The Inklings Variety Hour

This month on The Inklings Variety Hour, we're talking about The Old Gods Waken, a supernatural thriller penned by Manly Wade Wellman. If you enjoy Charles Williams, and are at least interested by the idea of Appalachian Weird Fiction, I suspect you'll like this book. It's hard (at present) to find a physical copy, but Audible has a great audiobook version up that I've really enjoyed.

I'm joined for this conversation by Jonathan Geltner, Connor Salter, and Aaron Irber, host of the I Might Believe in Faeries podcast, which is definitely worth checking out if you like this show.

Among other things, we discuss: 

1.  Opening reading & guest introductions
2. 5:43 — Twelvetide sponsor break
3. 8:15 — Book overview: Appalachian folk horror
4. 17:24 — Wellman's creative philology: Bel, Baal, and "bull**** philology"
5. 29:44 — Spoiler warning & plot breakdown
6. 37:53 — Race and the three-tier spiritual hierarchy
7. 61:10 — The iron plow ending & Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal
8. 66:18 — Favorite moments: spells, moon passages, and prose style
9. 82:54 — Who was Manly Wade Wellman?
10. 89:00 — William Gilbert's The Hurricane and vengeful old gods

I'll also be talking briefly about Twelve Tide, a Christmas book my wife and I are publishing with Anglican House Publishers. Even if you have our first edition (which we self-published), this new edition has some changes (appendix with Christmas carols among others) that we're really excited about. You can find it here.

As always, reach out to me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com if you would like to leave feedback. Also, please do rate us and leave reviews. 

Next time: The Discarded Image

 

Sophie Davis joins me to talk about George MacDonald's last fantasy novel, Lilith. Even for George MacDonald, this is a weird book. But if you're familiar with MacDonald's work, you know that wisdom and weirdness often go together like...I don't know...being a librarian, a sexton, a Raven, and the Adam? Or being a leopardess, a very white queen who is afraid of children, and an ancient Canaanite demoness seductress from a waterless world?

Apologies for the audio quality here. Soon enough, episodes will have better audio, but I worry that this will annoy--apologies if it does. Give it a try, anyway, because we get to some really good stuff in this episode.

(Here, by the way, is a link to the article Sophie references listing biblical allusions in Lilith.)

Among other things, we discuss:

• **Why Lilith? / MacDonald's late fantasy** — ~5:15
• **Lilith vs. Phantastes comparison** — ~7:55
• **The world of Lilith: Bulika, the Lovers, and the Bags** — ~16:15
• **The figure of Lilith in myth and MacDonald's redemption arc** — ~20:50
• **Feminine guide figures: Mara, Eve, and Mr. Raven** — ~36:40
• **Favorite images & a possible adaptation** — ~43:25
• **Sophie's Conference paper on MacDonald's theology of death** — ~48:25

Thanks, as always, for listening, and let me know if you have questions or comments. My email is inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com, and you can always rate and review the show.

See you in a few weeks, when we'll talk about Manly Wade Wellman's The Old Gods Waken.

I know it's been a long wait, and you've had to settle for listening to "The" Joe Rogan Experience or The Daily, or maybe for staring glassy-eyed at a chair or at your friends' faces while they ask you if you're sure you're okay. But you can stop all that now.

We're back.

And we're back with more C.S. Lewis, who in turn is back with a certain poet I like to call John Skelton. Because that was his name. Could he have been England's first rapper? Lil' Skeltie? Tune in and find out.

This week, Dr. Katherine Wyma and I continue our tour of C.S. Lewis' Oxford History of English Literature (Excluding Drama), or, as he liked to call it, "the OHEL," because...he hated writing it.

That said, it's quite clear that the research Lewis conducted for the book--for over a decade--inspired much of his creative work. Further, it's clear that he was interested in what he wrote about here and admired Skelton's poetry, at least a bit.

We're in Book I of The Oxford History of English Literature today--mainly the section marked "The Close of the Middle Ages in England," and we're focusing on Skelton, because he is the most significant poet to write during this time--at least in England. 

(We recorded an earlier episode on "The Close of the Middle Ages in Scotland," but I have, to my great regret, misplaced that file. So if you were hoping to get that Dunbar or Henryson fix we all need sometimes, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit longer--so sorry!)

So join us (and Lewis) as we mark time with Skelton, thinking about old age, death, and eccentric rhythms that aren't quite meter, but also aren't quite...not meter. Among other things, we discuss:

0:00 — Introduction & the OHEL Project
7:38 — John Skelton & Eleanor Rumming
14:23 — Medieval Body Humor & Aging
18:06 — Skeltonic Meter & Philip Sparrow
23:50 — Lewis on Philip Sparrow
28:40 — Grief, Pets, and Childhood
33:26 — Lewis vs. Eliot & Wrap-up

This is taken from Chapter 2 of 

Here, by the way, are the two most famous Skelton poems we discuss:

The Tunning of Elenor Rumming

The Book of Philip Sparrow

By the way--my reading of these poems is meant to sort of suggest how they sound without going full Middle (or even Early Modern) English on you. So, yes, I realize it's sort of neither fish nor fowl. But it was fun.

If you want to add anything or make any suggestions, or just reach out and say hi, please don't hesitate to contact me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com. 

Next: George MacDonald's Lilith!

Everyone else is reviewing Nolan's Odyssey. At least I'm doing it the way Alexander Pope would. 

THE ARGUMENT.
As Prologue to a Critique of Nolan’s The Odyssey, the Versifier discusses the Problem of Partisanship and its effect on our aesthetic Judgement. He addresses the bleak Tone of the Film and unpoetic Quality of Nolan’s Dialogue while discussing its many Strengths. He then names further Weaknesses, suggests that this is less an Epic than a Greek Tragedy based on Homer, or even perhaps a kind of Northern Saga. He also implies that these very Deviations from Homer might in Time become part of the eternal Matter of Troy. Yet he calls for more Films that give us, not an applicable Message, but a new World, which alone has the power to broaden our Sympathies and make us new People.

If you want to read this review in verse, you can find it on my Substack, which is here: Pipkin's Miscellany. You can subscribe for free.

But how does this connect to the Inklings? Well, Tolkien also used rhyming couplets when he wanted to make a point or two to his friend C.S. Lewis about how myths work. So there's that. 

I'll see you all soon for a deep dive into C.S. Lewis' longest work. 

By the way, the music throughout is from the soundtrack to The Odyssey, which is very good.

 

Chris talks with Jonathan Geltner about the best (but still flawed) adaptation of The Hobbit.

Get ready for...your greatest adventure!

Among other things, we discuss:

1:32 — The 1977 NBC broadcast

2:31 — Childhood memories of the cartoon

5:48 — Rankin/Bass as directors

5:58 — Rankin's "no additions" philosophy

6:15 — Top Craft & the Studio Ghibli connection

7:39 — Music & the folk singer-songwriter style

8:11 — Critical reception & Hugo nomination

8:36 — What the adaptation kept vs. omitted

9:00 — Songs as background vs. foreground

12:10 — "Greatest Adventure" as anti-escapist message

20:01 — Fantasy's cultural status in the 1970s

21:59 — The Hobbit's cohesion vs. "episodic" label

25:57 — Bilbo's shifting narrative voice in Mirkwood

27:57 — Mirkwood: the weakest section

32:01 — Omitting Beorn & the Arkenstone's consequences

41:07 — Character designs: what works, what doesn't

46:54 — The Wood Elves' unusual look

51:59 — Star Wars, fantasy, and mainstream credibility

55:29 — Tolkien's "long ago in the quiet of the world"

1:00:53 — Oral storytelling tradition vs. film immersion

1:01:44 — One swap: what would you put back?

