Ethan Gilsdorf 10/28/21 Ethan Gilsdorf 10/28/21

Talking Tolkien on the Mythmakers podcast

Thank you Oxford Center for Fantasy for inviting me to be on the Mythmakers podcast. Listen as we talk all things fantasy writers --- especially Tolkien --- and the multitude of subcultures they inspired from D&D to LARPing and more.

Ethan Gilsdorf 9/14/16 Ethan Gilsdorf 9/14/16

Of Hobbits and Hippies

Over on the Imaginary Worlds podcast, I had a chance to talk about J.R.R. Tolkien, hobbits and hippies, among othert topics.

Ethan Gilsdorf 4/7/16 Ethan Gilsdorf 4/7/16

A review of Tolkien's “The Story of Kullervo”

My review of “The Story of Kullervo," an unfinsihed story by J.R.R. Tolkien based on six chapters, or “runos,” from “The Kalevala,” an epic poem compiled from Finnish oral folklore. Drafted sometime from 1912 to 1916, when Tolkien was in his 20s, his version represents the then-poet and philologist’s baby steps toward prose storytelling. Read the rest over at the Boston Globe.

Ethan Gilsdorf 10/14/15 Ethan Gilsdorf 10/14/15

See the Sketches J.R.R. Tolkien Used to Build Middle-Earth

Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings but he also drew it:

The many maps and sketches he made while drafting The Lord of the Rings informed his storytelling, allowing him to test narrative ideas and illustrate scenes he needed to capture in words. For Tolkien, the art of writing and the art of drawing were inextricably intertwined.

In the book The Art of The Lord of the Rings, we see how, and why.

My sneak peek of his sketches for Wired.com