The Inklings Variety Hour

Dr. Leslie Baynes returns to the podcast to talk about biblical and literary allusions in (and origins of) The Magician's Nephew! If you haven't already, check out her book, Between Interpretation and Imagination: C.S. Lewis and the Bible. Among other things, we discuss:  1:37 — Introductions Chris introduces Dr. Leslie Baynes — NT scholar, author on CS Lewis and the Bible. 3:30 — Stars, Singing & Job 38 Discussion of how Aslan's creation song echoes Job 38 ("the morning stars sang together"). Lewis loved this verse even as a teenage atheist. 6:07 — Hebrew Poetic Parallelism Leslie explains Hebrew poetic parallelism and the connection between "stars" and "sons of God" in Job. How this idea — that stars are divine beings — was widespread in the ancient world. 9:09 — Stars as Minor Gods in Narnia & Tolkien Voyage of the Dawn Treader's Ramandu as a retired star; comparison to Tolkien's Ainur singing creation into existence in the Silmarillion. 11:58 — E. Nesbit as a Source for Lewis Lewis openly based the Chronicles on E. Nesbit's children's books. The frame story of The Magician's Nephew (sick mother, absent father, magical adventure, happy resolution) follows Nesbit's formula exactly. 18:04 — The Wood Between the Worlds & Charn These sections feel less biblical; Charn likely drawn from Nesbit's The Amulet (children traveling through time to an ancient Near Eastern setting). The Wood Between the Worlds echoes Lewis's Mere Christianity hallway metaphor. 23:03 — Jadis/White Witch & Lilith Luke Mills found a passage in the medieval kabbalistic Alphabet of Ben Sira linking Lilith to a golden bell — possible indirect influence on Lewis's Witch origin story. 26:08 — Narnia's Creation vs. Genesis Aslan creates stars first — Lewis "correcting" the light-before-sun problem in Genesis 1. Frank and Helen as Adam & Eve; their children marrying nymphs and dryads resolves the "who did Cain marry?" puzzle. 31:22 — The Garden of the Hesperides The western garden in The Magician's Nephew blends the Garden of Eden with the Greek Garden of the Hesperides (Atlas's daughters, golden apples, a guardian dragon/serpent). Lewis changed the apples to silver — possibly echoing Yeats's "silver apples of the moon." 34:45 — Milton's Comus & Watchful Dragons Lewis adored Comus as a teenager. His famous "past watchful dragons" metaphor connects to the guardian dragon of the Hesperides (who keeps people away from the apples), inverting the Eden serpent (who tempts people toward the fruit). 39:48 — Joy, West, and the Last Battle The western garden = "Joy" (sehnsucht) for Lewis. In The Last Battle, the characters run west, then turn east to their final home — fulfilling joy rather than endlessly pursuing it. Same arc as The Pilgrim's Regress. 42:25 — Lewis as a "Magpie" Creator Lewis freely borrowed from everything — Nesbit, Milton, Job, the Hesperides — without apology. Discussion of his view (in Mere Christianity) that true originality comes from surrender to God, not self-invention. 45:43 — Pagan vs. Christian — A False Split Lewis (like Justin Martyr) believed all truth is God's truth. Anything good in "pagan" sources can be integrated into a Christian worldview — rejecting the idea that they must be kept entirely separate.

Jonathan Geltner and Luke Mills rejoin me to finish talking about The Magician's Nephew.  Meanwhile, Narnian troubadour Matt Wheeler joins us to share "Awake, Awake!"--the first of his seven songs from Narnia! More details to come, but here's a quick summary of what we discuss: Introduction & Reading 0:00 — Opening dramatic reading from The Magician's Nephew (Digory before Aslan) Host & Guest Introductions 2:12 — Pipkin introduces Dr. Luke Mills and Jonathan Gelter; Jonathan's MFA program plug and novel update Story Recap 3:39 — Summary of the book up to the current chapters (Charn, Jadis, Narnia's creation, lamppost origin) Is Narnia "Fallen"? 6:34 — Discussion of Digory's guilt, the nature of Narnia's corruption, and parallels to Paradise Lost and Eden Digory's Culpability 10:37 — Was Digory truly at fault? The enchanted bell, Aslan's judgment, and Jonathan's "defense counsel" argument The Comic Sections: Animals & Uncle Andrew 15:40 — Critiquing Lewis's humor; Barfield's observation about Lewis's "undergraduate" comedy; Tolkien comparisons The Cabby as First King of Narnia 20:21 — Why a working-class Cockney? Anti-urban sentiment in Lewis, WWI's influence, rural vs. city themes, and comparison to Sam Gamgee Lewis, Tolkien & Shared Mythological Ideas 26:53 — Overlapping motifs (singing creation, protective trees, the rings); did Lewis borrow from Tolkien? The Winged Horse & the Garden of Hesperides 27:56 — Aslan's tears scene; the walled garden and its inscription; parallels to Galadriel and the One Ring Trees in Mythology & Religion 29:14 — Sacred trees across world cultures: Norse, Celtic, Greek, Irish paradise mythology, apples, and forests Musical Guest: Matt Wheeler 36:19 — Original song inspired by Aslan's creation of Narnia; discussion of the source passage Jadis Eats the Apple & the White Salt Image 46:05 — Jadis's "white as salt" description; what it conveys about her character and the apple's dark gift Character of Jadis / The White Witch 53:32 — Her name (French "jadis" = "once upon a time"), Lilith parallels, satanic motivation, and the "dem fine woman" ending Allegory, Plot Holes & Medieval Parallels 56:49 — Lewis's inconsistent allegory, Dante vs. Bunyan, and how medieval authors simply didn't care about plot consistency The Ending: Digory's Mother, Uncle Andrew, and Redemption 1:01:27 — The apple healing his mother, Aslan's beatific vision, Uncle Andrew's comic/bittersweet conclusion, and the wardrobe's origin Platonic Themes & the Wood Between the Worlds 1:06:41 — Aslan's Platonism, the multiverse question, ontological status of the secondary worlds, and the reference to Plato in The Last Battle Netflix Adaptation Discussion 1:12:53 — Concerns about Greta Gerwig's adaptation; what changes would actually be welcome; Polly & Digory's relationship Closing Remarks & What's Next 1:18:03 — Wrap-up, acknowledgments, upcoming Silver Trumpet episode

