Tag Archives: literature

Affirming Creation in the Lord of the Rings #earthday

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Perhaps it isn’t that surprising that J.R.R. Tolkien’s books are so environmentally sensitive. Like Sam Gamgee, Tolkien loved things that grow and good tilled earth. He loved walks–long walks beyond his garden through English towns and villages and vast, untouched … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Reflections | Tagged creation, creation care, Earth Day, environment, fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Legolas, literature, Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Treebeard, WWI | 5 Comments

An Update on the 700,000th Hit, or Everybody Needs a Little Time Away

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Dear Readers, With 876 Posts, 6,929 Followers, 15,179 Comments–3,821 of them mine–A Pilgrim in Narnia just passed 700,000 viewers a couple of weeks ago. The stats are pretty good for a blog that hits at a fairly high intellectual level–and … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links | Tagged blog, Blogging, C.S. Lewis, Inklings, literature, PhD, PhD Research, theology, world-building | 29 Comments

What Counts as an Old Book? A Response by Dale Nelson

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

This is a response to “What Counts as a Classic? A Conversation with C. S. Lewis and Goodreads,” a blog post I wrote on 18 Dec. 2018 centred on images like the one above. There was quite a conversation that … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs | Tagged Arthuriana, Bible, C.S. Lewis, canon, Cultural Capital, Dale Nelson, Harold Bloom, John Guillory, literature, The Western Canon, University | 26 Comments

C.S. Lewis And J.R.R. Tolkien: The Unpayable Debt of Writing Friends (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

This year I introduced an occasional feature I call “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own vault or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds, Lewis Biography, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Conversion, fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Out of the Silent Planet, publishing dreams, The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit, Tolkien, writing | 3 Comments

The Sea a Sham Born of Uniformity: On Subverting the Normal with Gene Wolfe (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged Anne McCaffrey, books, fantasy, Gene Wolfe, Harry Potter, literature, myth, Science Fiction, The Shadow of The Torturer, Ursula K. Le Guin, ursula le guin, writing, Writing Wednesdays | 11 Comments

Idea-Seeds in C.S. Lewis’ Letters (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

This summer I introduced an occasional feature I call “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own vault or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This might be an … Continue reading →

Posted in Letters, Memorable Quotes, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, ideas, J.R.R. Tolkien, letters, literature, Out of the Silent Planet, Ransom Trilogy, The Problem of Pain, writing | 16 Comments

Lewis, Tolkien and Different Views of Fan Fiction

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

One of the assignments that I give my students, adapted from the late C.S. Lewis scholar Dr. Bruce Edwards, is for students to get into groups and sketch out an 8th Chronicle of Narnia in the form of a book … Continue reading →