Albatross (metaphor) Albatross (metaphor) The word albatross is sometimes used metaphorically to mean a psychological burden that feels like a curse. It is an allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798). In the poem, an albatross starts to follow a ship — being followed by an albatross was generally considered a sign of good luck. However, the titular mariner shoots the albatross with a crossbow, which is regarded as an act that will curse the ship (which indeed suffers terrible mishaps). Even when they are too thirsty to speak, the ship's crew let the mariner know
Numinous coined by Otto to describe the numinous, is presented by Aldous Huxley in "The Doors of Perception" in this way: In a book length scholarly treatment of the subject in fantasy literature, Chris Brawley devotes chapters to the concept in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in "Phantastes" by George Macdonald, in the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis and "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, and in work by Algernon Blackwood and Ursula Le Guin (e.g., "The Centaur" and "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight," respectively). In his 2007 book "God Is