Following Gandalf

Following Gandalf PDF Author: Matthew T. Dickerson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
In this new work, Dickerson offers a specifically Christian exploration of morality, choices, and free will in "The Lord of the Rings."

Following Gandalf

Following Gandalf PDF Author: Matthew T. Dickerson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
In this new work, Dickerson offers a specifically Christian exploration of morality, choices, and free will in "The Lord of the Rings."

A Hobbit Journey

A Hobbit Journey PDF Author: Matthew Dickerson
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441240322
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
The Lord of the Rings trilogy has delighted millions of fans worldwide in book and movie form. With the theatrical release of the two-part film The Hobbit slated for 2012 and 2013, attention will once again turn to J. R. R. Tolkien's classic works. In a culture where truth is relative and morality is viewed as old-fashioned, we welcome the chance to view the world through hobbit eyes: we have free will, our choices matter, and living a morally heroic life is possible. In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Tolkien expert Matthew Dickerson shows how a Christian worldview and Christian themes undergird Tolkien's Middle-earth writings and how they are fundamentally important to understanding his vision. This revised and expanded edition of Following Gandalf includes new material on torture, social justice, and the importance of the body.

Mind and the Machine, The

Mind and the Machine, The PDF Author: Matthew Dickerson
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 1587432722
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A computer scientist shows that humans are more than biochemical machines, highlighting a far richer vision of personhood, creativity, and love.

Ancient Symbology in Fantasy Literature

Ancient Symbology in Fantasy Literature PDF Author: William Indick
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786492333
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Archetypal symbols in ancient myths as well as the folktales, nursery stories, and fairytales of the Middle Ages are the blueprints of modern fantasy literature. This book explores the modern dreamscape of present-day fantasy, using the ancient myths and traditional fairytales as guides and shining the light of psychological insight onto every symbolic figure and theme encountered. Chapters are dedicated to all of the significant archetypes: heroes and princesses, fairy godmothers and evil witches, wizards and dark lords, magic, and magical beasts are all explored. The analyses and interpretations are informed by classic psychoanalytic studies; the works of fantasy literature examined in this book include the most popular and influential in the genre.

Representing Middle-earth

Representing Middle-earth PDF Author: Robert T. Tally Jr.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786470372
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
In such classic works as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien depicts a vast, complex world-system. Tolkien's Middle-earth comes to life with intensely detailed historical, geographical, and multicultural content, which is presented through different poetic forms that combine elements of epic, romance, myth, history, and the modern novel. This book analyzes Tolkien's project, paying attention to narrative form and its relation to social contexts, while also exploring his broader philosophical conception of history and the role of individual and collective subjects within it. Tolkien's published and posthumous writings, the film adaptations, and recent scholarship are all examined to provide an enlarged and refined critical perspective of these major works. Drawing upon Marxist literary theory and criticism, Robert T. Tally Jr. calls into question traditional views of race, class, morality, escapism, and fantasy more generally. Through close readings mixed with theoretical speculation, Representing Middle-earth allows readers see Tolkien's world, as well as our own, in a new light.

