“The Feminine Principle in Tolkien” is an essay I happened upon about a month ago. I was meandering through various byways---an article to a book to an article on that book which mentioned this essay---and discovered it like one finds a pretty pebble on the road. It appeared at a particularly timely moment, as in … Continue reading “The Feminine Principle in Tolkien,” by Melanie Rawls
Tag: J.R.R. Tolkien
The Wearing of Time on Mortal-Immortal Relationship
Sometimes, in reading a work of literature, I encounter a snippet of wording which illuminates a previously unnoticed pattern in another work. This was the case with a particular reference in W.B. Yeats’ preface to Lady Gregory’s translation of the Finn Cycle to the degradation of the mortal-immortal relationship over the course of Irish mythology. … Continue reading The Wearing of Time on Mortal-Immortal Relationship
A Particle of Truth Spoken by Lord Henry Wotton
Lord Henry Wotton is one of the chief characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. He is a young aristocrat who seeks to bring himself attention by an apparent careless attitude and wit. His flippant tongue drips with hedonic philosophy which he dolls out for the purpose of sensation alone. However, amongst … Continue reading A Particle of Truth Spoken by Lord Henry Wotton
Rereading The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings, Part 4: The Return of the King (Raw Reflections)
It appears that The Return of the King is the hardest book in the trilogy for me to put down or, more accurately, the hardest for me to resist picking up. This may be because of the many day-spring moments in The Return of the King: flashes of incredible beauty...
“What the Bird Said Early in the Year,” by C.S. Lewis (Advent 2020, Week 4)
I heard in Addison’s Walk a bird sing clear: / This year the summer will come true. This year. This year. / Winds will not strip the blossom from the apple trees / This year, nor want of rain destroy the peas...
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, trans. by John M. Neale & Henry S. Coffin (Advent 2020, Week 3)
O come, O come, Emmanuel, / And ransom captive Israel, / That mourns in lonely exile here / Until the Son of God appear. / Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel / Shall come to thee, O Israel! ...
“The world is stopp’d,” by Nicole K. (Advent 2020, Week 2)
The world is stopp’d. / Day closes with night, / Night with day. / Morn upon morn, / Eve upon eve. / Each is the same. / We may do naught: / Speak. / Sing. / Dance. / Travel. / Share...
Rereading The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings, Part 3: The Two Towers (Raw Reflections)
Do you remember your first reading of The Lord of the Rings? What was your reaction when you discovered Gandalf was not dead, as you and the members of the Company believed, but fully alive? ...
Rereading The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings, Part 2: The Fellowship of the Ring (Raw Reflections)
The book begins in Hobbiton with much the same lively writing style found in The Hobbit. You can tell that neither Tolkien nor the Hobbits realise the dark roads they will travel in this sequel...
“We who have bowed ourselves to Time,” by Geoffrey Bache Smith (Remembrance Day 2020)
We who have bowed ourselves to time / Now arm an uneventful rime / With panoply of flowers / Through the long summer hours… / But now our fierce and warlike Muse / Doth soft companionship refuse, / And we must mount and ride / Upon a steed untried…
