From Homer to Harry Potter

Matthew Dickerson

Description

The allure of fantasy continues to grow with film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. But how should Christians approach modern works of fantasy, especially debated points such as magic and witches?From Homer to Harry Potter provides the historical background readers need to understand this timeless genre. It explores the influence of biblical narrative, Greek mythology, and Arthurian legend on modern fantasy and reveals how the fantastic offers profound insights into truth. The authors draw from a Christian viewpoint informed by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien to assess modern authors such as Philip Pullman, Walter Wangerin, and J. K. Rowling. This accessible book guides undergraduate students, pastors, and lay readers to a more astute and rewarding reading of all fantasy literature.

Sujets

• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781441202147
• Langue: English

Extrait

From HOMER TO HARRY POTTER
From HOMER TO HARRY POTTER
A H ANDBOOK on M YTH and F ANTASY
M ATTHEW T. D ICKERSON D AVID O H ARA
2006 by Matthew T. Dickerson and David O Hara
Published by Brazos Press a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.brazospress.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dickerson, Matthew T., 1963- From Homer to Harry Potter : a handbook on myth and fantasy / Matthew Dickerson and David O Hara.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-58743-133-5 (pbk.)
1. Fantasy literature-History and criticism. I. O Hara, David, 1969- II. Title.
PN56.F34D53 2006
809.915-dc22
2005031195
To our children (in order of birth): Thomas Dickerson, Anastasia O Hara, Mark Dickerson, Michael O Hara, Peter Dickerson, and Matthew O Hara, in hopes that they will never make the mistake of thinking that fairy tales are only for the young.
And to our fantastic wives who continue to enchant us.
C ONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Sources
Citations from C. S. Lewis
Citations from J. R. R. Tolkien
Citations from Other Authors: Story
Citations from Other Authors: Essay and Criticism
Authors Note
Part 1 The Literature of Fa rie and the Roots of Modern Fantasy
1. Introduction: From Cosmogony to Fairy Tale
What Is Myth?
Myth and Truth
2. Stories at the Boundaries
Three Faces of Myth and Fa rie
Defining Myth and Fantasy?
Spells and The Spell: Enchantment and Fantasy
Chasing Down Allegories?
Mapping Our Territory (and Its Perils)
3. Biblical Myth and Story
Three Ways the Bible Functions as Myth
The Bible as a Whole: Muthos of Worlds and Wars
God and Satan
Images of Heaven and Hell
Genesis and the Flood
Job, the Great Biblical Myth
The Gospels: True Historic Myth
The Bible as the Grand Myth
4. Homeric Myth (and the Epic Fantasy)
Homer s Iliad
Homer s Odyssey
Myth and History in the Ancient World
Myth and National Identity
Ancient Myth, Religion, and Morality
Ancient Myth and the Rise of Science and Philosophy
Ancient Myth and Early Christianity
5. Beowulf to Arthur: Medieval Legend and Romance
The Cauldron of Story and Beowulf in Tolkien
The Prose Edda and Scandinavian Myth
The Bones of Beowulf
Arthurian Legend
6. Nineteenth-Century Fairy Tale and Fantasy: The Brothers Grimm and George MacDonald
Fairy Tales and the Nineteenth Century
The Fairy Tale Collections of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Violence, Virtue, and Grace
The Fairy Tales of George MacDonald (and Their Influence on Tolkien and Lewis)
The Significance of MacDonald
Mystery, Holiness, and The Golden Key
Part 2 Some Modern Works of Fantasy
7. Ursula Le Guin s Earthsea Trilogy and Balance as the Highest Good
The Power of Myth and Legend, and the Stories within the Stories
Names, Words, and Language
Power and Balance
Good and Evil
Life, Death, and Meaning
8. The Darkness of Philip Pullman s Material
Problems with Prose and Plot
The Subtle Knife and the Power of Death
Coming of Age?
A Sermon in Thin Disguise
Confusion of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Truth in Story
9. Grace across the Whole of Fa rie: Walter Wangerin Jr. and The Book of the Dun Cow
The Book of the Dun Cow as Fairy Tale
The Book of the Dun Cow as Fantasy and Myth
Three Genres, Four Evils
Eucatastrophe and Grace
10. Harry Potter: Saint or Serpent?
Witches and Magic in Christian Literature
The Purpose of Magic
The Source of Magic
Uses of Magic in Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling and Objective Morality
11. Once upon a Time . . . The End
Some Summary Questions
Why We Read from Fa rie: A Few Final Thoughts
Appendices and Indices
For Further Reading
I. Recommended Translations
II. Selected Modern Retellings
III. A Very Short List of Recommended Commentary on J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
T here s something funny about this kind of book, where we get to tell the stories of other stories. Obviously, we could not have written this one if we had not been heirs to a long tradition of those who have created, preserved, and re-told great tales. More important, we owe a debt to those who not only thought the stories were important but who also taught us to think about them. In both categories, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien have been our unparalleled masters. We also owe personal gratitude to Thomas Howard, Peter Kreeft, Tom Shippey, Robert Siegel, and Walter Wangerin Jr.