Chris welcomes back friend of the show Eric Geddes to talk about the second part of The Magician's Nephew.  Among other things, we discuss the following: Uncle Andrew's adult silliness Jadis, Hempress of Colney 'Atch! Why the Wood Between the Worlds affects Jadis the way it does Digory v. Edmund and Eustace Uncle Andrew and Renaissance Magic The Cabby's Hymn The Songs of Aslan Mixing of Mythologies Witches v. Hags in Narnia Enjoy! I'll be back in two weeks to talk about The Magician's Nephew, Part 3, with Jonathan Geltner and Luke Mills!  

Happy Sixth Season of The Inklings Variety Hour! Would you like a present to mark the occasion? One of these fine rings, perhaps? No, not the green ones. No, I don't care if it's St. Patrick's Day. You. Can't. Have. The. Green. Ones.  But have a yellow ring. No, seriously, go for it. Why are you hesitating? But that's preposterous. They won't make you disappear. What do you think this is, The Hobbit? Why does it always come back to rings? I say none of this on today's episode, but perhaps it's that the Inklings knew that rings bind you to someone else. Or something else.  In this case, the Wood Between the Worlds? Or Faerie? Or to your evil and intimidating uncle who is a mad magician-scientist with a furnished room that you don't know about and a dead fairy godmother named Mrs. Lefay? What's up with the strange parallels in this book, anyway? You've got children in England exploring inside because it's rainy. You've got Uncle Andrew and Jadis making essentially the same speeches. You've also got the wood between the worlds and the crawlspace between houses, as well as the troubling ways in which Digory resembles his uncle--both of whom, by the way, end up technically responsible for sending children to another world when they're old men. But what kind of an old man who sends children into peril will Digory grow up to be? The sort who thinks rules don't apply to him, or the sort who makes endless inside jokes with himself about Plato? Character matters. To talk about some of these riddles, or at least allude to them as we talk about things that are probably more interesting, I have Dr. Luke Mills. Join us on a whirlwind tour through Edwardian England, tunnels behind houses, Guinea Pig paradises that maybe aren't good for humans, and desolate worlds with very strange women among very strange waxworks that definitely aren't good for humans. (Seriously, though, what are the waxworks?) This may be your last chance to travel to Charn before Netflix ruins it forever with Pink Floyd or the 1950s or whatever-the-[deplorable word] a Barbie auteur wants to put in there. Among other things, Luke and Chris talk about the figure of Lilith--and why this account of Jadis' origin may not differ so much from that given in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. We also discuss ways to tell whether or not that special someone in your life may not, in fact, be evil. Let's dive in! Or wonder, till it drives you mad, what would have followed...etc., etc.  

Enjoy this gently used Christmas gift from Ghost of Inklings Variety Hours Past! I think this may be from 2020.  It's an Inklings Variety Hour Jovial Christmas Extravaganza!  Featuring: A Discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas! Chris Pipkin and his children, Davey and Virginia!   Anika Smith! (First half of show)  Meagan Logsdon!  (Second half of show)  A cringeworthy impersonation of an old British person by Chris Pipkin! Bits of music by Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior (The Boar's Head Carol), and Martin Romberg (A Elbereth Gilthoniel), (as well as Virginia Pipkin). Pipkins' Christmas site promoted: 12tide.com Thanks for listening to us this year!  As always, if you enjoy this podcast, recommend it to a friend and give us a review on iTunes.  And please do feel more than free to drop us a line at [email protected].  We'd love to hear from you!  Merry Christmas.