1:06:30 — Mental visualization & imaginative experience

 

To read Jonathan's Substack, click here: https://jonathangeltner.substack.com/

To read my (far less illustrious) Substack, click here: https://pipkinsmiscellany.substack.com/

To buy Jonathan's first book, click here: https://slantbooks.org/books/absolute-music/

To email me, click inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com

 

Friend of the show Connor Salter joins me to talk about his new book, The Other Inklings, a book of interviews with current Inklings scholars about C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and other figures connected with their circle(s). Among other things, we discuss: 

• 3:44 About the book
• 4:39 How the book came to be
• 9:58 Why these scholars & figures?
• 14:28 Tolkien's English Catholicism
• 17:20 George MacDonald & Chesterton as influences
• 21:29 Why so much focus on William Lindsay Gresham?
• 24:59 Gresham, Joy Davidman & Dianetics
• 28:20 Surprising finds: Charles Williams & moral failure
• 30:06 Separating the art from the artist
• 35:47 Most formative scholar: Joe Ricke
• 37:32 Owen Barfield & anthroposophy
• 46:01 Barfield's "evolution of consciousness"
• 48:55 The Victorian Occult Revival
• 53:47 Outro & book plug
• 56:08 Deleted Scenes

In other news--I have a Substack, now, where I talk about a wide variety of things. Feel free to subscribe.

As always, if you like the show, please rate it on iTunes. And feel free to drop me a line anytime at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.

 

Chris talks with Jonathan Geltner and Eric Geddes about Owen Barfield's fairy tale, The Silver Trumpet--which has the distinction of being the first fairy tale written by an Inkling.

Among other things, we discuss:

1. Introduction (2:46) — The book, its context, and the new illustrated edition
2. The Coat of Arms & the Faust Epigraph (10:41) — "Two souls dwell in my breast"
3. The Twin Princesses (9:45) — Violetta, Gamboy, and the enchantment of Ms. Thompson
4. The Silver Trumpet (21:46) — Prince Courtesy arrives; the trumpet's effect on both sisters
5. Gamboy's Plot (34:43) — Revolution, the toad costume, and the death of Queen Violetta
6. Prince Peerio & Princess Lily (43:09) — The second generation; falling in love with a portrait
7. Overcoming the Toad (48:37) — Ms. Thompson's wisdom; Barfield's Goethean view of nature
8. The Resolution (57:08) — Lily kisses the toad; the doppelganger reunited
9. Music & Re-enchantment (1:04:49) — The five fiddlers scene
10. Romance as a Self-Aware Genre (55:30) — Irony, editorial intrusion, and the storyteller's social occasion
11. Why This Book, Why Now? (1:11:28) — *The Silver Trumpet* as the imaginative complement to *Poetic Diction*
12. Closing Thoughts (1:27:17)

Next: The Other Inklings with Connor Salter!

Chris chats with Liz Zenger, program manager of The Inklings Project, which provides resources for professors, teachers, and other groups developing Inklings-related courses.

Also, by way of update, this just in from Liz herself: 

This is currently live for 6-12 teachers! Goes along with your second to last question of the podcast :-)

 

Call for Proposals

Inklings Project Fellowship for 6-12 Teachers

Applications can be submitted via this link until Aug 1, 2026.  

 

For the first time in its history, the Inklings Project, under the University of Notre Dame's McGrath Institute for Church Life, is opening its fellowship to middle school and high school educators. Previous cohorts have drawn from college and university faculty; this new two-year cohort, beginning in Fall 2026, will be made up of those who educate in grades 6–12. Middle and high school is when many readers first encounter C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien—and where an educator’s love for these authors can ripple outward to students, parents, and an entire school community.

View the Call for Proposals or visit www.inklingsproject.org/apply for more information on the fellowship and application requirements. Applications can be submitted via this link until August 1, 2026.

 

Among other things, we discuss:

1. What The Inklings Project is (~0:53) — Liz explains the initiative: supporting faculty to create Inklings courses, providing grants, and building fellowship through a cohort model.

