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Lord Of The Beasts: Animal Archetypes In C.S. Lewis, Nancy-Lou Patterson

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Explores Lewis’s use of talking animals in the Chronicles of Narnia and the Space Trilogy (and even his childhood writings about “clothed animals”). Traces the use of animals in religious and spiritual imagery from prehistoric times through pagan religions and fairy tales and discusses critical theories of Jung, Eliade, and other writers. Finds a parallel between a passage from Carlos Casteneda’s Teachings of Don Juan and Aslan’s post-resurrection romp with Lucy and Susan.

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Narnia And The Seven Deadly Sins, David Hulan

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Theorizes that each book in the Chronicles is centrally concerned with one of the medieval Seven Deadly Sins; that in each book, a character commits one of these sins, and generally no other sins are foregrounded in that volume. The author’s theory equates LWW with gluttony, PC with Envy, VDT with Avarice, SC with Sloth, HHB with Lechery, MN with Pride, and LB with Anger. The author feels this was not planned as a major structural theme but was mainl y coincidental.

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Lilith In Narnia, Glen Goodknight

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

After examining the history of the figure of Lilith in Judeo-Christian myth, Jungian psychology, and Western literature, this paper discusses the three major Lilith-characters in the Narnia series—the White Witch, the Lady of the Green Kirtle, and Jadis, Queen of Charn.

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‘Which Way I Flie Is Hell', Gracia Fay Ellwood

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Taking as its starting point Milton’s portrait of a Satan who creates deeper and deeper hells within himself as he continually rejects heaven, Ellwood demonstrates how a number of characters in the Chronicles of Narnia similarly deceive themselves and become—literally, in the case of some—blind and deaf to reality and the chance of salvation. Among them are Edmund, Eustace, Uncle Andrew, and the Dwarves in the Stable in The Last Battle.

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Arthurian Themes In The Narnia Books, Bruce Mcmenomy

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Locates parallels to the broad outlines of Arthurian myth in the character of Prince Caspian, in his conflicted path to his rightful throne, his advisor Cornelius, and his rejuvenation in Aslan’s country. Also considers Reepicheep’s quest for Aslan’ s country as a parallel to the Grail quest.

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What Is Narnia?, Laura A. Ruskin

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

ompares the geography of Middle-earth, Narnia, and Oz, their inhabitants’ contrasting isolationist or exploratory attitudes, and the accessibility of these worlds to outsiders. Concludes by listing several factors that make Narnia unique among fantasy worlds, including the passage of time, the importance of humans from our own world in its history and prophecy, and the centrality of Aslan in all his implications.

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An Introduction To Middle Earth And Narnia, Doris Robin

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Brief introduction to The Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia, comparing the level of detail in both created worlds, the authors’ main themes, and their styles.

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An Introductory Paper On Dorothy Sayers, Christe Ann Whitaker

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Considers Sayers as the Inkling-related author who best articulates the theme of man as sub-creator. Finds this theme manifest in the Lord Peter Wimsey novels—the criminal plotting the crime and the detective re-creating it are both practicing sub-creativity—as well as more explicitly in her religious plays. Also discusses the themes of academic and intellectual honesty essential to the novel Gaudy Night.

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The Broken Sword Reforged, Joe R. Christopher

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Analyzes changes made in the second edition of The Broken Sword, published in 1971, from the original 1954 edition. Comparisons of a number of passages show Anderson maturing in his technical ability as a writer and his psychological understanding of his characters, though Christopher regrets the occasional loss of a certain “lyric intensity” and hints of the “dark backward and abysm of time” found in the original.

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Living With Fantasy & Illusion: Some Thoughts Inspired By Poul Anderson's The Queen Of Air And Darkness, Dale Ziegler

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Meditation on archetypes and fantasy rather than a scholarly paper, this piece considers messages about the human longing for the fantastic embodied in Anderson’s novel, and the dangers of allowing archetypes to be taken as more than the illusions they actually are. Reproduces several lengthy passages from the novel, in particular the ballad of the ranger Arvid.

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The Triumph Of Love: Interpretations Of The Tarot In Charles Williams' The Greater Trumps, Nancy-Lou Patterson

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Extended study of Tarot imagery in Williams’ The Greater Trumps, with examination of Eliot’s possible influence on Williams through his earlier use of Tarot symbolism in The Waste Land. A substantial portion traces the history of Tarot and the evolution of its symbolism through several important decks, then looks at Williams’s interpretation in his novel. Also examines the Roman triumph ceremony and the figure of the Fool for their surprisingly rich interconnections with the Tarot and The Greater Trumps.

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Panel: "The Making Of Fantasy Worlds", Poul Anderson, Robert Silverberg, Katherine Kurtz, Ruth Berman, Larry Niven

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

A panel of science fiction and fantasy authors discusses how they develop their worlds, the differences between fantasy and science fiction, and some classic works of fantasy.

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Myth In The Modern World, Poul Anderson

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Fantasy author Anderson discusses definitions of myth and how literature becomes mythopoeic, particularly by catching or reflecting cultural needs. Includes an example of a modern historical novel incorporating myth, Jensen’s The Fall of the King and its use of symbolism from the Norse “Song of Grotte.”

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The Grail Quest Theme In That Hideous Strength, Karen Bailey

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Postulates that while Ransom is the most obvious candidate for the Fisher King in THS, Jane Studdock is cast as a Grail quester in spite of her gender and the fact that she is married, and in effect achieves the Grail at the end.

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The Decline And Fall Of The Osgiliathian Empire, James D. Allan

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Taking Tolkien’s statement that hobbits lingered in “the North-West of the Old World” as its basis, this paper examines the fauna, organization of human culture, development of armor and so on in Middle-earth to place it in the “heroic age” of Europe and to identify Gondor with Rome. The author further identifies the function of the Elves and their protected kingdoms with the monasteries that preserved cultural memories through the Dark Ages. Consideration is given to the nonmedieval culture of the Shire, the fact that Aragorn does not map precisely onto any particular ruler of this period, and what these …

Are These Myths True?, Mary Mcdermott Shideler

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Discusses the nature of myth, mythopoeic play, and the “realness” of mundane and created worlds in her Guest of Honor address. Appended are audience questions.

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Selected Materials From A Study Of The Worm Ouroboros, Ian Myles Slater

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

After a brief précis of Eddison’s life, the author discusses the genre of The Worm Ouroboros, basing most of his arguments on Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism. Following is an examination of the tale’s sources, most notably elements from the Norse sagas, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, and Orlando Furioso.

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Introducing C.S. Lewis: Sincerity Personified, Kathryn Lindskoog

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

An overview of C.S. Lewis’s life, primarily based on Surprised by Joy and Letters, covering the entire period from his birth to death with special emphasis on his education and conversion. Includes personal reminiscences of the author’s own meeting with him in 1956. This is the first chapter of Lindskoog’s biography of Lewis.

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Closing Session, Jim Carleton

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

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The Return To The Past In Williams & Eliade, Gracia Fay Ellwood

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Compares the use of displacement in time in the plots of Charles Williams’s Descent Into Hell and Mircea Eliade’s novella Nights at Serampore. Both stories involve protagonists interacting with violent events taking place in the past of their presentday location. Williams’s principle of exchange makes Pauline’s experience a joyful and numinous one; Eliade’s story ends more ambiguously, with the participants deriving no spiritual meaning from their experience other than a sense of the illusory nature of what is experienced through the senses. Ellwood goes on to examine real -world stories of similar retrocognitive events and finds recorded examples of …

The Heroic In Middle-Earth, Robert Foster

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Gives examples of several types of heroism: the survival-hero, whose heroism is a reaction to a hostile environment; the destiny-hero, who has been chosen to fulfill a task beyond his normal capabilities; the honor-hero, motivated by a desire for reputation and fame; and the ethic-hero, whose self-respect demands he act when circumstances arise that require it. Describes the moral framework of Middle-earth as one that constantly presents opportunities for heroic action, which in turn influences and supports later heroic actions through providing examples to emulate, clues to effective action, or heirloom objects that assist later heroes. In this framework, all …

Considering The Great Divorce (Parts Iii, Iv, & V), J. R. Christopher

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

THIS IS A TWO-PART ARTICLE. IN ORDER TO READ OR DOWNLOAD THE OTHER PART, FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE END OF THIS ABSTRACT.

