Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Sermon At Thanksgiving Service, Keble College Chapel, 23rd August 1992, Robert Murray

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

No abstract provided.

Tolkien And The Other Inklings, Colin Duriez

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

This paper looks at Tolkien’s relationship with the other Inklings, especially Lewis, Williams and Barfield, in particular studying the affinities and differences between them and what Tolkien owes to them. “The Notion Club Papers” is discussed as an idealized portrait of the Inklings.

A Physics Of Middle-Earth, Jenny Coombs, Marc Read

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

This paper takes a light-hearted look at how far one can go in applying primary world science to Middle-earth. Tolkien purists and physics purists may wish to pass over this!

Tales Of Wonder - Science Fiction And Fantasy In The Age Of Jane Austen, Madawc Williams

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

This paper challenges the accepted view that the works of writers such as Mrs. Radcliffe, “Monk” Lewis, Maturin and Mary Shelley are part of a Gothic tradition deriving from Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto. The paper also studies the connection of Jane Austen to these writers and will try to unravel the errors of Brian Aldiss, whose ideas are taken from earlier authors.

Open Minds, Closed Minds In The Lord Of The Rings, Christina Scull

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

A study of prejudice and tolerance, from the insularity of the Hobbits of the Shire to the mistrust between the Elves and Dwarves and the very nationalistic outlook of Denethor. This paper will show how some characters grew and became more tolerant, and that Tolkien was sensible enough to realize that only small steps can be taken at a time. It will also consider the unwillingness of some to believe in anything not witnessed with their own senses, thus leading them to discard as legendary much of the wonder of Middle-earth.

The Growth Of Grammar In The Elven Tongues, Christopher Gilson, Patrick Wynne

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

While some features of Elven grammar go back to the earliest records, such as the “Qenya Lexicon”, others are unique to later works such as the “Secret Vice” poems and the Etymologies, and some do not emerge until after The Lord of the Rings. The Elven languages form an expanding canvas (like Niggle’s), and many of the individual poems and sentences can be examined in terms of how they elaborate or enhance the overall grammar of Elvish.

Tolkien And The Gawain-Poet, Tom Shippey

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

One of Tolkien’s major academic works was the edition he prepared, with E.V. Gordon, of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Yet this poem is only one of four in identical dialect (an important point to Tolkien) and in the same manuscript. This paper considers the philological issues these poems raise, and shows how the theories, eccentricities and linguistics of the Gawain-poet were read and used by Tolkien.

Point Of View In Tolkien, Christine Barkley

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

Many stories are told by more than one teller in Tolkien's works. This paper compares different versions to see what areas of interest or emphasis arise, and what differences might be explained by the specific interests or culture of the teller. The paper also evaluates which kinds of stories are told most often by which tellers.

Tolkien And Englishness, Chris Hopkins

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

This paper discusses ways in which Tolkien draws upon various ideas of Englishness in order to construct his epic fictional world. In particular, Tolkien's combinations of different periods and traditions of Englishness - Anglo-Saxon, nineteenth-century - are explored.

Cetacean Consciousness In Katz's Whalesinger And L'Engle's A Ring Of Endless Light, J. R. Wytenbroek

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

Both Canadian fantasist Welwyn Wilton Katz and American fantasist Madeleine L’Engle have written novels in which humans, in communicating with whales or dolphins, have been exposed to wholeness, harmony, unity, and pattern in the universe at large as perceived by cetaceans. While writing quite independently, these works show a remarkable similarity in their perception of cetacean consciousness. An exploration of these similarities shows the united mystical vision that writers from different backgrounds and beliefs can attain.

Editorial, Glen H. Goodknight, Patricia Reynolds

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

No abstract provided.

Recollections Of J.R.R. Tolkien, George Sayer

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

Reminiscences of walking with Tolkien around Malvern and of visits to his house in Sandfield Road. What he said and what our mutual friend, C.S. Lewis, said about him.

Tolkien Centenary Banquet Address, Glen H. Goodknight

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

No abstract provided.

Tolkien's Revision Of The Romantic Tradition, Chris Seeman

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

This paper explores Tolkien’s vision of fantasy within the broader historical context of Romanticism, clarifying the ways in which he inherits and revises Romantic views of the creative imagination via the concept of “sub-creation”. Possible links with Coleridge’s thought are considered, especially with respect to the uses of Romanticism in the context of Christianity.

Higher Argument: Tolkien And The Tradition Of Vision, Epic And Prophecy, Dierdre Greene

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

This paper attempts to place Tolkien’s fiction in a distinctively English literary context: a tradition of visionary writing which strives toward national epic, existing from Spenser through Milton (and in certain respects, Blake) to Tolkien.

Quid Hinieldus Cum Christo? - New Perspectives On Tolkien's Theological Dilemma And His Sub-Creation Theory, Nils Ivar Agøy

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

In the 1920s and 1930s Tolkien’s developing, and to all appearances pagan, legendarium posed a theological dilemma to its devoutly Christian author. How could it be reconciled with his faith? There are striking parallels with the Danish theologian, poet and philologist N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872). This paper will try to establish whether Tolkien’s answer, which is only partly to be found in “On Fairy-Stories”, was directly influenced by Grundtvig’s attempts at reconciling Norse myths and Christendom.

