Monthly Archives: July 2015

Christmas in July with J.R.R. Tolkien (1976)

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

What a find! At a recent yard sale a good friend (@RhonDawg) found a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters and she was good enough to give it to me. Published by his daughter-in-law in 1976 on the 3rd anniversary … Continue reading →

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The Revised Psalter by C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

Until the time I was forced to hammer out the details for my chronological reading of C.S. Lewis’ works, I thought that he wrote Reflections on the Psalms out of his work with an Anglican committee to update the Book of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | 6 Comments

“So Multifarious and So True”: The C.S. Lewis Blurb for the Fellowship of the Ring

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

C.S. Lewis was the first Tolkien nerd. He was certainly not the last. Middle Earth geeks roam the land, tucking into coffee shop corners with beat up Ballantine editions of The Silmarillion or greeting one another in Quenya at insurance seminars. I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

“I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran from “The Desolation of Smaug”

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

A little fun and fire for today’s Feature Friday post. One thing I’ve loved about Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films is how the soundtracks draw all the visual and narrative elements together. I have also liked some … Continue reading →

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Can You See Beauty in Things You Disagree With? The Ihsan of Evangelicalism

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

I remember when I first stumbled across the word “Ihsan” in my studies. It is from a mystical path in Islam, and is best translated “Doing What is Beautiful.” As soon as I read the word, I knew what it … Continue reading →

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C.S. Lewis’ Philosophical Letters About Mice (for Susan Call Hutchison)

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

I posted on Monday about a cheeky poem that Lewis wrote about Talking Beasts. You can read about it here. One of our long-term readers here at A Pilgrim in Narnia, Susan Call Hutchison, responded by saying how she loved … Continue reading →

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Note: Chance to Win JOY by Abigail Santamaria Before It Ships!

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

I wanted to let all readers of A Pilgrim in Narnia know about this contest at Essential C.S. Lewis. Santamaria has written the most extensive biography of the woman who captured C.S. Lewis’ heart and tugged out his imagination into … Continue reading →

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On a Picture by Chirico: A Proposal about the Creation of Narnia

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

What sorts of things was C.S. Lewis thinking about as he made the sudden turn to Narnia? When you look at the projects on Lewis’ desk, you would hardly guess that he would turn to a children’s fairy tale. Here … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Lewis Biography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 71 Comments

A Cheeky Poem about Talking Beasts by C.S. Lewis

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

The casual reader of C.S. Lewis might be surprised to know that much of his published poetry found its way into Punch, a British weekly that was known for its spicy humour and saucy cartoons. Part of the reason Lewis subscribed … Continue reading →

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“A Novelist’s Business is Lying”: What SciFi Can Do by Ursula K. Le Guin

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

When a re-encountered the books as an adult, I was thoroughly won over by Ursula K. Le Guin‘s Earthsea Cycle. I tend to write about writers who are rooted in deep worldviews. It is not that every good book is … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments