“A Song of Aryador” by J.R.R. Tolkien

The recent dearth of posts is not what I had planned for this month, but is caused by intensive training for my new job. The review for Series 3 of Doctor Who is in the works (as it should have been long ago), and I am happily taking notes on Series 4 now. I am

“The Last Voyage of Eärendel” by J.R.R. Tolkien

This is the first poem written by Tolkien about the character of Eärendil, the famous voyager who in Middle-Earth mythology carried the morning star on his brow across the sky. Interestingly enough, the character’s name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Éarendel, a name associated with the star Rigel in Orion, which is a wandering star

Tolkien’s “Habbanan beneath the Stars”

[Excerpted from The Book of Lost Tales 1 by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien, pages 96 and 97. This is a very early poem of the Professor’s that clearly connects his mythology of Middle-Earth with some Christian and Catholic ideas. Christopher thinks the land of Habbanan might be Arda’s version of Purgatory, where the

Feature: “The Dragon’s Visit” by J.R.R. Tolkien

“The Dragon’s Visit” By J.R.R. Tolkien, published in the Oxford Magazine, 4 February 1937 The dragon lay on the cherry trees a-simmering and a-dreaming: Green was he, and the blossom white, and the yellow sun gleaming. He came from the land of Finis-Terre, where dragons live, and the moon shines on high white fountains. “Please,