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Journal

2018

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Neil Gaiman's American Gods: A Postmodern Epic For America, Susan Gorman Oct 2018

Neil Gaiman's American Gods: A Postmodern Epic For America, Susan Gorman

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

American Gods presents a postmodern view on America and its people and engages with the epic genre both in terms of form and content. This engagement with epic does not present a coherent view of the nation, as other epics do, but instead highlights multidimensionality and irony, demonstrating potential new ways in which the epic can remain important to literary work. Evaluates Gaiman’s use of formal elements of epic such as the use of the national past and national tradition as well as content components such as the presentation of the epic storyteller and the epic hero as it evaluates …


Turning Back The Tides: The Anglo-Saxon Vice Of Ofermod In Tolkien's Fall Of Arthur, Colin J. Cutler Oct 2018

Turning Back The Tides: The Anglo-Saxon Vice Of Ofermod In Tolkien's Fall Of Arthur, Colin J. Cutler

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Tolkien’s Fall of Arthur has at its heart the theme of ofermod, a theme which appears throughout Tolkien’s criticism and creative work. In his essay “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son,” he argues that the Anglo-Saxon word ofermod in the poem The Battle of Maldon condemns the warband’s leader for an over-reaching pride which places his men in desperate straits. This paper conducts a study of the word and its derivatives in various Anglo-Saxon texts, taking the Microfiche Concordance to Old English as its starting point, and traces Tolkien’s creative use of the theme in both his tales of Middle-earth …


Paradise Retold: Lewis's Reimagining Of Milton, Eden, And Eve, Benita Huffman Muth Oct 2018

Paradise Retold: Lewis's Reimagining Of Milton, Eden, And Eve, Benita Huffman Muth

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

C.S. Lewis’ interaction with John Milton’s Paradise Lost, in particular his commentary on and retelling of Milton’s version of the myth of humanity's Fall, allow us to track Lewis’s evolving stance on gender through his changing presentation of Eve-figures. His intertextual interactions with Paradise Lost and Eve change dramatically from A Preface to Paradise Lost and Perelandra to the later The Magician’s Nephew. Lewis’s fragmentation of Eve into multiple characters in The Magician’s Nephew exhibits specifically gendered changes from his early depictions of Eve, reflecting the more nuanced consideration of gender evidenced in Lewis’ later years.


A Cloud Of Witnesses: External Mediation In Frodo’S Journey To Rivendell And Beyond, Carl P. Olson Oct 2018

A Cloud Of Witnesses: External Mediation In Frodo’S Journey To Rivendell And Beyond, Carl P. Olson

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Applies Rene Girard’s mimetic theory to a study of Frodo’s motivations and role models in the early phases of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s incorporation of extensive background material deepens our understanding of his main characters, most of all his central hero, Frodo. Commonly described as “role-models,” external mediators work to pacify relations in a community, and act to endow individuals with meaning, purpose, and direction they otherwise would not have. By the imitation of role-models, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry become real to Tolkien’s readers by comparison and contrast to Bilbo Baggins, Gildor and his high elves, …


Christian Mythmakers: C.S. Lewis. Madeleine L’Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S Lewis, Et Al. By Rolland Hein. Forward By Clyde S. Kilby, Sharon L. Bolding Phd Oct 2018

Christian Mythmakers: C.S. Lewis. Madeleine L’Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S Lewis, Et Al. By Rolland Hein. Forward By Clyde S. Kilby, Sharon L. Bolding Phd

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


Tolkien's Gimpy Heroes, Victoria Holtz Wodzak Oct 2018

Tolkien's Gimpy Heroes, Victoria Holtz Wodzak

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Tolkien, as an invalided survivor of The Somme, was well aware of the prevalence of disabled soldiers and the difficult life they faced in post-war England. He reflects many of their difficulties in his depictions of war survivors in The Children of Húrin and in The Lord of the Rings.


Nazis In The Shire: Tolkien And Satire, Jerome Donnelly Oct 2018

Nazis In The Shire: Tolkien And Satire, Jerome Donnelly

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

The comedy of manners satire that appears in the early pages and conclusion of The Hobbit gives way to a more serious satire in the penultimate chapter of The Lord of the Rings. “The Scouring of the Shire” is not allegorical, but Tolkien’s remarks on “applicability” facilitate critical analysis of the chapter’s satire. Well-known features of Nazism appear in the occupation of the Shire by “Ruffians,” men who tyrannize with egregious regimentation, enforce ever-expanding rules, and who regard the hobbits as belonging to an inferior race. The use of collaborators, threats, torture and killing of dissenters, and internment that …


On Julian Eilmann's Jrr Tolkien Romanticist And Poet, Reviewed By Kris Swank In Mythlore #132, Nancy Martsch Oct 2018

