Fantasy Literature: Further Thinking
These podcasts allow you to explore further some of the key themes, texts, and writers engaged in fantasy literature. Note there is a separate 'Fantasy Literature: An Introduction' if you want to hear a brief summary of the genre and have short talks around some of the writers, plus separate collections on 'Fantasy at Oxford' (the famous writers and collections that have been in contact with the City and the University), and one dedicated to J. R. R. Tolkien.
To begin with read this introductory essay on the topic.
We have also created two teaching packs to support this:
- 'His Dark Materials' Years 9 and up (slideset and teaching guide)
- 'The Lord of the Rings' Years 9 and up (slideset and teaching guide).
- 'The Silmarillion' Years 10 and up (slideset and teaching guide)
If you enjoy these podcasts on 'Fantasy Literature' we would love to hear your feedback. Please complete a short survey at: https://oxford.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/oxford-fantasy-podcasts.
| # | Title | Description | Contributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Desiring Dragons: Creative and Critical Responses to the Dragon in 'Beowulf' | Laura Varnam discusses dragons in fantasy literature, exploring the ways in which the dragon of… | Laura Varnam |
| 12 | Werewolves in Medieval Literature vs Modern TV | A discussion of werewolves in medieval and modern representations by Dr Minjie Su. A transcript is… | Minjie Su |
| 13 | A Conversation With R. F. Kuang | Carolyne Larrington and Caroline Batten interview Rebecca F. Kuang, award-winning fantasy author of… | Carolyne Larrington, Caroline Batten, R. F. Kuang |
| 14 | An Interview with Elizabeth Knox, author of 'The Absolute Book' | Carolyne Larrington interviews critically-acclaimed fantasy author Elizabeth Knox about The… | Carolyne Larrington, Elizabeth Knox |
| 15 | Oriental Tales and Their Influence | Prof. Warner and Prof. Ballaster begin their conversation with Antoine Galland's translation into… | Ros Ballaster, Marina Warner |
| 16 | Mythopoeia: myth-creation and Middle-earth | A celebration of Tolkien and his creations, with special guests Dame Marina Warner, Prof Verlyn… | Marina Warner, Verlyn Flieger, Dimitra Fimi |
| 17 | Tolkien's turning point: Tolkien and the history of tongues | Tom Shippey's lecture will move from the detail to the (eventual) design of Tolkien's languages,… | Tom Shippey |
| 18 | Middle English: 'The Tree of Tongues' Tolkien's Medieval languages | This lecture is on Tolkien and middle english. Professor Carolyne Larrington, Tutorial Fellow in… | Carolyne Larrington |
| 19 | Medieval Welsh: 'The Tree of Tongues' Tolkien's Medieval Languages | Tolkien once termed Welsh 'the elder language of the men of Britain'; this talk explores how the… | Mark Williams |
| 20 | Gothic: 'The Tree of Tongues' Tolkien's Medieval Languages | Elizabeth Solopova, Lecturer in English Literature, Christ Church, Oxford. Tolkien wrote that he… | Elizabeth Solopova |