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Grendel and Grond
I’ve been reading a lot of Beowulf over the past year and continue to be struck by the similarities with Tolkien’s works, in particular The Lord of the Rings. Tom Shippey has famously explained (in The Road to Middle-earth) how in The Lord of the Rings, “[t]he chapter ‘The King of the Golden Hall’ is Continue reading
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Happy New Year!
Last year was my first full year of blogging, so I did an end-of-the-year post to celebrate and look back on a year of thinking and writing about Tolkien. I enjoyed getting to take stock of what I had read and written and I had planned to do the same this year, but this post Continue reading
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A Spring Harvest
I recently read through A Spring Harvest, the posthumous poetry collection of Tolkien’s close T.C.B.S. friend, G.B. Smith, who died in the First World War. The collection is a breath of fresh air for me, both invigorating and somber. It is certainly the work of a young, unrefined poet but one who shows promise. As Continue reading
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Eowyn, Elven-fair
In The Treason of Isengard, what appears to be the first appearance of Eowyn in the drafts for The Lord of the Rings is a note from Tolkien about a new character: “Eowyn Elfsheen.” On one side of the note, Tolkien considers Eowyn as Eomund’s daughter, and on the other side he considers her as Continue reading
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Tolkien’s Early Letters
Two years ago I wrote about the announcement of the new Guide to Tolkien’s Letters hosted by the Tolkien Collector’s Guide website (the Guide can be found here). The Guide is an indispensable research tool for those interested in Tolkien’s life and works. Since the Guide was released, it has been a goal of mine Continue reading
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Tolkien’s Greek Horsemen
In The Return of the Shadow, Christopher Tolkien includes an early map that his father had drawn with some interesting notes about Rohan. In notes following the drafts of the chapter, “The Ring Goes South,” Christopher writes the following about the map, quoting his father’s writing: Across the Misty Mountains further south is written ‘Place Continue reading
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The Horn and the Sword
When Pippin first meets Denethor, Denethor is holding Boromir’s horn: ‘I have received this,’ said Denethor, and laying down his rod he lifted from his lap the thing that he had been gazing at. In each hand he held up one half of a great horn cloven through the middle: a wild-ox horn bound with Continue reading
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Beowulf and the Bard
Although the common misconception is that Tolkien strongly disliked Shakespeare, or even “cordially disliked” him, a number of Tolkien scholars have explored how this account does not hold up well to close scrutiny of Tolkien’s comments about the Bard. At a minimum, Tolkien seems to have had great esteem for Shakespeare’s works, even if particular Continue reading
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The White Fire of Resurrection
In The Silmarillion, during the Dagor Bragollach or the Battle of Sudden Flame, Tolkien has an interesting description of Maedhros: Maedhros did deeds of surpassing valour, and the Orcs fled before his face; for since his torment upon Thangorodrim his spirit burned like a white fire within, and he was as one that returns from Continue reading
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Tolkien’s Liturgical Imagination
As someone who is particularly interested in the religious and liturgical aspects of Tolkien’s Legendarium, my attention was immediately drawn to Ben Reinhard’s new book The High Hallow: Tolkien’s Liturgical Imagination, released in January 2025. I bought the book last month, recently finished reading it, and thought I would offer a review here on the Continue reading
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Thoughts on Tolkien 
