The Inklings Variety Hour

This month on The Inklings Variety Hour, we're talking about The Old Gods Waken, a supernatural thriller penned by Manly Wade Wellman. If you enjoy Charles Williams, and are at least interested by the idea of Appalachian Weird Fiction, I suspect you'll like this book. It's hard (at present) to find a physical copy, but Audible has a great audiobook version up that I've really enjoyed. I'm joined for this conversation by Jonathan Geltner, Connor Salter, and Aaron Irber, host of the I Might Believe in Faeries podcast, which is definitely worth checking out if you like this show. Among other things, we discuss:   Opening reading & guest introductions 5:43 — Twelvetide sponsor break 8:15 — Book overview: Appalachian folk horror 17:24 — Wellman's creative philology: Bel, Baal, and "bull**** philology" 29:44 — Spoiler warning & plot breakdown 37:53 — Race and the three-tier spiritual hierarchy 61:10 — The iron plow ending & Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal 66:18 — Favorite moments: spells, moon passages, and prose style 82:54 — Who was Manly Wade Wellman? 89:00 — William Gilbert's The Hurricane and vengeful old gods I'll also be talking briefly about Twelve Tide, a Christmas book my wife and I are publishing with Anglican House Publishers. Even if you have our first edition (which we self-published), this new edition has some changes (appendix with Christmas carols among others) that we're really excited about. You can find it here. As always, reach out to me at [email protected] if you would like to leave feedback. Also, please do rate us and leave reviews.  Next time: The Discarded Image  

Sophie Davis joins me to talk about George MacDonald's last fantasy novel, Lilith. Even for George MacDonald, this is a weird book. But if you're familiar with MacDonald's work, you know that wisdom and weirdness often go together like...I don't know...being a librarian, a sexton, a Raven, and the Adam? Or being a leopardess, a very white queen who is afraid of children, and an ancient Canaanite demoness seductress from a waterless world? Apologies for the audio quality here. Soon enough, episodes will have better audio, but I worry that this will annoy--apologies if it does. Give it a try, anyway, because we get to some really good stuff in this episode. (Here, by the way, is a link to the article Sophie references listing biblical allusions in Lilith.) Among other things, we discuss: **Why Lilith? / MacDonald's late fantasy** — ~5:15 **Lilith vs. Phantastes comparison** — ~7:55 **The world of Lilith: Bulika, the Lovers, and the Bags** — ~16:15 **The figure of Lilith in myth and MacDonald's redemption arc** — ~20:50 **Feminine guide figures: Mara, Eve, and Mr. Raven** — ~36:40 **Favorite images & a possible adaptation** — ~43:25 **Sophie's Conference paper on MacDonald's theology of death** — ~48:25 Thanks, as always, for listening, and let me know if you have questions or comments. My email is [email protected], and you can always rate and review the show. See you in a few weeks, when we'll talk about Manly Wade Wellman's The Old Gods Waken.

