Fantasy

‘The Wheel of Time’ and the reality of the Incarnation

Fantasy /

The Amazon Prime streaming service recently released the new series The Wheel of Time, the highly anticipated adaptation of the influential fantasy novels by the late Robert Jordan. Having watched the first few episodes, I have an initial feel for the series and its lore, as well as its tone. Discerning viewers should be made aware that Amazon’s Wheel of Time contains elements that are problematic […]

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Is Tolkien’s “Varda” the best representation of Mary in Middle-Earth?

Fantasy /

Throughout much of Tolkien’s legendarium, there are many women who can be seen as representing the Blessed Virgin Mary. These characters include Arwen, the daughter of Elrond; Eowyn the niece of Théoden, king of Rohan; Galadriel the queen of Lothlórien, and Lúthien the wife of Beren of whom great tales are told in The Silmarillion.

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Christian symbolism in Robert E. Howard’s first “Conan the Barbarian” tale

Fantasy /

https://anchor.fm/voyagepodcast/episodes/The-Voyage-Blog-cast-Christian-symbolism-in-Robert-E–Howards-first-Conan-the-Barbarian-tale-e2b52m5 Like J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard was among a handful of twentieth century writers whose work redefined fantasy. In particular, Howard is often credited as the father of the “sword and sorcery” sub-genre. Indeed, his Conan tales remain the standard by which all subsequent sword and sorcery stories are judged. After creating Conan, Howard

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How Smaug the Dragon reflects the Serpent in the Garden

Fantasy /

Though intended for a juvenile audience, with an extra dollop of whimsy mingled with eucatastrophic reality, The Hobbit presents an adventure whose protagonist is motivated by moral reasoning, rather than by hubris. Thrust into an unforgiving and unknown landscape, Bilbo Baggins gets perhaps a bit full of himself when he realizes, once he’s got the

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A Call to Adventure: Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and the Christian Story

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Like J.R.R. Tolkien’s magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings, his prequel, The Hobbit, is a “fundamentally religious and Catholic work”[1] that is saturated with Christian elements and offers a mythic and mystic telling of the Christian story. Bilbo Baggins, the unlikely hero of Tolkien’s short novel, is a creature of comfort, amply described as

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Why ‘Leaf By Niggle’ is Tolkien’s hidden Catholic treasure

Fantasy /

As a Middle-earth aficionado, I have read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. While these books are creative and profound, my personal favorite Tolkien work [so far this may be subject to change!] does not take place in a mythic land or through the medium of an epic adventure tale. Instead, a short

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Hobbits, and how God uses the “small” and “insignificant” for his plans

Fantasy /

One of the most intriguing aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is his choice of the ring bearer. Tolkien had many characters to choose from, especially among the Fellowship. There was Aragorn, the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor, Legolas, an elf prince and skilled warrior, and even Gandalf a wizard

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