Alas, not me

It's fairly common knowledge that, when Tolkien has the werewolf Carcharoth bite off Beren's hand in The Silmarillion , he is drawin...

Since the early part of the fourteenth century, to say that someone has 'passed away' has often meant that they have died. ( OED   p...

Recently  I suggested that 'Saruman' is Tolkien's rendering into Old English of the Ancient Greek σοφιστής. Last night I discove...

In the midst of an article about COVID-19 virus in Italy, I came upon this horrific paragraph: With funerals banned under Italy's l...

I make no pretense of being great at reading Homer aloud.  I am well aware I made a number of mistakes in this recording. There were ti...

Reconstruction of the Shield of Achilles by Kathleen Vail © All Rights Reserved If you've really read The Iliad  through, slogged...

The comradeship of poetry and war is one of the most ancient relationships humanity knows. They have served together on the plains of...

Taken from the International Space Station in September 2010 [Nienna's] halls are west of West, upon the borders of the world; an...

As far back as I can remember I was a wicked bookish lad, devouring tales as hungrily as a drowning man gasps for air. The inner truths th...

In my pilgrimage through Beowulf  I often encounter phrases or passages in which the skill of the poet fills me with wonder.  In the lines...