Category Archives: J.R.R. Tolkien

Put a Zork in It

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Nathan

I remember seeing magazine ads for Zork and other text-based adventure games when I was a kid, and thought they seemed pretty fascinating. I never actually got to play any of them at the time, though. I don’t think they … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Douglas Adams, Games, Greek Mythology, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Video Games, William Shakespeare | Tagged alice's adventures in wonderland, bats, cassius, colossal cave adventure, cyclops, dante alighieri, divine comedy, don woods, dungeons, dungeons and dragons, flatheads, glinda of oz, great underground empire, grues, hades, hell, hunt the wumpus, inferno, infocom, jack vance, julius caesar, lucien kaine, odysseus, odyssey, polyphemus, swords, the dying earth, the zork anthology, weapons, will crowther, wizards, zork, zork i, zork ii | Leave a comment

Roland in the Deep

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Nathan

I think I first heard of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso in a blurb about C.S. Lewis comparing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings to it. Well, they do both have a magic ring that makes people invisible, and a monster … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Arthurian Legend, Authors, Book Reviews, British, C.S. Lewis, Characters, Christianity, French, Greek Mythology, Islam, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Video Games, William Shakespeare | Tagged amazons, andromeda, arimaspoi, astolfo, atlante, avalon, basil of caesarea, battle of roncevaux pass, beowulf, chanson de roland, charlemagne, childe roland to the dark tower came, cortana, durendal, elijah, fairies, faleero, falerina, ferragut, giants, griffins, halo, hector, hell, hippogriffs, holga danske, horses, hugh capet of france, huon of bordeaux, jesus, john the apostle, king lear, lethe river, lord of the rings, ludovico ariosto, matteo maria boiardo, merlin, moon, morgan le fay, ogier the dane, orcas, orcs, orlando furioso, orlando innamorato, paladin, penthesileia, pliny the elder, prester john, rinaldo, robert browning, roland, roland the headless thompson gunner, ruggiero, st. denis, st. peter, stephen king, swords, tristan and isolde, virgin mary, warren zevon, water of oblivion, weapons | Leave a comment

Been a Long Time Since I Rinkitinked

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Nathan

I’ve previously reviewed the 2016 Oziana, which consists of fifteen different alternate endings for Rinktink in Oz. I thought I should say a little more about each one, however, so here we go. Susan Johnson starts out by going in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Dennis Anfuso, Eric Shanower, Food, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jared Davis, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged a child's garden, aaron solomon adelman, andrew heller, baruch adelman, bilbil, christopher m. diket, dorothy gale, eggs, eleanor kennedy, ev, fix city, flattown, george van buren, gilgad, goats, high faluting city, how to be good, invisible inzi of oz, jackdaws, james bond, john w. kennedy, karen diket, king anko, king gos of regos, king rinkitink, kuik blackbab, maggie lockett, magic belt, mariah b'forre, mermaids, musicton, nikobob, nome king, nome kingdom, ouija board, oziana, ozma, ozma of oz, ozmapolitan, patchwork girl, pearls of pingaree, prince bobo of boboland, prince inga of pingaree, puns, queen aquareine, queen cor of coregos, rinkitink in oz, robin hess, roodnite, sarah hadley, scarecrow, susan johnson, the gnome king of oz, the lost princess of oz, the magic of oz, the royal book of oz, the runaway of oz, three trick caverns, toto and the cats of oz, tune town, virginia and robert wauchope, walkingbury, water of oblivion, wizard of oz, wizards, zog | 4 Comments

Babes in the Woods

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Nathan

I remember, back in high school, reading about Scandinavian tales of women living in the forest who looked beautiful and human from the front, but were hollow in the back. I think the book just called them elves, and they … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Authors, British, Fairy Tales, German, Greek Mythology, J.R.R. Tolkien, Language, Mythology, Names, Norse, Piers Anthony, Roman, Xanth | Tagged buschgrossmutter, druedain, dwarves, elves, enkidu, epic of gilgamesh, fauns, folklore, hulders, huldras, jacob grimm, kaiti hylands, lord of the rings, ludmila zeman, moss people, mother holle, orcs, satyrs, shrub grandmother, skogsra, tails, thale, trees, trolls, wild hunt, woodwives, woodwoses | Leave a comment

Tell Me About the Dragons, George

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Nathan

I had a few other things I wanted to write about, but since I found out Saturday was St. George’s Day, I thought he might be worth looking into. As someone who didn’t attend a church where saints were really … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglicanism, Authors, Catholicism, Christianity, Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Crusades, Diana Wynne Jones, Eastern Orthodox, England, Greek Mythology, History, Holidays, Humor, Islam, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Religion, Roman, Roman Empire, Stan Freberg, Tom Holt | Tagged dragons, edith nesbit, emperor diocletian, gordon r. dickson, hercules, kenneth grahame, king edward iii of england, medusa, order of the garter, ovid, paint your dragon, perseus, prince marvel, smaug, st. dragon and the george, st. george, st. george's day, st. patrick, st. theodore tiron, the deliverers of their country, the enchanted island of yew, the hobbit, the reluctant dragon, unicorns, witch week | Leave a comment

