Tag Archives: Wagner

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 | 14 Comments

Lewis, Wagner, and Frankenstein: Literary Accident or Reader’s Providence?

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I call “Pilgrim’s Providence.” This is when we as travelers embrace the challenges and opportunities that come along our pathway as a kind of opportunity provided for us. It is a perspective … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis, Frankenstein, John MacInnis, John Milton, mary shelley, Paradise Lost, pop culture, Ring Cycle, Signum University, the Lumineers, The Valkyrie, vampires, Wagner | 21 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 →