O.G. Host Anika Smith rejoins the podcast to interview Chris and his beautiful and omnicompetent wife, Glencora, about their new Christmas resource book, Twelve Tide.  Part of what we're trying to do with this book is make Christmas less a single-morning present binge preceded by anxiety and followed by anticlimax--and more a season of twelve days of giving, feasting, and learning to celebrate better. Want an idea of what's in the book? Check out our website, 12tide.com. It is likely that if you order now, you will not receive the book before Christmas, but you can find all of the content on our website and order the book (if you like) in time for subsequent days of Christmas (the season lasts until January 6, after all).  We are all Niatirbians now (and Lewis was dismayed by godless Christmas cards).  We want to reconcile sacred and "secular" aspects of Christmas and equip people with some old ways to celebrate this season.  Music from this episode includes: George Winston's "The Holly and the Ivy" Bing Crosby's "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" Loreena McKennitt's "The Holly and the Ivy" Choir of Christchurch's "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" Loreena McKennitt's "Gloucestershire Wassail" The Chieftains' "Boar's Head Carol" Maddy Prior's "Coventry Carol" Medieval Baebes' "Adam Lay Ybounden" Maddy Prior's "Wassail!" Also, if you're interested in the Twelve Tide Spotify list Anika suggested on the show, here it is. Stay tuned...I'm done with grading and I'm turning my attention to an Inklings Christmas Carol.  Won't be easy to finish in time, but I'll do my level best.  If you are interested in reading a part for it, feel free to email me at [email protected] God bless and keep you this Advent Season. See you at Christmas!

All three parts of 2023's Christmas play are edited together. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas. Previous description: Enjoy a (Zoom) table reading of my "play" (loosely defined), "An Inklings Christmas Carol."   Special thanks to Anika Smith, Sørina Higgins, Joe Hoffman, and Ed Powell for reading this episode.  Thanks in general to Sørina's Author's Circle, which you can find out more about (and even join) here.  Hope you enjoy it--keep in mind this is a first draft, none of us are professional actors, and I'm not making a cent off this episode! As with any holiday movie or play, if you keep your expectations low, you'll have a pretty good time! Feel free to send me feedback at [email protected].  And please rate the show if you like it! By the way, if you want more Christmas resources from the Pipkins, you can find our Christmas site here: https://12tide.com/

Dr. Leslie Baynes joins Chris to talk about her new book, Between Interpretation and Imagination: C.S. Lewis and the Bible.  Among other things, we discuss: Lewis' familiarity with (and attitude toward) the Bible, before and after his conversion. Biblical scholars (like Gore) who influenced Lewis' views of Scripture. Lewis and the doctrine of inerrancy The trouble with the liar/lunatic/Lord trilemma. John and the Synoptics. Biblical allusions in Narnia (and Lewis' other imaginative work). Also: Footnotes versus endnotes! Epigraphs! Bertie Wooster! Evangelion and Potatoes at Beaversdam! A big thank-you to Dr. Baynes for a great conversation. Click here to purchase her book. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Crumpets? Email me at [email protected]   We'll have a few Christmas episodes (mostly rebroadcasts), but this marks the end of Season 5. We'll put a few more bonus episodes out in the next months, then pick back up in March with Season 6. Shameless self-promotion:  If, in the meantime, you feel starved for Pipkin-related content, you can feel free to buy the book Chris and his wife, Glencora, have written about celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas: Twelve Tide. If you want a free, blog-based version, just go to 12tide.com, and feel free to sign up for our email list while you're at it.   Also, there's always this, from Chris' (or Dr. Pipkin's) recent King Arthur class. 

Cryptids in Narnia! Happy Halloween! A parody of the excellent Camp Monsters podcast. Apologies for posting this twice--people with Apple Podcasts didn't seem to be getting it, so I'm trying again with a new file! [email protected]  

Rebroadcast: Cryptids in Narnia! Parody of the excellent Camp Monsters podcast. Happy Halloween! Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have other ideas for Narnia fan fiction (such as that Caspian the Werewolf one).

Dr. Katherine Wyma joins me to discuss C.S. Lewis' longest and most ambitious undertaking: The Oxford History of English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama. Or, as he called it, the OHEL. It lay, he said, "like a nightmare on my chest." It's a brilliant work of scholarship, and we highly recommend it. But just in case you can't make it through 700 pages of paradigm-shattering, witty and insightful prose about the greatest (and worst) poets of the sixteenth century, we've got you covered. We'll be discussing the highlights from the Introduction here, and from subsequent chapters in subsequent podcasts. So, put on your best pair of pantaloons and join us for this romp through what used to be called the Renaissance (but isn't usually anymore, thanks in part to Lewis). Today, we'll cover just the introduction to his work, entitled: New Learning and New Ignorance.  Questions? Concerns? Criticisms? Compliments? Complaints? Condolements? Candy? Email us at [email protected].  

