The Inklings Variety Hour

Happy C.S. Lewis Day!

Happy "Commemoration of C.S. Lewis Day."  Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?  Here's a quick reading from Walter Hooper's Introduction to "The Weight of Glory and Other Essays," which describes the last three months of Lewis' life.

Stay tuned for more podcasts very soon.

"On Fairy Stories" - Pt. 1: A Rash Adventure with J.R.R. Tolkien

"By the tobacco-tinted teeth of Tolkien!  It's the walrus of the OED, and he wants revenge on those who once defined him!" 

We're waxing philosophical about a philologist's fairy-wondering wander-work this week!  Longer episode description to come, when I'm not deliriously tired!

In the meantime, enjoy the podcast!  Read "On Fairy Stories," if you have it under your pillow or otherwise near at hand.  And have a eucatastrophe or two while you're at it.  They're like catastrophes, only good.  Sort of the red licorice of Greek literary terms.

Anyhow...

Appendix 2: Mythopoeia

This week, we have J.R.R. Tolkien's "Mythopoeia," read by Anika Smith!

You can find the text of the poem online if you want to read along, or you can buy this lovely book.

Music in the background is Lohengrin, by Richard Wagner.

Next week, we'll be back to discuss Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories," in which a part of "Mythopoeia" is quoted.

If you're enjoying these podcasts, please share with a friend or drop us a line to tell us so (InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com).  Constructive feedback and suggestions for future episodes are welcome.  We'd also very much appreciate reviews in iTunes, if you can spare the time.  See you next week.

 

War (in Heaven): What is it Good For? - Pt. 5/5

Welcome back!  In this final episode covering Charles Williams' spiritual thriller, War in Heaven, we discuss the conclusion of the book!  What does Charles Williams have in common with J.K. Rowling?  Is Gregory the Satanist the secret protagonist of this book?  And finally, what do you do if a priest falls down dead in the middle of mass, but it was a really pleasant service otherwise?  Stay tuned next time for a bonus episode, after which we will be talking about J.R.R. Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories."

 

If the Inklings squaring off against Aleister Crowley tickles your fancy, please do go pick up a copy of Heaven's War by Micah Harris with art by Michael Gaydos!

 

 

War (in Heaven): What is it Good For? - Pt. 4

This is part four of our five-part discussion of War in Heaven, Charles' Williams' modern take on the Holy Graal Quest.  In the chapters we discuss this week, Gregory Persimmons drives Barbara Rackstraw insane using "the ointment," in order to obtain both the Graal and Barbara and Lionel's son, Adrian.  The guardians of the Graal willingly trade the Graal for Barbara's sanity, only to have her cured by an unexpected visitor...who is somehow the Graal himself.  It's not who you think.  In this episode, Satanism meets pessimism, devotion to relics meets humanism, and everybody meets Prester John. 

 

9/22: Happy Hobbit Day!  We're talking about Charles Williams, but we do mention the hobbits (with reference to homeliness and attachment to objects) in a few places.  

 

Works referenced:

 

War in Heaven, by Charles Williams;

 

"Hermeticism and the Metaphysics of Goodness in the Novels of Charles Williams," by Scott McLaren (Mythlore);

 

The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend, by Alan Lupack;

 

 

Music:

 

"Venus," by Gustav Holst

 

"Lohengrin," by Richard Wagner

 

"Princes of the Universe" by Queen. 

 

(Here's the intro that I parody.  Note: Inklings Variety Hour does not formally endorse the USA show "Highlander"--based on the movie of the same name--even if it was awesome.)

 

_Thank you_ to those of you who have left reviews and ratings on iTunes and elsewhere!  Please don't hesitate to drop us a line if you'd like--we'd love to know who you are and what you're interested in hearing us cover in the future!  Our email is InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com. 

War (in Heaven): What is it Good For? - Pt. 3

This week, we're covering Part III of Charles Williams' supernatural thriller, War in Heaven, in which the good guys (The Archdeacon, Kenneth Mornington, and the Duke) steal the Graal back from Gregory Persimmons, who desires to use it for his own dark purposes.  They then must pray to prevent the Graal from being magically disintegrated from a long distance by Manasseh and Dmitri, two more advanced members of Gregory's shady organization.  We'll also witness a friendship blossoming between all three of our protagonists, talk about how holy and unholy detachment can help make for a very exciting* plot, throw a little shade at King Henry VIII, discuss pagan interpretations of the Graal, and speculate about how P.G. Wodehouse may have been the secret ingredient in Gregory's eventual redemption.  This conversation went well over an hour--if you simply can't get enough of Charles Williams, you're in for a treat.  And hang around (if you'd like) for some bonus material at the very end--should be worth a laugh or two.  I mean, we laugh, anyway.

