Thursday, 13 August 2026

"Not yet"... Frodo's plan to claim the power of the One Ring

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Having not noticed this for many years and multiple re-readings; I have become increasingly aware of the ways in which Frodo's - illegit...
7 comments:
Sunday, 9 August 2026

The lyricism of Gollum

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Just as Shakespeare gave the monster Caliban some of the most haunting words in The Tempest; so Tolkien gives Gollum some of the most evocat...
2 comments:
Thursday, 30 July 2026

Hobbits had disproportionately large hands (i.e. Man-sized)

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Hobbits are something between a half and a two-thirds the stature of Men; but are often imagined, and usually depicted, with feet that are (...
5 comments:
Wednesday, 22 July 2026

The puzzle of Gandalf the White in Fangorn Forest - a lesson in narrative

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It was only on my most recent, present, read through of The Lord of the Rings (and after more than 50 years of re-reading!) that I suddenly...
4 comments:
Friday, 17 July 2026

Notice of The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin (2026, TV drama)

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This is notice of a TV series called The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin that I am currently watching on Amazon Prime; adapted from a f...
Sunday, 28 June 2026

The Sea Bell is not "autobiographical" for JRR Tolkien; but for Frodo

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In his essay On Fairy Stories; JRR Tolkien influentially invented the word eucatastrophe - i.e. a good -catastrophe:  The eucatastrophic tal...
Friday, 29 May 2026

"Pork-pie peril" and a plot-loop on the Barrow Downs?

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Since my earliest readings of The Lord of the Rings , I have felt that there is "something wrong" with the Barrow Wight episode in...
Friday, 15 May 2026

Tolkien's subcreated world is Not a modern "myth"

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Tolkien's subcreation - his Legendarium as a whole - is often described as a modern "myth" or its mythic qualities are emphasi...
11 comments:
Wednesday, 29 April 2026

Further reflections deriving from yet-another engagement with Tolkien's On Fairy Stories

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In Master of Middle Earth , Paul Kocher's superb literary criticism of Tolkien's published work as of 1972, the author reflects on t...
Sunday, 22 March 2026

Faery by John T Kruse - 2020; the elves of folklore compared with those of Tolkien

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I have been reading some of the work of John T Kruse on the subject of fairies; especially  - especially his Faery: a guide to the lore, ma...
9 comments:
Thursday, 12 March 2026

Aunt Grace Day - A new Tolkien tradition established: March 3rd

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Last week, my wife and I decided to establish a new traditio n of celebrating the anniversary day of the death of JRR Tolkien's Aunt Gra...
3 comments:
Friday, 6 March 2026

The most chilling lines in The Lord of the Rings...

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From The Two Towers "Shelob's Lair" (slightly edited): ‘We’ll see, we’ll see,’ Gollum said often to himself, when the evil mo...
3 comments:
Thursday, 26 February 2026

Was this JRR Tolkien's holiday home in Newcastle upon Tyne?

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9 St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne - photographed in 2024;  this is where JRR Tolkien's Aunt Grace and Uncle Willia...
2 comments:
Friday, 6 February 2026

"Anxiety of Influence" can be powerful and harmful - Alan Garner and JRR Tolkien

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It is some decades since I read Harold Bloom's 1973 book "The Anxiety of Influence". The idea I retain from it is that a ...
7 comments:
Saturday, 24 January 2026

Gimli the Dwarf is the only non-Hobbit point-of-view character in The Lord of the Rings

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I was only in the past few years that I noticed that the Dwarf Gimli is (I think) the only point-of view character in The Lord of the Rings ...
8 comments:
Friday, 26 December 2025

Sauron versus Saruman - why two names read too-nearly the same

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While Tolkien's discernment as a creative writer enabled him to dodge nearly-all the potentially most embarrassing examples of character...
Thursday, 23 October 2025

The History of The Hobbit by John D Rateliff (2007) - a review

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John D Rateliff. The History of The Hobbit - Two volumes: Part One: Mr Baggins ; Part 2: Return to Bag End . HarperCollins: London, 2007.  ...
Sunday, 12 October 2025

Many bullets dodged, but he gets it right - in the end! Tolkien's character names

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Reading The History of Middle Earth (edited by Christopher Tolkien) and The History of the Hobbit (edited by John D Rateliff); it becomes ...
6 comments:
Monday, 1 September 2025

Frodo's first usage of the One Ring was frivolously motivated

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Despite possessing it for many years; Frodo Baggins seems never to have put-on the One Ring - until he was staying in The House of Tom Bomba...
2 comments:
Saturday, 16 August 2025

A lesson of Numenor: Mortal life can only be partly enchanted, even in Faery

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The sadness that underlies all the best accounts of the interactions of Men with elves, fairies and the like; is that the enchantment of Fae...