Arts and Humanities Commons^™

From Dust Bowl To Digital: Fueling Your Research In The Mythsoc Archives, Phillip Fitzsimmons, Janet Brennan Croft, Victoria Gaydosik, Brice Odom

Mythcon

The 5,122 posted works in the Mythsoc digital collections have been downloaded 1,560,574 times from July 2017 to June 2026. These usage statistics show that scholarship posted on the Mythsoc digital collections serves the research needs of scholars internationally, provides free and easy discoverability to authors’ works, and usage reports to contributors that provide evidence of the impact of their work. The Panelists will present on the success of the first eight years of using the SWOSU Digital Commons as the platform for the Mythopoeic Society Archives. This presentation will introduce you to the Mythopoeic Society Collections page of the …

Haunted, Will Travel: “Divided, Fractured, And Barely Legible” The Nightmare-Self In Harrow The Ninth, Atiyana Ringling

Mythcon

My research intends to bring Mark Fisher’s 2012 definition of Hauntology into conversation with the sci-fi journey in Tamsyn Muir’s Harrow the Ninth and its titular character. Using the lens of this Mythcon 54 to focus on the physical and parallel mental journey of Harrow, the physical journey traveled tracks and maps the “lost future” of the world’s inhabitants and questions the extent to which the physical road traveled can mask or hide its destructive inception. “The River” and road traveled in the novel are the result of catastrophic consumption and transformation of the Solar System by the novel's Emperor. …

How To Use Your Mythsoc Membership Online, Megan B. Abrahamson, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Sean Marlow, Grace Moone

Mythcon

Panelists Grace Moone, Sean Marlow, and Alicia Fox-Lenz will give a tutorial on the new Mythopoeic Society membership platform. Now up and running and attached to our website, the new Membershipworks platform allows you to view your membership, getting us off a 30-year-old spreadsheet and into the 21st century! Bring your computer, phone or tablet as the Stewards showcase the uses of the platform and help you with any login issues.

An Infinite Number Of Roads Diverged In A Wood: Robert Heinlein’S Maximalist Road Trip In The Number Of The Beast, Patrick Julian

Mythcon

Robert Heinlein, Grand Master of Speculative Fiction, was born in Butler, MO (one hour north of Route 66), raised in Kansas City, and lived much of his early adult life in Los Angeles, the westernmost terminus of Route 66. Given this proximity to the Mother Road, it’s no surprise that Heinlein spent a considerable portion of his career writing about various versions of the Road Trip, whether it was taken via foot, horse-drawn carriage, automobile or spaceship. The Roads Must Roll, his 3rd published short story (1940), name checks Route 66, while many of his early works of juvenile …

The Road Goes Ever On: Teaching Tolkien In Colleges Today, Leslie A. Donovan, Megan B. Abrahamson, Cami D. Agan, Katherine Wyma, Joseph Rex Young

Mythcon

As Tolkien studies has evolved, Middle-earth no longer needs to be defended as a legitimate academic subject. Today, Tolkien’s works are commonly taught as literary classics in colleges and universities alongside other mythic traditions such as The Odyssey and Beowulf. For students, however, the meaning of “classic” can be complicated. Many students encounter Tolkien long before entering college through popular media, films, games, and digital fandom, while the historical, linguistic, and cultural contexts that informed his writing (war, philology, faith, and medievalism, among others) can feel increasingly distant. As a result, Tolkien’s works may seem both deeply familiar and …

The Scholar's Journey: The Limits Of Academic Discourse, Katherine Mcloone

Mythcon

Indrapramit Das's The Devourers (2015) follows a Kolkata historian who encounters a werewolf with a complicated past. As Alok learns more about the vibrancy of that past, he discovers truths about himself and about the mythic traditions still alive in the remote Sundarban forest.

