What does Tolkien mean by insinuating that centaurs and dragons are more “alive” than cars? Well, he is referring to the fact that centaurs and dragons are animate creatures, albeit animated only by the imagination. He seems also to be saying that subcreation in the service of goodness, truth and beauty is better than subcreation [...]
American mythologist Joseph Campbell’s discernment of the hero’s quest and his distillation of world myth into an easily-digestible template has had a powerful impact on contemporary culture, including influencing George Lucas' "Star Wars" films. The mythologist Joseph Campbell was the grandson of an Irish peasant-immigrant. Brought up in a Catholic home in New York, he [...]
In a Platonic sense, the Inklings might very well have brought about an "anamnesis," a remembering of what had been lost, but they might also very well have been simply preservers of timeless wisdom for many ages to come, so far into the future that they seem unimaginable. A number of things can be stated [...]
If J.R.R. Tolkien were still in his grave, it is likely that he would be turning in it. The cause of his consternation would be the gollumizing of Middle-earth by the forthcoming TV series bearing the name of The Lord of the Rings. This new “adaptation”, produced by one of the Tech Tyrants which are [...]
Would it be possible, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis wondered in the 1930s, to write fiction that might combine: a love of history; a desire to debate the defenders of the modern world and point out the many foibles of modern living; and a way to promote one’s philosophical and religious beliefs without being overly [...]
Just as we feverish moderns have stopped singing, so we have stopped looking, really looking. If we did, we would see not only the magic of Tom Bombadil, but the magic that Tom Bombadil sees in every tree and blade of grass. And if we did that, we would be truly prepared for the heavenly [...]
Though J.R.R. Tolkien said that the Roman Catholicism only entered "The Lord of the Rings" consciously in its revision, one finds prayer, notions of hierarchy, and Catholic sacramental elements in the earliest conceptions of the legendarium. In 1900, much to the dismay of her family, Mabel Tolkien was confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church. Her [...]
J.R.R. Tolkien was right: Fairy-stories do hold up a mirror to man. They show us ourselves: who we are, who we might become, and who we are called to be. To gaze into such a mirror is perilous; to fail to do so, is more perilous still. In his famous lecture and essay “On Fairy-Stories”, [...]
How could one possibly identify with the utterly pathetic and self-centred Gollum? The only answer, I came to understand with a sickening sense of resignation, is that those who identify with Gollum are those whose own identity has been gollumized by their slavery to the power of the real-life Ring which rules their lives. One [...]
Michael Jahosky argues in his new book that J.R.R. Tolkien engaged in the telling of a parable, and that the great author wanted to create Christian art and mythology, not Christian propaganda. The Good News of the Return of the King by Michael T. Jahosky (230 pages, Wipf and Stock, 2020) Scholar Michael T. Jahosky [...]
I was still puzzled by the mystery of why Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn had permitted me, an unknown writer, to visit him for an interview when he had spurned the advances of many better-known authors. The mystery was solved by his wife, Natalya, soon after she had welcomed me. In my previous essay, we concluded with my [...]
In the character of Gollum, J.R.R. Tolkien perfectly portrays a being distorted by depraved desire and dominated by a magnificently evil obsession. However, as I was re-reading the "The Lord of the Rings," I began to wonder about the origins of this pathetic creature. For summertime reading I have returned to an old favorite: the [...]
What is it about J.R.R Tolkien that speaks so powerfully? What are the roots of his enchanting genius? In my editorial for the new Tolkien theme issue of the St. Austin Review, I state that the very word “Tolkien” has great power of enchantment. Seeing it, or hearing it spoken, brings to life strange and [...]
For J.R.R. Tolkien, mythology touches the deepest part of our souls, and invites us to explore the beauty of creation and to discover and participate in the sacramental nature of life. The mythology and purpose guiding his works was nothing less than the return to Christendom. J.R.R. Tolkien, I believe, was one of the most [...]