Video Index
- Tolkien's academic style is not all that dissimilar to his academic style.
- Cantor's assessment of the Narnia series.
- Capitalism and Tolkien: Marxist school of thought in the '70s said that Tolkien phenomenon was so popular and profitable, it must be a manifestation of capitalism.
- How do you square Bynum with the Medieval sensibility of Lewis's "Discarded Image" or Tolkien's made up world?
- Popular exposure to Medieval culture: do modern people "get" Medieval references?
- Modern scientific models / beliefs vs. Medieval understanding of the universe.
- Lewis's characterization of the Medieval mindset.
- Is Lewis inconsistent in his theory that theology is separate from the general cultural model? Modern science vs. religion.
- Is Tolkien writing a story, or is he writing history? Is it more scholarly than a work of fiction?
- Braudel: the impact of the German prisoner of war experience, a longing for something that was not modern (early modern), and a strong attachment to place. How is this similar to the Lord of the Rings series?
- Why do many people believe that World War I had such an incredible cultural impact, compared with previous wars?
- Was there anything heroic about World War I? What is the difference between a World War I hero and a Beowulf-style hero?
- Heroism in the Lord of the Rings: who is the hero in the Lord of the Rings?
- How are Tolkien's and Lewis's intense experiences with Christian theology reconciled in their writings?
- Heroism and death: what happens after life? Where do Anglo-Saxon narratives fit in Tolkien's world?
- Tolkien's world is masculinist and violent. What would Tolkien say? How do women affect peace in Beowulf?
- Tolkien and the "Germanic Ideal": ancestry, heritage, race, and World War II. Tolkien's opinion of Hitler and his ideas. Tolkien vs. Braudel on these topics with respect to World War II as a "world gone mad."
