Monthly Archives: October 2017

Wormwood Reborn? A Screwtapian Look at The Gates by John Connolly (A Little Hallowe’en Demonic Lit)

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

One of the great perks as a university teacher is that I am constantly in conversation with students about good books. While this occasionally gets me into conversations about Twilight (which I did read, but only with great commitment to my … Continue reading →

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The Beardmore Sword: How a Viking sword ended up in Northern Ontario (Friday Feature)

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

In 1931, the so-called “Beardmore sword” was reportedly discovered in Thunder Bay, Ontario, alongside several other Norse artifacts. James Edward Dodd claimed he found them while prospecting for gold in the area. The objects appear to be Norwegian in manufacture with estimated … Continue reading →

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The Words C.S. Lewis Made Up: Rebunker

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

C.S. Lewis was an acclaimed children’s writer, setting the stage for generations of children’s books that speak in a new way to kids and adults with curious minds. Behind this children’s work was C.S. Lewis’ experience as a teacher of English literature, a writer … Continue reading →

Posted in Studies in Words | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Stranger Thing Season 2, October 27

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

Stranger Things season 2 drops this weekend. I’m not the only one who is excited. Stranger Things won the Best Ensemble Drama at the 2017 Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, as well as MTV’s TV Show of the Year and a few Emmys. Clearly, … Continue reading →

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The Words C.S. Lewis Made Up: Charientocracy

Posted on October 18, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

C.S. Lewis was an acclaimed children’s writer, setting the stage for generations of children’s books that speak in a new way to kids and adults with curious minds. Behind this children’s work was C.S. Lewis’ experience as a teacher of English literature, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Studies in Words | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

The Words C.S. Lewis Made Up: Part 1: Bulverism

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

As far as I know, Lewis never used the phrase, “wordsmith.” When it comes to writing, he preferred images of stone, greenery, and song to metaphors of fire and steel. Yet there were times that Lewis turned to the forge … Continue reading →

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Elf compounds

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

Originally posted on words that you were saying:
In comparing the hyphenated words, I have reached the elf compounds.  OED attests all of the words below.  Only “elf-fire” and “elf-friend” overlap with the elf compounds of The Hobbit! I am particularly…

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On Listening to Your Life in Frederick Buechner’s “The Sacred Journey”

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

One of the series of books that I read every couple of years is Frederick Buechner’s set of four memoirs written over 20 years or so. It helps that I use three of these books in my teaching at Regent … Continue reading →

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