Rivers Solomon’s The Deep (2019) portrays a historian from a culture of mermaid-like creatures descended from the pregnant women thrown overboard in the Middle Passage: She must leave her people so she can grapple with the weight of her profession. In R.F. Kuang's Katabasis (2025), two post-graduate students studying magick travel to the underworld to rescue …

Shared Trauma, Shared Drama: Faërian Drama In Russian Doll And Elsewhere, Janet Croft

Mythcon

In his seminal essay “On Fairy-stories” (1939), J.R.R. Tolkien introduces the concept of Faërian drama: experiences with a “realism and immediacy beyond the compass of any human mechanism,” where the viewer feels he is “bodily inside [a] Secondary World” but instead is “in a dream that some other mind is weaving.” This framing structure is used, though not called by this name, in many other texts. In a series of four previously published essays, I have attempted to explore and codify this concept. Picking up a theme hinted at but not explored in my previous papers, what happens when the …

Travel In Ryan Coogler’S Sinners: The Going-Ons Of The Smoke Stack Twins And Remmick, Mena Nizam

Mythcon

This paper explores the adventures of the Smoke Stack Twins, Remmick the Vampire, the themes of travel (via walking, running, driving) their jukebox joint, its placement in a sawmill along the Mississippi Travel/black issues/the character of Remmick. The theme is purely on travel and the symbolism of traveling while experiencing racism.

King Sorrow By Joe Hill. Reviewed By Phillip Fitzsimmons, Phillip Fitzsimmons

Mythprint Book Reviews

Book review of King Sorry by Joe Hill. Reviewed by Phillip Fitzsimmons.

Briefly Noted: Raven And Crow: The Mythology, Art And Science Of Our Favorite Black Birds By Ellen W. Williams By Ellen W. Williams, Janet Croft

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

Review of Raven and Crow: The Mythology, Art and Science of Our Favorite Black Birds by Ellen W. Williams, McFarland, 2025.

J.R.R. Tolkien's Women Of Middle-Earth: Including Sir Peter Jackson's Women Of Middle-Earth By Chris Barclay, Diane Riggins

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

No abstract provided.

So You've Landed In A Fantasy World By Josiah Lebowitz, Nancy Martsch

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

So You've Landed in a Fantasy World by Josiah Lebowitz; book review.

Mythopoeic Narrative In The Legend Of Zelda, Edited By Anthony G. Cirilla And Vincent E. Rone, Bianca L. Beronio

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

This review assesses Mythopoeic Narrative in The Legend of Zelda, edited by Anthony G. Cirilla and Vincent E. Rone, as a compelling contribution to fantasy studies, mythopoeia, and game studies that argues for the academic centrality of interactive narrative media. The volume positions The Legend of Zelda not merely as popular entertainment, but as a sophisticated mythic tradition; part of an evolving legendarium shaped through iterative storytelling, symbolic worldbuilding, and ethically structured heroic narrative. Emphasizing the interpretive significance of player engagement, the collection demonstrates how games uniquely merge narrative meaning with embodied action, transforming mythic structure into lived experience. …

The Fantasy Of J.R.R. Tolkien: Mythopoeia And The Recovery Of Creation By Robert J. Dobie, Hayden Bilbrey

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

A chapter by chapter review of Robert J. Dobie's 2024 book The Fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien: Mythopoeia and the Recovery of Creation. The review gives a chapter by chapter breakdown and asserts that though the book is more likely for academics, its approachable coverage of Tolkien's work and philosophical ideas also makes it a great read for anyone who is a fan of Middle-earth.

William Hope Hodgson And The Rise Of The Weird: Possibilities Of The Dark By Timothy S. Murphy, Timothy R. Granger

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

No abstract provided.

Icons Of The Fantastic: Illustrations Of Imaginative Literature, Douglas A. Anderson

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

Book review, by Douglas A. Anderson, of Icons of the Fantastic: Illustrations of Imaginative Literature from the Korshak Collection (2025), edited by Amanda T. Zehnder and David M. Brinley

The Mirror Of Desire Unbidden: Retrieving The Imago Dei In Tolkien And Late Medieval English Literature By Giovanni Carmine Costabile, Katherine Cooper Wyma

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

No abstract provided.

Russell Hoban: Faithful To The Strange By Graeme Wend-Walker, Nicholas Birns

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

This is a review of David Wend-Walker's critical book on the fiction of Russell Hoban.

