Tolkien's Philosophy of Stories
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of J.R.R. Tolkien
With apologies for the mid-week intrusion, I thought you might be interested to know that an article of mine, “Tolkien’s Philosophy of Stories,” appears today on the Word on Fire blog…
“During this month of September 2023, which marks the fiftieth anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s death, there have been many commemorations of the great man’s life and work—not least among them Word on Fire Academic’s publication of Holly Ordway’s spiritual biography, Tolkien’s Faith, which I am currently savoring like a pint of good bitter. My own commemoration, here, takes the form of what one might call lectio Tolkieniana. Like lectio divina, lectio Tolkieniana consists in taking a passage from one of Tolkien’s works and “chewing on it” in one’s mind and heart. The passage I have in mind is from The Lord of the Rings, an episode in book 4, chapter 8 where Frodo, Sam, and Gollum, nearing the Enemy’s lair, pause, exhausted and dispirited, high up on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol: “In a dark crevice between two great piers of rock they sat down: Frodo and Sam a little way within, and Gollum crouched upon the ground near the opening.”
Read the rest of the article by clicking here.
And have a great rest of your week!