The Wonder of Tolkien

Two years ago today I was sitting in Wellington, NZ getting the privilege to watch RotK for the 20 Year Anniversary with the people who created it, the team at Wētā, hearing BTS stories and live commentary.

An unforgettable experience.

Love this vibe.
Art by Ruth Sanderson.

A brisk winter morning under a blue sky with a wood fire, a pipe and a good book. Simple gifts from a good God. My heart is full.

“Anyway, I usually type, since my ‘hand’ tends to start fair and rapidly fall away into picturesque inscrutability.”

- Tolkien, Letter 257

"Well here comes Christmas! That astonishing thing that no ‘commercialism’ can in fact defile – unless you let it."

- Tolkien, Letter 243

Some of many beautiful and creative illustrations that Tolkien drew for his Christmas letters to his children.

The more I read C.S. Lewis the more my jaw drops in awe that someone can think and write the way He did. What a gift from God! He points me to the far-off country in ways few other thinkers do.

I recently started keeping a log of the books I finish. I can’t wait to look back years from now and see what I was reading and what I was going through in life during that season. I want to fill this notebook and one day pass it on to my kids.

Just finished this great biography on Lewis. It was not just insightful about his life, but beautifully written with depth about Lewis' own works.

Highly recommend!
📚 amzn.to/3M5ijVn

I'm preaching a sermon at my Grandpa's funeral tomorrow and I am ending it with a line from The Last Battle that I find most fitting (Lewis was one of his favorite authors):

Put up the tree today, as well as some necessary Middle-earth Christmas vibes.

Uh. This is a deal. 🚨
My favorite LOTR set.
Illustrated by Alan Lee.
I paid $130. It’s $78 now

📚 amzn.to/4pCTcI2

Eruhantalë 🍁(Quenya)

This was the last of the three prayers spoken by the King or Queen of Númenor at the end of autumn as a ceremony of thanksgiving to the God of Arda.

It means: Thanksgiving to Eru.
(Art by David Greset)

I love getting packages from ThriftBooks.
More Arthur to enjoy - now with an Inkling's flavor!

Uh. This is a deal. 🚨
My favorite LOTR set.
Illustrated by Alan Lee.
I paid $130. It’s $78 now

📚 amzn.to/4pCTcI2

The LOTR Thanksgiving Day Parade float from 1978.
They don't make them like they use to...

Why Books Make Better Gifts Three reasons why books are better than toys and screens

I wrote a brief article on 3 reasons why BOOKS are better GIFTS than cheap toys and screens.

Instead of spending money on toys that will break, consider buying your kids good books that will light up their imaginations!

A poem I wrote on the pattern of death and life buried in the coldness of winter:

YouTube video by The Wonder of Tolkien Tolkien’s Christmas Letters #christmas #tolkien #holidays

I received this beautiful edition of Tolkien's "Father Christmas" letters with replicas of what he wrote and drew.

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

- Tolkien

This is a line that explains the destructive philosophy of our materialistic and modern age:

“He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment.”

- Treebeard about Saruman

Heaven invading earth: a good pipe, a delightful book, blue skies, birds chirping and the crisp air of fall. Glory!

Professor Tolkien and his then three year old son Christopher (1928). Little did the Professor know that his son would spend 45 years of his life working in the world that he would create called Middle-earth!

Some of my favorite pieces from the Hildebrandt brothers:

I asked the kids what they wanted me to read to them for bedtime, and they said George MacDonald.

This is winning folks.

George MacDonald on art and stories:

"It is there not so much to convey a meaning as to wake a meaning. If it does not even wake an interest, throw it aside."

My wife's Grandpa passed away this week. As we spent time at the house with the family, I got to look through his books and take some home. It’s true: you can tell a lot about a person from their books.

This just came out yesterday. It looks like a sequel to his previous book on Tolkien, Lewis and the Great War.

Anyone read the first book and have thoughts? I am not familiar with Loconte's writing.

Read some of the story of the Holy Grail in Roger Lancelyn Green’s Arthurian book, but it was shortened — so I found this, over 250 pages on the quest. This might be the start of a deep dive into Arthurian legends, and I’m not even mad.