A Common Celtic Thread: A Book Review of "Brighid's Mantle"
Can a Pagan and Christian ever find common ground? I am very happy to say that it appears so! In this book two friends from different traditions, but connected by a common Celtic…
Category: Literary & Media Analysis
The Thames and Sir Thomas More
The River Thames flows through the drama of A Man for All Seasons, providing transportation for Sir Thomas More, and informing the whole story with its living presence. As a member of the King's Council and…
Pilgrim Eagle: A Review of Charles A. Coulombe’s History Text “Puritan’s Empire”
“This above all: To thine own self be true.” –William Shakespeare Puritan’s Empire by Charles A. Coulombe is a unique tour-de-force of American history from a Catholic high traditionalist perspective. Spanning the colonial period to…
Seven Stars and Seven Crowns: A Catholic Monarchist’s Perspective on “The Lord of the Rings”
The great Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien once described his masterpiece The Lord of the Rings as a “story is cast in terms of a good side, and a bad side, beauty against ruthless ugliness, tyranny against kingship, moderated…
I’ve Got No Strings: Pinocchio, C.S. Lewis, and the Meaning of Conscience
“I’ve got no strings To hold me down To make me fret, or make me frown I had strings But now I’m free There are no strings on me.” In the 1940 Disney Classic Pinocchio,…
Simple Homespun: A Movie Review of "The Robe"
Year: 1953 Filming: Color Length: 135 minutes Genre: Biblical/Drama/ Inspirational/Religious Maturity: PG (for intense thematic elements) Cast: Richard Burton (Marcellus Gallio), Jean Simmons (Diana), Victor Mature (Demetrius), Michael Rennie (Peter), Jay Robinson (Caligula), Torin Thatcher…
Was Tolkien a Heretic?: Defending Tolkien’s Catholic Orthodoxy from a "Cloak and Dagger" Priest
I have never trusted those who hide behind a cloak of anonymity. It seems to me that they do not have the courage of their convictions, or else that they have something to hide.…
A Thread in the Tangle: A Fantasy Author Crafts Legends
SUMMARY In a shattered realm where gods breathe and battle, sixteen-year-old Isiilde must find her feet among people who both despise and crave her kind. She trembles on a precipice, caught between the lust…
Why Do We Always Like The Bad Guys?: An Analysis of Memorable Villains
Watching movies like Star Wars, Thor, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I kept finding myself liking the “bad guy.” And it wasn’t at all because he was good looking (though that does help). In…
Tolkien and Lewis: The Last Sane Men Standing and Their Understanding of Fantasy
“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” There is good fantasy and bad fantasy. Anyone who has watched fantasy movies or read fantasy…