On Julian Eilmann's Jrr Tolkien Romanticist And Poet, Reviewed By Kris Swank In Mythlore #132, Nancy Martsch

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


"No Pagan Ever Loved His God": Tolkien, Thompson, And The Beautification Of The Gods, M. Fontenot Oct 2018

"No Pagan Ever Loved His God": Tolkien, Thompson, And The Beautification Of The Gods, M. Fontenot

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Alexei Kondratiev award for best student paper, Mythcon 49. Many scholars have commented on the influence of Catholic mystic Francis Thompson’s poetry on J.R.R. Tolkien’s early forays into creative writing. However, few critical studies have addressed possible connections between Tolkien and Thompson’s prose work. This paper suggests that if anything is comparable between Tolkien and Thompson, it is their respective understandings of art, creation, and the significance of artists, regardless of the form of poetic (or prosaic) expression these sentiments induced. Thompson’s essays on art, paganism, and the immortality of beauty come together to form backdrop against which we might …


Death And Immortality In Middle-Earth. Ed. Daniel Helen., Mike Foster Oct 2018

Death And Immortality In Middle-Earth. Ed. Daniel Helen., Mike Foster

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


Bilingual Puns In The Lord Of The Rings, Pierre H. Berube Oct 2018

Bilingual Puns In The Lord Of The Rings, Pierre H. Berube

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Elvish/English homonyms are the basis of some obvious and less-obvious puns in Tolkien’s work.


The Hobbit And Tolkien's Mythology Ed. Bradford Lee Eden, David L. Emerson Oct 2018

The Hobbit And Tolkien's Mythology Ed. Bradford Lee Eden, David L. Emerson

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


Both Sides Of The Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis, Theological Imagination, And Everyday Discipleship Ed. Rob Fennell, S. Dorman Oct 2018

Both Sides Of The Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis, Theological Imagination, And Everyday Discipleship Ed. Rob Fennell, S. Dorman

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


The Process Of Salvation In Pearl And The Great Divorce, Amber Dunai Oct 2018

The Process Of Salvation In Pearl And The Great Divorce, Amber Dunai

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Analyzes the structural, aesthetic, and thematic parallels between C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce and the Middle English dream vision Pearl. By exploring the tension between worldly and heavenly conceptions of justice, value, and possession in The Great Divorce and Pearl, this study demonstrates Lewis’s skill at utilizing and updating medieval source material in order to respond to twentieth-century problems.


Back To The Beginning: Rudyard Kipling's Story Of How Beings Learned To Write, D. Marie Nelson Oct 2018

Back To The Beginning: Rudyard Kipling's Story Of How Beings Learned To Write, D. Marie Nelson

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Focuses on ways that Kipling used his abilities as writer, artist, and father to tell the story of how writing began, touching on linguistic and childhood development theories.


Poetry And Song In The Works Of J.R.R. Tolkien Ed. Anna Milon, Diane Joy Baker Oct 2018

Poetry And Song In The Works Of J.R.R. Tolkien Ed. Anna Milon, Diane Joy Baker

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


Paul Edwin Zimmer’S Alliterative Style: A Metrical Legacy Of J.R.R. Tolkien And Poul Anderson, Dennis Wilson Wise Oct 2018

Paul Edwin Zimmer’S Alliterative Style: A Metrical Legacy Of J.R.R. Tolkien And Poul Anderson, Dennis Wilson Wise

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Considers J.R.R. Tolkien as one of the founders of the 20th-century alliterative revival, an informal also including C. S. Lewis and W. H. Auden, and Poul Anderson. The work of Paul Edwin Zimmer, a writer best known for his sword-and-sorcery Dark Border novels, constitutes one of the surprising reaches of the modern alliterative revival into contemporary speculative fiction. Analyzes Zimmer’s long narrative historical poem “Logan,” prose fiction, and other works in technical terms and as art.


Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft Oct 2018

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


The Gothic Fairy Tale In Young Adult Literature: Essays On Stories From Grimm To Gaiman Eds. Joseph Abbruscato And Tanya Jones, Maria Alberto Oct 2018

The Gothic Fairy Tale In Young Adult Literature: Essays On Stories From Grimm To Gaiman Eds. Joseph Abbruscato And Tanya Jones, Maria Alberto

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


Tolkien: Maker Of Middle-Earth Ed. Catherine Mcilwaine, Janet Brennan Croft Oct 2018

Tolkien: Maker Of Middle-Earth Ed. Catherine Mcilwaine, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Review of the catalog for the Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth exhibition.