2. The Wade Center at Wheaton College (~4:10) — The in-person annual gathering for fellows, housing original manuscripts, Tolkien's desk, Lewis's wardrobe, etc.

3. Diverse faculty backgrounds (~6:30) — How professors from biology, business, public relations, and other non-literary fields are teaching Inklings courses, and why that breadth matters.

4. The origin story of the project (~10:20) — Liz traces it from a CS Lewis course she took as a freshman at Brown, to founding a student society, to pitching the idea to Notre Dame's McGrath Institute.

5. The challenge of reading loads & expanding to high schools (~17:30) — How professors handle the sheer volume of Inklings material, and the project's potential future cohort for high school and homeschool teachers.

Next Week: At long last, The Silver Trumpet!

Dr. Luke Mills joins me to talk about his article "His Dark Materials," as well as C.S. Lewis' nightmare imagery across his fiction. Among other things, we discuss:

• [2:08] – Welcome & guest introduction: Dr. Luke Mills, Associate Professor of English at Wingate University
• [2:57] – Dr. Mills's article: "His Dark Materials: C.S. Lewis's Nightmares as Inspiration"
• [4:10] – What drew Mills to the topic: Lewis's dreams of lions and the writing of Narnia
• [5:09] – Lewis's diary (All My Road Before Me) and the wolf-and-sheep nightmare (April 27, 1923)
• [6:13] – Reading of the wolf-and-sheep nightmare
• [7:07] – Lewis as an author of both heavenly beauty and horror
• [7:41] – The Unman in Perelandra and Lewis's vivid portrayal of evil
• [8:39] – How common were nightmares for Lewis? Insects, specters, and a lifelong pattern
• [10:29] – Lewis near death: vivid dreams and beautiful visions
• [11:38] – Etymology of "dream" and "nightmare" (Old English roots)
• [12:07] – Did Lewis think his dreams were spiritually significant?
• [12:46] – The Dark Tower and J.W. Dunne's Experiment with Time: precognitive dreams
• [15:21] – Lewis, Tolkien, and their shared interest in time and dreams
• [16:29] – Lewis's belief in precognitive dreams and his complicated relationship with Dunne's theories
• [17:22] – The Dark Tower: the chronoscope and alternate timelines
• [20:01] – Dreams as portals to other realities; Lewis's strong belief in the supernatural
• [22:07] – Lewis's imaginative receptivity; running toward and away from something
• [24:09] – Preface to Paradise Lost, letting the "leash slip," and Lewis's portrayal of evil
• [26:13] – Other nightmare imagery in Lewis: The Last Battle, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength
• [27:31] – Ransom's strange dream in Perelandra; the Unman as absurdist horror
• [30:17] – Lewis and the word "un-man": dreams about his dead father and Perelandra's antagonist
• [32:24] – Lewis's horror of corpses; childhood trauma of seeing his mother's body
• [34:10] – Zombie squirrels and a digression to Grove City College
• [37:11] – Are Lewis's nightmares demonic? Dreams of lions before Narnia
• [38:24] – Lewis, modernism, surrealism, and the via negativa
• [40:21] – Till We Have Faces: modernist technique and divinely sent nightmares
• [43:03] – Aslan as terrifying: the scratch in The Horse and His Boy
• [46:09] – Mark in the Objective Room at N.I.C.E.: nightmarish images turning him toward the good
• [47:12] – Closing thoughts; terror and the uncanny as paths toward the good
• [50:07] – Where to follow Dr. Mills; current research on Lewis's library at UNC (including Lewis's marginalia)

As always, if you want to get in touch, email me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com

Rate the show if you like it and haven't rated it yet.

Chris talks a bit about his first scholarly book, Monster Relics in Medieval English Literature, and what it has to do with Jimmy Stewart sneaking a Yeti finger past customs.

You can find it here. Be sure to enter the promo code "RELICS20" to get it for $40 rather than $50 before August 20. 

A new full episode will appear Tuesday!