The Scale of the Fantastic
The following is presented partly as an explanation of what I see as valid material for this blog. Do you think of Sherlock Holmes as Read More
Tag: The Lord of the Rings
Link: The Land of Harvey
There is a fantasy realm that was important to my formative years, and it existed in an unusual place. I call it the Land of Read More
Link: The Desolation of Tolkien: Not a Movie Review
First, a little explanation of the title. I saw that one of the chapters in John C Wright’s book, Transhuman and Subhuman (2014) was “The Read More
Link: Sword & Sorcery Cliche No. 1: The Ming the Merciless Haircut
I am currently re-reading John Jakes’s entire Brak the Barbarian saga, and I was struck by an odd thought. Why do wizards in sword-and-sorcery always Read More
Link: The Battle of Five Armies: Of Orcs and Epics
As I sat watching the last of The Hobbit trilogy of films I realized something. We take so much for granted in the 21st Century. Read More
Link: Sword & Sorcery and J. R. R. Tolkien
In September 1937 an English Don named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien published a children’s book called The Hobbit. Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, Read More
A Brief History of Sword & Sorcery
So, What the Heck Did You Think It Was Made Of? This piece is a condensed history dedicated to a sub-genre of fantasy called “Sword Read More
King Kong: Three Movies
I stumbled upon a copy of the 1976 King Kong and realized, since I had the original and the 2005 Peter Jackson films, that a Read More
The Monsters of Grettir the Strong
This piece uses quotes from the Gutenberg version of Grettir the Strong. Available here. Grettir the Strong is a 13th Century heroic saga of the Read More
Sword & Sorcery versus Sword & Planet
A swordsman, his arms bearing red wounds, limps across a battlefield covered in bodies. His helmet is gone; his shield is broken. The flag of Read More