Aiya Iluvatar

Going on Retreat

I will be on retreat for the next week at the monasteries of the Order of Julian of Norwich in Wisconsin. Whether or not I have any spiritual insights, I should at least escape the heat!

David+

Cheney speaks against invading Iraq

OK, so if Dick Cheney said this in 1994, which foresaw everything that has happened, how did the invasion ever become a good idea in his mind?

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2007 Mythopoeic Awards

2007 Mythopoeic Award Winners

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature

"Solstice Wood" (Patricia A. McKillip)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature

"Corbenic" (Catherine Fisher)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

"J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (Two Volume Box Set)" (Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies

"Gemstone of Paradise: The Holy Grail in Wolfram's Parzival" (G. Ronald Murphy)

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature is given to the
fantasy novel, multi-volume, or single-author story collection for
adults published during 2006 that best exemplifies “the spirit of the
Inklings”. Books are eligible for two years after publication if not
selected as a finalist during the first year of eligibility. Books from
a series are eligible if they stand on their own; otherwise, the series
becomes eligible the year its final volume appears. The Mythopoeic
Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature honors books for younger
readers (from “Young Adults” to picture books for beginning readers),
in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia. Rules for
eligibility are otherwise the same as for the Adult Literature award.
The question of which award a borderline book is best suited for will
be decided by consensus of the committees.

The Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies is given to books
on Tolkien, Lewis, and/or Williams that make significant contributions
to Inklings scholarship. For this award, books first published during
the last three years (2004–2006) are eligible, including finalists for
previous years. The Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy
Studies is given to scholarly books on other specific authors in the
Inklings tradition, or to more general works on the genres of myth and
fantasy. The period of eligibility is three years, as for the Inklings
Studies award.

The winners of this year’s awards were announced at Mythcon XXXVIII in
Berkeley, California, on August 5, 2007. A complete list of Mythopoeic
Award winners is available on the Society web site:

www.mythsoc.org/awards.html

The finalists for the literature awards, text of recent acceptance
speeches, and selected book reviews are also
listed in this on-line section. For more information about the
Mythopoeic Awards, please contact the Awards Administrator: Eleanor M.
Farrell, P.O. Box 320486, San Francisco, CA 94132-0486,
awards@mythsoc.org.

Technorati Tags: books, inklings, mythopoeic, tolkien

Harry Potter Followup

WARNING! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!!!

We had not received our copy from Amazon in the morning on the 21st, so the family went to Wal-Mart to shop. While there, I made the decision that I should go ahead and buy another copy. Otherwise, I would be hounding Micky, screaming "KEEP READING!!!" for several days. I finished it in two days, despite a heavy work schedule. What a roller coaster! The Harry Potter books usually have a decent amount of "fluff" at the beginning of the book, but after a short, final visit to the Dursleys, you get a Death-Eater chase and the action does not stop. There are none of the Tolkienian resting points that most fantasy writers use.

So, how did I do?

1. Harry does survive, though at the cost of Hedwig, Dobby, Fred, Lupin and Tonks (Don't forget Colin Creevey!) Harry was a horcrux, which is something Micky had suggested to me at the end of the last book. Ginny survives and she and Harry marry and have children somewhere between the proper end of the book and the epilogue. According to a USA Today article I read, early drafts had Mr. Weasley die, but Rowling (Who I also read is pronounced "rolling." I'll have to adjust my pronunciation like I did with Tolkien...) couldn't do it and "traded out" Fred, Lupin and Tonks. Harry does indeed pay a price for victory in the death of many close friends. A happy ending, but not without sadness.
2. Ron and Hermione do survive and marry.
3. I am extraordinarily happy with Snape's redemption in the book. He's the primary reason I own a Slytherin tee shirt.
4. Sirius Black does not come back, except as a phantom when Harry activates the ring.

I was very happy with this book. I'm not sure I have ever been as satisfied at the end of a series. I have minor quibbles about the Epilogue, but they truly are minor. I am currently re-reading the section from Snape's death to the end with care, especially the chapter "King's Cross" which Nick Knisely has pointed out has definite overtones of Gregory of Nyssa's atonement theory. (I've asked Nick to expand on this.)

So if Rowling is working in a Mythopoeic style, what does she emphasize in the primary world? She has a Tolkienian "Short-Term-Defeat, extremely long-term-victory" style that does not deny the reality of death and suffering. Her heroes, even Dumbledore (who was untouchable until Half-Blood Prince) have human foibles that lead to further suffering. She emphasizes that love is the most powerful force in the universe. It is Voldemort's complete inability to understand it that is his undoing. Love is what saves Harry from Voldemort in the first place, and love, even though somewhat twisted, is what brings Snape to defy Voldemort. (Did you catch that at the last Snape wanted to stare into Harry's eyes - Lilly's eyes?) Friendship is a version of this love. When Harry pushes his friends away, he gets in trouble. When he trusts them, he succeeds. Even though trust sometimes fails, as in the case of Harry's parents, it is worth it in the end.

These are the same rules that Christians hold that the primary world operates by. There are those right-wind fundamentalists frothing about the use of magic in the Harry Potter series, usually without thought of what this means about the Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings, but I would be willing to say that I think this series is Christian literature in it's very best form. It teaches Gospel values in an unobtrusive way. I cannot imagine that children who have internalized this saga have not been positively changed.

I look forward to seeing some analysis from better commentators than I - maybe an updated version of "The Gospel According to Harry Potter." Until then, I'm just going to continue to enjoy the sweet aftertaste of a most remarkable series of books.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling!

David+

"The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World's Most Famous Seeker" (Connie Neal)

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