Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Eunoë, Gwenyth E. Hood

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

The Sunset, Joel Zartman

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

Cupid And Psyche, Nancy Enright

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

Archetypes, David Sparenberg

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

Ring Of Toadstools, Lee Clark Zumpe

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

The Myths Of The Author: Tolkien And The Medieval Origins Of The Word Hobbit, Michael Livingston

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

Leads us on a linguistic journey into the origins of the words hobbit and Baggins and their surprising relations to one another.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

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

No abstract provided.

The Road Of Our Senses: Search For Personal Meaning And The Limitations Of Myth In Neil Gaiman's American Gods, Rut Blomqvist

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

Examines the intertextuality of culture and myth and the ways in which new myth is formed through an exploration of binaries throughout the novel and the added scenes in the 10th Anniversary edition.

From Despoina To Δ, Joe R. Christopher

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

Identifies Janie Moore as the sometimes goddess, sometimes human Δ or Despoina in Lewis’s early poems, letters, and diaries. The changing nature of her depiction shows the young Lewis developing a surer handling of his chosen mythic references as he matures and reinforces the thesis that they were lovers.

Psyche In New York: The Devil Wears Prada Updates The Myth, Janet Brennan Croft

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

Looks at a recent specimen of popular culture, the movie The Devil Wears Prada, and finds in it an echo of the story of Aphrodite and Psyche, speaking to the needs of young women for a female mentor-figure.

Aphrodite On The Home Front: E.R. Eddison And World War Ii, Joe Young

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

The centrality of service to the goddess of love in E.R. Eddison’s conceptions of heroism and the properly lived life is the focus of this study of the Zimiamvia trilogy. Eddison considered his work an important response to World War II and a call for a more meaningful type of courage and way of living both during and after the war.

Faramir And The Heroic Ideal Of The Twentieth Century; Or, How Aragorn Died At The Somme, Steven Brett Carter

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

After Frodo, Faramir perhaps best represents Tolkien’s thinking on war and processing of his World War I experiences. Carter reveals Faramir to be a far more modern warrior than any of his compatriots, particularly in contrast to Aragorn and Boromir, who are representative of much older and rapidly obsolescing models of heroism and methods of warfare.

The Fall Of Gondolin And The Fall Of Troy: Tolkien And Book Ii Of The Aeneid, Alexander M. Bruce

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

Takes us back to classical warfare and the Fall of Troy with his examination of what Tolkien did with the Aeneid when he used it as a source for “The Fall of Gondolin.” The parallels between the stories of Tuor and Aeneas are striking, but more interesting is how Tolkien put his own thematic and symbolic stamp on the material.

Watchful Dragons And Sinewy Gnomes: C.S. Lewis's Use Of Modern Fairy Tales, Ruth Berman

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

Companion to her study of Tolkien’s use of the Andrew Lang fairy tale collections (in #99/100) with a piece on how Lewis used them as well, but tended to look favorably on and use more modern fantasy sources than Tolkien.

Reviews, Emily E. Auger, Sara Brown, Janet Brennan Croft, Scott Mclaren, David D. Oberhelman, Holly Ordway, Amy S. Rodgers, Harley Sims

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

The Christian Goddess: Archetype and Theology in the Fantasies of George MacDonald. Bonnie Gaarden. Reviewed by Scott McLaren.

Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy. Janice M. Bogstad and Philip E. Kaveny, eds. Reviewed by Emily E. Auger.

Good Dragons are Rare: An Inquiry into Literary Dragons East and West. Fanfan Chen and Thomas Honegger, eds. Reviewed by David D. Oberhelman.

Critical Perspectives on Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials: Essays on the Novels, the Film and the Stage Productions. Steven Barfield and Katharine Cox, eds. Reviewed by Amy S. Rodgers.

From Elvish to …

Into The Lion's Den: Joy Davidman And Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Don W. King

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

Looks at Davidman’s involvement with Hollywood—her short and unlamented stint in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Junior Writer Program in 1939, and her movie reviews for the Communist Party of the USA newspaper, New Masses, in 1941–1943. Davidman’s incisive wit, impatience with any hint of phoniness, and passion for social, racial, and gender justice come through clearly in her writing.

"Beowulf: The Monsters And The Critics" Seventy-Five Years Later, Michael D.C. Drout

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

Scholar Guest of Honor speech, Mythcon 42. A discussion of the continuing influence of Tolkien’s famed Beowulf essay on its seventy-fifth anniversary. Shows how the essay both opened up and limited later Beowulf scholarship, and draws some interesting parallels with the current state of Tolkien scholarship. Along the way, questions the wisdom of believing everything an author says about his own work, and asserts the value of familiarity with critical history.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

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

No abstract provided.

