The Gingap

I like bars. Not to drink in (because I’ve never really acquired a taste for alcohol), or to hang out in (because when other people are drinking and you’re not, the conversation tends to get better for them as the night goes on and more boring for you {and did you know you can create some really neat sand-mandala like patterns, using just pepper, a side plate, and a paper straw wrapper?}), or really anything specific about them in particular…

Um… Let me start again. I like the idea of bars.

They strike me as places where privacy and community meet. Where you can be alone for all the world to see, engaged in an intimate conversation, or out for fun and laughter with friends all around.

I’m also fond of Star Wars, so it’s understandable that the Mos Eisley Cantina is my ideal of what a bar should be (with perhaps a slightly lower body count, but you can’t have everything).

Years ago, I started writing about all manner of supernatural beings and beasties, and since many mythic creatures tend to be a little on the monstrous (and occasionally murderous) side, I wanted to find a place where they could meet and talk and scheme without being obligated to tear each other apart.

Enter the Gingap (in Norse Mythology, Ginnungagap was the primordial void that separated Nilfheim {land of ice} and Muspellheim {land of fire [kind of obvious, but think how weird it would be if it had been the land of talking giant rabbits]} – a bar in the city of Elysium, accessible to all creatures from every corner of every supernatural realm that was ever dreamed of. From gods and demons, to forest spirits and morose ghosts. From a Chimera having an identity crisis to a small-time imp, trying to sell a very tarnished soul on the sly. They all went to the Gingap.

It is a place where stories begin. All are welcome. Sit, have a drink (though don’t touch the Styx brew unless you want a severe case of amnesia), and try not to look crosswise at the gorgon with the sunglasses (she has issues with eye contact). Hope you have fun.

p.s. As pronunciation goes, the original had a hard ‘g’ but I’ve always preferred the softer sound. Plus, it gives it a slightly alcoholic sound and bad puns are always fun (not funny. just fun). Feel free to pronounce it however you like though.