Connor Salter joins me to talk about the first "animated" Hobbit, made by Rembrandt Films in 1966 to allow the studio to hold onto the rights for the film. Feel free to watch it here before you listen! It is...something. By the way, I am aware of the fact that the sound is not ideal in this, and I apologize for some of the problems in quality. I am taking steps (as soon as possible) to remedy this. As always, feel more than free to email me at [email protected]. Thank you for listening, and I'd love to hear from you. By the way, I have no idea why my software cut off the music at the end, but it seems to have. Hopefully no one was too bothered by that.

Dr. Sørina Higgins joins me to talk about The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and why adults should read it. If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to take Sørina's course on the same, go here: https://wyrdhoard.com/2025/07/18/come-through-the-wardrobe-with-me/ We get into a lot of really interesting subjects related to Narnia here, and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe in particular. I don't have time to detail them in the show notes this time. See you in two weeks! There will be far less of a break between seasons this year, as I still have plenty of material to share (and quite a few upcoming conversations). It's just a matter of finding time to edit as the school year begins. Stay tuned! 

Chris invites several guests to talk about the following question in a two-hour roundtable special: To what extent is Lewis' The Abolition of Man prescient or prophetic?  I really enjoyed this roundtable discussion between: Nathan Gilmour James LaPeyre Joseph Weigel and Jonathan Geltner I hope you will, too.  We talk a lot about the following subjects: What Lewis means by "nature" Whether Lewis is, being coy, retreating into simplicity, playing a "forced card trick" or some other manner of knavish chicanery Whether Lewis eternalizes historically contingent ideas, such as the Romantic view of the sublime Wittgenstein McIntyre Barfield The importance of story Whether the difference between moderns and ancients is as great as Lewis assumes Whether we should have that appendix out or not Feel free to shoot me an email if you'd like to add your two cents! I know, this isn't exactly beach listening, but I sure enjoyed it. We'll be back again in two weeks with lighter fare.

The Inklings are often characterized as mostly sedentary men who wrote about people going off on adventures. Yet for a few of them, the highlight of their year was the chance to go on walking tours throughout England. It's unlikely, in fact, that they would have been able to describe the adventures of, say, Elwin Ransom, or the three friends in Night Operation if they didn't take these rambles (and write about them!) from time to time.  With me to talk about the Inklings' walking tours are Inklings scholars Sørina Higgins, Don W. King, and (for the first time), Owen A. Barfield, grandson of Owen Barfield.  We cover a lot of ground during this conversation. Topics include: What exactly a walking tour is/was The walking tours Jack and Warnie took versus those Jack took with the "Cretaceous Perambulators" (Barfield and others) Why these excursions tended to be documented a bit better than Inklings' meetings at Magdalen Humor and bawdy among the Inklings Connection between walking, talking, and working ideas out "The Inkling Impulse" What different Inklings looked for in a successful walking tour Influence of the walking tours in the Inklings' fiction My thanks to all three of my illustrious guests for joining me. You can find more about them and their work here: Sørina Higgins Don W. King Owen A. Barfield See you in two weeks' time! As always, please do rate the podcast, and if you have ideas or responses, please do email me at [email protected].  

Joseph Weigel from the Men With Chests podcast joins me to talk about NICE Alchemy!  By which I don't mean, "Whoa, that was some really sweet alchemy you were doing just now, dude! NICE!" But rather, the connection between science and magic as practiced by the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.) in C.S. Lewis' final novel in his space trilogy, That Hideous Strength. It's weird stuff. And Merlin's involved, naturally. That guy. This is part discussion, part interview, because Joseph has recently published an article in Sehnsucht about connections between the N.I.C.E.'s experiments and alchemy. Read it here: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cslewisjournal/vol18/iss1/11/ Also, be on the lookout for Joseph's forthcoming book, Planet Thulcandra. It hasn't come out as of the publication of this podcast, but it's on its way! Be sure to check out Men With Chests while you're at it!   There is a lot more to come this season! It seems likely that (because this is only coming out once every two weeks), it will extend well into the Fall. In the vault, I have: A roundtable on The Abolition of Man A conversation about the Walking Tours that members of the Inklings took A discussion of George MacDonald's Lilith A series on the OHEL ...and quite a bit more. Shoot me an email to say hi if you're listening--I appreciate hearing from people who enjoy this podcast! And please do leave a rating and review if you can. It's nice to know when this is actually getting heard by someone!

