval thinkers agreed that eels reproduce asexually. But Hildegard suggested that eels mate at sea, where we can't watch. No one listened to her. But she was right! 1/2 🗃️🧪

A streamlined elephant? A coyote eating a snake? IDK

Which would have worked for a pickup line for the man, too.

Eels weren't the only eels sold in pre-modern London...the city also ate lots of small saltwater fish called sand-eels. In 1373 William Fisshe became London's official "Meter of Eels." He had to measure all imported sand eels using "a bushel set aside for the purpose as of old." 🗃️🧪

You, too, could have a grumpy raven to share coffee or tea with in the morning! surprisedeelmaps.etsy.com

You, too, could have a grumpy raven to share coffee or tea with in the morning! surprisedeelmaps.etsy.com

I've had some requests to have this piece as a print, and I'm happy to oblige! I've added it to my etsy store as a print (in multiple sizes) and on a coffee mug. www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...

It's Monday, & you're wondering: "Why should I care about eels?" Well...in addition to being great fodder for memes, eels are super-important to stream ecologies! Historically, eels have made up as much as 50% of the total fish biomass in lower reaches of US & European rivers. 🗃️🧪

It's Monday, & you're wondering: "Why should I care about eels?" Well...in addition to being great fodder for memes, eels are super-important to stream ecologies! Historically, eels have made up as much as 50% of the total fish biomass in lower reaches of US & European rivers. 🗃️🧪

I've had some requests to have this piece as a print, and I'm happy to oblige! I've added it to my etsy store as a print (in multiple sizes) and on a coffee mug. www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...

Two very different drawings from this weekend

Two very different drawings from this weekend

A drawing from this morning. I'm not sure, but it might be roads in a storm

@greenleejw.bsky.social has written a blog about the amazing maps he created for 'Deserted Wives'! With help from @bhamhistory.bsky.social, we recreated jurisdiction boundary lines & his final maps really underpin the book's thesis. Deserted Wives has 30% off: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/deserted-...