The Wonder of Tolkien

The Living Power of Myth Why reading fiction is a necessary human act

Why I love telling others to read LOTR - and how it impacted my friend who just read through it for the first time.

Taking my annual break from this account for a few weeks. I'll leave you with a few encouragements:

1. You are valued and loved by God!
2. You are a part of a greater story.
3. Go outside (don't scroll your life away).
4. Keep pursuing wonder and awe.

Tolkien created a world we want to live in because it is a reflection of what is beautiful, good and true in our world!

Took me over a year and a half but I finished my third reading of LOTR. A lot has happened in my life since I started back in July of 2024. The story grows on you and seeps into your bones as you age. I see my story differently because of this story. Now to start again…

“It has been always with me: the sensibility to linguistic pattern which affects me emotionally like colour or music; and the passionate love of growing things; and the deep response to legends…”

- Tolkien
Letter 163

"So it may be said that the chief purpose of life, for any one of us, is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all the means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks."

- Tolkien
Letter 310

Going to start these next week when I get back from NY. Can't wait! Without any spoilers, tell me why you love these books...

I love how Tolkien's lecture On Fairy-Stories climaxes with him describing how the Gospel is the true and greater myth that "hallows" every other legend and story!

Just finished this book. This was a special treat because it was drenched in insightful WWII history while intervweaving Tolkien and Lewis' literary lives.

Highly recommend !!

W.H. Auden on Tolkien:

"I don't think I have ever told you what an unforgettable experience it was for me as an undergraduate, hearing you recite Beowulf. The voice was the voice of Gandalf."

A former student on Tolkien:

"He could turn a lecture room into a mead hall in which he was the bard and we were the feasting, listening guests."

It's from Magnoli Props :) Made in New Zealand

Some beautiful pages from inside the Red Book of Westmarch. The detail and craft is stunning - it's like holding the real thing!

For Tomorrow We Die Consider This #1: The mature version of YOLO

Starting a new series on my substack called “Consider This” that will ask a simple, pointed question to cause some deeper reflection around life. Here is the first of many!

Some pages from the Red Book of Westmarch that I own.

"C. S. Lewis is a very old friend and colleague of mine, and indeed I owe to his encouragement the fact that in spite of obstacles (including the 1939 war!) I persevered and eventually finished The Lord of the Rings."

- Tolkien
Letter 227

YouTube video by The Wonder of Tolkien Friendship explained by Tolkien!

This is such a moving part of the story.
Friendship and loyalty according to Tolkien.

"I write things that might be classified as fairy-stories not because I wish to address children... but because I wish to write this kind of story and no other."

- Tolkien
Letter 215

"The Lord of the Rings may be a ‘fairy-story’, but it takes place in the Northern hemisphere of this earth: miles are miles, days are days, and weather is weather."

- Tolkien
Letter 210

I am really enjoying this new book from Joseph Loconte on WW2 and Lewis and Tolkien. I am eating up the way he strings together the historical context while embedding Lewis and Tolkien in this moment. Half way through and I recommend.

YouTube video by The Wonder of Tolkien The BEST LOTR Movie Prop #lotr #tolkien #movies

Here is a brief look of the Red Book of Westmarch.
This thing is stunning and so detailed!

Just look at this:

Newest arrival from my friend @malcolmguite.bsky.social
Reading the table of contents made me smile.

A special delievery from New Zealand...
👀 I can't wait to show you this thing.

Tolkien talking about Frodo's failure:

"But one must face the fact: the power of Evil in the world is not finally resistible by incarnate creatures, however ‘good’; and the Writer of the Story is not one of us."

Letter 191

In Jackson's intro to RotK he mentioned how he hasn't been able to make another movie or drama since the passing of his friend Andrew Lesnie (DP for LOTR and The Hobbit). He mentioned how he didn't want to start a new relationship with a DP since the wound was still so deep.

Seeing RotK yesterday in theaters was nothing short of epic. I've watched it on smaller screens all these years so being up close to a huge screen with good speakers was like watching it for the first time!!

Going to see the greatest movie ever made tonght.
no big deal.

You are loved.
Your life matters.
You were created for a purpose.
This life, your life, is not an accident.
Keep going, friend.