Census of Middle Earth
The Smithsonian provides a census of the residents of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. (via @katelaity)
Fantasy Armor and Lady Bits
An armorer has some suggestions about balancing functionality, character and story in “fantasy armor and lady bits.”
Doing Something Different with Epic Fantasy
Adrian Tchaikovsky plans to scorch epic fantasy’s rolling hills and verdant forests, joining other restless fantasy writers in a revolt against the eternal Middle England of Middle Earth: “In traditional epic fantasy, nothing ever changes. The only person trying to alter the world is the Dark Lord, and […]
Happy Birthday, JRR Tolkien
BBC 2’s “In Their Own Words: British Novelists,” with J.R.R. Tolkien.
Ulysses vs Lord of the Rings
Orson Scott Card writes an impassioned defence of Lord of the Rings (and the type of popular book championed by readers) against Ulysses (and the type of difficult book espoused by academics), complete with call to action to make your own family canon of beloved literature (scroll down […]
High Fantasy for Young Adults
At The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik writes about The Lord of the Rings and its influence on young adult fantasy, how Tolkien’s fusing of the epic and the familiarly domestic brought us Eragon and Twilight. “Kids go to fantasy not for escape but for organization, and a little […]
The Cultural Gutter 