Tag Archives: Middle Earth

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Texts on The (Down)Fall of Númenor

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

Because of the fire and storm digital conversation about the Amazon Prime series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, some may have missed a little bit of good Tolkien news. HarperCollins is releasing another Middle-earth legendarium book–an … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links | Tagged Alan Lee, Beren and Lúthien, Brian Sibley, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle Earth, The Children of Húrin, The Downfall of Númenor, The Fall of Gondolin, The Fall of Númenor, The First Age of Middle-earth, The Rings of Power, The Second Age of Middle-earth, The Silmarillion | 9 Comments

I Am Legend: Book vs. Film(s)

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I am preaching tomorrow on the topic, “It is not Good for Man to be Alone” (Gen 2:18). I have decided to use Robert Neville from I Am Legend as the starting point. I Am Legend took on a new … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Bob Marley, books, COVID-19, film adaptation, H1N1, I Am Legend, Middle Earth, Night of the Living Dead, Peter Jackson, pop culture, Reading, Recovery, Redemption Song, Richard Matheson, Theology of Culture, vampires, Will Smith, zombies | 18 Comments

1,000th Post Party!

Posted on March 4, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

It’s the 1,000th post on A Pilgrim in Narnia! Huzzah! I began this blog way back in 2011 as a sandbox project for thoughts about C.S. Lewis’ writings. “Pilgrimage” was a word-picture I was using a lot for my life … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Discworld, Earthsea, Field of Arbol, H.P. Lovecraft, Harry Potter, Jane Austen, L.M. Montgomery, Lilliput, Middle Earth, Narnia, Númenor, Neil Gaiman, New Urth, Oz, Panem, Prince Edward Island, Ringworld, Stephen King, The Dark Tower, The Enderverse, The Great Divorce | 38 Comments

Christopher Tolkien, Curator of Middle-earth, Has Died, and a Letter from His Father

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

As last evening tilted towards nighttime in my part of the world, my social media feeds began filling with the news that Christopher Tolkien had died. The last living Inkling, Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 Nov 1924 to 15 Jan … Continue reading →

Posted in Letters, News & Links | Tagged archival research, Beren and Lúthien, Christopher Tolkien, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle Earth, The History of Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Inklings, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Tale of Beren and Lúthien | 58 Comments

The Tolkien Letters that Changed C.S. Lewis’ Life (On Tolkien’s Birthday)

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Today is J.R.R. Tolkien’s birthday. Born on January 3, 1892, he would be 127 today if he had been a longliver or immortal. To celebrate the occasion I decided to reblog my most popular Tolkien post. Tolkien’s work has made many … Continue reading →

Posted in Letters, Lewis Biography, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Conversion, Humphrey Carpenter, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle Earth, myth, mythopoiea, Out of the Silent Planet, Poetry, Ransom Trilogy, Spiritual Autobiography | 23 Comments

The Land Where Oz is North of Middle-earth: Reflections of a Speculative Cosmographer (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

Over the next year, I am introducing 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. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds | Tagged C.S. Lewis, children's literature, fantasy, Fictional Universes, Harry Potter, Holly Black, imagination, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, madeleine l engle, Madeleine L'Engle, maps, Middle Earth, Narnia, The Hobbit, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Winnie the Pooh | 19 Comments

Infodump and Identification: Thinking about Fantastic First Pages with Anne McCaffrey

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

I’m having trouble getting into the (sort of) second Dragonriders of Pern book, Dragonquest. I loved Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsong, caught up by the protagonist’s heartsore struggle to express her creativity in a world of martial law. In dire threat of the biological terror of … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Anne McCaffrey, Dragon Riders of Pern, Dragonflight, Dragonquest, Dragonsong, fantasy, feminism, Harry Potter, Madeleine L'Engle, Margaret Atwood, Middle Earth, Narnia, On Writing, Science Fiction, Suzy McKee Charnas, The Divine Comedy, Ursula K. Le Guin, writing | 8 Comments

Approaching “The Silmarillion” for the First Time

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

As brilliant as lovers of Middle Earth recognize that it is, there are few books as daunting as The Silmarillion. It is a dense and complex text of genealogies, places, and characters, each woven together with multiple names in multiple languages … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Andrew Lang, Arthuriana, C.S. Lewis, David Lindsay, Douglas A. Anderson, E. Nesbit, George MacDonald, H. Rider Haggard, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, Narnia, On Fairy-Stories, The Silmarillion, William Morris | 46 Comments

Books Long Enough for Tea (a post about a lot of nothing)

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

One of the legendary sayings of C.S. Lewis is that he has never encountered a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit him. His brevity in writing is well known, yet his true love was … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, David Foster Wallace, Dorothy L. Sayers, fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Leo Tolstoy, literature, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, Narnia, Reading, Stephen King | 40 Comments

Bandersnatch and Creative Collaboration by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I am a rapid writer, someone who works in fits and starts. I benefit from binges of work, closeted away to get down what’s been rolling around my chest for hours or days. It took a decade for me to … Continue reading →