Arts and Humanities Commons^™

"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 …

The Political Vitalities Of Ursula K. Le Guin’S Earthsea, Joseph Charles Ironside

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

This article analyses the role of vitality within Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series (1968-2001), exploring the political implications of its presentation. Vitalist philosophy rejects positivist materialism, seeking instead to understand life in terms of immanent human experience. Vitalism is particularly relevant to fantasy literature: conceptions of life and our relationship with the material naturally play a role in fantasy worldbuilding; however, life conceptions carry political implications, and vitalism finds pertinence across the political spectrum, from anarchism to fascism. Earthsea makes for a valuable subject of analysis on this point, as Le Guin openly endorses anarchism. By comparing the presentation …

The Engine Of Innocence: Discovery And Invention Of Eden In John Crowley's Engine Summer, Ian Berger

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

The article explores John Crowley's Engine Summer (1979) as a retelling of Genesis from the perspective of Adam and, in its depiction of Eden as the emblematic likeness of innocence throughout American history and Western Civilization—small, false, and ultimately unsustainable in light of modern experience—confronts the reader to "move beyond nostalgia" and challenge the myth of innocence.

“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.

Dreaming Of Bag End: The Hobbit And Medieval Dream-Poetry, Samuel A. Masters

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

Medieval dream-poetry has had a profound impact upon the structure, character development and escapism effect in Tolkien's The Hobbit. As a professor of medieval literature, Tolkien was highly knowledgeable on such dream-poems and the late-antique dream theory of Macrobius. Imitating the structure behind the dream-poems of Chaucer, Dante and Langland, Tolkien presents Bilbo's adventure as comparable to a dream (although is careful not to present it as an actual dream). Within his journey, Bilbo also has several symbolic actual dreams. Through both the dream-like structure and the episodic actual dreams, Tolkien both foregrounds Bilbo's character change as his Tookish …

With Axe, Knife, Sting, And Tooth: The Enduring Wounds Of Gawain And Frodo, Roderick E. Pratt

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

Among the possible Arthurian source texts for The Lord of the Rings, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight stands out as a likely inspiration. Tolkien engaged closely with the Gawain-poet for over 50 years, and as Cossio and Fimi recently demonstrated in their archival study of the W.P. Ker Memorial Lecture, he did so concurrently with his writing of The Lord of the Rings. Tom Shippey, John Fyler, Miriam Miller, and Roger Schlobin, among other scholars, have speculated on Sir Gawain’s influence for Tolkien’s work. Miller makes the case that Sir Gawain is a definitive source for …

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 …

Editorial, Janet Croft

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

Editorial introduction to Mythlore issue #149, Fall 2026.

Volume Cxlvi, Number 3, October 9, 2026, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

Coffee Correspondence Index, Una Archives & Special Collections

Transcripts

Index of the people, places, and significant events mentioned in the General John Coffee Collection correspondences.

Letter From John Coffee, Brig. General To “Dear Sir” {His Excellency Willie Blount}, Oct. 4th, 1814, John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcript and correspondence from Brigadier General John Coffee addressed to “Dear Sir," His Excellency Willie Blount. The correspondence mentions crossing the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals and the addition of new troops to the volunteer cavalry from East Tennessee.

Letter From John Coffee, Brig. General To Major General Andrew Jackson (Oct. 4th, 1814), John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcript and correspondence from Brigadier General John Coffee to Major General Andrew Jackson that addresses a line of march that crossed the Tennessee River at the Muscle Shoals.

Letter From John Coffee, Brig. General To Col. Robert H. Dyer (Oct. 1st, 1814), John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcription and correspondence from Brigadier General John Coffee to Col. Robert H. Dyer, Inspector General. The letter addresses various companies of the Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry and their movement along the Tennessee River.

Letter From John Coffee, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry & Mounted Riflemen To "Sir" (Major Genl. Andrew Jackson) & Note From Andrew Jackson, John Coffee, Andrew Jackson

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcription, correspondence, and note from Brigadier General John Coffee and Major General Andrew Jackson pertaining to the arrest of Colonel Nicholas J. Perkins commander of the West Tennessee Mounted Volunteer Cavalry.

Letter From John Coffee, C.C. To ''Dear General'' (4.4.1818), John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcription and correspondence from Colonel Commanding John Coffee to Major General Andrew Jackson regarding militant movements near the Tennessee River and the wellbeing of the cavalry's horses.

Letter From John Coffee, U.S. Command M To "Sir" {The Hon. James Monroe-Secretary Of State} (March 15th, 1816), John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcript and correspondence from John Coffee, U.S. Command M, to "Sir" (The Hon. James Monroe-Secretary of State) pertaining to the boundary line contemplated by the Treaty of Fort Jackson.

“To The Patriotic Sons Of West-Tennessee” From John Coffee At Camp Brahan (Nov. 22, 1813), John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcription and correspondence from John Coffee at Camp Brahan, near Huntsville, Alabama, addressed to the "Patriotic Sons of West-Tennessee" concerning General Andrew Jackson's orders for militant advancement upon the Creek Nation.

Letter From John Coffee, C.C. To General Jackson (10.22.1813), John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcript and correspondence from John Coffee to Major General Andrew Jackson that mentions crossing the Tennessee River at the upper Shoals.

Letter From John Coffee, Col. Volunteer Co. & M. Rifleman To General Jackson (10.6.1813), John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcription and correspondence from Colonel Commanding John Coffee to Major General Andrew Jackson regarding crossing the Tennessee River at the Shoals.

Letter From John Coffee, C.C. To General Jackson (10.4.1813), John Coffee

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcription and correspondence from Colonel Commanding John Coffee to Major General Andrew Jackson concerning a march to Dittoes Landing across the Tennessee River near Colbert's Ferry.

Report Of The Effective Men In Genl. Coffee’S Brigade For The 31st Of October 1814, S. D. Hampson

Letters and Manuscripts

Transcript and report of the effective men in General Coffee’s Brigade for the 31st of October 1814.

Envelope 1 Transcript (Files Not In Original Finding Aid), John Coffee

Transcripts

The dated letters in this document range from 1813-1814 and are concerned with the daily activities of Brigadier General John Coffee and the Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry and Mounted Gunmen during the War of 1812. The document is an indexed transcription of the letters and report in envelope one of the physical collection that were not included in the original finding aid.

Transcription Note

All grammatical and spelling errors appeared in the original text and were retained to preserve the text’s original content. Illegible text from the original document is indicated by “[illegible]” or “[?].” Minor editorial clarifications not present in …

General Coffee Papers, William Lindsey Mcdonald

Transcripts

Article by William Lindsey McDonald about the history and acquisition of the General John Coffee Papers at the University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections.

Coffee Papers Donated, Shelly Haskins

Transcripts

Copy of an article from the Times Daily about the Collier Library Archives and Special Collections' acquisition of the General John Coffee Collection.

Envelope 2 Transcript, John Coffee

Transcripts

The collection letters range from 1803-1817 and are concerned with the daily activities of Brigadier General John Coffee and the Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry and Mounted Gunmen during the War of 1812. The document is an indexed transcription of all letters in envelope two of the physical archival collection.

Transcription Note

All grammatical and spelling errors appeared in the original text and were retained to preserve the text’s original content. A dash typically indicates places where John Coffee wrote dashes within the original letters, while a string of successive dashes indicates illegible characters (the amount of dashes roughly corresponds to …