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Introduction To The Special Issue On "J.R.R. Tolkien And Medieval Poets", Jane Beal Phd

Journal of Tolkien Research

This is an “Introduction” by Dr. Jane Beal to the Special Issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research on the theme of “J.R.R. Tolkien and Medieval Poets” in honor of Richard C. West.

It begins with an overview of previous scholarly work on the intersections of medieval poetry with Tolkien’s literary corpus. It explains the process of creating this special issue, which is a festschrift in West’s honor, and it gives an overview of the contents of each of the seven academic articles included in it by contributors Dr. Anna Smol, Dr. Christopher Vaccaro, Dr. Kristine Larsen, Dr. Deidre Dawson, …

Stories Of The Re-Awakening, Joseph Cecil Broadbent

Masters Theses

The Present piece takes a look at the realms of the fantastical and vital elements that help to create a best seller. The creative piece is a brief look into a hopefully soon to be published Fantasy/Science Fiction Young Adult Teenage series. Brief insights are followed by a prologue and four book beginnings to welcome the reader into its world.

Hamlet In Narnia: The Prince And The Poem In Lewis’S Chronicles Of Narnia, Sarah R. A. Waters

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

C.S. Lewis is little-known for his Shakespeare scholarship except perhaps for his lecture “Hamlet: The Prince or the Poem” for the British Academy (1942). This essay begins by discussing Lewis’s approach to the play and his desire to reenchant his audience with the play he had loved as a child, before character-criticism got in the way. It then explores how Lewis takes the Prince and the aspects he found most affective in Hamlet out of the play and explores them, imaginatively, in another world: recasting them “for children” in Narnia. The essay considers Hamlet in The Silver Chair in …

The Hag O’ The Hills: Terry Pratchett’S Tiffany Aching As Sovereignty Goddess, Eileen Donaldson

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

The Hag o’ the Hills: Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching as Sovereignty Goddess

In her book Folklore of the Disc Jacqueline Simpson argues persuasively that “Whatever is folklore on Earth finds its mirror in the reality of the disc” (14). Following her, I propose that a study of recurring images, motifs and allusions in the Tiffany books suggests that Tiffany might be considered the Discworld’s reflection of Earth’s Celtic Sovereignty Goddess. For anyone who has read the Witches books, even a superficial consideration of this statement rings true, given that the Celtic Sovereignty Goddesses were bound to the land and were …

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

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

Yes, this is the biggest issue of Mythlore since the 458-page Centenary Conference joint issue with the Tolkien Society in 1996. It’s still true that anything over 300 pages triggers a bump in the postage to mail the issue, but the income from our electronic subscriptions can subsidize an occasional issue over this limit—like this one—without an increase to print subscription prices.

J.R.R. Tolkien’S Utopianism And The Classics By Hamish Williams, Robert T. Tally

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

No abstract provided.

A Guidebook To Monsters: Philosophy, Religion, And The Paranormal, By Ryan J. Stark, Mark A. Brians Ii

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

No abstract provided.

Tolkien’S Lúthien: From Life To Art To Life As Art, Verlyn Flieger

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

Like other of his Great Tales, the stories of Húrin and Túrin, Tolkien’s story of Lúthien grew over time in both verse and prose, moving through various versions from a comic fairy tale with a child narrator reminiscent of Marie de France to a romance in rhyming couplets imitative of Chretien de Troyes. Christopher Tolkien gives an account of his father’s development of the story of Lúthien in Beren and Lúthien, the third and final volume in his Great Tales series.

My intent here is less sweeping but more focused. I want to dig more narrowly but also more …

Fantasy, Colonialism, And The Middle Landscape, Brian Attebery

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

Weaving together Anglo-American folklore, the Indian captivity narrative genre, and science fiction and fantasy with Midwest settings, Attebery explores the lasting influence of the pastoral chronotope of the “middle landscape” and its entanglement with colonialism and empire. Scholar Guest of Honor Address, Mythcon 53.

The Catholic Imaginations Of J.R.R. Tolkien And Oscar Wilde, Frazier A. Johnson

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

This paper uses terminology from The Catholic Imagination by Andrew Greeley to explore the influence of Catholicism on the writings of Oscar Wilde and J.R.R. Tolkien. Greeley asserts that Catholics see metaphors for the transcendent in matter, value community within a well-ordered hierarchy, and sanctify suffering—qualities that abound in the writings of Wilde and Tolkien. I begin with short biographical sketches of both authors, paying special attention to Wilde’s and Tolkien’s varied involvement with orthodox Catholicism. I then move into a discussion about both authors’ aesthetic philosophies and the similar value they see in art. Next, I detail the authors’ …

The Wart, The Wizard, And The Cathedral: Applying C.S. Lewis's Intertextuality Theory To T.H. White And J.K. Rowling, G. Connor Salter

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

Applying C.S. Lewis' metaphor of authors being cathedral-builders to understand intertextual writing (combining influences with innovation) provides a fascinating lens to understand T.H. White's Arthurian work. Exploring how White's The Once and Future King influenced J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (particularly her characters Vernon and Dudley Dursley) provides a particularly interesting example of how fantasy authors use intertextuality to create original works.

“The Company At St. Anne’S” And “The God’S Gardeners”: What C.S. Lewis And Margaret Atwood Teach Us About Caring For Our Planet, Anne-Frédérique Mochel-Caballero

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

At first sight, That Hideous Strength (1945) by C.S. Lewis and the MaddAddam trilogy (2003, 2009, 2013) by Margaret Atwood seem to have little in common. Yet, despite differences of time and place, and approach of the authors, there are startling and generative similarities between the two communities they depict, the Company at St. Anne’s and the God’s Gardeners. In considering the groups' opposition to reductionist technocracy and a shared set of principles, Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy seems to be carrying on the heart of Lewis' dystopic That Hideous Strength as effective ecological and ethical speculative fiction.

Tolkien The Playwright: Manuscript Revisions And Faërian Dramas In "The Homecoming Of Beorhtnoth", Anna Smol

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

Tolkien is not usually considered a playwright, even though his verse drama, “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son,” is a unique example of the genre. It is Tolkien’s only published play and historical fiction, as well as a unique poetic - dramatic genre, a modern alliterative verse play, which Tolkien developed over many years in numerous drafts, now held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and the Brotherton Library in Leeds. These manuscript drafts allow us to trace Tolkien’s stage directions, which reveal that he imagined this to be a play for presentation on stage. This essay examines Tolkien’s statements …

The Rhetoric Of Temporality In C.S. Lewis’S Works: A Study Of Time In Mere Christianity And The Chronicles Of Narnia, Lorraine Nasser

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

This article explores the depiction of time in the works of C. S. Lewis, offering an analysis rooted in a reading of select passages that highlight issues of temporality in Lewis’ works. The select passages are from the following books: Mere Christianity; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Magician’s Nephew; and The Last Battle. The theoretical framework for this article is derived mainly from Aristotle’s perennial contribution to rhetoric, adopting his definition of rhetoric as: “The faculty of discovering, in the particular case, the available means of persuasion.” Moreover, this paper engages with published readership on Lewis’ …

Elmar, Aerin, And Aredhel: Female Enslavement In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Clare Moore

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

Argues that Elmar, Aerin, and Aredhel’s narratives convey experiences of female enslavement. Understanding these characters as enslaved reveals the violent nature of their experiences, necessitating an interpretation of their relationships with their husbands/enslavers as sexual assault. Their narratives reveal patterns within the legendarium connecting beauty and violence. However, these three stories also demonstrate Tolkien’s interest in portraying this kind of story and its value to the legendarium. These narratives offer a unique female perspective on loss and lived experience within the legendarium.

Hell On Earth In Garth Nix’S Old Kingdom: Dark Jouissance And The Dead Mother, John Rosegrant

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

The Old Kingdom’s River of Death is a hell impinging on life: The Dead take hideous Boschian forms, and helped by necromancers wielding “Free Magic” they often emerge from Death. Necromancers, Free Magic, and the Dead are battled by Abhorsens wielding “Charter magic,” Free Magic that has been transformed by symbols. Immersion in the Charter gives a joyous experience of connection to all life. Symbolization must unite with Free Magic to create this experience; symbolization alone is inadequate, as we see in the example of mundanely rational people who dwell in a neighboring land. But the source of joyous access …

The Inconsistencies Of Galadriel: The Influence Of Earlier Legendarium In The Lord Of The Rings, Alexander Retakh

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

Explores how various tales of the earlier legendarium (History of Middle-earth, vol. 1-5) influence The Lord of the Rings’s development. The connection stretches beyond the obvious adoption of previously composed myths to self-borrowing of settings and characters. In particular, analyzes the character of Galadriel, who often seems to parallel Melian, another "Lady of the Wood." Though potentially a composite of many influences, Galadriel was written quickly as if its author followed an already fixed model. But her story contains what Chirstopher Tolkien called "severe inconsistencies" suggesting that this model was not fully aligned with the narrative, i.e. …

A Bleak, Barren Take: A Response To “Women And Fertility In The Lord Of The Rings”, Clare Moore, Leah Hagan

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

A response to Dylan Henderson's article on "Women and Fertility in The Lord of the Rings" (#142), highlighting some of the problematic ecocritical and gender essentialist premises of his argument.