 

Music from Lohengrin by Wagner, Mercury by Holst, Venus by Holst, and, of course, "Take the Land," by Don Potter.

 

We reference William Blake's poem, "And did those feet in ancient time," which speculates on the very strange legend that the boy Jesus may have been taken to England by Joseph of Arimathea at some point--presumably a pre-Graal excursion for Joseph (I don't think even Blake believed this, though).  "And did those feet" was set to music by Sir Hubert Parry as "Jerusalem," an anthem/hymn that helped revive the drooping nationalism of British troops during World War I and remains popular to this day.

 

If you haven't read any of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series, we encourage you to drop everything and do so as soon as possible.  

 

Finally, this podcast will probably be more fun for you if you read along with us.  Feel free to pick up a copy of Charles Williams' War in Heaven!

 

If you're enjoying these episodes and have constructive feedback, we'd love to hear from you!  Our email is InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  Feel free also to leave us a review on iTunes if you want to see more of this sort of thing.

War (in Heaven): What is it Good For? - Pt. 2

We begin this second part of our series on War in Heaven with the Archdeacon's words to the Holy Graal (yes, that's how it's spelled).  We end as a Georgia thunderstorm knocks out the Internet.  In between, we discuss Chapters 4-8 of Charles Williams' supernatural thriller.

You can find War in Heaven here.  It is pretty inexpensive to buy on Kindle ($0.99 the last I checked).

Other than the usual Lohengrin/Jazz mash-up, the music used is from Uranus, one of the pieces in Gustav Holst's Planets suite.

The poetry excerpt at the end is from "On the Circuit," by W.H. Auden (read by the author).

Stay tuned for Part 3 next week!  

If you're enjoying these episodes and have constructive feedback, we'd love to hear from you!  Our email is InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  Feel free also to leave us a review on iTunes if you want to see more of this sort of thing.

 

War (in Heaven): What is it Good For? - Pt 1

This is the first of a series of conversations on Charles Williams' 1930 novel, War in Heaven, in which the Holy Graal (yes, that's how it's spelled here) is discovered in a tiny church in the English countryside.  Hijinks and shenanigans ensue, along with a heavy dose of black magic, car chases, and ecumenism.  You'll also find out whether the hosts would prefer to read a book called Christianity and the League of Nations or Foxy Flossie's Flirtations. 

We'll be covering the first three chapters of War in Heaven, which you can purchase here if you want to read along.

Most of our conversation this episode will be about Charles Williams' life, interest in the occult, and influence.  A few works mentioned include:

• The Third Inkling, by Grevel Lindop
• The Oxford Inklings, by Colin Duriez
• The Fellowship, by Philip and Carol Zaleski
• Hell, by Dorothy Sayers
• Taliessin Through Logres and The Region of the Summer Stars, by Charles Williams
• The Figure of Beatrice, by Charles Williams

To read the first letters Lewis and Williams wrote to each other, go here!

Stay tuned for Part 2!  If you're enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving us a review, as it is the best way to ensure the podcast will continue.  Also, feel free to drop us a line at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  

Appendix 1: "Balder the Beautiful Is Dead"...Sort Of.

We're taking this week off, but here's a quick reading of Longfellow's "Tegner's Drapa," a poem that acquainted the nine-year-old C.S. Lewis with an early sense of the sublime longing he called "Joy," and began to instill a love of what he called "Northernness."  A few ramblings-on about the poem and the myth of "Balder the Beautiful" are included at no extra cost.  Join us next week as we begin discussing Charles Williams' War in Heaven!   

The background music, by the way, is Wagner's "Lohengrin"!

Literature mentioned includes:

• Surprised by Joy
• "Tegner's Drapa" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Frithjof's Saga, (adapted) by Esaias Tegner
• Vafthruthnismal, a poem collected in the Elder Edda
• War in Heaven, by Charles Williams (read along with us--the Kindle version is $0.99!

Into the Wardrobe - Pt. 3

The third and final installment of our conversation on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe enters some interesting territory as Chris, Anika, and Meagan explore Lewis's (inadvertent?) use of Aslan-as-Trickster imagery, proper Narnian politics, and kangaroos. Also witness the precise moment in which the trio realizes that Lewis may have ruined their childhoods.

Works referenced include:

• A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
• The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Outro poetry sample: "On the Circuit" by W. H. Auden

Email the show! InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com