4 Creative Truths Tolkien Understood

Writers, dancers, painters, and musicians all have something to teach us about how create. That's why I read my way through The History of Middle-Earth: Volumes 6 - 9. These books are about how J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his masterpiece Lord of the Rings. They try their best to show when and how he came up... Continue Reading →

Fantasy: Mindless Fluff, Juvenile Escapism, or Something More?

Fantasy gets a bad rap. When it's not referred to as escapist or mindless fluff, it's criticized for being unrealistic, the province of dreamy teenagers (or adults) who don't want to face the real world or deal with real life. But is that true? SPOILER ALERT: Details about the stories of Frodo Baggins, Harry Potter,... Continue Reading →

Why Tolkien Needs Hobbits to Tell His Story

NOTE: The following discussion is about The Lord of the Rings books, not the movies. I'm concerned with what Tolkien intended, not what Peter Jackson and his friends decided to do with the story. When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about Middle Earth, he was trying to write "a mythology for England." His story is a like an... Continue Reading →

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