The Inklings Variety Hour

Tolkien Reading Day: Adaptations

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.

From the Old Winyards: Till We Have Faces Wrap-up! (Saturday Rerun)

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 InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  

Next time: Hold on to your electric torches! Season Two of The Inklings Variety Hour begins with Prince Caspian!

The Horse and His Boy, Part 2: Aravis

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!

From the Old Winyards: Till We Have Faces, Part 10 (Saturday Rerun)

More of our series on Till We Have Faces!

From the Old Winyards: Till We Have Faces, Part 9

Continuing to cover Till We Have Faces! 

The Horse and His Boy, Part 1: Calor-mania!

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. 

 

From the Old Winyards: Till We Have Faces Part 8 (Saturday Rerun)

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!

From the Old Winyards: Till We Have Faces, Part 7 (Saturday Rerun)

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.

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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 InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  

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!  

From the Old Winyards: Till We Have Faces, Part 6 (Saturday Rerun)

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 InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  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.  

From the Old Winyards: Till We Have Faces, Part 5 (Saturday Rerun)

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 InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  

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!