"I'M Studying Beowulf With Beowulf Himself", Matthew Thompson-Handell

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

Speculates that Tolkien may not have been the first to treat Beowulf in the way that he did (at least in the terms described by Professor Drout) by introducing the teaching and scholarship of Harvard professor George Lyman Kittredge (1860-1941).

Friar Jack, The Science-Fiction Apologist: Exploring “The Friar Of Oxford” By William Lindsay Gresham, G. Connor Salter, Sørina Higgins

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

Few Inklings scholars have explored William Lindsay Gresham’s life outside of the fact that he was married to Joy Davidman. His poem “The Friar of Oxford,” published here for the first time, shows a surprising level of engagement with C.S. Lewis’s ideas, combining war imagery with references to the Ransom Cycle and a “mushroom cloud” reference that may show he explored one of Lewis’s literary influences. The poem’s contents add to existing Gresham-Inklings scholarship, and show Gresham accomplishing the same goals that the Inklings and their associates like Dorothy L. Sayers accomplished in their “escapist” or mythopoeic works.

Charles Godfrey Leland And His Magical Tales, Edited By Jack Zipes, Toni Thibodeaux

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

No abstract provided.

The Wizard Of Mecosta: Russell Kirk, Gothic Fiction, And The Moral Imagination, By Camilo Peralta, G. Connor Salter

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

Camilo Peralta’s The Wizard of Mecosta gives the first detailed look at Russell Kirk’s fiction, from his ghost stories to his three gothic novels. While the work particularly emphasizes Kirk’s gothic influences, Peralta also explores references to T.S. Eliot and Charles Williams in his fiction, as well as comments in his nonfiction about Lewis and Williams writing “tales of the preternatural.” The discussion provides important material for seeing Kirk as an Inklings-influenced author.

The Literary Role Of History In The Fiction Of J.R.R. Tolkien, By Nicholas Birns, María Fernández Portaencasa

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

No abstract provided.

The Major And The Missionary: Letters Of Warren Hamilton Lewis And Blanche Biggs, Edited By Diana Pavlac Glyer, Bruce R. Johnson

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

No abstract provided.

The Phantomwise Tarot And Guidebook, By Erin Morgenstern, Emily E. Auger

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

Review of The Phantomwise Tarot and Guidebook [78 pp, illustrated]. Morgenstern, E. New York: Clarkson Potter/Publishers. An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. © 2022. ISBN 978-0-593-57911-4. $24.99.

Pity, Power, And Tolkien’S Ring: To Rule The Fate Of Many, By Thomas P. Hillman, Giovanni Carmine Costabile

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

No abstract provided.

Science, Technology, And Magic In The Witcher: A Medievalist Spin On Modern Monsters, By Kristine Larsen, Amber Lehning

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

This article critiques Kristine Larsen’s Science, Technology, and Magic in THE WITCHER: A Medievalist Spin on Modern Monsters. Larsen’s wide-ranging discussion views the Witcherverse through several critical lenses and explores the ways this modern myth speaks to some important questions of ethics, science, and philosophy. The review evaluates Larsen’s coverage of the full expanse of the transmedia Witcher phenomenon.

Representing Middle-Earth: Tolkien, Form, And Ideology, By Robert T. Tally, Jr, Norbert Schürer

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

No abstract provided.

Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography, By Holly Ordway, And C.S. Lewis: Spirituality For Mere Christians, By William Griffin, Martina Juričková

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

The paper compares compares two books that focus on mapping the spiritual life of the two greatest Inklings, Tolkien and Lewis. One of them is Holly Ordway’s newest publication, Tolkien’s Faith, and the other William Griffin’s C. S. Lewis: Spirituality for Mere Christians. The paper emphasizes the fact that despite being different in style and structure and published more than 20 years apart, both the publications are essentially similar in nature and content.

What Barfield Thought: An Introduction To The Work Of Owen Barfield, By Landon Loftin And Max Leyf, Katherine Sas

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

Landon Loftin and Max Leyf's What Barfield Thought serves as an introduction to the key themes and concepts running through the work of Owen Barfield, the so-called "first and last Inkling." This digestible yet rigorous volume includes chapters on Barfield's primary areas of interest: Language, Poetry, The Evolution of Consciousness, Final Participation, and Science, Technology, and the Crisis of Meaning. With each chapter building on the last, this study makes an excellent primer to Barfield's often difficult and esoteric ideas.