We are also thankful to the many students and colleagues at Middle-bury College in Vermont, The Pennsylvania State University, and Augus-tana College of South Dakota, who have read and discussed the stories with us and helped to sharpen our thinking.
Finally, we would be remiss if we failed to acknowledge our debts to our teachers over the years, who introduced us to the stories, inspired our continued reading, and aided our understanding: the late Professor Robert T. Farrell (1939-2003) taught Matthew Dickerson Old English, helped him translate Beowulf, and gave him his first opportunity to teach a course on Tolkien at Cornell University. Eve Adler, who died in 2004, taught at Middlebury College for a quarter century beginning in 1977. Dave witnessed her excellence as a teacher in 1990-1991 when she taught him to read Greek and to sing Homer. None could call Greek a dead language while she taught it. Now that Dave teaches college Greek he has seen with new eyes how well she loved her craft and her students alike. She was a model of scholarship and pedagogy for the faculty at Middlebury College, including Matthew Dickerson who started teaching there in 1989. Greg Vigne taught Dave the importance of loving God with one s mind. Greg s love of the best stories continues to inspire his students. Matthew Davis at St. John s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, gave Dave an example of what St. Augustine would consider the piety of asking the right questions. Douglas R. Anderson patiently guided Dave through his dissertation at The Pennsylvania State University, and continues to show his students the best of Achilles and the best of Odysseus, while embodying none of their faults. These teachers may not have said or thought the same things we have written in this book, and so we cannot blame them for our mistakes, but we can thank them for spurring our thought.
We are grateful to Rodney Clapp and Rebecca Cooper and the entire team of editors and artists at Brazos Press for their help and hard work, and the opportunity to collaborate with them and with each other on this book.
Matthew Dickerson and Dave O Hara October 16, 2005
A BBREVIATIONS FOR F REQUENTLY C ITED S OURCES
F or frequently cited sources, we use the abbreviations given below. Since there are so many editions (with different page numberings) of The Lord of the Rings, we follow T. A. Shippey s convention and give only the book number (in uppercase Roman numerals) and chapter number (in lowercase Roman numerals); e.g., the reference IV/iii would be to the third chapter of the fourth book (the chapter titled The Black Gate Is Closed, found in The Two Towers ). Note that The Fellowship of the Ring contains books I and II, and The Two Towers contains books III and IV, and Return of the King contains V and VI. Similarly, for references to the seven books in C. S. Lewis s Chronicles of Narnia, we cite the abbreviation for the book name along with a chapter number (in lowercase Roman numerals) as in Nephew /xiv for the fourteenth chapter of The Magician s Nephew.
Citations from C. S. Lewis OnSF On Science Fiction, in Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, ed. WalterHooper (New York: Harvest, 1966), 59-73. Preface Preface, in George MacDonald: An Anthology , ed. C. S. Lewis (NewYork: Macmillan, 1947), xxi-xxxiv. Sometimes Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What s to Be Said, in Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, ed. Walter Hooper (New York:Harvest, 1966), 35-38. ---------------------------- Battle The Last Battle (New York: Collier Books, 1970). Caspian Prince Caspian (New York: Collier Books, 1970). Hideous That Hideous Strength (New York: Collier Books, 1965). Horse The Horse and His Boy (New York: Collier Books, 1970). Lion The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (New York: Collier Books, 1970). Nephew The Magician s Nephew (New York: Collier Books, 1970). Silver The Silver Chair (New York: Collier Books, 1970). Voyage The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (New York: Collier Books, 1970).
Citations from J. R. R. Tolkien Essay On Fairy-Stories in Tree and Leaf (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989),9-73. Foreword Foreword to the second edition of The Lord of the Rings (Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1954). Gawain Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , trans. J. R. R. Tolkien (New York:Ballantine, 1975). Hobbit The Hobbit (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1938). Homecoming The Homecoming of Beortnoth, Beorthelm s Son, in Tree and Leaf,Smith of Wootton Major, and The Homecoming of Beortnoth, Beorthelm sSon (London: Allen and Unwin, 1975), 147-75. Letters The Letters of J. R. R.Tolkien, selected and edited by HumphreyCarpenter with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien (Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1981). Monsters Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, in The Monsters and theCritics and Other Essays (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984). MR Morgoth s Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part 1, The Legends of Aman. TheHistory of Middle-Earth, vol. 10, ed. Christopher Tolkien (New York:Houghton Mifflin, 1993). Niggle Leaf by Niggle, in Tree and Leaf (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989),75-95. Silm The Silmarillion (New York: Houghton Miffl