Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Monster Midway: An Uninhibited Look At The Glittering World Of The Carny By William Lindsay Gresham, G. Connor Salter

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

William Lindsay Gresham may best be known in the Inklings community for being Joy Davidman’s first husband, but he was also a successful writer. His 1953 study Monster Midway, recently republished by Dunce Books, is an engaging look at American carnivals, with personal details that will interest Inklings scholars.

Fantasy: How It Works By Brian Attebery, Glenn Gray

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

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Peter J. Schakel, Janet Brennan Croft

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

Peter Schakel was a prominent Lewis Scholar and long-time member of the Mythlore editorial board.

In Memoriam: Richard Plotz, Janet Brennan Croft

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

Dick Plotz was the founder of the American Tolkien Society, which later merged into the Mythopoeic Society.

Some Observations On The Newspaper Reports On Tolkien’S Andrew Lang Lecture In 1939, Matthew Thompson-Handell

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

Observations about how newspaper reports were written and filed in the late 1930s lead to a reassessment of the contents of the “On Fairy-stories” lecture and its differences from the published version.

Dating The Dark Tower, Lee Oser

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

The compositional history of The Dark Tower is contested and complex, but newly discovered clues within the published work do not contradict Jonathan Himes’s well-informed hypothesis, that Lewis “worked on the story in stages between the late 30s and the mid 50s.”

Whatever Happened To The Princess Bride?: Thoughts For Further William Goldman Research, G. Connor Salter

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

This note considers why research on William Goldman, best known to fantasy fans as the author the the screenplay for The Princess Bride, has been sparse, and the potential to study him as a mythopoeic author.

“Hell Is Only A Word. The Reality Is Much, Much Worse”: Black Holes As Fantasy Gateways To Hell, Kristine Larsen

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

While the genre of space horror is generically defined as simply space-based horror, there exist specific tropes that can be used to identify representative works. Among these are: (i) a relatively small ensemble cast, (ii) many of whom die over the course of the story; (iii) a secret corporate/political/military agenda and (iv) physical and psychological stresses due to the arduous process of space travel and related isolation. A subset of space horror adds metaphysical elements, drawing connections to Hell, more specifically a liminal space that Victor Turner terms the “betwixt and between.” As the region around and within the event …

Hell As An Exploration Of Sin: A Comparison Of Alan Moore’S Providence To Dante’S Inferno, Zachary Rutledge

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

In Alan Moore’s graphic novel Providence, Robert Black travels Lovecraftian New England and suffers a series of horrifying encounters—each an allusion to a Lovecraft story. These encounters contain direct references to various sins and taboos, thereby making explicit much of the sublimated sexuality in Lovecraft’s works. Therefore, Black’s journey constitutes not only a trip through Lovecraft’s mythology but also reads as a cataloguing of sins reminiscent of Dante’s passage through the levels of sin in Inferno. This paper identifies and explores the similarities between Dante and Black as examples of those who descend to the underworld along with a …

Hell On His Mind: Dean Winchester’S Journey To Hell And Back, Anna Caterino

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

Season three of Supernatural (2005-2020) closes with a shot of Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) in Hell. The place has no discernible features and resembles neither the long waiting line nor the gothic castle of later seasons. What is does resemble is a brain, with a labyrinth of ropes reminiscent of neurons, suggesting Hell is a place that exists first and foremost in Dean’s head. The lack of establishing shots and the abstract terms used to discuss Hell, damnation, and Dean’s experience present the viewer with a physical place into which all of Dean’s fears and trauma converge. This essay analyzes …

Two Roads To Hell: Rebirth And Relevance In Musical Adaptations Of Katabatic Myth, Jarrod Deprado

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

The paper examines two myth-inspired musicals—The Frogs by Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim and Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell—concerning journeys to the underworld that benefit society. Both musicals undergo adaptation and revision processes that reflect the political and social concerns of the day. The Frogs depicts Dionysus’ journey to Hades to bring back a poet (originally Euripides, now George Bernard Shaw). However, it was not until the 2004 Broadway adaptation that overtly anti-authoritarian messages were added, aimed at the Bush administration. As a “folk opera,” Hadestown retells Orpheus’ descent to the Underworld to rescue Euridice as a commentary on economic …

Timeless Moments: Russell Kirk, Charles Williams, And Stephen King On The Afterlife, Camilo Peralta

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

What happens to us after death is one of the oldest and most difficult questions. Even the standard response of many Christians, that we go to either Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory, can only partly satisfy, because while we experience the passing of time in a linear manner, those places are said to exist completely outside of time. How, then, can it make sense to speak of “going” to Heaven or Hell after death? Must we not always and forever be there—even during our lifetimes? Russell Kirk, a Catholic historian from Michigan who often speculated about the afterlife in his fiction …

