Digital Commons Network^™

Barrel-Rides And She-Elves: Audience And Anticipation In Peter Jackson’S Hobbit Trilogy, Janet Croft

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

Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, to the audience that loved the Lord of the Rings films, is an exciting opportunity to revisit Tolkien’s fantastic world and see favorite characters acting out their earlier adventures. The reader of the books, though, is often likely to find the difference in tone between the children’s book and the vastly expanded films jarring. This essay will explore audience expectations, the difficulties of filming a “prequel” after a “sequel,” and issues of “anticipation” in relation to character development.

In Memoriam: Gracia Fay Ellwood, Janet Brennan Croft

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

Brief in memoriam note for Gracia Fay Ellwood, who among other roles, was the Editor of Mythlore for several years.

"Making The Familiar Strange": The Ecocentric Power Of Climate Fantasy, John Cook

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

Contributing to the failure to address climate change is a lack of public imagination, both in perceiving the threat of climate change and conceptualizing solutions. Climate fiction engages readers on an emotional level and speculative fiction in particular can invent alternative worlds illustrating different ways of thinking and living. Fantasy fiction is uniquely suited as a form of climate fiction, with its immersive, subversive qualities, prioritization of the nonhuman, and a tendency towards sprawling, multiple-volume epic series. This paper explores two categories of climate fantasy themes. One category is recovery—regaining a clear view of the natural world. The other is …

Conservative Demons And Countercultural Creators: Hellish Societies In The Dark Or Modern Age Of Comics, Andrew Burt

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

In the Hellblazer and Sandman comic books, depictions of hell rely on the writer’s perspective and the decade they are writing because they account for contemporary folklore, political situations, and cultural conventions. This paper examines how hell appears as a parodic version of the regular world in these texts, accounting for the dark age of comics from the 1980s, where grim and gritty topics prevailed. While borrowing from Judeo-Christian conceptions of hell, demonology, and fears of everlasting torment and damnation like many other representations throughout the centuries, these comics also took elements from the creator’s personal lives and hopes for …

“Salvation Must Be Communicated”: An Ecumenical Reading Of The Place Of The Lion, Avery-Claire Galloway

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

While previous scholarship has cautioned against a reductive tendency in the analysis of Charles Williams’s work, this paper offers an analysis that explores the importantly multiplicable nature of meaning used in one of Williams’s most bizarre novels, The Place of the Lion. A close reading of a remark from the novel’s heroine that “salvation must be communicated” provides a lens by which the entire novel can be read, revealing how Williams presents a specific, culture-centered version of Christianity where communication leads to a salvation that is more cultural than doctrinal, more than the erasure of sins, but an experience …

The Path Of Wisdom: Reassessing Tolkien’S Paremiology In The Hobbit And The Lord Of The Rings, Luis J. Tosina Fernández

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

Using previous scholarship on the use of proverbs in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the present study reevaluates Tolkien’s use of proverbs in the series, with special attention to the use of pseudoproverbs and trying to provide sources that may have served as inspiration for the creation of Middle-earth proverbs. After close inspection of The Hobbit and the three parts of The Lord of the Rings, the findings point towards a less frequent use of proverbs than anticipated or presumed by previous authors. Moreover, despite including a far from negligible number of pseudoproverbs, for many of which …

Oxford At War: “Leaf By Niggle” As A Wartime Work, Part 1, Josh B. Long

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

J. R. R. Tolkien suggested that "Leaf by Niggle" was written around 1938-1939; however, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull argue that it was actually composed in 1942. This corrected date changes how one reads the story: often viewed as an autobiographical allegory of art and faith, “Leaf by Niggle” falls into place as a wartime work, informed and transformed by the World War II pressures of Tolkien’s Oxford—the city and the University. This article situates the story within WWII and analyzes how that context influenced the imagery, characterization, symbols, and motifs of "Leaf."

