Tag Archives: art

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 130th Birthday (#TolkienBirthdayToast)

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

As J.R.R. Tolkien was born about 68,374,080 hours ago, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor on his birthday, 3 January 2022 (see here). After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged art, Bilbo, Blogging, books, Digital Humanities, film adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Garth, Leaf by Niggle, literature, Lord of the Rings, Mythopoeia, Peter Jackson, The Hobbit, Tolkien BIrthday Toast, Tolkien Society | 5 Comments

Christmas With J.R.R. Tolkien: The Father Christmas Letters

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

My little 2015 piece on J.R.R. Tolkien’s funny and endearing Father Christmas Letters has had quite a spin around the internet this week. I cannot think of a better Christmas note for you, dear readers of A Pilgrim in Narnia, … Continue reading →

Posted in Letters, Memorable Quotes | Tagged art, art of letter writing, children's literature, Christmas, Christopher Tolkien, fantasy, Father Christmas, J.R.R. Tolkien, letters, literature, Lord of the Rings, myth, Santa Claus, The Hobbit, writing | 14 Comments

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 129th Birthday

Posted on January 3, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

To celebrate Tolkien’s twelfthty-ninth (or eleventy-nineteenth–a joke that expires this year) birthday on 3 January 2021, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor (see here). After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in … Continue reading →

Harry Potter at Home and at the British Library Online

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Last week I talked about some Audible learning resources –including “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by Stephen Fry in English, but also in many other languages–and how J.K. Rowling opened up copyright restrictions for teachers and parents to help … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, News & Links | Tagged art, books, British Library, fantasy, Fictional Universes, folklore, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, magic, manuscripts, Medieval Cosmology, writing | 11 Comments

Qu4rtets: Makoto Fujimura and A Response to T.S. Eliot in Word, Image, and Sound (Friday Feature)

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I am reading Makoto Fujimura’s intricate, personal, and intelligent 2016 book, Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering. This book weaves Fujimura’s particular approach to Nigonga painting, “slow art” as he calls it, with Shūsaku Endō stunning novel, Silence, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday | Tagged art, Bruce Herman, Christopher Theofanidis, Japan, Jeremy Begbie, Makoto Fujimura, Shūsaku Endō, Silence, T.S. Eliot, theology and art, theology and literature | 1 Comment

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 128th Birthday #TolkienBirthdayToast

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

To celebrate Tolkien’s twelfthty-eighth (or eleventy-eighteenth) birthday on 3 January 2020, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor (see here). After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged art, Bilbo, Blogging, books, Digital Humanities, film adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien, Leaf by Niggle, literature, Lord of the Rings, Mythopoeia, Peter Jackson, The Hobbit, Tolkien BIrthday Toast, Tolkien Society | 10 Comments

The Gift (and Curse) of Asher Lev

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

The Gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Gift of Asher Lev is a lovely, evocative book. It is my first time reading the sequel to My Name is Asher Lev, which I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged art, Chaim Potok, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Fyodor Dostoevsky, holocaust, Jane Austen, Judaism, My Name is Asher Lev, New York City, Shoah, The Gift of Asher Lev, Theology of Culture, vocation | 19 Comments

The Tolkien Film and the Problem of Beauty: Guest Blog at the Forefront Festival

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

I was very much struck by the recently released Tolkien biopic and tried to capture a few of my thoughts about it in my note from last week. I also received an invitation from the Forefront Festival blog to share … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged art, biopics, faith, J.R.R. Tolkien, love, theology and art, Tolkien | 57 Comments

My Defiant Appreciation of the Biopic Tolkien

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

I live on the edge of the continent, on a small island in the North Atlantic. This “lonely island” I call home is more like Hobbiton than the majestic and magical sanctuary of Tol Eressëa of J.R.R. Tolkien’s early mythology. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged Anne of Green Gables, art, biopics, film adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lily Collins, Lord of the Rings, Madeleine L'Engle, mythology, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Jackson, Prince Edward Island, Rocketman, The Hobbit, Tolkien, Tolkien and the Great War | 68 Comments

Bono and Eugene Peterson on the Psalms and Art (Friday Feature)

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

Last week I wrote about the passing of Eugene Peterson and his impact on my spiritual and literary life. In particular, it was Eugene’s classes that led me to a recovery and reimagining of my vocation of writing and scholarship and … Continue reading →