Literature in English, British Isles Commons^™

Death Becomes Us: The Consumptive Body In Nineteenth-Century Gothic Literature, Jennifer Marie Mcmahon

All NMU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the impacts of nineteenth-century tuberculosis epidemics on gothic literature published between 1842 and 1872. In this period of time, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in the United States and in Europe, killing an estimated one in seven people. Using theoretical lenses of psychoanalysis and material ecocriticism, this project considers borders between material bodies—specifically those between bacterial agents and humans—to be illusory and socially constructed. The first chapter focuses on the ways in which representations of tuberculosis, and its associated entanglement with the environment, appear in the work of two authors from the United States: Edgar …

Wizard, Demon, Cat; Reformer, Satanist, Bureaucrat: A Diachronic Analysis Of Three Modes Of Sauron In The Legendarium In Light Of The Book Of Lost Tales, Cameron Bourquein

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper argues that Sauron is a metatextual shape-shifter. Through diachronic analysis it identifies and charts three distinct “modes” of Sauron coexisting in Tolkien’s legendarium. While Sauron’s most robust First Age appearance (in the tale of Beren and Lúthien) remained relatively unchanged from his introduction in the 1920s until Tolkien’s death, Sauron’s role in the Legendarium expanded significantly across Tolkien’s lifetime as Sauron became the primary antagonist of two additional Ages of Middle-earth. Some of the evolutions that accompanied this expansion are not retroactively reflected in the tales already written, hence these “modes” of Sauron could be said to remain …

“Walk No More In The Shadows, But Awake!”: Faramir’S Journey From Family Dysfunction And Grief To The Intimate Space In J.R.R. Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings, Rachel Crane

Journal of Tolkien Research

Examines Faramir's relationships--namely with Denethor, Boromir, and Éowyn--and role in Gondor via Yi-Fu Tuan's intimate space lens.

Monstrous Feminine, Deviant Mother: Tolkien’S Shelob And The Grotesque Maternal, Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

J.R.R. Tolkien’s menacing character of Shelob embodies the ultimate danger that faces Frodo on his journey to destroy the Ring of Power. Her actions, in combination with the language that Tolkien uses to describe her, invite the reader to view Shelob with revulsion and horror, designating her as Other. However, Shelob is also undeniably a mother, a term laden with social and cultural expectation. This paper explores Shelob as a representation of what Barbara Creed, in her article “Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection”, has termed the ‘monstrous-feminine’, examining Shelob’s presentation within the text as not only identified as …

Celebrating Tolkien’S Legacy: Essays (2024), By Nancy Bunting, Seamus Hamill-Keays, And Toby Widdicombe, Douglas Charles Kane

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Douglas Charles Kane, of Celebrating Tolkien’s Legacy: Essays (2024), by Nancy Bunting, Seamus Hamill-Keays, and Toby Widdicombe

He Is The Master Of Wood, Water, And Hill: Is Tom Bombadil The True Key Keeper Of The Old Forest?, Noelia Ramos

Journal of Tolkien Research

Tom Bombadil, with his iconic singing―”Hey! Come merry doll! Derry doll and merry-o!―has captivated scholars worldwide, due to the enigmatic nature Tolkien intentionally left unexplained. This deliberate mystery has fuelled extensive debate, leading many to explore possible mythological and cultural frameworks that might decode Bombadil’s origins. Among these hypotheses, a Celtic interpretation has often been dismissed despite its potential relevance. This paper, thereby, seeks to analyse Bombadil’s function within the Old Forest and his interactions with the hobbits during their forest episode, presenting fresh insights into his role as a Celtic-inspired guide and druidic figure.

To support this analysis, primary …

Antiphons Of Iron And Blood: The Inspirations Of Tolkien's Poetry, Patrick J. Lyon

Journal of Tolkien Research

The new book, The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond, is a fascinating new look into a trove of previously unpublished Tolkien poetry. One of these new poems, “Ferrum et Sanguis,” includes an interesting series of addenda and subtitles written by Tolkien that give insight into the origins and inspirations for the poem. Furthermore, the interpretation given by the editors in their commentary on the poem misses the specific reference and applies it to a different source. The real source for the poem is very likely found in the Advent Vespers of the …

The Mirror Of Desire Unbidden: Retrieving The Imago Dei In Tolkien And Late Medieval English Literature (2024) By Giovanni Carmine Costabile, Łukasz Neubauer

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book Review, by Łukasz Neubauer, of The Mirror of Desire Unbidden: Retrieving the Imago Dei in Tolkien and Late Medieval English Literature (2024) by Giovanni Carmine Costabile

Miscellaneous, Bruce R Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

No abstract provided.

Film Review Of Freud’S Last Session, G. Connor Salter

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Freud’s Last Session, by Matthew Brown and Mark St. Germain, directed by Matthew Brown, starring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode. Los Angeles: Sony Picture Classic, 2023. 1 hr., 48 min.

Donald Williams, Answers From Aslan: The Enduring Apologetics Of C. S. Lewis, Josiah Peterson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Donald Williams, Answers from Aslan: The Enduring Apologetics of C. S. Lewis, (Tampa, FL: DeWard, 2023), 208 pages, $14.99. ISBN: 9781947929289

Charlie W. Starr, King Lesserlight’S Crown, Judith Mcquoid

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Charlie W. Starr, King Lesserlight’s Crown (Wilmore, KY: GlossaHouse, 2023). 103 pages. $9.99. ISBN 9781636630588.

K. Alan Snyder And Jamin Metcalf, Many Times And Many Places: C. S. Lewis And The Value Of History, Matthew Nash

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

K. Alan Snyder and Jamin Metcalf, Many Times and Many Places: C. S. Lewis and the Value of History (Hamden, CT: Winged Lion Press, 2023). 191 pages. $18.99. ISBN: 9781935688525.

Holly Ordway, Tolkien’S Faith: A Spiritual Biography, Crystal Hurd

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Holly Ordway, Tolkien’s Faith: A Spiritual Biography (Elk Grove Village, IL: Word on Fire Academic, 2023). 480 pages, including Appendices, Glossary, Endnotes, Bibliography, Biblical Index, and General Index. $34.95. ISBN: 9781685789916.

C. S. Lewis: On Writing (And Writers): A Miscellany Of Advice And Opinions, Ed. By David C. Downing., Crystal Hurd

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of C. S. Lewis: On Writing (and Writers): A Miscellany of Advice and Opinions, ed. by David C. Downing. (New York: HarperOne, 2022). 208 pages. $23.99. ISBN: 9780063276444.

Thomas P. Hillman, Pity, Power, And Tolkien’S Ring: To Rule The Fate Of Many, Sørina Higgins

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Thomas P. Hillman, Pity, Power, and Tolkien’s Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many (Kent, OH: Kent State UP, 2023). 306 pages. $40.00. ISBN 9781606354711.

Daniel Gabelman And Amanda B. Vernon, Eds., Unsaying The Commonplace: George Macdonald And The Critique Of Victorian Convention, Carol Propst

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Daniel Gabelman and Amanda B. Vernon, eds., Unsaying the Commonplace: George MacDonald and the Critique of Victorian Convention (Hamden, CT: Winged Lion Press, 2024). 283 pages. $20.00. ISBN 9781935688440.

Matthew Dickerson, Aslan’S Breath: Seeing The Holy Spirit In Narnia, Crystal Kirgiss

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Matthew Dickerson, Aslan’s Breath: Seeing the Holy Spirit in Narnia (Baltimore: Square Halo Books, 2024). 144 pages. $19.99. ISBN 9781941106334.

Paths In The Snow: A Literary Journey Through The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Sarah R. A. Waters

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Jem Bloomfield, Paths in the Snow: A Literary Journey Through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2023), 288 pages. £16.99. ISBN: 9781915412300.

The Last Romantic: C. S. Lewis, English Literature, And Modern Theology, Louis Markos

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

A review of Jeffrey W. Barbeau, The Last Romantic: C. S. Lewis, English Literature, and Modern Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2025). 176 pages. $22.00. ISBN 9781514010518.