The Green Dragon Caper: 2. Cognac and Crime
There was a stunned moment of silence as they processed what the twins were saying to them. Someone had been attacked? In the Shire? And Mrs. Proudfoot of all people? What was the Shire coming…
Tag: J.R.R. Tolkien
The Green Dragon Caper: 1. Mead and Messes
It was a hundred-and-thirty years to the day that Frodo Baggins last looked upon Middle-Earth. The other three Hobbits had left the Shire long before this time, Samwise Gamgee west to the Undying Lands, Meriadoc…
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Pro-Life Ethic of Hope
J.R. R. Tolkien, the noted English don and author of The Lord of the Rings, wrote that, as “a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic”, he did “not expect “history” to be anything but a…
The Dynamic Power of Transcendent Communion in The Lord of the Rings
Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are an enigma, so much so that Peter Jackson left them out. So, who are they? Michael Organ has argued convincingly through his biographical analysis of Tolkien’s narrative structuring - and also evidence…
Brother of My Heart: A Lord of the Rings Story
22 Halimath, 1389. The start of a beautiful friendship... Frodo stepped out of the cart and looked at his new home. Bilbo turned to him and beamed. “Well, Frodo, my lad, what do you think?”…
Queen of the World: Varda as the Image of Our Lady
The image of Varda as a representation of Saint Mary the Virgin, Jesus’ mother, is clear. As Tolkien asserted, her character was “clearly related to Catholic devotion to [Saint] Mary” (Carpenter, 2006, p. 288), who…
An Inkling of Humanity: Tolkien’s Catholic Novel
Introduction In the late 1930’s and 1940’s, Oxford witnessed the existence of a literary circle of friends that was to have a significant impact on the shape and course of modern fantasy literature: the Inklings.…
“Wyrd Wonder”: Mystical Integration of the Great Story in Tolkien’s Play
Cynicism, mercilessness, despair, apathy and parody: these are not the way of the Holy Spirit. In Tolkien’s legendarium evil often takes the path down this route, and Tolkien’s heroes struggle relentlessly in the fray of…
Tolkien and Shakespeare: Counterparts and Comparisons
Tolkien hated Shakespeare. Pity, as they’re two of my favourite authors. Humphrey Carpenter says that Tolkien felt that Shakespeare – whom he disliked from schooldays – missed a big opportunity in Macbeth when a wood…
Alliterative Meter
The poem celebrates the alliterative revival inspired by Lewis and Tolkien. Few were the faithful fearless enoughTo tackle the task, tales unfoldingWith letters linked in lays of gloryAs Caedmon the…