Tag Archives: Lord of the Rings

Tolkien’s “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size)” in Context: A Note on Books and Their Authors (#hobbitday)

Posted on September 22, 2020 by

I don’t know that there is any more famous J.R.R. Tolkien quote than his claim to, in fact, be a hobbit. It’s really quite a delightful statement and worth quoting more fully: I am in fact a Hobbit (in all … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

George Macdonald’s “The Princess and the Goblin”: The Animated Movie with a Note by ChrisC

Posted on May 12, 2020 by

C.S. Lewis once observed that with “every tick of the clock, in every inhabited part of the world, an unimaginable richness and variety of ‘history’ falls off the world into total oblivion.” It’s a somewhat cruel fate that’s familiar to … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, News & Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 52 Comments

Readings from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Tale Of Beren and Lúthien, with The Center from the Study of C.S. Lewis and Friends

Posted on April 17, 2020 by

Hi folks. This event is past, but The Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis and Friends at Taylor University are having a digital Inklings “tea” on Friday’s at 4pm. They are an archive, a host of strong Inklings-informed study … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, News & Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Corey Olsen’s Exploring The Hobbit: A 10 Minute Book Talk

Posted on February 12, 2020 by

From my point of view, there are three (linked) things that make Corey Olsen’s Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit an effective companion to one of the most important pieces of literature in the 20th century: 1. A focussed close-reading of the text, … Continue reading →

Posted in 10 Minute Book Talk, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted on January 3, 2020 by

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

A Brief History of Fantastic Maps, A Story Map by Johnny Eaton (Friday Feature)

Posted on September 27, 2019 by

For today’s Friday Feature I wanted to share this gorgeous website, “A Brief History of Fantastic Maps, from Paleolithic Cave Drawings to the Futuristic Possibility of Immersive Geographies.” I have been curious about GIS utilities for reading fantasy literature, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, Fictional Worlds | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

“Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to be Said” by C.S. Lewis (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on May 30, 2019 by

Last 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 blog-hoard 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, Memorable Quotes, News & Links, On Writing, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 54 Comments

My Defiant Appreciation of the Biopic Tolkien

Posted on May 13, 2019 by

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 63 Comments

Getting Ready for TOLKIEN: John Garth and Other Resources

Posted on May 10, 2019 by

I don’t know if it is rumour or just the coolness of the social media age, but über Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert has been sent a copy of John Garth’s Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, News & Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Affirming Creation in the Lord of the Rings #earthday

Posted on April 22, 2019 by

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments