Episodes
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A talk by Professor Simon Horobin on Tolkien's long-standing career and interest in philology as part of the Tolkien 50th Commemoration seminar series. A talk by Professor Simon Horobin on Tolkien's long-standing career and interest in philology. Part of the series to mark the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death organised and hosted by Exeter College and the Faculty of English.
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A talk by Dr Laura Varnam on Tolkien's long engagement with the Old English poem 'Beowulf' as part of the Tolkien 50th Commemoration seminar series. A talk by Dr Laura Varnam, University College, Oxford, on Tolkien's long engagement with the Old English poem 'Beowulf'. Part of the series to mark the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death organised and hosted by Exeter College and the Faculty of English.
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Missing episodes?
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A talk by PhD candidate Grace Khuri, University of Oxford, on Tolkien's Elvish history and English 'mythology', as part of the Tolkien 50th Commemoration seminar series. A talk by PhD candidate Grace Khuri, University of Oxford, on Tolkien's Elvish history and English 'mythology'.. Part of the series to mark the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death organised and hosted by Exeter College and the Faculty of English.
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A lecture by Dr S Lee as part of the Tolkien 50th Commemoration seminar series. A look at how Tolkien wrote 'The Lord of the Rings' and what lessons can be learnt from this. Part of the series to mark the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death organised and hosted by Exeter College and the Faculty of English.
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A comparison of the Hong Kong author Jin Yong and J. R. R. Tolkien A comparison of the Hong Kong author Jin Yong and J. R. R. Tolkien by Jonathan Hui, English Division at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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Emma Sillett, Trinity College Librarian, and Dr Caroline Batten explore the Danson Library's collection of rare Arthur Rackham fantasy illustrations. Emma Sillett, Trinity College Librarian, and Dr Caroline Batten explore the Danson Library's collection of rare Arthur Rackham fantasy illustrations, looking at editions of fairy tales, Milton's Comus, Wagner's Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods, and more.
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This talk explores the myth underlying the action in John Wyndham's `The Kraken Wakes'. This talk discusses the fantasy novel The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham. The novel is often described as science fiction, but the underlying legend of a sea monster has a long history and appears in literature all over the world. Sometimes the creature is non-aggressive, often aggressive; the narrator and his wife evoke both traditions. Jane Bliss is an independent scholar based in Oxford, working on a number of medieval topics including Romance and Anglo-Norman Literature.
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The Saga of Eric the Unlucky examines Rider Haggard's use of medieval narrative techniques in his novel Eric Brighteyes. In The Saga of Eric the Unlucky, Jane Bliss examines Rider Haggard's use of medieval narrative techniques in his nineteenth-century novel The Saga of Eric Brighteyes. He exploits the paratactic narrative style familiar from chronicle history; he also uses a typical and often very effective tense-switching from past to present and back, to bring scenes to life. The story is enlivened with his own verses, composed with a traditional alliterative style in mind. Jane Bliss is an independent scholar; she has written on several aspects of medieval literature, and runs an Anglo-Norman Reading Group in Oxford.
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Jasmine Jagger provides a short introduction to Edward Lear. Jasmine Jagger provides a short introduction to Edward Lear, a literary nonsense author whose fanciful limericks and invented words inspired numerous fantasy authors. Dr Jagger lectured at Oxford (Jesus and Lady Margaret Hall), and is now a member of the Department of English and Creative Writing at the University of Roehampton.
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A discussion of werewolves in medieval and modern representations. A discussion of werewolves in medieval and modern representations by Dr Minjie Su.
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A visual discussion of the Morte D'Arthur murals in the library of the Oxford Union. A visual discussion of the Morte D'Arthur murals in the library of the Oxford Union by Tom Corrick (Librarian) and Caroline Batten. the murals were painted by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and influence many writers.
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Jane Bliss introduces listeners to the work of Violet Needham, a prolific but little-remembered children’s fantasy author, whose book 'The Woods of Windri' draws on the tropes of medieval romances in fascinating ways.ays. Jane Bliss introduces listeners to the work of Violet Needham, a prolific but little-remembered children’s fantasy author, whose book 'The Woods of Windri' draws on the tropes of medieval romances in fascinating ways. The talk ends with questioning the definition of 'fantasy' and how it relates to Needham.
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This lecture is an introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien's third major work, 'The Silmarillion' (1977), and considers its lengthy development in numerous prose and verse texts over fifty years. This lecture offers a guided tour through the development of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Silmarillion' corpus, inclusive of The Silmarillion (1977) and the earlier versions of the same work published in the History of Middle Earth series (1983-1996). The most mythological and magisterial of Tolkien's major works, the 1977 Silmarillion (and its antecedents) gives the reader a very different experience and perspective than his more famous and widely read works, The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955). A mythology in the true sense, the 'Silmarillion' corpus is peopled with gods and other preternatural beings and represents the earliest comprehensive work of Tolkien's imagination. Since it was begun in earnest in the middle of the First World War, one of the most turbulent periods in modern history, its tone is more sober and its events more tragic than those of his other classics, but its powerful messages of nobility in the face of defeat and courage in darkness resonate with the world events of the time in which it was produced.
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An analysis of two forms that dominate fantasy literature. Prosimetrum, the alternation between verse and prose as a narrative form, was an extremely popular form of writing in the ancient and medieval world. This talk asks why prosimetrum has survived as a literary form in modern fantasy literature and explores how fantasy writers like Tolkien and Kay employ shifts between verse and prose to dramatic effect within their work.
Dr Katherine Marie Olley is the VH Galbraith Junior Research Fellow in Medieval Studies at St Hilda’s College, Oxford where she is currently researching childbirth in Old Norse literature and society. She studied Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge (BA Hons, MPhil) and received her doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 2019 for her dissertation on kinship in Old Norse myth and legend. -
A short introduction to the writer Guy Gavriel Kay. An introduction to the novels of Guy Gavriel Kay, examining his development as a writer from his early high fantasy roots to his later more historically-inspired novels. The talk discusses the dominant themes in Kay’s work, from his reflections on the retrospective construction of history to his enduring fascination with the power of art.
Dr Katherine Marie Olley is the VH Galbraith Junior Research Fellow in Medieval Studies at St Hilda’s College, Oxford where she is currently researching childbirth in Old Norse literature and society. She studied Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge (BA Hons, MPhil) and received her doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 2019 for her dissertation on kinship in Old Norse myth and legend. -
Carolyne Larrington introduces the writing of Sylvia Townsend Warner. Carolyne Larrington introduces the writing of Sylvia Townsend Warner whose first novel 'Lolly Willowes' (1926) is a feminist fantasy classic, and whose last collection of short stories, 'Kingdoms of Elphin' (1977) makes play with European fairy traditions. Townsend Warner has recently been rediscovered as one of the most important English women fantasy writers of the twentieth century.
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A brief introduction to the writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Caroline Batten offers a basic introduction to author Ursula K. Le Guin's life, work, and lasting impact on the genres of fantasy and science fiction. This ten-minute lecture is based on a talk given at 'Here Be Dragons': The Oxford Fantasy Literature Summer School in 2018.
Caroline Batten is a doctoral researcher in Old English and Old Norse literature at the University of Oxford. Her doctoral thesis is the first stylometric analysis of the Old English metrical charms, and her scholarship more broadly examines gender and sexuality in Old English and Old Norse texts in relation to magic and the supernatural, understandings of disease and the body, and performative speech. She earned her M.Phil from the University of Oxford and her B.A. from Swarthmore College, and currently teaches medieval English literature at Worcester College and St. John’s College, Oxford. -
A brief introduction to the writer T. H. White. This short lecture introduces T.H.White, focusing on his Arthurian epic 'The Once and Future King' and its relation to Sir Thomas Malory’s 'Le Morte Darthur'.
Gabriel Schenk completed his DPhil at Pembroke College in 2014. His thesis analyses depictions of King Arthur, focusing on a period spanning the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries when the figure of Arthur became increasingly protean and multifaceted.
He lectures online at Signum University, teaching courses on cultural histories, Arthuriana, and the works of the Inklings. He has also taught small groups and individuals in Uganda, Poland, Turkey, and across the UK.
He is one of the founders and organisers of the Pembroke Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature – an annual lecture that promotes the study of fantasy, science-fiction, and other types of speculative fiction – and works for the literary estates of Owen Barfield and P.H. Newby. -
A brief introduction to the writer Diana Wynne Jones. This short lecture outlines Diana Wynne Jones’s early life, her major works, and a core element of her writing: the combination of different images and sources to create new, joyful stories.
Gabriel Schenk completed his DPhil at Pembroke College in 2014. His thesis analyses depictions of King Arthur, focusing on a period spanning the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries when the figure of Arthur became increasingly protean and multifaceted.
He lectures online at Signum University, teaching courses on cultural histories, Arthuriana, and the works of the Inklings. He has also taught small groups and individuals in Uganda, Poland, Turkey, and across the UK.
He is one of the founders and organisers of the Pembroke Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature – an annual lecture that promotes the study of fantasy, science-fiction, and other types of speculative fiction – and works for the literary estates of Owen Barfield and P.H. Newby. -
'Game of Thrones' and storytelling. In 'Why Game of Thrones Matters', Carolyne Larrington discusses some reasons for the popularity of the HBO series, explores some of its principal themes and considers ways in which it both is – and isn't – like other epic fantasies.
Carolyne Larrington teaches medieval English literature at St John's College, Oxford. She is the author of 'Winter is Coming: the Medieval World of Game of Thrones' (Bloomsbury, 2015) and her new book on the show, 'All Men Must Die' is forthcoming from Bloomsbury later this year. - Show more
