‘The Chapel of the Thorn’ by Charles Williams {BookTalk}

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

As someone who got to see the manuscript of The Chapel of the Thorn: A Dramatic Poem but not to read it, I was thrilled with Sørina Higgins’ transcription and introduction of this early Charles Williams poems. I wasn’t surprised when it was nominated for a Mythopoeic Award. James at the Tolkienist blog has a review that is worth reading.

About Brenton Dickieson

“A Pilgrim in Narnia” is a blog project in reading and talking about the work of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, the Inklings, L.M. Montgomery, and the worlds they created. As a "Faith, Fantasy, and Fiction" blog, we cover topics like children’s literature, myths and mythology, fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, poetry, theology, cultural criticism, art and writing. This blog includes my thoughts as I read through my favourite writings and reflect on my own life and culture. In this sense, I am a Pilgrim in Narnia--or Middle Earth, or Fairyland, or Avonlea. I am often peeking inside of wardrobes, looking for magic bricks in urban alleys, or rooting through yard sale boxes for old rings. If something here captures your imagination, leave a comment, “like” a post, share with your friends, or sign up to receive Narnian Pilgrim posts in your email box. Brenton Dickieson (PhD, Chester) is a father, husband, friend, university lecturer, and freelance writer from Prince Edward Island, Canada. You can follow him: www.aPilgrimInNarnia.com Twitter (X) @BrentonDana Instagram @bdickieson Facebook @aPilgrimInNarnia
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9 Responses to ‘The Chapel of the Thorn’ by Charles Williams {BookTalk}

  1. David Llewellyn Dodds says:
    July 28, 2018 at 11:29 pm

    Thanks for bringing this to our attention! (And good to make the acquaintance of another interesting-looking Inklings blog in this way!)

    I expect a lot of us first read one of Williams’s novels, but James convincingly suggests here that The Chapel of the Thorn is a good and likely place to start, too!

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson says:
      July 29, 2018 at 12:23 am

      For me it was The Place of the Lion, but Chapel of the Thorn wasn’t that far after. I got to read it in draft form, prepping for publication. It is far more stable than the Arthurian poetry, but less approachable than, say, War in Heaven.

      Reply
      • David Llewellyn Dodds says:
        July 29, 2018 at 7:59 pm

        Yes, well said! It’s more like the first novel Williams wrote – except we don’t know exactly how much that was revised when it was eventually published as Shadows of Ecstasy – but I think The Chapel is more approachable than that first-and-fifth novel, too. It’s curious and interesting that that novel is the first big imaginative work that is a whole (rather than a collection of shorter poems), after The Chapel (and about 13 years after – and just after Williams was working on a revision of The Chapel)! It is fascinating that there is such a great step in approachability from the first novel (even in its revised form as Shadows of Ecstasy) to the second novel, War in Heaven (which was the first published).

        (Hope I have not said all that note of agreement in too complicated and confusing a way!)

        Reply

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