The archetypical ‘pure evil’ race (no, not that kind of race) in fantasy is the orc, as inspired by (ripped off from) Tolkien, often by way of D&D. If you’re interested in writing fantasy, you almost certainly have some thoughts
Over Christmas break, devoid of either college or work, I did what I had long forsworn, in part from self-perservation, to do: I wrote a piece of fanfiction. Now, it’s not the only fanfiction I’ve written (this poem is based
Note: This paper was written for college- hence the Works Cited includes course resources not publicly available. Originally titled: “At The Center, God.” The atheistic conception of the world by necessity bases its understanding of a hypothetical spiritual (or mental)
Last week’s look at the unique virtues of story covered its ability to invest the world with meaning and its power to teach what I termed an ‘aesthetic conscience’, an instinct towards beauty in all parts of life. Today we’ll
Where does story excel not-story? Why should you read a story instead of a work of philosophy or science or theology? Fun is an answer, but not a complete one. We still want a better reason, something we can tell
As the premier Author of all reality, we should expect God to excel at the craft. Scripture, in other words, should be a work of art, viewed as literature. Due to its history, context, and purpose, though, Scripture looks very,
What makes a good ending? The question plagues us, sometimes. Why does this ending work and that one doesn’t? What’s too much, what’s too little? Why did Tolkien spend six of Book Six’s final chapters on the conclusion? The ending
The Lord of the Rings is famous for taking ‘too long’ to end. The Ring is destroyed in chapter 3 of Book 6 of the story, followed by the final battle with Sauron in chapter 4. The next five chapters
The Crusades controversy this article and its prequel address is a local one, confined to certain circles of online Reformed people, not really a matter of concern for the wider culture or for those wise enough to exist beyond the
To understand the world, we must understand stories, because people understand the world through stories. Not numbers, not equations, not analytical trends, none of these are the lens of human sight. Stories are the framework and motivation of human thought.