“A Story Must Be Told”: Narrative Engagement In The Lord Of The Rings, Matthew Thompson-Handell

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

Much has been written on the allusions to untold tales in The Lord of the Rings and on the effects generated by such allusions. Any judgment on the importance of these effects should be treated with caution, as little work has been done to explore just how these effects operate on a reader. Nor have these effects been placed in a wider context that considers them alongside other aspects of narrative engagement. Much work could be done on the engagement generated by narrative techniques such as suspense, curiosity, and surprise - one example is provided here with an analysis of …

Mrs Pam The Mermaid Princess: Tolkien’S Domesticated Water Monster, Jean E. Graham

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

Tolkien’s Roverandom features a mermaid princess who is unnamed except in association with her magician husband and thus known as “Mrs Artaxerxes” or “Mrs A. Pam.” A possible influence on Goldberry in The Fellowship of the Ring, Mrs Pam combines the domestic with the royal, and the beautiful with the monstrous. Her tail, described as “regrettable,” represents the hybridity of a being that is undermines binaries.

The Rhetoric Of The Road: The Romantic Journey As A Map Of Myth, Memory, And Majesty, Joe R. Christopher

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

Scholar Guest of Honor Address at Mythcon 54, Weatherford OK, July 2026. This wide-ranging talk covered Dr. Christopher's personal and family connections with both the Mythopoeic Society and the city and state in which we met, as well as his decades of scholarly interest in the Inklings, tying it all together through Romanticism and the connecting theme of the Mother Road, Route 66.

Corrections:

On page 8, Dr. Christopher traveled to his first Mythcon from Texas, not Oklahoma.

On page 14, the quotation from Tolkien is on p. 241 in Green and Hooper.

On page 16, the biography should list …

“Learning To Ask The Deeper Questions Behind The Image That Most People Don’T See:” Teaching Critical Visual Literacy To History Teacher Candidates Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Heather Koopmans, Richard Hughes

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Despite the ubiquitous role of images in teaching history, few teachers have formal training in how to help students critically read photographs, paintings, and other images. The essay centers on research on how Critical Visual Literacy, which focuses on how images reflect complex issues of power in society, can assist emerging teachers in helping students think historically and better engage visual evidence associated with curriculum mandates to broaden historical narratives

Using Scenario-Based Generative Ai In A Social Studies Methods Course, Timothy Lintner, Ellis Reeves

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly transforming the landscape of educator preparation. This shift is especially evident in social studies. As emerging technologies like AI reshape how social studies is taught and learned, it is essential to incorporate them into course design and student outcomes. Simply put, we must ensure that the next generation of social studies educators can effectively use AI to create real-world, scenario-based learning experiences that foster inquiry and encourage student action-taking. This article examines how AI-supported, scenario-based learning was strategically integrated into a secondary social studies methods course at the University of South Carolina Aiken. From concept …

Using The Past To Better Understand The Present: Contextualizing Today’S History Wars, For Ourselves And For Our Students, Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This essay considers our contemporary moment in the context of the long history of the so-called "history wars" in the United States. It identifies four historical moments with ties to the present, and makes use of primary documents to discuss each time period. It also considers the ways in which historical activists such as Frederick Douglass and W. E. B. Du Bois advocated for honest history in the past, and the ways in which we might argue for nuanced historical thinking in the present. Teachers may find the documents of use for their own classrooms, and a brief appendix at …

Eagle Lauds, Grant Clauser

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

Adamant, Ian Ramsay

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

A Peak Ahead, Christine Woodside

Appalachia

Water's ways, and welcome to the next editor-in-chief.

Books And Media

Appalachia

Reviews of: The White Mountains Almanac by Frank Vazzano, illustrated by Sarah Kaizar; Farther: Eight Months on America’s Triple Crown Trails, by Heather Anderson; A Fabulous Thru-Hike: 3,100 Miles on the Continental Divide Trail by Derick Lugo; A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore by Matthew Davis; Surviving the Trail: Five Essential Skills to Prepare Every Hiker for Adventure’s Most Common Perils by Dr. Rob Scanlon; Follow the White Blazes: A Journey of Recovery while Backpacking the Appalachian Trail by Eagle Trail Dancer; The First Traverse, a short film by Chris Shane; Temporary Shelters …

New And Notes

Appalachia

Maine’s Barnard Forest is protected. Commercial logging goes forward in part of the White Mountain National Forest. A look back at Christine Woodside’s editorship of Appalachia. A tribute to outgoing longtime poetry editor Parkman Howe.

