English Language and Literature Commons^™

Tolkien’S Tom Bombadil: An Enigma “(Intentionally)”, Suzanne Jacobs

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

Tolkien’s Tom Bombadil is a notoriously mysterious character, standing somewhat apart from the central narrative, who has elicited debate and speculation among Tolkien’s readers ever since The Lord of the Rings was first published. This paper argues that Tom’s identity can be read not only as enigmatic, but as drawing on the enigmata, the riddle tradition, of the ancient and medieval world. The way in which Tom is presented amounts to a purposely obscure description that invites engagement and speculation from the reader, and that also depends for its reading on readers’ familiarity with a specific shared tradition. A number …

What The Riddle-Makers Have Hidden Behind The Fire Of A Dragon, Laurence Smith

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

Classical mythology, folklore, and fairy tales are full of dragons which exhibit fantastic attributes such as breathing fire, hoarding treasure, or possessing more than one head. This study maintains that some of these puzzling phenomena may derive from riddles, and will focus particularly on some plausible answers that refer to a real creature that has for millennia been valued and hunted by man: the honeybee.

Tolkien And The Classics, Willow Dipasquale

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

No abstract provided.

Further Up & Further In: Understanding Narnia, By Joseph Pearce, Chad Chisholm

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

No abstract provided.

Tolkien And Philosophy, Edited By Roberto Arduini And Claudio A. Testi, David Emerson

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

No abstract provided.

Informing The Inklings: George Macdonald And The Victorian Roots Of Modern Fantasy, Edited By Michael Partridge And Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson, Tiffany Brooke Martin

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

No abstract provided.

“Something Has Gone Crack”: New Perspectives On J.R.R. Tolkien In The Great War, Edited By Janet Brennan Croft And Annika Röttinger, James Prothero

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

No abstract provided.

Utter East, Eugene Warren

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

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A Short Bibliography Of Narnia Criticism, Mythopoeic Society Staff

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

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Narnia As Myth, Peter Kreeft

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Considers various definitions of myth and shows how literary myths deliberately created by an individual differ from myths that develop organically within a society. Concludes the truth within myth is what is important. Includes an extensive quotation from The Last Battle.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

A Comparison Of The Calormenes With The Arabs, Turks, And Ancient Babylonians, David Ralph

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

Notes some of the parallels between Lewis’s Calormenes and traditional Arabian society and government, Babylonian religion, Turkish military dress and tactics, and general Middle Eastern geography and architecture.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

‘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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0