Discworld And The Disciplines: Critical Approaches To The Terry Pratchett Works Eds. Anne Hiebert Alton And William C. Spruiell, Janet Brennan Croft Oct 2018

Discworld And The Disciplines: Critical Approaches To The Terry Pratchett Works Eds. Anne Hiebert Alton And William C. Spruiell, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


The Complete Fairy Tales By Charles Perrault. Ed. Christopher Betts; And Illustrations By Gustave Doré. The Mabinogion, Translated By Sioned Davies, Janet Brennan Croft Oct 2018

The Complete Fairy Tales By Charles Perrault. Ed. Christopher Betts; And Illustrations By Gustave Doré. The Mabinogion, Translated By Sioned Davies, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

A review of two titles in the recently reissued Oxford World's Classics Hardback Collection.


Allegorical Reference To Oxford University Through Classical Myth In The Early Poetry Of Dorothy L. Sayers: A Reading Of “Alma Mater” From Op.I.., Barbara L. Prescott Apr 2018

Allegorical Reference To Oxford University Through Classical Myth In The Early Poetry Of Dorothy L. Sayers: A Reading Of “Alma Mater” From Op.I.., Barbara L. Prescott

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Dorothy L. Sayers is rarely considered to be an author of mythopoeic literature or one whose own writings contain the metaphors or allegories of myth and legend. Yet, as a young adult at Oxford University, Sayers produced a variety of poems that, centering upon Oxford and her experiences as a student, explored mythic themes as they related to the university. Her early poems, written while an undergraduate at Oxford and directly afterward, were built upon three motifs: classical mythology, mediaeval legend, and Christian romanticism. These Oxford-centered poems were included in Dorothy L. Sayers’s first book titled, OP. I., published …


Tarot And T.S. Eliot In Stephen King's Dark Tower Novels [Article], Emily E. Auger Apr 2018

Tarot And T.S. Eliot In Stephen King's Dark Tower Novels [Article], Emily E. Auger

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Characters and events in King’s Dark Tower series are inspired by the Fisher King, Arthurian, and other mythologies and legends, as well as the works of more contemporary authors who derived inspiration from similar sources. This paper explores King's use of Tarot motifs in the Dark Tower series with attention to similarities and parallels to the presentation of Tarot in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. King’s central character Roland, whose cards are read by his nemesis, has the satisfaction of knowing when the cartomancer is dead and of saving multiple universes, but then discovers that he is doomed to …


Owen Barfield: Philosophy, Poetry, And Theology. Michael Vincent Di Fuccia, Tiffany Brooke Martin Apr 2018

Owen Barfield: Philosophy, Poetry, And Theology. Michael Vincent Di Fuccia, Tiffany Brooke Martin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


C.S. Lewis And Christian Postmodernism: Word, Image, And Beyond. Kyoko Yuasa, Peter G. Epps Apr 2018

C.S. Lewis And Christian Postmodernism: Word, Image, And Beyond. Kyoko Yuasa, Peter G. Epps

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In C. S. Lewis and Christian Postmodernism, Kyoko Yuasa has managed to advance the cause of careful reading and discussion of Lewis’s novels as contemporary cultural artifacts, rather than mere ciphers for apologetics or mere fluff for children, for both Japanese and American audiences. This is no mean feat, not only in terms of translation but also in terms of trans-Pacific discourse, and Yuasa deserves great credit for the accomplishment. Her close reading of several of Lewis’s major fiction works in a comparative frame she derives from works by Iris Murdoch, Muriel Spark, Doris Lessing, and John Fowles yields …


C.S. Lewis And The Arts: Creativity In The Shadowlands. Ed. Rod Miller, Michael D. Prevett Apr 2018

C.S. Lewis And The Arts: Creativity In The Shadowlands. Ed. Rod Miller, Michael D. Prevett

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


Ursula K. Le Guin: An Appreciation, David Bratman Apr 2018

Ursula K. Le Guin: An Appreciation, David Bratman

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

It seems appropriate in the aftermath of her death, which occurred January 22, 2018, at the age of 88, to name Ursula K. Le Guin as the most consequential writer in the fantastic mode of the last half century. Her work spans a range from traditionalist European fantasy to hard-edged social science fiction on the effect of technology on society, without ever drawing a firm line between categories. Le Guin never disavowed genre, but refused to be bound by it. She used it as a tool to express herself.


Detecting Wimsey: Papers On Dorothy L. Sayer's Detective Fiction. Nancy-Lou Patterson. Ed. Emily E. Auger And Janet Brennan Croft, Joe R. Christopher Apr 2018

Detecting Wimsey: Papers On Dorothy L. Sayer's Detective Fiction. Nancy-Lou Patterson. Ed. Emily E. Auger And Janet Brennan Croft, Joe R. Christopher

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.


Editorial: Divination And Prophecy In Mythopoeic Literature [Article], Emily E. Auger Apr 2018

Editorial: Divination And Prophecy In Mythopoeic Literature [Article], Emily E. Auger

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.