Alpina

Appalachia

Reports of mountaineering in the greater ranges of Patagonia, Nepal, Tibet, Saudi Arabia, North America, and Madagascar include a wintertime solo of Cerro Torre, an 86-year-old’s summit of Manaslu, and a discussion of climbing permits on Everest. Nepal tourism officials list eight more high points as 8,000-meter peaks. Two men from France climb Jannu East. American Jim Morrison skis down Everest. Chinese climbers scale peaks in the area known as East of the Himalaya. Sentencing of three criminals. First ascents in Saudi Arabia. And more.

Skyline Sketches: I’M Not Having A Baby, So I Climbed A Very Tall Mountain, Caroline Santinelli

Appalachia

The writer heads to Kilimanjaro after her concept of life at age 32 takes a turn.

A Forager’S Guide To The Wilderness: Understanding The Land Through Eating, Anderson Smith

Appalachia

The runner-up in the 2025 Waterman Fund Essay Contest.

Chasing Redemption On The Long Trail: From Emergency Room Patient To Vermont End-To-Ender, Derick Lugo

Appalachia

His previous end-to-end attempt had fizzled in illness, so he goes back to get it right.

Ken Nichols: A Curmudgeon Climber Committed To His Ethics., Stephen Kurczy

Appalachia

An unusual and enduring friendship with Connecticut’s most famous climber.

Maps For Wandering: Lessons From My Father On Mount Monroe, Katie Ives

Appalachia

A father’s sudden illness brings up the connection his daughter felt with him in the mountains

The Loss Of Guy Waterman, A Quarter-Century Later: Friends Climb Franconia Ridge To Remember Their Mountain Mentor, Doug Mayer

Appalachia

A man who helped recovered the body of his friend talks about his giant legacy.

The Long Way Home: What The Appalachian Trail Taught Me About Real-Time Dispatches, Christine Woodside

Appalachia

The outgoing editor-in-chief tells how she sent home dispatches for publication during the early weeks of her thru-hike, and then realized she didn’t need to tell everyone what she was doing.

Appalachia Summer/Fall 2026: Complete Issue

Appalachia

Summer/Fall 2026 - Volume LXXVII, Number 2 - Issue #262. Legacies.

The Verney Family And Their Guitars In France And England, 1643–53, Christopher Page

Soundboard Scholar

The five-course guitar was a fundamental resource for the Verney family from 1643 to 1653 as they sheltered in France, avoiding their creditors and escaping the state of civil war at home in England. Their papers from that period, comprising many thousands of letters and financial accounts, show them hiring a guitar-master, ordering new guitars in Paris and debating the relative benefits of lessons for their eldest son on the guitar as opposed to the lute. This article reproduces the key documents and considers the music that the Verneys may have played. The papers particularly show how an instrument often …

Call To Submissions, Cinde Wollenberg

Virginia English Journal

No abstract provided.

Race, Identity, And The Classroom: How Young Adult Literature Can Help Students And Teachers Explore Belonging In The School Environment, Madyson A. Mcray

Virginia English Journal

Contemporary classrooms are not necessarily reflective of the curriculum written to support them. Classroom demographics have shifted and student populations are more diverse. Because of this, the implementation of dominant white-narrative curricula has become ineffective in keeping students engaged with the material. Teaching “the classics” becomes irrelevant when students cannot see themselves represented in the text. Young adult literature, however, allows students to relate their own experiences to the text to engage more deeply in content. This paper examines four novels: New Kid by Jerry Craft, This is My America by Kim Johnson, The Secret Battle of Evan Pao by …