Orpheus And The Harrowing Of Hell In The Tale Of Beren And Lúthien, Giovanni Carmine Costabile

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

Critics have observed that Beren and Lúthien’s tale is a Christian retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The “Harrowing of Hell” tradition is widespread in Italy as attested by the mosaic of San Marco among others, but it is in France that the Ovid Moralized reconnects it to Orpheus who descended into the Underworld to save Eurydice (an already late antique parallel) and therefore attests a happy ending version of the story that can be found in medieval England and also in various classical sources, perhaps even in the original legend of Orpheus. The apocryphal Harrowing is also …

Denial And Acceptance: A Core Myth Of Orpheus And Eurydice In The Modern Lyric, Brian O. Murdoch

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

The story of Orpheus’s failed attempt to bring Eurydice back from the dead is a frequently used theme in literature and in the modern lyric in particular, and it has been the subject of sometimes excessively complex critical attention. One core of the myth, however, is the need for the living to face and to accept the fact of the death of someone close to them. Modern lyrics in different European languages—the heirs to the classical myth—make clear how Orpheus’s attempt to bring his wife back from Hades was always impossible, and that his reaction was thus a form of …

Tolkien, Augustinian Theodicy, And 'Lovecraftian' Evil, Perry Neil Harrison

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

A number of scholars have commented upon Augustine of Hippo’s influence upon J.R.R. Tolkien’s portrayal of evil in his legendarium. However, in his seminal work J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, Tom Shippey pushes back against this perception, noting that there are some forms of evil in the legendarium that do not adhere to the Augustine’s belief that evil is merely a “twisting” of good. This article argues that Ungoliant is one such exception to the Augustinian paradigm because of the uncertainty regarding her origins.This uncertainty complicates the Augustinian view of evil that permeates the legendarium and instead echoes …

Substance Abuse: The Symbolic Geography Of Hell In The Great Divorce, Richard A. Bergen

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

Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is a Romantic vision of evil energy that reaches to the heavens, a geographical representation of capacity and scope and perpetual cosmic change. On the other hand, Lewis’s vision of hell in The Great Divorce is that of a land without substance: a conurbation of addiction to mental maladies, an endless mental substance abuse, an emptying of presence, and a banal stasis to the journey of the soul. Many of Lewis’s sources and inspirations for The Great Divorce, similarly, portray hell as a land of paradoxical “seeming-largeness”, while having ontological smallness. Throughout …

Introduction To Special Issue: Fantasy Goes To Hell, Janet Brennan Croft, Erin Giannini

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

No abstract provided.

Pity, Power, And Tolkien's Ring: To Rule The Fate Of Many (2023) By Thomas P. Hillman, Marilyn R. Pukkila

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Marilyn R. Pukkila, of Pity, Power, and Tolkien's Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many (2023) by Thomas P. Hillman

Who Is Florida Man?: Perceptions Of Identity Through Language And Media In Florida, Jessica Chandras Ph.D., Sarah Shiell, Bailey Gressett, Ann Bordin

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the 2024 DHI Showcase

Digitizing The Eartha M. M. White Collection, Madalyn A. Starratt

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the 2024 DHI showcase

The Usct Pension Records And Cemetery Rehabilitation, James Beasley Ph.D., Kristopher Smith

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the 2024 DHI showcase

Unveiling Intergenerational Trauma: Colorism, Emotional Intelligence And Domestic Violence In Jamaican Households, Lydia-Rose D. Hanson

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the 2024 DHI showcase

Communicating Increased Salinity In The St. Johns River, Kailan Sindelar Ph.D.

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the 2024 DHI showcase.

Unveiling The Ezpeleta Affair: Using Ai To Explore Cervantes’S World, María Ángeles Fernández Cifuentes Ph.D., Alexis Skidmore

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the 2024 DHI showcase

Water Stories: A River Harvest, Maureen Fernández Mccluskey Ph.D., Tru Leverette Hall Ph.D.

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the 2024 DHI showcase

Applying Mediated Statement Analysis To Detect Digital Deception And Misinformation Online, Christa L. Arnold Ph.D., Margaret L. Stewart Ph.D., F Dan Richard Ph.D.

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the 2024 DHI showcase

2024 Digital Projects Showcase Program, Unf Digital Humanities Institute

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Program for the 2024 Digital Projects Showcase

Keynote speaker Dr. Nashid Madyun, Executive Director of Florida Humanities

Jacksonville Jazz Festival Economic Impact Study, Andrew Hopkins, The Public Opinion Research Lab

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Poster presented at the DHI showcase

Christmas Day, Ann-Marie Thomas

TYGR: Student Art and Literary Magazine 2018-present

No abstract provided.

The Last Happy Meal, Allison Nagaraja

TYGR: Student Art and Literary Magazine 2018-present

No abstract provided.