Ned Bustard and Matt Wheeler join me to discuss J.R.R. Tolkien's great allegory (or is it?) for the creative process, "Leaf by Niggle"! Enjoy! I am quite excited about this episode. And check out Ned and Matt's stuff! I will post links! I will! In the meantime, I've given you the spelling of their first and last names, above. Notable works include, but are not restricted to: Every Moment Holy, The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad, The Wonder of It All. You're welcome. More episode description to come, but it's been another late night editing, and I have small children who wake up early, you monster! Think of them. Liked the episode? Give us a five-star review. Want to weigh in on the red-hot-button allegory controversy? Shoot me an email: [email protected]  

Katie Wray Schon joins us to talk about Pauline Baynes, the subject of her new book, Painting Wonder!  It's been a long-held goal of this podcast to devote at least one episode to Pauline Baynes--who, while not an Inkling, illustrated both the Narnia chronicles and many of Tolkien's short stories--in addition to being one of the best illustrators of the 20th Century. Luckily, Katie Wray Schon has just written and published a children's picture book about Baynes' life, and she joins me to talk about both her work and Baynes'. We talk about Baynes' life--her childhood in India, her discovery of storybooks at dreary British boarding school, her work for the British Navy in WWII, and her career as an illustrator. Sadly, many of the non-Narnian books Baynes illustrated or created are now out of print or hard to obtain. They include, but aren't limited to: I Believe: The Nicene Creed Noah and the Ark Questionable Creatures: A Bestiary Good King Wenceslas A Dictionary of Chivalry, by Grant Uden Miracle Plays: Seven Medieval Plays for Modern Players, by Anne Malcolmson All Things Bright and Beautiful The Arabian Nights, by Amabel Williams-Ellis The Snail and the Caterpillar, by Helen Piers Let There Be Light It would be a worthy project for someone (perhaps a new small press, or even an old, big one) to begin publishing these books again.  In the meantime, of course, pick up Katie Wray Schon's book! Thanks for listening, as always! We'll see you again in two weeks! To drop me a note or an episode suggestion, write [email protected] To encourage all those (okay, mainly me) who make this podcast possible, leave us (or me) a five-star review on itunes!   We've (okay, I've) got a lot more fantastic episodes coming this season, including: Leaf by Niggle with Ned Bustard and Matt Wheeler The Abolition of Man: A Roundtable Discussion Lilith, by George MacDonald The Oxford History of English Literature (O-HEL Yes!) with Katherine Wyma That Hideous Strength with Joseph Weigel Tolkien's Poetry, with Jonathan Geltner Choose-Your-Own-Adventure 80's Narnia Book (That's right), with Matt Wheeler And quite a bit more, but I am tired of listing things...

Sorry for the extra wait for this one!  Eric Geddes, Jonathan Geltner, and Charlie Carter join me to talk Tolkien's Father Giles of Ham. Episode description to come! Many more podcasts on the way this summer! Leave me a review! It's really the only way I know anyone is listening. 

Matt Wheeler rejoins me for our final episode on The Horse and His Boy. More episode description to come! Featuring "Wonder of It All" by Matt Wheeler.

If you would like episodes of The Inklings Variety Hour to come out more often, please do consider leaving us a positive review. Singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler once again joins me to discuss his favorite Narnia book, The Horse and His Boy.  Among other things, we talk about: Hermits and the nature of freedom Allegory and biblical allusion in Narnia Fear as motivation Self-pity as incomplete story Matt's song, "Worn Thin" Enjoy, and join us next week for the conclusion of The Horse and His Boy. Feel free to get in touch with me, as always, at [email protected].  Thanks for listening!    

Finishing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "I Sit Beside the Fire and Think." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy this talk with Jonathan Geltner about how Tolkien saves the future. After we're all dead, of course, but you can't have everything... (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy this conversation about the Shire! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy my talk with Jonathan Geltner about Tolkien's unfinished poem, "The Fall of Arthur." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy my interview with Verlyn Flieger about Splintered Light. (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "Imram." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "The Hoard." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy Smith of Wootton Major, Part 2!   (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon of old episodes. Enjoy this first of two on Smith of Wootton Major! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Dipping into the Old Winyards this Tolkien reading day! Enjoy this conversation from a few years ago about Tolkien adaptations! Stay tuned...there are about nine more to come today.

The finale of the Till We Have Faces series! Original episode description: Welcome to the finale of Till We Have Faces on The Inklings Variety Hour! Author and speaker Andrew Lazo from Pints with Jack joins Chris and Anika for our final discussion of Till We Have Faces.  It was, as always, a delight and an epiphany, Andrew! Among other things, we discuss: The Four Loves Williams-esque redemption of Orual and Psyche Lewis' poem Reason Names in Till We Have Faces What in the world is Ungit? Orual's last word (hint: it's probably not "arrrgghhh") Joy's role in helping to write (and inspire) TWHF Many, many thanks to Logan Huggins for producing this episode! If you'd like to join one of our conversations, odds are, we'd love to have you!  We'd also love to hear from you, so feel free to email us at [email protected].   Next time: Hold on to your electric torches! Season Two of The Inklings Variety Hour begins with Prince Caspian!

Musician Matt Wheeler joins me to talk about Chapters 7-8 of The Horse and His Boy, specifically Shasta among the tombs (ghouls ahoy), and Aravis' adventures. At the end of the hour, he's kind enough to share an original waltzy song about Aravis, inspired by a COVID toilet paper run. (Seriously, it's a great song--if you listen to nothing else, listen to it.) Before that, we talk about the following: The right way (or lack thereof) to pronounce Shasta and Aravis (and Aslan) Ghouls, ghouls, ghouls Cats and tombs Lewis' characterization of Lasarleen and Aravis The Tisroc (may he live forever) Freedom Calormene view of Narnian history Lapsed Bear! And after the song, Chris throws a little bit of shade at English pronunciation of foreign words to make himself feel better about the fact that he's been mispronouncing Aslan all his life. For more of Matt's music, click here. See you in two weeks, when Matt Wheeler will rejoin us to talk about the journey across the desert!

More of our series on Till We Have Faces!

Continuing to cover Till We Have Faces! 

It's Season Five of The Inklings Variety Hour, episode one, and you know what that means! Time to return to the enchanting land of-- --record scratch-- --Calormen? That's right, Ed Said. We're kicking off this season the right way, with a little trip to an unprepossessing fisherman's hut and the down-on-his-luck literary ancestor of both a refreshing soft drink and Taran the Assistant Pig-keeper.  I'm only talking 'bout Shasta. Can you dig? You know who else is talking about Shasta? I mean, besides Bree the talking horse (no not that one) who abducts him?  Why, it's Jonathan Geltner, renowned author of Absolute Music, and Joseph Weigel, host of Men with Chests and also an author! Together, we discuss the following subjects: Calormene culture and Narnian culture Literary analogues (or lack thereof) of The Horse and His Boy Formal language and formulaic language The wider world in which Narnia exists Proverbs (Calormene and Narnian) How Tashbaan is awesome Freedom Books we bring up: The Thousand and One Nights Travels in Arabia Deserta David Eddings' Belgariad Series Huck Finn The Prince and the Pauper The Worm Ouroboros The Faerie Queene Copyrighted Music: Original BBC Narnia Theme Mr. Ed theme (not Ed Said) As always, please leave a generous review if you want higher quality or quantity podcasts! This is a labor of love, and I'm currently only able to get something out once every two weeks. See you in two weeks' time, as musician Matt Wheeler joins me to talk (and sing) about his favorite Narnia book.   

Sorry for the late upload, once again! I've been preparing for the new season! The first episode of Season 5, covering The Horse and His Boy, will be coming out in a few days! See you then, and in the meantime, enjoy some more travels in Glome!

Apologies (again) for the late Saturday upload. Here's Part 7 of our Till We Have Faces series. Enjoy! Stay tuned for the first brand new episode of Season 5. We'll start with The Horse and His Boy on March 4 and update with a new episode every two weeks. --------------------------------------------------------- Original description: If you like this podcast, please give us a review in iTunes!  Also, we'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected].   This week, Chris and Anika discuss Chapters 12 and 13 of Till We Have Faces.  Subjects for discussion include: Santeria and the First Amendment (and also, of course, "Santeria" by Sublime) How Orual-the-author is being changed while telling us about Orual-the-character's refusal to change Possessive love and our tendency to be ruined by strong loves The "ferly" in Middle English literature Is Bardia's fear of the gods practical fear for his safety or fear of the numinous? Orual withholds key evidence! The Fox's theology and soul-houses How true divine nature is foolishness to the Greek and a stumbling block for the Glomian At the end: Various proposals for an '80s fantasy movie based on Till We Have Faces.  (Someone please make a poster of this idea.) Special thanks to my brother Jason Pipkin for the incredible '80s-style synth track used at the end!  Apologies if I overuse it, but I really liked it.  Other music sampled includes: "Our Father" in Aramaic "The Hurrian Hymn" as played by Michael Levy "Santeria," by Sublime "Princes of the Universe," by Queen "Quantum Leap" theme by Mike Post In two weeks, we meet the God of the Mountain!  Talk about numinous and sublime!  

Apologies for the late upload! A new season of The Inklings Variety Hour is coming on Tuesdays in March, starting with The Horse and His Boy.  In the meantime, enjoy this old episode, with one of our first guest-stars, Andrew Lazo, talking about his favorite Lewis book, Till We Have Faces! Original Description: This week, we're talking with Andrew Lazo, author, speaker, and noted Till We Have Faces  and C.S. Lewis scholar.  You can find additional information about Andrew's projects, current and future, at mythoflove.net.  We would like to thank David Bates at Pints with Jack for connecting us with Andrew!  In this episode, Anika, Chris and Andrew discuss some classical and medieval influences on Till We Have Faces, as well as concepts like mortal shame and the way physical and spiritual attitudes alter perception in Lewis' work.  In some ways, this is also a broader view of Till We Have Faces itself, thanks to Andrew's expertise.  Stay tuned for bonus material at the end, where we hear from Andrew about the circumstances of Lewis' writing of Till We Have Faces.  Enjoy the conversation!  We certainly did. Some references in this episode: A Naked Tree, by Joy Davidman   Becoming Mrs. Lewis Over the Rhine (band) Weeping Bay, by Joy Davidman "After Ten Years," from Of Other Worlds by C.S. Lewis Pearl, by the Gawain-poet (Tolkien's translation here)  (Original text here) If you're enjoying The Inklings Variety Hour, drop us a line to tell us so!  You can email us at [email protected].  Also!  Please find us on iTunes and give us a rating if you like us.  Additionally, if you'd ever like to guest star and talk with us about these works (whether you are a scholar or not), we'd love to have you.  If you're listening to this podcast, you are already a kindred spirit, and we would enjoy meeting you.  Just saying.  

