Each Birthday is a Step in the Right Direction

January 16, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … A birthday is not the beginning of something new / But rather part of a continuing story / From its Prologue and its Chapter One / Through the dark leaves of Mirkwood and beyond

Fellowship, Friendship, Brotherhood

September 9, 2023.Reading time 11 minutes.

By Amanda Pizzolatto … J. R. R. Tolkien has gone down in history as one of the greatest minds in literature. He single handedly created a brand new language, complete with the grammar and vocabulary rules. He then created a world for this language, followed by some myths and stories. But the one line that will forever be connected to him was “In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit.” And the rest is, of course, history.

Tolkien’s Shelob the Spider

January 31, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

A poisonous lump of flesh in malignant repose / Her lair all befouled with scraps of souls / In life sought out with her multiplex eyes / Her Sauron-eyes – it was the hopes that died first

Each Altar is Minas Tirith

June 7, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Each Altar is Minas Tirith these days
A city of kings and of the true King
Behind whose twice-barred gates and golden doors
The faithful may find refuge for a time

Not Just Another Article on Tolkien

April 23, 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

Why does the modern Christian world entertain this preoccupation with The Lord of the Rings and its companions? Why this total and unconditional surrender of article topics to the man of Middle Earth, great though he is?

A Song Without Harmony, A Fandom Without Focus

March 5, 2022.Reading time 14 minutes.

With recent news coming out about the Lord of the Rings show that takes place during the events of The Silmarillion, not The Lord of the Rings, there’s been a divide in fans. Yet, despite the fact that no one can step back for a minute and just jump on whatever bandwagon of clickbait words used, some legitimate concerns do rise to the surface.

Worlds to Visit After Middle-Earth and Narnia

February 24, 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

With the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series on the horizon and with it, hopefully, a resurgence of interest in fantasy, it might be time to revisit lesser known fantasies that were well-received yet have mostly faded into the background and melted into the shadows of these two greats.

Tolkien: A Review of a Book and a Movie

November 12, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

J.R.R. Tolkien, a Biography by Humphrey Carpenter is a nice little biography for those who love Tolkien and the Inklings. Humphrey Carpenter’s several biographies are always well-researched and, even when alluding to awkward moments in the subjects’ lives, infinitely kind and generous.

Tolkien, Lewis & the Saints

September 24, 2020.Reading time 9 minutes.

Have you ever wondered where they got the names for some of their characters, or how close they were, if they didn’t know, to their own faith? There was bound to be some similarities, but I’ll bet you didn’t know that many of their characters were named after saints, whether intentionally or not.

A Chance for Faramir

August 20, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

I see you, my friend,
Riding off again,
On orders from madmen…

Stories That Really Matter

July 2, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

I’ve basically dedicated my life to the pursuit of stories and story-telling. Without stories, everything falls apart. A lot of people try to dismiss fantasy as being escapist or childish. Well Tolkien himself said, “Fantasy is escapist and that is its glory.” You can never diminish the power of storytelling, no matter the genre.