Dispatches from the silver key

Arcane Arts

With this week’s issue we’re officially changing the name of the newsletter, which shall henceforth be known as Arcane Arts: Dispatches from Gondor.

Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth!

Yeah, this week is extra heavy on the Tolkien. With a couple of metal and S&S tidbits for those whose bag isn’t Bag-End.

The Tower and the Ruin by Michael D.C. Drout

This year I finished a re-read of The Lord of the Rings (how many reads is this for me? 10-12?) and wanted to complete the experience by diving into some new Tolkien scholarship. Enter The Tower of the Ruin by Michael D.C. Drout, a professor of English and director for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College. Drout knows his stuff and goes deep in this book, analyzing not just LOTR but also portions of the 12-volume History of Middle-Earth, The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, Tolkien’s poetry, and a great swathe of the existing critical literature. He explains why it feels real, and why its depth rewards re-readings—and explains people like me who keep coming back, year after year.

I finished reading The Tower and the Ruin on Tuesday and penned a lengthy 1800 word review on The Silver Key. ​

This is not my first post about Drout, who also wrote Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature for The Modern Scholar line. Check that out here.

Weird Studies tackles Tolkien

Ever have a podcast hit your feed that you can’t click on fast enough? That happened to me last week, when one of my favorite podcasts, Weird Studies, covered one of my favorite books, The Fellowship of the Ring. I listened straight away. And you should too. It proved to be a fantastic conversation but I’d expect nothing less from Weird Studies, of which I would say if there is a better podcast that covers weird fiction/films/pop culture, I haven’t yet encountered it.

Here’s one of my podcast inspired thoughts from the blog:

The Lord of the Rings is applicable to every reader, and challenges you. Reading it is perilous, because it offers moral clarity and forces you to consider tough choices. Can you exhibit pity, and mercy, on your enemies, because you cannot see all ends? Would you have the will to cast a (metaphorical) One Ring into the fire? For example on the use of AI, which grants greater power but requires environmental degradation, and has well documented deleterious impacts on learning and human flourishing?

What is your ring?

Prayers for Bruce Campbell

One of my favorite actors announced he was diagnosed with a “incurable, but treatable” form of cancer. I have no idea what this means long term for the square-jawed, sarcastic, lovable anti-hero of Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, and Bubba Ho-Tep, but prayers to him and his family.

What’s your favorite Bruce line? I have many, this one is currently in the lead: "Maybe, just maybe my boys can protect the book. Yeah, and maybe I'm a Chinese jet pilot".

Tsunami of heavy metal movies

When did this become a thing? Documentary films about Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Megadeth are suddenly out, or due to come out, seemingly all at once. I like it … as these bands age out it’s another experience for fans like me who are aging out from long nights on their feet in crowded concert halls, and can now opt for a feature film at 7 p.m. in a comfortable reclining seat. Of all of these I’m most anticipating “The Ballad of Judas Priest.”

A cool handmade metal/S&S magazine, as seen on Instagram.

I might have to check out an issue of Dungeon & Devilry, it looks plain cool. TOC of issue #2 includes a dice game, short fiction, interviews with heavy metal musicians, and some amazing artwork. I love that handmade, guerilla-style, print newsletters are still being made and circulated.