Lord of The Rings. What a great release yesterday - "Epic", they said. Hey - what else would you expect from New Zealand?
Unfortunately, the movie is not released in Prague for another month. I feel a quick trip to Germany coming on so that Samuel and I can see it. I am a big fan of fantasy, especially when it carries spiritual advice that is helpful. I think Tolkein is far more helpful than J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter's magic appears to have no source outside himself - much different from the "Deeper magic" of C.S. Lewis's Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe series, and lacking the mysterious otherness of Tolkeins Ring series.
I started reading Tolkein to my kids a year ago to get them ready for the movie versions. The books are really slow moving for my children but I explained that much of the theology is in the geography - the landscape, forests, rivers - they still thought it was slow. The movie should be more interesting but probably not as mysterious - someone tell me - I heard that Tom Bombardil, a "Creator" figure in the first book is deleted in the movie.
By the way, if you are interested in chasing down spiritual themes in fantasy then look to the father of modern fantasy, George MacDonald. C.S. Lewis said that for communicating eternal truth, the highest form was fantasy (not novels) and the master of fantasy, he said, was MacDonald. Tolkien was also influenced by MacDonald, as was Lewis Caroll (who gave "Alice" to him to check over and see if it was worth publishing) and poet W.H. Auden.
George MacDonald. Who? Hey, he lived last century in Scotland and England, wrote over 50 books - mostly fairy tales, sermons (he was a preacher) and 2 fantasies - Lilith and Phantases - you can buy his books on the internet at johannesen.
Want to buy George MacDonald's house? Built in 1820, in Huntly, Scotland. My friend Seth owns it (he let us live in it last year for a while) and told me this morning that it has just gone on the market.
Seth writes:
"The Farm has just been put on the market in Huntly. I have had it open to offers from certain MacDonald enthusiasts but nothing serious. So we are putting it on the open market there. We too are praying for someone who will carry on the MacDonald Legacy to buy it. Please feel free to share the info around and I will supply more if needed.
It is raining like cats and dogs here in the Redwoods, no wonder the trees grow so big!!"
Email Seth at seth@humboldt.net
Unfortunately, the movie is not released in Prague for another month. I feel a quick trip to Germany coming on so that Samuel and I can see it. I am a big fan of fantasy, especially when it carries spiritual advice that is helpful. I think Tolkein is far more helpful than J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter's magic appears to have no source outside himself - much different from the "Deeper magic" of C.S. Lewis's Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe series, and lacking the mysterious otherness of Tolkeins Ring series.
I started reading Tolkein to my kids a year ago to get them ready for the movie versions. The books are really slow moving for my children but I explained that much of the theology is in the geography - the landscape, forests, rivers - they still thought it was slow. The movie should be more interesting but probably not as mysterious - someone tell me - I heard that Tom Bombardil, a "Creator" figure in the first book is deleted in the movie.
By the way, if you are interested in chasing down spiritual themes in fantasy then look to the father of modern fantasy, George MacDonald. C.S. Lewis said that for communicating eternal truth, the highest form was fantasy (not novels) and the master of fantasy, he said, was MacDonald. Tolkien was also influenced by MacDonald, as was Lewis Caroll (who gave "Alice" to him to check over and see if it was worth publishing) and poet W.H. Auden.
George MacDonald. Who? Hey, he lived last century in Scotland and England, wrote over 50 books - mostly fairy tales, sermons (he was a preacher) and 2 fantasies - Lilith and Phantases - you can buy his books on the internet at johannesen.
Want to buy George MacDonald's house? Built in 1820, in Huntly, Scotland. My friend Seth owns it (he let us live in it last year for a while) and told me this morning that it has just gone on the market.
Seth writes:
"The Farm has just been put on the market in Huntly. I have had it open to offers from certain MacDonald enthusiasts but nothing serious. So we are putting it on the open market there. We too are praying for someone who will carry on the MacDonald Legacy to buy it. Please feel free to share the info around and I will supply more if needed.
It is raining like cats and dogs here in the Redwoods, no wonder the trees grow so big!!"
Email Seth at seth@humboldt.net
