Here is the last of the set of 11 Sadler's Lectures podcast episodes on J.R.R. Tolkien's On Fairy Stories, ending fittingly with his reflections on "eucatastrophe" in literary works!

https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/tolkein-on-fairy-stories-eucatastrophe-evangelium-and-joy
#Tolkien #Literature #FairyStories #Eucatastrophe #Loss #Pain #Joy #Life

Here's the second to last in the series of Sadler's Lectures podcast episodes as we wrap up the series on J.R.R. Tolkien's On Fairy Stories. This one looks at what human desires motivate the sort of escape stories provide

https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/tolkein-on-fairy-stories-escapes-and-desires
#Tolkien #Literature #FairyStories #Escape #Motivation #Desire

@GregSadler
When thinking about #Tolkien’s soup metaphor, I recall that #UrsulaKLeGuin compared some aspects of the art of creation to #composting, where the “stuff of experience” accumulates and develops into fertile soil in which a story can grow.

The common elements here seem to be that a really great story needs great inputs (i.e. ingredients), time to develop, and a skilled chef (or gardener).

#fantasy #books #fairystories

In his essay On Fairy Stories, J.R.R. Tolkien weighs in on which of the arts work best for fantasy and fairy stories. Here's a Sadler's Lectures podcast episode discussing his argument

https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/tolkein-on-fairy-stories-fantasy-and-the-arts
#Tolkien #FairyStories #Fantasy #Podcast #Language #Drama #Artwork

In his essay "On Fairy Stories," J.R.R. Tolkien notes three "faces" of fairy stories: the Mystical, the Magical, the Mirror. Here's a Sadler's Lectures podcast episode exploring Tolkien's discussion of each

https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/tolkein-on-fairy-stories-three-faces-of-fairy-stories
#Tolkien #Podcast #FairyStories #Humanity #Story

One of the common claims J.R.R. Tolkien critically assesses in "On Fairy Stories" is that those narratives are essentially for children. Here's a Sadler's Lectures podcast episode looking at his analysis

https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/tolkein-on-fairy-stories-are-fairy-stories-for-children
#Tolkien #FairyStories #Children #Maturity #Podcast

Here is the second in the set of new Sadler's Lectures podcast episodes on J.R.R. Tolkien's essay On Fairy Stories. This one looks at the question of origins, and the extent to which it matters

https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/tolkein-on-fairy-stories-origins-of-fairy-stories
#Podcast #Tolkien #FairyStories #Origins #Literature #Essay

Here's the first podcast episode in a new set of Sadler's Lectures on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic essay "On Fairy Stories". We start, reasonably enough, at the start!

https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/tolkein-on-fairy-stories-what-is-a-fairy-story
#Tolkien #Literature #Criticism #Fantasy #Narrative #FairyStories #Podcast #Fiction

Just early released three Sadler's Lectures podcast episodes on J.R.R. Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories" to my Patreon supporters. I expect to release the first of these to the public in about a week or so

https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-release-of-85285656
#Tolkien #Podcast #FairyStories #EarlyRelease #Fantasy

I had a silly idea this morning. What if... pay-what-you-can midsummer fairy folklore writing workshop? 🧚‍♀️😮🧚‍♂️

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fairy-folklore-writing-workshop-tickets-614580014367

#WritingWorkshop #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #Fantasy #FairyStories #Folklore #FairyLore

Folktales for IWD

3/

The Northumbrian tale, 'The Howdie of Elsdon', is the story of Margaret, a healer and midwife known in old dialect as a howdie.

Margaret is the finest howdie in Northumberland, but the story begins when she is an old woman, retired from midwifery. However, a knock on the door one night summons her to a final, strange case.

Blindfolded and taken on horseback to the aid of a young woman in labour, Margaret finds herself in a grand mansion she's never seen before.

She delivers the baby safely, but is given one final task: the family of the house are all born with a condition of the eyes, and the baby must have an ointment rubbed on his eyelids. However, Margaret is told she mustn't let the ointment touch her own eyes.

