In his essay “On Fairy-Stories,” Tolkien lays out his understanding of how fairytales and all fantasy literature works (or ought to work). There are many ways in which the modern fantasy genre has deviated from this understanding, but then Professor Tolkien was not speaking prescriptively but descriptively. That is to say that while Tolkien does,... Continue Reading →
Boromir’s arc in The Lord of the Rings is tragic and yet there is glory in it. I am really eager to learn, next year, how my students react to this most noble of men—I’ll be teaching the novel for the first time. It’s already in the planning! On the one hand, Boromir is a... Continue Reading →
A personal one today. I tell my students when we begin reading The Hobbit that I am sharing this story with them to really illustrate the power of literature and stories to impact our lives. This is usually the last novel we read in the year, and as a senior English teacher, this means it... Continue Reading →
As the Fellowship is travelling south down the River Anduin, they come upon the towering statues of the Argonath, their massive arms and hands held up in silent warning. As Frodo looks at Aragorn who is looking at the "kings of old," Frodo has a sort of vision: "The Argonath" by John Howe Frodo turned... Continue Reading →
When Bilbo first finds the Ring, he keeps it a secret from his friends. Gandalf's perceptive eye notes that Bilbo is hiding something, but the dwarves are as oblivious as ever. Bilbo withholds this detail from his recap of his encounter with Gollum, chuckling as he gives a somewhat believable lie—to a noisy folk like... Continue Reading →
This past week in my classes, I engaged the students in a discussion of the ethics around Bilbo's actions in the latter half of the novel. I offered the question: What is the difference between a burglar and a thief? On one level, this is a bit of a vocabulary check, and many of the... Continue Reading →
Perhaps it's because we Orthodox are in the midst of Great Lent, but this passage struck me as echoing the drudgery that a proper fast can sometimes feel like. Under the eaves of Mirkwood, the dwarves and hobbit have to be very careful. They prepared for a long, long journey but still it seemed longer... Continue Reading →
It is easy to forget that the Wizards, or Istari, of Tolkien's works are a kind of lower-order angel. Then again, Christians love to point this out, so perhaps it's not so easy to forget. In a passage that Christopher Tolkien dates to 1972, Tolkien writes, "We must assume that they [the Istari] were all... Continue Reading →
When Kili and Fili rock up on Bilbo's doorstep, they joyfully exclaim, "Let us join the throng!" Bilbo can only whimper at their use of the word "throng," as he has no idea yet how many more dwarves are about to show up. But for the young dwarves, there is an almost festive, celebratory spirit... Continue Reading →
Throughout The Hobbit, Bilbo's two halves—Baggins and Took—continue to clash. His Tookish half, representing adventure, curiosity, and a bit of wildness, has lain dormant for many, many years until the dwarves arrive on his doorstep and begin singing of the Lonely Mountain far away. Then, Tolkien writes, "Something Tookish woke up inside him." This conversion... Continue Reading →
Something Tookish 