Tag Archives: Norse Mythology

Which Image Triggered C. S. Lewis’ Enthusiasm for Wagner’s Ring Cycle? A Proposal by Norbert Feinendegen

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

Since the first time I read C.S. Lewis’ peculiar and beautiful memoir, Surprised by Joy, I have been fascinated by Lewis’ numinous experience of joy that came with his encounter between a moment in Wagner’s Ring Cycle and one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reflections | Tagged Arthur Rackham, C.S. Lewis, friendship, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, J.R.R. Tolkien, Norbert Feinendegen, Norse Mythology, northernness, owen barfield, Richard Wagner, Ring des Nibelungen, Sigurd and Gudrún, Surprised by Joy, Tegner's Drapa, The Inklings, The Ring Cycle, Wagner | 13 Comments

Gods or Angels? A guest post by Yvonne Aburrow

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

The Inklings and Paganism Before he became a Christian, C.S. Lewis was deeply inspired by ancient Pagan mythology, and he continued to value it as mythopoeia after his conversion, and seems to have sought to reconcile the Christian worldview with … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, J.R.R. Tolkien, myth, mythology, Narnia, Norse Mythology, owen barfield, paganism, That Hideous Strength, The Discarded Image, The Hobbit, The Magician's Nephew | 35 Comments

“Thor: Ragnarok and C.S. Lewis’ Mythic Passions” by Josiah Peterson

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

We discovered on Monday that Lewis mocked his best friend for comparing works that are as different as the Old English epic with the late Middle English romance by Malory. He then went on to do this very thing: set … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, Inklings and Arthur, Reviews | Tagged Arthuriana, C.S. Lewis, Inklings, Inklings and Arthur, Inklings and King Arthur, Malory, Marvel, Morte Darthur, mythology, Narnia, Norse Mythology, northernness, Ragnarök, Surprised by Joy, Thor | 90 Comments

Ragnarök’n’roll! The Poetic Edda and Tolkien’s Sigurd and Gudrún

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

My son and I have been talking about Ragnarök. Besides the super cool sound of this Norse word and the deep world behind it, we are being fueled by Neil Gaiman’s new book, Norse Mythology. I listened to the author read it … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged Edda, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jeramy Dodds, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Ragnarök, Signum University, Sigurd and Gudrún, The Poetic Edda | 8 Comments

Eucatastrophe: J.R.R Tolkien & C.S. Lewis’s Magic Formula for Hope by Tim Willard

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

What is it we feel when the eagles swoop in during the final moments of the battle of the five armies in Do our emotions reveal the true depth of the fantasy genre that has captured the hearts of pop-culture? … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, Original Research | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Conversion, euchatastrophe, fantasy, film adaptation, g k chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, joy, lion the witch and the wardrobe, Lord of the Rings, myth, mythology, Norse Mythology, Peter Jackson, pop culture, The Battle of Five Armies, The Hobbit, Tom Shippey, worldviews | 38 Comments

Songs of the Metamythos by C.F. Cooper

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

This is the book I never imagined would appear in this day and age. I first heard of Songs of the Metamythos at a reading circle in Massachusetts in 2014. I was attending my first Mythcon and late one night, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged books, C.F. Cooper, literature, myth, Mythcon, mythmaking, mythopoiea, Norse Mythology, paganism, Songs of the Metamythos, Theology of Culture, worldview | 5 Comments

Balder the Beautiful Is Dead, Is Dead: C.S. Lewis’ Imaginative Conversion

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

One day a young C.S. Lewis casually turned to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s death-dirge in the tradition of a northern epic poem, Tegner’s Drapa. He read these words that forever changed him: I heard a voice that cried, Balder the beautiful … Continue reading →