A new season of The Inklings Variety Hour is coming your way in March! In the meantime, here's another rerun. Old description: This week, we are still hiking up the enchanting mountain that is Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, hearts dancing all the while.  And why should they not, as we discuss such topics as: Fighting and work as a potential antidote for depression Resurrection as a potential antidote for depression How King Trom is a bro Refusal of joy and its effect on perception Would-be eucatastrophe Landscape, symbolism, and the sticky wicket of literalized metaphor Potential lawsuits Psyche could bring against Redival Recommendations include: cslewisdoodle Hunting the Unicorn: A Critical Biography of Ruth Pitter We'd love to hear from you if you're enjoying the podcast!  We'd also love to have you on the show if you'd like to join us sometime (and don't mind reading a few chapters of Till We Have Faces first)!  Our email is [email protected].   Next time we will have Till We Have Faces scholar Andrew Lazo on to discuss Chapters 10, 11, and 12!  It will be worth the wait!

From the vaults! More of C.S. Lewis' underrated final novel! Original description: In which Anika and Chris reveal the fairly shallow reason we had for doing Till We Have Faces this year and accidentally endorse human sacrifice.  Mostly, we talk about Chapter 7, in which Orual and Psyche say goodbye, and Chapter 8, in which Orual decides to journey to the mountain and recover Psyche's body.  At issue are whether or not selfish love is still love and whether sacrifice (especially human sacrifice) is effective. Other highlights: Ash Wednesday Anecdotes Anika reads Lewis' poem, "As the Ruin Falls" Till We Have Faces as a text that changes its narrator Finally, inspired by WandaVision, the hosts ask whether Till We Have Faces would make a good sitcom--and what kind of sitcom it would be? Have your own thoughts?  Email us at [email protected].  We'd love to hear from you. Music credits: The "Our Father" in Aramaic The Hurrian Hymn "Aase's Death," by Edvard Grieg "The Toy Parade," by Dave Kahn, Melvyn Leonard and Mort Greene "Everywhere You Look," by Jesse Frederick "With a Little Help From My Friends," by Joe Cocker

Enjoy! Original Episode Description:  

Till We Have Faces, Part 2! Here are the original shownotes: In the spirit of Groundhog's Day, Chris and Anika dig into Chapters 3-4 of Lewis' Till We Have Faces, which retells the Cupid and Psyche myth.   We discuss, among other things: The apparent popularity of J.G. Frazer in Glome "Foxy Redival's Flirtations"  Whether we're the worst at what we care about most (and other cheering thoughts) Soup and Religion (and other metaphors) Narrative asides about weeping in Lewis Our ideas for movie adaptations of TWHF Music: The Hurrian Hymn "Our Father" in Aramaic  They say that behind every groundhog is a Shadowbrute requiring human sacrifice.  May the good town officials of Punxsutawney fail to see it this year.  For all our sakes. As always, please give us ratings on iTunes if you enjoy this!  It means a lot to us and helps others find the podcast!  Also--feel free to send us your thoughts at [email protected] Thank you for joining us!   Next time (in two weeks), we will be joined by special guest and Inklings scholar Sorina Higgins!

Sorry about the late upload! Enjoy!   From the original episode description: Welcome back to The Inklings Variety Hour!  It's a new year, and Ungit has only just hatched out of her egg-house (or something), but already, your intrepid hosts are tackling C.S. Lewis' novel, Till We Have Faces (1956)--widely considered the best novel he ever wrote.  Chris, Anika, and Meagan discuss this retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth as only the Inklings Variety Hour can--with lots of digressions, reading of passages, and laughter. If you're enjoying this podcast, we're glad to have you along for the ride, and we'd love to know you!  Drop us a line at [email protected].  Ratings on the iTunes store would be most welcome also. Music for this episode includes: The Hurrian Hymn The "Our Father" in Aramaic "Sick Muse" by Metric  

Happy New Year! Kora Burton rejoins Chris to discuss Tolkien's last fairy (or is it faerie?) story, "Smith of Wootton Major" (1967).  Smith of Wootton Major is a short story, a parable about the nature of what Tolkien called “fayery” or “Faerie,” an evocative fairy tale in its own right, as well as a melancholy meditation on the loss of artistic capacity.  Though told simply enough for children to understand its plot, Tolkien called it “an old man’s book.”   Thanks as always to Logan Huggins for producing this episode!   If you have any questions or would like to contact us, please do so at [email protected].  We'd love to hear from you.

