Monday, 31 January 2022

The River Anduin as bearer of the One Ring

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Who was the third bearer of the One Ring - coming after Sauron and Isuldur - and before Deagol then Smeagol/Gollum? The answer is that for n...
6 comments:
Sunday, 9 January 2022

True Romanticism in the Notion Club Papers

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There is a truly Romantic spirit which I value supremely when I find it; which is seldom, including very rare instances in myself.  We are, ...
3 comments:
Sunday, 2 January 2022

The reality of the imagined: Why did Tolkien frame the Lord of the Rings as if it was real history?

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Something missed by casual readers of The Lord of the Rings is the 'editorial' apparatus that presents the book as based-upon an an...
Thursday, 30 December 2021

Leaf by Niggle and Subcreation

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Niggle painting - by ejbeachy   One of Tolkien's most influential concepts was that of Subcreation ; which he described in his essay On ...
Sunday, 26 December 2021

"In western lands beneath the sun" - discovery of another true poem in Lord of the Rings

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In western lands beneath the Sun  the flowers may rise in Spring,  the trees may bud, the waters run,  the merry finches sing.  Or there may...
3 comments:
Wednesday, 15 December 2021

Mrs Moore: The greatest mystery of CS Lewis's life - now officially solved

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Some nine years ago I wrote a post , in which I speculated on what might be the truth behind the greatest mystery of CS Lewis's life, an...
4 comments:
Monday, 6 December 2021

Is Aragorn more like King Arthur, or Alfred the Great?

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The episode when Aragorn carelessly burns the lembas while sheltering in Lothlorien, and is scolded by an elf maiden   Is Aragorn more like ...
5 comments:
Saturday, 16 October 2021

A 35 year relationship with Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis (1955)

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I first read Surprised by Joy in about 1985; during a period of time when I was actively investigating Christianity. Then and since, I rega...
2 comments:
Friday, 24 September 2021

The Rings of Power - failure for Sauron, success for Morgoth

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Sauron decided to make nineteen rings of power for elves, dwarves and men - and the One Ring to control them. So, did his plan work?  Overal...
2 comments:
Tuesday, 21 September 2021

Sam's character was transformed by encountering the High Elves of Woody End, much as was Frodo's

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I tend to think of the character of Sam Gamgee as being stable throughout the Lord of the Rings; but that is not really true.  When the ques...
5 comments:
Sunday, 19 September 2021

Review of The Nature of Middle Earth by JRR Tolkien (2021; edited by Carl F Hostetter)

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The Nature of Middle Earth by JRR Tolkien; edited by Carl F Hostetter. HarperCollins: London, 2021. This book is significant as being the f...
2 comments:
Monday, 16 August 2021

What makes Men better than elves?

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Why is it that in Tolkien's world, Men come after the 'first born' elves and take-over from elves as the dominant humans on Midd...
2 comments:
Wednesday, 11 August 2021

Tolkien and escapism - into enchantment, or merely glamour?

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We all need to escape - with a psychological need that gets more urgent and compelling as the bars of the Iron Prison close-in upon the who...
Sunday, 8 August 2021

"Fairy-wife", elf-friend, or staying in faery - three ways that mortals may become 'elvish'

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In Tolkien's universe, for a mortal to become more like the 'immortal' elves, more elvish , is regarded an ennoblement.  Elvishn...
5 comments:
Sunday, 18 July 2021

Circling back to Charles Williams

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Durham Castle (University College) is the silhouette on the right (Cathedral to the left) and my rooms were located just to the right of the...
3 comments:
Thursday, 1 July 2021

Who was the best poet of The Inklings?

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Several of the Inklings were poets; and all the Big Four - CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams and Owen Barfield - began their literary ...
3 comments:
Thursday, 24 June 2021

How was Rivendell defended?

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Rivendell was located in a hidden valley; and, while it is obvious that being hidden was a helpful defence - I find it very difficult to im...
3 comments:
Friday, 18 June 2021

The strange difference of the elves in The Lord of the Rings movies

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The subject of elves and their differences from Men is one of the deep and structural aspects of Tolkien's legendarium - although it pla...
6 comments:
Saturday, 12 June 2021

What was the effect of the War of the Ring on The Shire? - from Note on the Shire Records (from the Lord of the Rings: Prologue, concerning Hobbits)

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I have often wondered how many people read the Prologue: concerning Hobbits , which comes before Chapter 1 of The Lord of the Rings.  This g...
Saturday, 5 June 2021

Was accent did Merry and Pippin have? Who gets it right?

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I am going to compare the the best known audio-depictions of Merry and Pippin: the three movies directed by Peter Jackson (on the assumption...
6 comments:
Friday, 14 May 2021

Unfinished Tales by JRR Tolkien: Review of the Audiobook read by Samuel West and Timothy West (2021)

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Unfinished Tales is probably my very favourite among the many wonderful books collecting his unpublished father's works that Christophe...
3 comments:
Tuesday, 11 May 2021

What Numenor can teach us about the value of life and death

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I am fascinated by the descriptions of Tolkien's Numenoran Men; and how one of their gifts was to know when it was that they should die....
2 comments: