Other Classics Commons^™

The Enduring Enigma Of Tom Bombadil: From Riddlic Styling To Metaphorical Encounter, Derek Simon

Journal of Tolkien Research

Conversationalists and critics alike continue to take delight in Tom Bombadil, yet remain perplexed by his enduring enigma. Interpretive positioning appears to be determined by the semantics of the term enigma deployed and how it intersects with any of the several textual standpoints adopted. The primary contention of this article is that the enigma is intentionally both a riddle (noun) and a riddling (verb). Reading the enigma through literary features of the Old English riddle-song can yield an alternate interpretation of Tom Bombadil that has received scant attention in critical commentary. In support of this contention, I propose to read …

The Metaphor Of Ekphrasis: Or Why Does Your Ekphrasis Look Different From Mine?, William Butler

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Will Butler

Professor Kennedy

ENGL_445K_01

Seminar: Epic Tradition

The Metaphor of Ekphrasis:

or Why does your Ekphrasis look different from mine?

Ekphrasis is the ultimate extrapolation of symbols and metaphors. It is a set of words purported to describe a physical object that carries its own symbolism and, sometimes, portrays allusions to other narratives. Like the idea of a sign, words represent ekphrasis but, like a metaphor, ekphrasis represents something other than itself. This paper illustrates how a narrative description of an object can be filled with emotion and imagery, while being interpreted in distinctly diverse ways by individuals reading …

Time Theory In The Short Fiction Of Jorge Luis Borges: The Language Of "Reality", Lyn Lamkin

Graduate Theses

Time boundaries delimit mankind's concerns while subtly affecting the perspective men have on all ontological questions. However, Jorge Luis Borges' short fiction develops an a-temporal perspective that denies the distinctions of a past, present, and future, obscuring traditional human conceptions of time and reality. He repetitively uses cycles and labyrinths as spatial metaphors for time to emphasize man's Inability to escape the maze of existence and to define a final reality that he can order. Borges' fiction suggests that only by trying to understand what exists beyond our universe in an unknowable. Infinite time continuum can human reality be ordered …