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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | What is the 'Silmarillion'? | This lecture is an introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien's third major work, 'The Silmarillion' (1977),… | Grace Khuri |
| 32 | Verse and Prose in Fantasy Literature | In this video, Katherine Olley gives an analysis of two forms that dominate fantasy literature:… | Katherine Olley |
| 33 | What Tolkien learnt from Beowulf: Representations of Evil | Smaug the Golden, Sauron the Terrible, the Balrog of Moria... These are some of J. R. R. Tolkien's… | Rafael J. Pascual |
| 34 | Interview: Catherine Butler | An interview with Dr Catherine Butler (Cardiff University) by Will Brockbank (Oxford). Dr Butler… | Catherine Butler, Will Brockbank |
| 35 | Re-Enchanted: The Rise of Children’s Fantasy Literature in the Twentieth Century | Maria Sachiko Cecire introduces the idea of an Oxford School of children’s fantasy literature,… | Maria Sachiko Cecire |
| 36 | Why 'Game of Thrones' Matters | Carolyne Larrington discusses some reasons for the popularity of the HBO series, explores some of… | Carolyne Larrington |
| 37 | Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' | Margaret Kean explores how Philip Pullman plays with the idea of communication across different… | Margaret Kean |
| 38 | The Stories of Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien and Philip Pullman | Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Stuart Lee and Margaret Kean explore the digital afterlives of these… | Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Stuart Lee, Margaret Kean |
| 39 | Literary Allusion in Harry Potter | J.K. Rowling’s imagination is fired by the past. How do historical objects illuminate the real-… | Beatrice Groves, Victoria McGuinness |
| 40 | Wolves and Winter: Old Norse Myths and Children's Literature | Dr Carolyne Larrington, Supernumerary Fellow and Tutor in English, St John's College, gives a talk… | Carolyne Larrington |