When she accidentally rubs her own eye with ointment-covered fingers, Margaret finds that through that eye, the fine house is only an illusion. She is in a mossy cave, and the baby and his mother have the strange but beautiful features of the fairy folk. Frightened, she makes her excuses and leaves - although the grateful fairies pay her with enough gold and silver to keep her comfortably through old age.

(An epilogue tells how Margaret later lost her fairy sight, but that'll have to wait for another time.)

I love this tale because the protagonist is an older woman, with no romantic interest. There are other versions involving a male doctor, but I prefer the old midwife!

#folklore #Northumberland #FairyStories #IWD

@folklore

2/

The tale of Young Tam Lin is maybe the most famous of the Border Ballads, but the protagonist isn't Tam Lin, it's the young woman, Jennet (or Janet), and it's a classic story if you want a female hero.

In the story, Jennet, the daughter of a local laird strays to the fairy well at Carter Haugh, despite the warnings to stay away. There she meets Tam Lin, the fairy guardian of the well, and, over the course of a summer, the two fall in love. By the autumn, Jennet is pregnant with Tam Lin's child, and she despairs, because she cannot wed a fairy.

But then he reveals that he isn't a true fairy, but a changeling child, and Jennet can save him from the grasp of the fairy folk through her love.

Although the fairy queen turns Tam Lin into various terrifying creatures - and finally into a fiery coal that burns her hands - Jennet holds fast and breaks the spell. By throwing the burning coal into the well, she hides Tam Lin from the fairies' view, and they are forced to leave him to the mortal world, and to Jennet.

#folklore #ScottishBorders #BorderBallads #FairyStories #TamLin

@folklore

So, children, a trove of goodies here...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01v209y :blobnom: ✔️

#fairystories, #screenwriting, #literature #amwriting

With this Speculative Fiction Studies video, we finish up the series on Tolkien's essay On Fairy Stories. All the good ones have a "eucatastrophe" according to him, which involves an evangelium and a deep joy

https://youtu.be/To7RT-iywak
#Video #Tolkien #FairyStories #Eucatastrophe

We're approaching the end of the Speculative Fiction Studies videos on J.R.R. Tolkien's On Fairy Stories. Here's one focused on his discussion of the motif of recovery and loss, as well as his addressing worries about originality and creativity

https://youtu.be/1lZgpI0K0Pc
#Tolkien #SpeculativeFiction #Fantasy #FairyStories #Video #Philosophy #Originality #Creativity

Back to Tolkien's essay On Fairy Stories here in this Speculative Fiction Studies video, and continuing on with his discussion of "escape"!

https://youtu.be/VEiCsjpXI1k
#SpeculativeFiction #FairyStories #Tolkien #Escape #Desire #HumanNature #Narrative #Fantasy #Books

J.R.R. #Tolkien, On #FairyStories | Are #Fairy #Stories For Children? | Speculative #Fiction Studies

I watched this. It's kinda interesting.

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=1uybbvU1bMo

Are fairy stories essentially for children? J.R.R. Tolkien says no, and engages in criticism of the attitudes and assumptions of those who think they are, criticism that remains very relevant in the present!

https://youtu.be/1uybbvU1bMo
#Video #SpeculativeFiction #FairyStories #Books #Tolkien #Children

One of the master-metaphors Tolkien develops in his essay On Fairy Stories is a culinary one. Soup, bones, a pot or cauldron, and cooks - all illuminating the way stories develop and get served up to us.

https://youtu.be/KNcrGDpqYD0
#Video #Tolkien #FairyStories #Cooking #Metaphor #SpeculativeFiction

The second video in the new series of Speculative Fiction Studies looking at J.R.R. Tolkien's On Fairy Stories, this one on the second and least important question (in Tolkien's view!) he addresses

https://youtu.be/R4RG2aAq_Pg
#FairyStories #Tolkien #Video #Fantasy #Video #Origins