From the Old Winyards: It's Time for the Feast of Good Children (to which not many are invited). ___________________________________ Kora Burton joins Chris to discuss Tolkien's last fairy (or is it faerie?) story, "Smith of Wootton Major."   Smith of Wootton Major (1967) is Tolkien’s last work of fiction and was begun as part of an Introduction to an edition of George MacDonald’s The Golden Key–an edition that was never published.  Tolkien began by writing a kind of parable about a stupid baker making a cake for children that inadvertently had something faerian in it.  But when he found this illustration was taking on a life of its own, he discarded the introduction entirely and worked on the story–which he realized was in part a critique of the things he did not like about George MacDonald, among other Victorians (still, I find it owes a real debt to The Golden Key and Phantastes, as much as it does to anything medieval).  Smith of Wootton Major is a short story, a parable about the nature of what Tolkien called “fayery” or “Faerie,” an evocative fairy tale in its own right, as well as a melancholy meditation on the loss of artistic capacity.  Though told simply enough for children to understand its plot, Tolkien called it “an old man’s book.” One of my favorite history of English podcasts, just in case you want more philology or historical linguistics: https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/ Thanks as always to Logan Huggins for producing this episode!   If you have any questions or would like to contact us, please do so at [email protected].  We'd love to hear from you. Next week: We enter Faerie with Smith!

Chris is joined by Angela Teal and Marena Bleech of In the Burrow Books to discuss Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows! More episode description to come! In the meantime, enjoy!

Original Description: O.G. Host Anika Smith rejoins the podcast to interview Chris and his beautiful and omnicompetent wife, Glencora, about their new Christmas resource book, Twelve Tide.  Part of what we're trying to do with this book is make Christmas less a single-morning present binge preceded by anxiety and followed by anticlimax--and more a season of twelve days of giving, feasting, and learning to celebrate better. Want an idea of what's in the book? Check out our website, 12tide.com. We are all Niatirbians now (and Lewis was dismayed by godless Christmas cards).  We want to reconcile sacred and "secular" aspects of Christmas and equip people with some old ways to celebrate this season.  Music from this episode includes: George Winston's "The Holly and the Ivy" Bing Crosby's "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" Loreena McKennitt's "The Holly and the Ivy" Choir of Christchurch's "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" Loreena McKennitt's "Gloucestershire Wassail" The Chieftains' "Boar's Head Carol" Maddy Prior's "Coventry Carol" Medieval Baebes' "Adam Lay Ybounden" Maddy Prior's "Wassail!" Also, if you're interested in the Twelve Tide Spotify list Anika suggested on the show, here it is. Stay tuned...I'm done with grading and I'm turning my attention to an Inklings Christmas Carol.  Won't be easy to finish in time, but I'll do my level best.  If you are interested in reading a part for it, feel free to email me at [email protected] God bless and keep you this Advent Season. See you at Christmas!

Author Jonathan Geltner and newcomer James Lapeyre join Chris to discuss the question that has doubtless kept all of us awake in the pre-dawn hours: Who was more of a Romantic: C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien? Yes, the stakes have never been higher. We also talk generally about how the Inklings' view of their own roles overlapped with (and were influenced by) those of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Romantics. To what extent were the Inklings the real Romantics of their own age? I really enjoyed this conversation. Thanks to both James and Jonathan for coming on the show.  Apologies to all of you for the poor sound quality of my microphone. Also, a little more than halfway through, the Internet goes out--apologies for that, though we do find our footing pretty quickly thereafter. Many, many thanks to James for fixing the sound so that I'm actually intelligible here. Check out his substack at otterhat.substack.com/. Check out Jonathan's at jonathangeltner.substack.com/ I appreciate everyone's patience for this episode! Circumstances have conspired so that I have less time to edit since the semester ended, but I'll keep grinding these out occasionally if you all keep listening! I'll also try to keep putting out the old episodes Saturdays. Also! As always, my wife and I have a Christmas site and a Christmas book. If you're looking for ways to celebrate Advent and Christmas that both engage with the storehouse of tradition available to us--while allowing you and your family to forge your own Christmas traditions, you might find them helpful! The basic premise is that rather than having one day of Christmas (so much pressure!), we spread gift-giving out over the traditional twelve days of Christmas and pair it with reflection and other activities. It's really worked wonderfully for our family. As always, email me at [email protected] if you have thoughts! And give us a five-star rating on iTunes (why not, it's Christmas) if you like what you hear. Also, I am planning to record on The Horse and His Boy this month (to be released at the beginning of Season 5 in March). If you'd like to join us to talk about it, just let me know!

Apologies for the audio quality on this one! It's the very first podcast Anika and I recorded, along with my wife, Glencora! It dates from 2018, when audio was much rougher. I'm sure you remember. Cleaned up what I could. Minimal swearing, too. I thought I'd post it in preparation for the C.S. Lewis Reading Day livestream.  You can find it here: C. S. Lewis Reading Day 2024 - Pints With Jack