When The Return of the King was released on December 17, 2003, there was a sense that the journey we had shared with these characters for two full years was approaching its end. The road had grown heavy, marked by sacrifice, exhaustion, and the weight of battles fought both outside and within. Unlike the beginnings in theContinue reading "Walking the Long Road to Mordor: Remembering ‘The Return of the King’"
Observing an Anniversary: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (2012)
Long before dwarves knocked on Bilbo’s round green door, I had already walked the edges of Tolkien’s map in my imagination. That little book, The Hobbit, was the kind you read as a child and then reread as an adult, discovering new corners of courage every time. Today I’m marking the anniversary of The Hobbit:Continue reading "Observing an Anniversary: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (2012)"
Observing an Anniversary: ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ (2013)
I first walked into Middle-earth in the mid-70s through a brand-spanking-new paperback copy of The Hobbit. Bilbo’s unexpected adventure was playful, sharply drawn, and rooted in a storyteller’s wink. Decades later, Peter Jackson invited us back again, but with a different tone, different scale, and (for many of us) a different set of expectations. Today I’mContinue reading "Observing an Anniversary: ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ (2013)"
Most Novembers I Break Down and Cry
"I can't remember if we said goodbye." That line from Emmylou Harris's cover of "Goodbye" always gets me, and did again this morning, coffee in hand before the sun cleared the piney woods. It's a simple lyric, almost plain-spoken, but it carries an unexpected weight. The kind that comes not from tragedy, but from uncertaintyContinue reading "Most Novembers I Break Down and Cry"
December 4: ‘On Fairy Stories’ Turns 76
Stories shape worlds, worlds shape stories. And sometimes, a story about stories can change how we see both. On Fairy Stories (1947) The essay got a fresh face in 2008. A lecture becomes a touchstone, a scholarly reflection on imagination, myth, and meaning. On December 4, 1947, J. R. R. Tolkien’s essay On Fairy Stories was published in EssaysContinue reading "December 4: ‘On Fairy Stories’ Turns 76"
Veni, Vidi, Scripsi 