Schools Of Magic: Learning In Children’S And Young Adult Fantasy Fiction By Megan H. Suttie, Sara Landaverde

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

This review examines Schools of Magic: Learning in Children’s and Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, in which Megan H. Suttie argues that fantastic school narrative exists as a distinct subgenre requiring a holistic critical framework. Reading magical school texts simultaneously as school stories, fantasy narratives, and representations of educational institutions, Suttie demonstrates how such works present processes of ideological formation, social reproduction, and readerly critique. Through chapters focusing on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle, Lev Grossman's Magicians trilogy, and Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching novels, Suttie illustrates the flexibility of her model across various fantasy texts. This …

Urban Fantasy: Exploring Modernity Through Magic, By Stefan Ekman, Phillip Fitzsimmons

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

No abstract provided.

Alice In Wonderland: Norton Critical Edition, Edited By Donald J. Gray, James Hamby

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

No abstract provided.

Imagining The Celtic Past In Modern Fantasy, Edited By Dimitra Fimi And Alistair J.P. Sims, Giovanni Carmine Costabile

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

No abstract provided.

Aubusson Weaves Tolkien: The Woven Adventure, Nancy Martsch

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

Aubusson weaves Tolkien. The woven adventure/ Aubusson tisse Tolkien. L’aventure tissée: review of the catalogue of the exhibition held at the Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie in Aubusson, France, June 28 - September 30, 2024. The exhibition showcased 14 tapestries and 2 carpets based on Tolkien's illustrations. This catalogue is available in both French and English editions.

A Real Taste For Fairy-Stories By Verlyn Flieger, Douglas C. Kane

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

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Colin Duriez, Justin W. Wiggins

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

Noted fantasy scholar Colin Duriez passed away in November 2025. He wrote on Lewis, Tolkien, the Inklings as a group, Dorothy L. Sayers, and other topics, and worked as a publisher and editor with Intervarsity Press, as well as teaching and lecturing.

In Memoriam: James Como, Anne-Frédérique Mochel-Caballero

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

Noted Lewis scholar James Como passed away in November 2025; this essay reviews his career and his warm personal interactions with the author.

Prometheus The Trickster: Prophecy, Power, And Deception, Chris Griglack

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

This article interprets Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound through the lens of trickster mythology, arguing that Prometheus functions as an atypical trickster deity whose primary tool is not deception of appearance but foreknowledge of fate. Rather than opposing Zeus through force, Prometheus manipulates divine power by controlling access to prophecy, transforming knowledge itself into a means of resistance. His gift of fire to humanity and his refusal to disclose the prophecy of Zeus’s downfall are shown to be parts of a single strategy: the calculated use of foreknowledge to constrain a tyrannical ruler. In this reading, prophecy operates less as an immutable …

Piranesi And Neptune: How Susanna Clarke’S Spellbinding Story Orbits Planet Narnia, Jennifer Agee

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

This essay is a critical consideration and celebration of the novel Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. The book makes clear references to the Chronicles of Narnia; these connections have been noted and explored elsewhere. But what hasn’t been noticed is Piranesi’s connection to Dr. Michael Ward’s critical theory as described in Planet Narnia (2008). Ward claims that the Narnia books are secretly organized around a medieval planetary scheme that incorporates the atmosphere, imagery, and influence of the “visible planets,” which C.S. Lewis believed were spiritual symbols of permanent value. This essay briefly explains Dr. Ward’s theory and argues that Susanna Clarke …

Recollections And Reflections On The Book That Created Itself, Verlyn Flieger

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

Too long for a fairy tale, too fanciful for a novel, too adult for children, too juvenile for adults. Dearth of sex bars it as romance and its cast of Elves and Dwarves—oh, and Hobbits—bans it as realism. For lack of a better word we call it fantasy, but the fact is that until The Lord of the Rings’ incursion onto the scene in 1954 there existed no such formal category or critical term by which to classify this ground-breaking work. How did The Lord of the Rings create the modern category of fantasy?

Signed, Unknown Friend: Hints Of William Lindsay Gresham’S Associates In A Curious Letter, G. Connor Salter

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

One of the more surprising items in William Lindsay Gresham's archives, a handwritten copy of the poem "Courage, Mon Ami!" with a cryptic note from a friend congratulating Gresham for a unspecified event, led to surprising discoveries about Gresham's circle of acquaintances, including famous writer friends who also knew his understudied brother.