An Anthropologist In Middle-Earth, Virginia Luling

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

The author is an anthropologist who works as a campaigner for indigenous people’s rights. From this perspective she has some thoughts about Tolkien’s work as a vision of an unwesternized Europe, and on the re-enchantment of the world.

The Earthly Paradise In Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, Gwenyth Hood

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

Valinor, modelled on the Earthly Paradise, is described more fully in Tolkien’s posthumously published works than in The Lord of the Rings. Yet the fleeting Valinorean images within the trilogy have a powerful impact, heightening and simultaneously providing consolation for the horrors of Mordor.

Tolkien As Reviser: A Case Study, Gloriana St. Clair

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

The publication of drafts of The Lord of the Rings allows scholars to assess Tolkien as a reviser. A comparison of the early presentations of Gondor in The History of “The Lord of the Rings”, with the finished scenes indicates the nature and direction of Tolkien’s changes. This paper will discuss how the process of revision contributed to the overall effect of the work.

The Moral Epiphanies In The Lord Of The Rings, Joe R. Christopher

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

The topic of this study is not entirely new - other critics have written about the visionary moments in The Lord of the Rings that show various types of insights - but the author is interested in a modem context for those which are most psychologically orientated, suggested by Ashton Nichols’ Poetics of Epiphany, and also in their use in the genre of the prose romance.

Aspects Of The Fall In The Silmarillion, Eric Schweicher

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

This paper begins with an analysis of the evolution of the Fall in the Western tradition, which will be compared with its image in Middle-earth. The Ainulindalë and the Quenta Silmarillion will be examined to show how Vala, Elf, Dwarf, and Man fall into corruption, and the consequences of this fall.

Historical Bias In The Making Of The Silmarillion, Alex Lewis

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

Biases due to the point of view from which The Silmarillion is narrated are discussed. These biases are compared with those found in primary world histories.

Eating, Devouring, Sacrifice, And Ultimate Just Desserts, Marjorie Burns

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

Bilbo’s fear of being eaten is expanded in The Lord of the Rings to include the Dark Lord’s “devouring”. In both the nursery sense of being “eaten up” and in the more sophisticated sense of enslavement, Tolkien uses this theme to discuss selfhood and free will, and to separate those who serve from those who consume and possess.

How Russians See Tolkien, Vladimir Grushnetskiy

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

The understanding of J.R.R. Tolkien in Russia is affected by two circumstances. One is that the general public is only familiar with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The other fact is that for the last 75 years cultural values and ethical rules have been methodically changed and replaced with communist ideology. So I’d like to divide readers of Tolkien into four groups: children, youth, general readers and the intellectual elite. J.R.R. Tolkien is of extremely great interest for children from 7 to 13. It seems that they enjoy their first meeting with true and really good …

Good Guys, Bad Guys, Fantasy And Reality, Helen Armstrong

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

This paper begins by considering the nature of some of the stylised “evil” and “good” character types employed by J.R.R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth works, and their relationship both with folklore and with related character types appearing in the contemporary world (in Tolkien’s time and in our own). The paper then goes on to consider the role of women in Tolkien’s fictional world, with particular reference to their status as mothers (particularly as absent mothers), and as heroic figures, and looks at the victimisation of the woman/wife/mother in the Biblical tradition of the Book of Genesis, and its possible relation …

The Realm Of Faërie, Christine Barkley

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

Middle-earth is not the only glimpse we get of Tolkien’s view of Faërie. This paper examines his definition of Faërie and how it applies to Niggle’s Parish and to the forest in Smith of Wootton Major. Once we are aware of certain aspects of Faërie (for example the double vision possible), we can appreciate them in Middle-earth.

At The Wordface: J.R.R. Tolkien's Work On The Oxford English Dictionary, Peter M. Gilliver

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

A description of J.R.R. Tolkien’s time working on the Oxford English Dictionary together with a detailed analysis of the evidence for his contribution to the entries for individual words.

Power In Arda: Sources, Uses And Misuses, Edith L. Crowe

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

Power and renunciation of power has long been recognised as an important theme in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. This paper will examine the issue of power with particular attention to Riane Eisler's dominator/partnership model of power relations and the power within/power over dichotomy. It will consider the sources of power: spiritual, political, physical; and how these are wielded by the various peoples and individuals of Middle-earth.

A Tolkien Chronology, Nancy Martsch

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

Premise: A writer's professional and personal life affect his creative writing. A knowledge of what Tolkien was doing, and when, may give insight into his Mythology, or creative writing on Middle-earth. Outlines Tolkien's life, giving dates of important events, professional and personal life, status of writing. Divides creative output into three Periods, Early, Middle, and Late, plus an Ur-Period (youth) before the Mythology was formed. Describes thematic and linguistic characteristics of each Period.

Conclusion: Although the substance of Tolkien's Mythology was not much influenced by outside events, except during the Ur-period, outside events greatly affected its composition, focus, …

Tolkien The Anti-Totalitarian, Jessica Yates

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

A number of critics have looked for a political message in The Lord of the Rings, their dislike of the work, in some cases, apparently leading them to accuse Tolkien of holding extreme, usually right- wing, political views and making The Lord of the Rings a vehicle for them. These critics are particularly vehement about the danger of young people emerging from a reading of Tolkien’s book with extreme right-wing views. I select some examples from my collection of political views, including the opinions of Robert Westall, E.P. Thompson, and Fred Inglis, together with a viewpoint from a member …