Jason Fisher

Jason Fisher is an independent scholar whose main focus is J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and the Inklings, and secondary to that, J. K. Rowling, Alan Garner, Neil Gaiman, and other authors of fantasy literature. In addition, much of Jason's research emphasizes the importance of language and philology, as well as comparative mythology and folklore, in arriving at a more thorough understanding of fantasy literature. Jason has presented papers on J. R. R. Tolkien and the Inklings in a variety of academic settings and conferences over the past several years. He will be a visiting scholar at the Tolkien Summer Institute to be held at Texas A&M University at Commerce in 2009, under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Jason publishes a blog, Lingwë – Musings of a Fish, in which he discusses Tolkien, Lewis, the Inklings, and related topics. You can reach Jason by email at his blog.

I. Book Chapters

“Tree of Language, Tree of Tales: A Shared Metaphor in C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.” Through the Wardrobe: Essays on C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. Ed. John Briggs and Craig Svonkin. [Forthcoming]

“Tolkien’s Felix Culpa and the Third Theme of Ilúvatar.” Truths Breathed Through Silver: The Inklings’ Moral and Mythopoeic Legacy. Ed. Jonathan Himes, with Joe R. Christopher and Salwa Koddham. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishers, 2008.

“From Mythopoeia to Mythography: Tolkien, Lönnrot, And Jerome.” The Silmarillion: Thirty Years On. Ed. Allan Turner. Zollikofen: Walking Tree Publishers, 2007.

“‘Man does as he is when he may do as he wishes’: The Perennial Modernity of Free Will.” Tolkien and Modernity, Volume 1. Ed. Thomas Honegger and Frank Weinreich. Zollikofen: Walking Tree Publishers, 2006.

II. Articles

“Three Rings for — Whom Exactly? And Why?: Justifying the Disposition of the Three Elven Rings.” Tolkien Studies 5 (2008): 99–108.

“Remembering Lloyd Alexander.” Mythprint: The Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society, Volume 44:12 #309 (December 2007): 5–6.

“Reluctantly Inspired: George MacDonald and the Genesis of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Smith of Wootton Major.” North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald Studies 25 (2006): 113–20.

“Language Then and Now: The Surprising Origins of the Names of the Months.” Renaissance 9.1 #35 (2004): 32–3.

“Language Then and Now: Passing the Time in Medieval Europe: The Etymologies of the Days of the Week.” Renaissance 8.5 #33 (2003): 38–9.

“Language Then and Now: The Death of Englisc.” Renaissance 8.4 #32 (2003): 32–3.

“Language Then and Now: The Celtic Traditions of Halloween.” Renaissance 7.4 #28 (2002): 26–7.

“Language Then and Now: The Arabic Numerals’ Introduction to Renaissance Europe.” Renaissance 7.3 #27 (2002): 26–7.

III. Reference Works

“The Inklings (1933–1954).” The Literary Encyclopedia [http://www.litencyc.com/]. Ed. Robert Clark. Additional entries forthcoming.

“Lloyd Alexander” and “Karen Wynn Fonstad.” Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Robin Anne Reid. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008.

“Family Trees”, “Fëanor”, “Galadriel”, “Greek Gods”, “Manuscripts by Tolkien”, “‘Mythology for England’”, “Palantíri”, “Phial”, “Riddles”, “Sauron Defeated ”, “Silmarils”, and “Taniquetil”. The J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Ed. Michael D.C. Drout. New York: Routledge, 2006.

IV. Selected Book Reviews

“The Lord of the Rings and the Western Narrative Tradition. Martin Simonson.” Tolkien Studies 6 (2009). [Forthcoming]

“Tolkien on Fairy-stories. J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson.” Mythlore 103/104, Vol. 27 Nos. 1/2 (Fall/Winter 2008): 179–84.

“Inside Language: Linguistic and Aesthetic Theory in Tolkien. Ross Smith.” Mythlore 103/104, Vol. 27 Nos. 1/2 (Fall/Winter 2008): 172–6.

“The History of the Hobbit. John Rateliff.” Mythlore 101/102, Vol. 26 Nos. 3/4 (Spring/Summer 2008): 206–12.

“Roots and Branches: Selected Papers on Tolkien. Tom Shippey.” Mythlore 99/100, Vol. 26 Nos. 1/2 (Fall/Winter 2007): 209–12.

“C.S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy. Bruce L. Edwards.” Mythlore 99/100, Vol. 26 Nos. 1/2 (Fall/Winter 2007): 201–5.