Articles
A Christmas Note from Tolkien
Imagine getting the above Christmas note from J.R.R. Tolkien... If you had received that note as a gift from him, how would it rank as one of the most thoughtful or memorable gifts you've ever received? Let us know! Here's the transcription of Tolkien's Christmas...
Monday Motivation
October 2018 Bundle Monday MotivationBy John Elton Pletcher I am not uproariously excited about going back to work most Mondays, and I know I am not alone. We might take heart today by pondering one rather quirky word, unique to J.R.R. Tolkien. Working with Words...
BEWARE the Most Dreadful Danger of Tolkien Dragons!
October 2018 Bundle BEWARE the Most Dreadful Danger of Tolkien Dragons! By John Elton Pletcher Humans display a historic fascination with dragons. Something fiery and wonderful captivates us about those ferocious creatures. Dr. Ernest Drake’s Dragonology: The...
The Best of Tolkien
August 2018 BUndle The Best of Tolkien by Joseph Pearce Originally published January 2017 For some time I’ve had the intention of drawing up a list of what I consider to be the best books on J.R.R. Tolkien. It is, therefore, not a list of the best books by him but the...
Tolkien Time Travel – Encounter Silmarillion Wonder
August 2018 Bundle Tolkien Time Travel Encounter Silmarillion Wonder by John Pletcher Ever dreamed of being able to time travel? Perhaps you think such a phenomenon is impossible. I have good news! J.R.R. Tolkien would love to help fulfill your dream. Amidst...
Wandering in Wonder
People love Tolkien because his writing elicits wonder. We love Middle-earth, in large part, because we long to enjoy its wonders in our daily Present-earth experience. Consider Peter Kreeft’s perspective on the wonder-eliciting power of Tolkien'sThe Silmarillion:...
It’s Not an Adventure Until Something Goes Wrong
June 2018 BundleIt’s Not an Adventure Until Something Goes WrongZan Campbell, Fell & Fair Productions01 June 2018So often these days, people seek “adventure,” only to spend so much time and money beforehand to ensure nothing goes wrong, that by the time the...
A Fragrantly Recurring Tolkien Smoke-Ring
John Elton Pletcher loves storytelling, all-things-Tolkien, and literary analysis (with a special eye for everyday applicability). Speaker, author, pastor, and curator of @GandalfTheGuide, John lives in Lancaster, PA with his wonderful wife, Nancy, and...
“My Precious” and the Human Condition
Author Scott Sauls writes: Do you remember what Gollum called the ring of power in The Lord of the Rings? His “Precious.” J.R.R. Tolkien was reading the human condition when he came up with that little detail. It is our fallen human tendency to grasp a...
What does “eucatastrophe” mean?
From an interview I did with the late Dr. Michael Stanton back in 2004: One thing I have noticed is that even though Tolkien coined the term back in the late 1930s, when he was still in the early stages of writing LOTR, very few of his earlier...