The Hall of Fire

Brian Rosebury is an English scholar in Britain, his work, Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon, is I think actually better than Shippey and Flieger. Unfortunately it seems to be less well known, and he isn't really a part of the "Tolkien scholar" club.

Following on from the review proper, which was written by Leve Grossman for TIME, one commentator wrote this: "I see only confusion and doubt" - This description underlies the world we live in. Martin's characters are trying to change that world, control that world, tame that world, and su...

Frodo's failure at the Sammath Naur came after an epic psychological struggle against the power of a highly malevolent Ring (see Shippey's enlightening discussion in The Road to Middle-earth ). By contrast, characters like Elric in Moorcock's series murder, rape and pillage without the text ever den...

I don't think I'd agree with the characterization of a portrayal of a world of deep moral complexity and ambiguity as nihilistic. I don't quite mean this. Perhaps I have not explained myself clearly. I mean rather that within the frame of the text itself (sorry to sound all English major-like), the...

Hi, Yes I am new to these boards, though I have left a note of introduction in the introduction forum. :) In this review of George RR Martin's latest Song of Ice and Fire installment, the argument is made and developed that Martin's kind of fantasy is representative of our age (and Tolkien's apparen...

Hey, Just thought I'd make my presence here known