Part III is a close textual comparison of the English and American editions and the newspaper serialization. Part IV examines the underlying structure, comparing the encounters in Divorce with the organization of The Divine Comedy and concluding that Lewis’s book is not as tightly and hierarchically organized, either artistically or theologically. This section also attempts to categorize Divorce using Northrop Frye’s classification scheme laid out in The Anatomy of Criticism, and concludes with a debate about …

Anti-Babels: Images Of The Divine Center In That Hideous Strength, Nancy-Lou Patterson

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Examines the role, sources, and symbolism of the two walled gardens in That Hideous Strength: Bracton Wood and the garden at St. Anne’s. Discusses the psychological, mythical, and religious symbolism of the walled garden across a variety of sources, from Babylonian epic through Freudian psychology, and lists the source material Lewis references in his descriptions of these gardens. Also covers other gardens in Lewis’s works, including the biscuit-tin garden described in his autobiography as his first glimpse of beauty and the garden where Digory plucks the silver apple in The Magician’s Nephew.

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Transcending The Images: Archaisms And Alternatives, Glen Goodknight

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Discusses the medieval theological concepts of affirmation of images (romantic, seeking truth reflected in imagery) and rejection of images (mystical, seeking direct access to truth), building on Mary Schildeler’s book on Williams, The Theology of Romantic Love, and liberally quoting from Jung and Lewis. Concludes that Lewis advocated a hybrid concept of transparent images; that ideally one should simultaneously contemplate both the image and the truth behind it, transcending dualism.

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Mythcon Report, Bernie Zuber

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

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The White Tree, Glen Goodknight

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Revision of conference introductory address. Sees many of the problems of the modern world stemming from a deep distrust of the unconscious mind, and with it a distrust of mystical experience and fantasy. Draws primarily on Jung and on Tolkien’s “On Fairy-stories” to make his point that fantasy is necessary to the integration of the conscious and unconscious minds.

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Sindarin And Quenya Phonology, Robert Foster

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Attempts to classify the distinguishing phonemes of Quenya and Sindarin and use them to develop a framework for determining where on the scale of historical change a vocabulary word might fall.

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The "Hnau" Creatures Of C.S. Lewis, Ellen Rothberg

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Discusses various species in the Space Trilogy considered to be “hnau,” or rational beings: the eldila, sorns, hrossa, and pfifltriggi. Compares this treatment of rationality and self-awareness with the Talking Beasts of Narnia in The Magician’s Nephew and The Last Battle. Concludes that Lewis’s purpose is to show Man’s interconnectedness with, and responsibility for, the rest of creation.

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Considering The Great Divorce (Parts I And Ii), J. R. Christopher

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

THIS IS A TWO-PART ARTICLE. IN ORDER TO READ OR DOWNLOAD THE OTHER PART, FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE END OF THIS ABSTRACT.

The author takes two approaches in this discussion of The Great Divorce: enumerating the medieval sources and analogues for Lewis’s story, particularly The Divine Comedy but also other dream-visions such as The Romance of the Rose; and seeking out modern parallels and inspirations, such as Forster’s “The Celestial Omnibus” but more importantly Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle” and Williams’s All Hallows’ Eve.

Part 2: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythpro/vol1/iss3/3

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The Language Of J.R.R. Tolkien In The Lord Of The Rings, Judy Winn Bell

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Analyzes Tolkien’s use of language: instances of word-magic and name-magic, style to denote character and nationality, syntax to emphasize mood and the social level of characters, and the contrast of archaism and simplicity in some of the most powerful moments. Also looks more closely at the individualized speech patterns of Gollum, Tom Bombadil, and Treebeard, as well as speech markers used for hobbits, Elves, and the Rohirrim.

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