Thresholds To Middle-Earth: Allegories Of Reading, Allegories For Knowledge And Transformation, Andrew Hallam

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

Alexei Kondratiev Student Presentation Award, Mythcon 42. Begins by strongly questioning Tolkien’s own assertions about allegory, and draws on a wide range of theory and scholarship to show the subtle operation of a deep pattern of allegory in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings centered around imagery of readers and reading, thresholds and journeys.

The Pearl Maiden's Psyche: The Middle English Pearl And The Allegorical-Visionary Impulse In Till We Have Faces, T. S. Miller

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

Lewis’s firm assertion that Till We Have Faces is not the least bit allegorical is challenged through its parallels in plot and theme with the highly allegorical Middle English Pearl. The deep allegorical structures in both revolve around seeing truly and falsely, and blindness both intentional and ignorant.

Is A "Christian" Mystery Story Possible? Charles Williams's War In Heaven As A Generic Case Study, Sørina Higgins

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

Examines War in Heaven’s radical upsetting of the detective novel norms promised in its first few paragraphs and shows how Williams uses and subverts these conventions and leads us to contemplate, instead of a mystery and its solution, an insoluble Mystery with a capital M.

Christian, Norse And Celtic: Metaphysical Belief Structures In Nancy Farmer's The Saxon Saga, Marek Oziewicz

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

Introduces a young adult historical-fantasy trilogy, The Saxon Saga by Nancy Farmer, and elucidates the value of its multicultural approach in our distrustful and fragmented age. The respectful representation of three conflicting cultures in the novels—Christian, Norse, and Celtic—demonstrates to young readers that people may hold vastly different metaphysical views and yet may have many core values in common, enough to forge a relationship of mutual trust.

The Great War And Narnia: C.S. Lewis As Soldier And Creator, Brian Melton

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

Looks at influence of World War I in Lewis’s autobiography and on war in Narnia, correcting mistaken search by some critics for deep-seated war trauma in Lewis’s life. Reinforces that Lewis and Tolkien were not psychological twins, had differing personalities going into the war, and came out of it with different approaches to dealing with war in their fiction. The Chronicles being children’s books, Lewis operated under certain self-imposed restrictions in writing them, and yet managed to convey some realistic lessons about war learned through his own harrowing experiences. Also addresses the issue of gaps in Lewis’s autobiography.

The Lord Of The Rings' Interlace: The Adaptation To Film, Emily E. Auger

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

An investigation of how Tolkien’s interlacing narrative technique is translated in the recent film trilogy, and in particular, Jackson’s method of interlacing Isildur’s story, Gollum’s torture in Mordor, and Elrond’s expanded council with foreshadowings and re-echoings of dialogue and visual cues.

Reviews, Ruth Berman, Joe R. Christopher, Janet Brennan Croft, Mike Foster, Harley Sims, Richard C. West

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

The Making of a Mystic: New and Selected Letters of Evelyn Underhill. Ed. Carol Poston. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher.

From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine's Journey through Myth and Legend. Valerie Estelle Frankel. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft.

The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (Popular Culture and Philosophy, Vol. 37). Ed. Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng. Reviewed by Ruth Berman.

C.S. Lewis's Lost Aeneid: Arms and the Exile. Edited with an Introduction by A.T. Reyes. Reviewed by Richard C. West.

The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings …

Mythcon 42 - Monsters, Marvels, And Minstrels: The Rise Of Modern Medievalism, The Mythopoeic Society

Mythcon Programs

For the first time in its history, Mythcon will be held in New Mexico, whose state motto, fittingly, is "The Land of Enchantment." New Mexico is a state full of rich cultural traditions and fascinating mythologies. From Native American mythic figures such as Kokopelli and Spider Woman, to Hispanic folktales about La Llorona and El Cucui, as well as to conspiracy stories about Roswell aliens and Chupacabra, our desert landscapes are populated with an astoundingly fertile array of fantastical creatures and supernatural beings. The mythologies, folklore, and oral legends of New Mexico provide living traditions that inspire us to contemplate …

Editorial, Gwenyth E. Hood

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

Mariposa, David Sparenberg

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

Mythic Circle #33, Gwenyth E. Hood

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

Contributors, Gwenyth E. Hood

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.