Tag Archives: J.R.R. Tolkien

A Weekend of Reading to Change Your Literary Life

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

If you are like me, you have spent much of your adult life as a reader catching up on a severe lack of education. It is common that I am out with friends and when the topic of books comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Arthur C. Clarke, Charles Williams, Charlotte Brontë, Goethe, H.P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Kurt Vonnegut, L.M. Montgomery, Margaret Atwood, Reading, Shakespeare, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, Virginia Woolf, William Morris | 14 Comments

Why Did Star Wars Stick? #MayThe4thBeWithYou #StarWarsDay

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

It’s an interesting question. Cheesy lines, over-the-top acting, zippers up the back of the monster’s costume–how many films just like it have found their way into the Betamax bins of history? Yet, Star Wars lives–not only lives, but thrives, growing … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Reviews | Tagged #MayThe4thBeWithYou, A New Hope, Dune, film, George Lucas, J.R.R. Tolkien, Larry Niven, May the Fourth, myth, mythopoiea, Ringworld, Ron Howard, Science Fiction, Star Wars, That '70s Show, The Force Awakens | 9 Comments

C.S. Lewis’ Pretty Awful and Peculiarly Interesting Letter on Writing

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

How many times have you heard of the struggling writer providentially bumping into an established author or writing a letter? And then that writer on the edge of hopelessness becomes the recipient of a little piece of advice or encouragement … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Memorable Quotes, On Writing | Tagged Arthur C. Clarke, books, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Joy Davidman, letters, Letters to an America Lady, Letters to Children, On Writing, Perelandra, Roger Lancelyn Green, Surprised by Joy, writing | 8 Comments

Resources on David Lyndsay’s Cult Classic “A Voyage to Arcturus”

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a scathing review of David Lindsay’s trippy SF morality tale, A Voyage to Arcturus (1920). C.S. Lewis loved this book–and so does genius actor Paul Giamatti, according to the rather peculiar, subtly hypnotic, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes, News & Links | Tagged A Voyage to Arcturus, C.S. Lewis, David Lindsay, Harold Bloom, J.R.R. Tolkien, Paul Giamatti, Philip Pullman, The Western Canon, Vakula | 5 Comments

“C.S. Lewis’ Arthuriad: Survey and Speculation” by Brenton Dickieson

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

Whatever else they had in common and apart, one of the features of the central Inklings–J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams–is that they each have left their Arthuriad incomplete. In the case of Tolkien and Lewis, they abandoned early narrative … Continue reading →

Posted in Inklings and Arthur, Lewis Biography, Lewis' Essays | Tagged Arthuriana, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Inklings and Arthur, Inklings and King Arthur, J.R.R. Tolkien, mythology, Narnia, The Quest of Bleheris | 38 Comments

“Tiny Fairies: J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Errantry” and Martyn Skinner’s Sir Elfadore and Mabyna” by Dale Nelson

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

Many will remember Sørina Higgins’ playfully entitled paper, ‘King Arthur was an Elf!’, which she has described as “the seed” of The Inklings and King Arthur. But how have various Arthurian writers down the ages envisaged elves – and other … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, Inklings and Arthur | Tagged A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Alms for Oblivion, Arthuriana, C.S. Lewis, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Inklings, Inklings and Arthur, J.R.R. Tolkien, Martyn Skinner, Morte Darthur, On Fairy-Stories, Shakespeare, Sir Elfadore and Mabyna, Sorina Higgins, The Inklings and King Arthur | 31 Comments

Call for Papers: 2018 C.S. Lewis & Friends Colloquium at Taylor University

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

While I am looking forward to the biennial L.M. Montgomery Conference in June here in PEI, and while ISRLC in Europe is pretty cool (Uppsala, SE) and I can’t wait to get to my next Mythcon (2018 is Atlanta, GA) or … Continue reading →