Fantasy Literature

Stuart Lee talks on 'The ‘Key-spring’ of The Lord of the Rings?' Stuart Lee talks on 'The ‘Key-spring’ of The Lord of the Rings?'. Part of the 70th anniversary talks on 'The Lord of the Rings' organised by the Faculty of English and Exeter College.

Michael Ward talks on 'C.S. Lewis’s Influence on The Lord of the Rings' Michael Ward talks on 'C.S. Lewis’s Influence on The Lord of the Rings'. Part of the 70th anniversary talks on 'The Lord of the Rings' organised by the Faculty of English and Exeter College.

Grace Khuri talks on 'Medievalism in the Margins: Echoes of Anglo-Saxon England in Appendix A of 'The Lord of the Rings' – From Page to Screen' Grace Khuri talks on 'Medievalism in the Margins: Echoes of Anglo-Saxon England in Appendix A of 'The Lord of the Rings' – From Page to Screen'. Part of the 70th anniversary talks on 'The Lord of the Rings' organised by the Faculty of English and Exeter College.

Mark Williams talks on 'A Harmless Vice: Tolkien’s Invented Languages' Mark Williams talks on 'A Harmless Vice: Tolkien’s Invented Languages'. Part of the 70th anniversary talks on 'The Lord of the Rings' organised by the Faculty of English and Exeter College.

Giuseppe Pezzini talks on 'The authors and styles of The Lord of the Rings' Giuseppe Pezzini talks on 'The authors and styles of The Lord of the Rings'. part of the 70th anniversary talks on 'The Lord of the Rings' organised by the Faculty of English and Exeter College.

Stuart Lee talks about Tolkien's recently published war poetry in the context of G. B. Smith. Stuart Lee on 'J. R. R. Tolkien and G. B. Smith: Two Forgotten War Poets?' part of the 70th anniversary talks on 'The Lord of the Rings' by the Faculty of English and Exeter College.

Holly Ordway presents on 'Tolkien as Interpreter and Transformer of Culture'. Holly Ordway presents on 'Tolkien as Interpreter and Transformer of Culture'. Part of the 70th anniversary talks on 'The Lord of the Ring's organised by the Faculty of English and Exeter College in 2024.

A talk by Professor Simon Horobin on Tolkien's long-standing career and interest in philology as part of the Tolkien 50th Commemoration seminar series. A talk by Professor Simon Horobin on Tolkien's long-standing career and interest in philology. Part of the series to mark the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death organised and hosted by Exeter College and the Faculty of English.

A talk by Dr Laura Varnam on Tolkien's long engagement with the Old English poem 'Beowulf' as part of the Tolkien 50th Commemoration seminar series. A talk by Dr Laura Varnam, University College, Oxford, on Tolkien's long engagement with the Old English poem 'Beowulf'. Part of the series to mark the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death organised and hosted by Exeter College and the Faculty of English.

A talk by PhD candidate Grace Khuri, University of Oxford, on Tolkien's Elvish history and English 'mythology', as part of the Tolkien 50th Commemoration seminar series. A talk by PhD candidate Grace Khuri, University of Oxford, on Tolkien's Elvish history and English 'mythology'.. Part of the series to mark the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death organised and hosted by Exeter College and the Faculty of English.

A lecture by Dr S Lee as part of the Tolkien 50th Commemoration seminar series. A look at how Tolkien wrote 'The Lord of the Rings' and what lessons can be learnt from this. Part of the series to mark the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death organised and hosted by Exeter College and the Faculty of English.

A comparison of the Hong Kong author Jin Yong and J. R. R. Tolkien A comparison of the Hong Kong author Jin Yong and J. R. R. Tolkien by Jonathan Hui, English Division at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Emma Sillett, Trinity College Librarian, and Dr Caroline Batten explore the Danson Library's collection of rare Arthur Rackham fantasy illustrations. Emma Sillett, Trinity College Librarian, and Dr Caroline Batten explore the Danson Library's collection of rare Arthur Rackham fantasy illustrations, looking at editions of fairy tales, Milton's Comus, Wagner's Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods, and more.

This talk explores the myth underlying the action in John Wyndham's `The Kraken Wakes'. This talk discusses the fantasy novel The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham. The novel is often described as science fiction, but the underlying legend of a sea monster has a long history and appears in literature all over the world. Sometimes the creature is non-aggressive, often aggressive; the narrator and his wife evoke both traditions. Jane Bliss is an independent scholar based in Oxford, working on a number of medieval topics including Romance and Anglo-Norman Literature.

The Saga of Eric the Unlucky examines Rider Haggard's use of medieval narrative techniques in his novel Eric Brighteyes. In The Saga of Eric the Unlucky, Jane Bliss examines Rider Haggard's use of medieval narrative techniques in his nineteenth-century novel The Saga of Eric Brighteyes. He exploits the paratactic narrative style familiar from chronicle history; he also uses a typical and often very effective tense-switching from past to present and back, to bring scenes to life. The story is enlivened with his own verses, composed with a traditional alliterative style in mind. Jane Bliss is an independent scholar; she has written on several aspects of medieval literature, and runs an Anglo-Norman Reading Group in Oxford.

Jasmine Jagger provides a short introduction to Edward Lear. Jasmine Jagger provides a short introduction to Edward Lear, a literary nonsense author whose fanciful limericks and invented words inspired numerous fantasy authors. Dr Jagger lectured at Oxford (Jesus and Lady Margaret Hall), and is now a member of the Department of English and Creative Writing at the University of Roehampton.

A discussion of werewolves in medieval and modern representations. A discussion of werewolves in medieval and modern representations by Dr Minjie Su.

A visual discussion of the Morte D'Arthur murals in the library of the Oxford Union. A visual discussion of the Morte D'Arthur murals in the library of the Oxford Union by Tom Corrick (Librarian) and Caroline Batten. the murals were painted by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and influence many writers.

Jane Bliss introduces listeners to the work of Violet Needham, a prolific but little-remembered children’s fantasy author, whose book 'The Woods of Windri' draws on the tropes of medieval romances in fascinating ways.ays. Jane Bliss introduces listeners to the work of Violet Needham, a prolific but little-remembered children’s fantasy author, whose book 'The Woods of Windri' draws on the tropes of medieval romances in fascinating ways. The talk ends with questioning the definition of 'fantasy' and how it relates to Needham.

This lecture is an introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien's third major work, 'The Silmarillion' (1977), and considers its lengthy development in numerous prose and verse texts over fifty years. This lecture offers a guided tour through the development of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Silmarillion' corpus, inclusive of The Silmarillion (1977) and the earlier versions of the same work published in the History of Middle Earth series (1983-1996). The most mythological and magisterial of Tolkien's major works, the 1977 Silmarillion (and its antecedents) gives the reader a very different experience and perspective than his more famous and widely read works, The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955). A mythology in the true sense, the 'Silmarillion' corpus is peopled with gods and other preternatural beings and represents the earliest comprehensive work of Tolkien's imagination. Since it was begun in earnest in the middle of the First World War, one of the most turbulent periods in modern history, its tone is more sober and its events more tragic than those of his other classics, but its powerful messages of nobility in the face of defeat and courage in darkness resonate with the world events of the time in which it was produced.