Ents, Elves, and Eriador

Ents, Elves, and Eriador PDF Author: Matthew T. Dickerson
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813171598
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Many readers drawn into the heroic tales of J. R. R. Tolkien's imaginary world of Middle-earth have given little conscious thought to the importance of the land itself in his stories or to the vital roles played by the flora and fauna of that land. As a result, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion are rarely considered to be works of environmental literature or mentioned together with such authors as John Muir, Rachel Carson, or Aldo Leopold. Tolkien's works do not express an activist agenda; instead, his environmentalism is expressed in the form of literary fiction. Nonetheless, Tolkien's vision of nature is as passionate and has had as profound an influence on his readers as that of many contemporary environmental writers. The burgeoning field of agrarianism provides new insights into Tolkien's view of the natural world and environmental responsibility. In Ents, Elves, and Eriador, Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans show how Tolkien anticipated some of the tenets of modern environmentalism in the imagined world of Middle-earth and the races with which it is peopled. The philosophical foundations that define Tolkien's environmentalism, as well as the practical outworking of these philosophies, are found throughout his work. Agrarianism is evident in the pastoral lifestyle and sustainable agriculture of the Hobbits, as they harmoniously cultivate the land for food and goods. The Elves practice aesthetic, sustainable horticulture as they shape their forest environs into an elaborate garden. To complete Tolkien's vision, the Ents of Fangorn Forest represent what Dickerson and Evans label feraculture, which seeks to preserve wilderness in its natural form. Unlike the Entwives, who are described as cultivating food in tame gardens, the Ents risk eventual extinction for their beliefs. These ecological philosophies reflect an aspect of Christian stewardship rooted in Tolkien's Catholic faith. Dickerson and Evans define it as "stewardship of the kind modeled by Gandalf," a stewardship that nurtures the land rather than exploiting its life-sustaining capacities to the point of exhaustion. Gandalfian stewardship is at odds with the forces of greed exemplified by Sauron and Saruman, who, with their lust for power, ruin the land they inhabit, serving as a dire warning of what comes to pass when stewardly care is corrupted or ignored. Dickerson and Evans examine Tolkien's major works as well as his lesser-known stories and essays, comparing his writing to that of the most important naturalists of the past century. A vital contribution to environmental literature and an essential addition to Tolkien scholarship, Ents, Elves, and Eriador offers both Tolkien fans and environmentalists an understanding of Middle-earth that has profound implications for environmental stewardship in the present and the future of our own world.

From Homer to Harry Potter

From Homer to Harry Potter PDF Author: Matthew T. Dickerson
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 1587431335
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
"Drawing from a viewpoint informed by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Matthew Dickerson and David O'Hara explore the influence and importance of ancient biblical narrative, Greek mythology, Arthurian legend, and other works of "Faerie" on our literary culture. They discuss how myth and fantasy offer profound insights into truth and provide sound assessment of modern authors such as Philip Pullman, Walter Wangerin, and J.K. Rowling."--BOOK JACKET.

The Body in Tolkien's Legendarium

The Body in Tolkien's Legendarium PDF Author: Christopher Vaccaro
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786474785
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
The timely collection of essays is thematically unified around the subject of corporeality. Its theoretical underpinnings emerge out of feminist, foucauldian, patristic and queer hermeneutics. The book is organized into categories specific to transformation, spirit versus body, discourse, and source material. More than one essay focuses on female bodies and on the monstrous or evil body. While Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is central to most analyses, authors also cover The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and material in The History of Middle-earth.

The Rood and the Torc

The Rood and the Torc PDF Author: Matthew Dickerson
Publisher: Wings Press
ISBN: 1609402995
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 499

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Book Description
When Kristinge, a young monk at a monastery in southeastern France, discovers he is the son of a famous Frisian hero and king who died in battle six years earlier, he leaves the monastic life and sets out in search of his identity. Traveling with his old mentor Willimond, a monk originally of Lindisfarne, Kristinge’s journey brings him first across France to Denmark to search of his mother, and eventually back to his native soil of Friesland. Along the way he meets the young, decadent, and half-crazy Frankish king Clovis who resides in Paris, and the holy Abbess Telchild of the nearby monastery of Jouarre—two of several historical figures woven through the novel. However, what begins as a quest to uncover his heritage and find whether his mother still lives becomes a sort of spiritual journey of discovery at many other levels. Kristinge wrestles with the question: who is he, and who should he become? Is he the monk he has spent the past six years training to be? Or the gifted bard that was trained as a youth to compose songs, sing, and play the harp? Or is the future king that will unite Friesland and save it from the threat of the increasingly powerful Danes and Vikings on the one side and decaying but still threatening Frankish empire on the other. Compounding his confusion, Kristinge also rediscovers and falls in love with a young whom he had known many years earlier as a young child: a young woman who would be far above his station were he to remain a monk, but not above his station were he to become king.

Mere Humanity

Mere Humanity PDF Author: Donald T. Williams
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 0805440186
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Williams delves into the writings of G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien for answers about the purpose of man and his life on earth.