I know it's been a long wait, and you've had to settle for listening to "The" Joe Rogan Experience or The Daily, or maybe for staring glassy-eyed at a chair or at your friends' faces while they ask you if you're sure you're okay. But you can stop all that now. We're back. And we're back with more C.S. Lewis, who in turn is back with a certain poet I like to call John Skelton. Because that was his name. Could he have been England's first rapper? Lil' Skeltie? Tune in and find out. This week, Dr. Katherine Wyma and I continue our tour of C.S. Lewis' Oxford History of English Literature (Excluding Drama), or, as he liked to call it, "the OHEL," because...he hated writing it. That said, it's quite clear that the research Lewis conducted for the book--for over a decade--inspired much of his creative work. Further, it's clear that he was interested in what he wrote about here and admired Skelton's poetry, at least a bit. We're in Book I of The Oxford History of English Literature today--mainly the section marked "The Close of the Middle Ages in England," and we're focusing on Skelton, because he is the most significant poet to write during this time--at least in England.  (We recorded an earlier episode on "The Close of the Middle Ages in Scotland," but I have, to my great regret, misplaced that file. So if you were hoping to get that Dunbar or Henryson fix we all need sometimes, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit longer--so sorry!) So join us (and Lewis) as we mark time with Skelton, thinking about old age, death, and eccentric rhythms that aren't quite meter, but also aren't quite...not meter. Among other things, we discuss: 0:00 — Introduction & the OHEL Project 7:38 — John Skelton & Eleanor Rumming 14:23 — Medieval Body Humor & Aging 18:06 — Skeltonic Meter & Philip Sparrow 23:50 — Lewis on Philip Sparrow 28:40 — Grief, Pets, and Childhood 33:26 — Lewis vs. Eliot & Wrap-up This is taken from Chapter 2 of  Here, by the way, are the two most famous Skelton poems we discuss: The Tunning of Elenor Rumming The Book of Philip Sparrow By the way--my reading of these poems is meant to sort of suggest how they sound without going full Middle (or even Early Modern) English on you. So, yes, I realize it's sort of neither fish nor fowl. But it was fun. If you want to add anything or make any suggestions, or just reach out and say hi, please don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected].  Next: George MacDonald's Lilith!

Everyone else is reviewing Nolan's Odyssey. At least I'm doing it the way Alexander Pope would.  THE ARGUMENT. As Prologue to a Critique of Nolan’s The Odyssey, the Versifier discusses the Problem of Partisanship and its effect on our aesthetic Judgement. He addresses the bleak Tone of the Film and unpoetic Quality of Nolan’s Dialogue while discussing its many Strengths. He then names further Weaknesses, suggests that this is less an Epic than a Greek Tragedy based on Homer, or even perhaps a kind of Northern Saga. He also implies that these very Deviations from Homer might in Time become part of the eternal Matter of Troy. Yet he calls for more Films that give us, not an applicable Message, but a new World, which alone has the power to broaden our Sympathies and make us new People. If you want to read this review in verse, you can find it on my Substack, which is here: Pipkin's Miscellany. You can subscribe for free. But how does this connect to the Inklings? Well, Tolkien also used rhyming couplets when he wanted to make a point or two to his friend C.S. Lewis about how myths work. So there's that.  I'll see you all soon for a deep dive into C.S. Lewis' longest work.  By the way, the music throughout is from the soundtrack to The Odyssey, which is very good.  

Chris talks with Jonathan Geltner about the best (but still flawed) adaptation of The Hobbit. Get ready for...your greatest adventure! Among other things, we discuss: 1:32 — The 1977 NBC broadcast 2:31 — Childhood memories of the cartoon 5:48 — Rankin/Bass as directors 5:58 — Rankin's "no additions" philosophy 6:15 — Top Craft & the Studio Ghibli connection 7:39 — Music & the folk singer-songwriter style 8:11 — Critical reception & Hugo nomination 8:36 — What the adaptation kept vs. omitted 9:00 — Songs as background vs. foreground 12:10 — "Greatest Adventure" as anti-escapist message 20:01 — Fantasy's cultural status in the 1970s 21:59 — The Hobbit's cohesion vs. "episodic" label 25:57 — Bilbo's shifting narrative voice in Mirkwood 27:57 — Mirkwood: the weakest section 32:01 — Omitting Beorn & the Arkenstone's consequences 41:07 — Character designs: what works, what doesn't 46:54 — The Wood Elves' unusual look 51:59 — Star Wars, fantasy, and mainstream credibility 55:29 — Tolkien's "long ago in the quiet of the world" 1:00:53 — Oral storytelling tradition vs. film immersion 1:01:44 — One swap: what would you put back? 1:06:30 — Mental visualization & imaginative experience   To read Jonathan's Substack, click here: https://jonathangeltner.substack.com/ To read my (far less illustrious) Substack, click here: https://pipkinsmiscellany.substack.com/ To buy Jonathan's first book, click here: https://slantbooks.org/books/absolute-music/ To email me, click [email protected]