A Washed-Up Atlantis

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Nathan

I’ve started listening to the Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby podcast, which I found on Twitter. I have a lot to catch up on, but I did listen to some of the most recent installments about Atlantis. As the host … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Buddhism, Conspiracy Theories, Ethnicity, Frank Black/Black Francis, Greek Mythology, Greek Philosophy, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Philosophy, Prejudice, Religion, Technology, Theosophy, William Shakespeare | Tagged al franken, archaeology, aryans, athens, atlantis, atlantis: the antediluvian world, baal-seepa, bible, critias, david m. parry, demons, devadatta, donovan, dorothy and the wizard in oz, dragons, edgar cayce, euhemerism, flood, francis bacon, genesis, glinda of oz, green dragon of atlantis, helena blavatsky, hyperborea, ignatius donnelly, iron age, king midas, let's talk about myths baby, liv albert, lord of the dark face, nazis, neolithic era, numenor, plato, pseudoscience, racism, robert e. howard, sauron, siddharta gautama, silenus, sir arthur conan doyle, sir thomas more, slavery, table of nations, the maracot deep, the scarlet empire, thevetat, timaeus, utopia | 2 Comments

Winners and Choosers

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Nathan

After looking at the notion of people chosen by the gods, I became curious as to how the concept of a specific person being the Chosen One originated. It’s a pretty common trope in fantasy, someone being prophesied to save the world … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthurian Legend, Authors, Babylonian, British, Captain N: The Game Master, Cartoons, Characters, Christianity, Discworld, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Futurama, Greek Mythology, Harry Potter, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Mario, Mythology, Oz, Philosophy, Religion, Semitic, Star Wars, Television, Terry Pratchett, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged anakin skywalker, andrew heller, aragorn, armor, bender's big score, brain spawn, carrot ironfoundersson, chosen ones, chosen people, dark king, darth plagueis, darth vader, donald abbott, dorothy gale, dragon quest iii, dragon quest iv, dragon quest v, emperor palpatine, epic of gilgamesh, erdrick, fate, final fantasy mystic quest, flood, gilgamesh, glinda, gondor, hammurabi, how the wizard came to oz, hyrule, jedi, jesus, king arthur, king david, kylo ren, link, lord of the rings, middle-earth, nibblonians, oedipus, oz: the great and powerful, philip j. fry, professor hubert farnsworth, prophecy, return of the jedi, sith, swords, time travel, utnapishtim, voldemort, weapons, witches, wizard of oz | Leave a comment

All in How You Spell ‘Em

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Nathan

I saw something recently about the difference between the words “fairy” and “faerie.” Really, there’s no difference; the latter is just an archaic spelling. The word comes from the French for “fate,” and therefore “enchantment”; and was applied to many different … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, British, Celtic, Discworld, Etymology, Greek Mythology, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Terry Pratchett | Tagged aleister crowley, dennis wilson wise, dwarves, elves, fairies, fairyland, gnomes, goblins, immortals, john william polidori, lee speth, lord of the rings, noldor, nomes, nymphs, orcs, ozma of oz, spelling, the baum bugle, the hobbit, the hungry tiger of oz, vampires, words | 2 Comments

Bringing the Magic Back

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Nathan

The Spellcasters of Oz, by Philip John Lewin – Following up on Lewin’s earlier Master Crafters, this book shows the Ozites dealing with most of the magic that sustains their country disappearing, making beings like the Scarecrow inanimate and animals … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, Characters, Christianity, Eric Shanower, Feminism, Greek Mythology, History, J.R.R. Tolkien, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Prejudice, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology, Theosophy | Tagged a barnstormer in oz, angelica shirley carpenter, born criminal, christina maffa, demon of electricity, demons, dennis wilson wise, dorothy gale, dr. nikidik, elementals, elizabeth cady stanton, enilrul, gabriel gale, gnomes, jellia jamb, jinn, lurline, matilda joslyn gage, nomes, ozma, philip jose farmer, racism, robert b. luehrs, robots, ruth berman, scarecrow, susan b. anthony, the baum bugle, the enchanted apples of oz, the master crafters of oz, the master key, the spellcasters of oz, tik-tok, wizard of oz | 1 Comment

We’re on a Road to Numenor

Posted on July 3, 2021 by Nathan

The Desolations of Devil’s Acre, by Ransom Riggs – The sixth and final (at least for now) book in the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series takes place when the resurrected Caul, Miss Peregrine’s evil brother, is using his power to … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, C.S. Lewis, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Language, Magic, Mythology, Punch-Out, Street Fighter, Television, Video Games | Tagged atlantis, beowulf, christopher tolkien, desus nice, evil, god-level knowledge darts, hengist, horsa, middle-earth, miss peregrine's home for peculiar children, morgoth, numenor, ransom riggs, sauron, space trilogy, street fighter ii, the desolation of devil's acre, the lost road, the silmarillion, time travel | 1 Comment

Category Archives: J.R.R. Tolkien

Put a Zork in It

Roland in the Deep

Been a Long Time Since I Rinkitinked

Babes in the Woods

Tell Me About the Dragons, George

A Washed-Up Atlantis

Winners and Choosers

All in How You Spell ‘Em

Bringing the Magic Back

We’re on a Road to Numenor

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