Author Archives: Earthoak

Part 4, Reading and Drawing The Lord of the Rings: On Fear, Knowledge and Power

Posted on September 24, 2018

At last, a new blogpost, to (nearly) coincide with Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday! This is the second and last post on The Shadow of the Past…I’ve narrowed it down to a few themes, but there is so much more that could … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Literature, Tolkien | Tagged , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Ode to Procrastination

Posted on March 16, 2018

Welcome. It’s that time of year when research deadlines and marking pile up into a dark, ominous cumulonimbus above my head; so my usual blog topics will need to wait. But as I left home for work on Tuesday morning … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Tolkien’s Art and How it Influenced His Writing: Drawing to Discover

Posted on February 4, 2018

Tolkien’s artwork, rather than his writing, was my first gateway to Middle-earth; so Jeffrey J. MacLeod’s and Anna Smol’s recent article “Visualizing the Word: Tolkien as Artist and Writer” (Tolkien Studies, volume 14) is of particular interest to me.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Tolkien, Writing | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

CS Lewis’ Response to Critics of The Lord of the Rings: The Dethronement of Power

Posted on January 6, 2018

C. S. Lewis’ defence of Tolkien’s work gives insight into the types of criticism it elicited. Chief among those criticisms were its supposed lack of realism, and lack of character development or moral complexity. Lewis robustly argues against both allegations, … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Tolkien | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Reading and Drawing the Lord of the Rings Part 3: On Being an Oddity

Posted on December 10, 2017

In his Foreword, Tolkien describes ‘The Shadow of the Past’ as the oldest part of the tale and ‘the crucial chapter’ of the book. One can see why, as it anchors the entire tale in gravitas, thanks in no small … Continue reading →

Posted in Tolkien | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

What Hobbits Knew All Along: Walking Barefoot is Good For You

Posted on November 26, 2017

I came across an interesting piece of health research this week and of course couldn’t help but make the connection with the rather peculiar behaviour unique to hobbits. We are told in The Hobbit that they:

Posted in Tolkien | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The Lord of the Rings Through The Eyes Of An 11 Year Old

Posted on November 19, 2017

The first and original book review of The Hobbit was candidly supplied in 1936 by the ten-year old son of publisher Sir Stanley Unwin: “Bilbo Baggins was a Hobbit who lived in his Hobbit hole and never went for adventures, … Continue reading →

Posted in Tolkien | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments