Why Mansfield Park is My Favorite Jane Austen Novel
It does not sparkle like Pride and Prejudice , thrill like Persuasion , or even produce laughter like Northanger Abbey , but Jane...
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Miriam Ellis
7 days ago3 min read
Frogmorton and the Magic of Names on Tolkien's Maps
If you love the hobbits as I do, you may wish that J.R.R. Tolkien had been granted the time to write a dozen more books about them and...
78 views
Miriam Ellis
Nov 264 min read
The Periannath as Seen by Men and Themselves
When Boromir attends the Council of Elrond, he nearly laughs aloud at the spectacle of an aged, tiny being called a hobbit offering to...
62 views
Miriam Ellis
Nov 243 min read
Why Northanger Abbey Charms and Captivates Me
I treasure Northanger Abbey for the feeling it gives of a young Jane writing to a young us. The author knows what it is to be free from...
23 views
Miriam Ellis
Nov 233 min read
Ingwë, the Vanyar, and the Art of Contentment
Had all J.R.R. Tolkien's elves been like the Vanyar, The Silmarillion would not exist. Ingwë, High King of all the elves, is satisfied...
73 views
Miriam Ellis
Nov 193 min read
Christopher Tolkien: Steward of a Star
When Eärendil is set to sail the skies with a Silmaril on his brow as a sign of hope for Middle-earth, Elrond is left behind to gaze from...
84 views
Miriam Ellis
Sep 265 min read
Why We Love Jane Austen
Why do we love Jane Austen with such devotion? Every reader's answers will be unique, but as I researched all known images and...
116 views
Miriam Ellis
Sep 255 min read
Illustrating Pride and Prejudice with Love and Respect for Jane Austen
Elegant, gallant, beloved Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen's most sparkling novel, with a plot that moves like a swift, crystal-clear...
118 views
Miriam Ellis
Aug 33 min read
The Voices of Ents in Tolkien
By the time Merry and Pippin escape from their orc captors, things have gotten quite momentous and arduous in The Lord of the Rings. But...
355 views
Miriam Ellis
Aug 14 min read
Thranduil, Dwarven Necklaces, and Elf-Friends
"I will take your gift, O Bilbo the Magnificent!" said the king gravely. "And I name you elf-friend and blessed..." - The Hobbit, Chapter...
387 views
Miriam Ellis
Jul 195 min read
The Golden Hall and the Silver Horn
For many readers, Tolkien offers a lavish, if temporary, escape from our increasingly-utilitarian culture into a realm of visual riches....
308 views
Miriam Ellis
Jul 133 min read
My Brand New Tolkien Patreon Announcement for Patrons of the Arts Like You!
It's a fascinating cultural development that just as tech giants are threatening to replace millennia of human history in the arts with...
117 views
Miriam Ellis
Jul 115 min read
The Fine Frailty of Gandalf and the Long Service of Círdan
Because many readers first encounter Gandalf through hobbit eyes, our lasting idea of him may be of a great, powerful figure, sometimes...
383 views
Miriam Ellis
Jul 14 min read
How The Hobbit Ends: Friends, Humility and Laughter
"'...You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after...
150 views
Miriam Ellis
May 217 min read
5 Free Tolkien Quizzes and Lore Challenges You Can Play at Home
Hobbits are good at games of skill, elves can be lore-masters, and in Tolkien's legendarium, "riddling talk" is not only irresistible to...
158 views
Miriam Ellis
May 136 min read
The Rousing of Hobbits
"What's come of his weskit? I don't hold with wearing ironmongery, whether it wears well or no," says the Gaffer of Sam's gilded mail...
232 views
Miriam Ellis
May 115 min read
The Liberation of Lobelia and the Gandalf-ication of Frodo
Calling all Lobelia Sackville-Baggins fans! It's only in becoming more involved in the Tolkien community that I have realized the great...
431 views
Miriam Ellis
May 93 min read
Utter Elven Awe: Envisioning the Chamber of Celeborn and Galadriel
J.R.R. Tolkien once told an interviewer that his regard for trees extended to him longing to make contact with one and see how it feels...
205 views
Miriam Ellis
May 64 min read
Gil-galad and Elendil: Beowulfian Shoulder Companions
"It is said that the towers of Emyn Beraid were not built indeed by the Exiles of Númenor, but were raised by Gil-galad for Elendil, his...
328 views
Miriam Ellis
May 47 min read
Éowyn, Faramir and the Houses That Healed Them
It takes a special kind of eucatastrophe to bring about any alleviation of trauma, and in J.R.R. Tolkien's writing of Éowyn and Faramir,...
452 views
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