Fantasy Classics Episodes

It is a dangerous business going out of your front door, according to Bilbo - but so is studying Tolkien! On today’s episode, Julia Golding reports on current scholarship on Tolkien, thanks to the Tolkien's Words and Worlds conference at Corpus Christi College on the 2nd and 3rd of September of this year. What is the big mystery behind Tolkien's name? What is so special about the Fields of Cormallen? And who did C.S. Lewis dislike so much he spent a decade writing rude poems about him? Take a li...

Today’s episode of Mythmakers is the third part of our series looking into four of the main Inklings members. In the second part of our Inklings Evening, where our esteemed guests recreated the type of literary discussion that the original group would have engaged in, Colin Duriez takes us through Tolkien's participation in the group and how he, a veteran writer on books about Tolkien and Lewis, came to be an enthusiast. Join us as Colin reads from the Notion Club papers, leading to a discussion...

Have you ever wished that you could be a fly on the wall at a meeting of the original Inklings? We certainly have! Last year we invited four experts to represent four of the main Inklings at a special evening at Merton College Oxford to recreate the kind of discussion the original group might have had. Today’s episode focuses on our first guest: Owen Barfield, standing in for his grandfather, the first and last Inkling also by the name Owen Barfield. Join us to hear about the first fantasy story...

We interrupt our 4-part Inklings series to bring you our honest review of the Lord of the Rings musical on today’s Mythmakers episode! Join us as Julia Golding reviews the revival of The Lord of the Rings musical at the Watermill Theatre and draws some comparisons with The Rings of Power series. What is the ideal approach to adaptations of Tolkien’s material? Is a smaller scale preferable to grandeur? Why did the musical originally fail when it was on at Drury Lane in 2007, but now has raving re...

An introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien, CS Lewis, Owen Barfield and Charles Williams.

Where in all the fantasy worlds is the best place for a place of worship?

Where in all the fantasy worlds is the best place to tell a story?

As Season 3 of the Mythmakers podcast draws to a close, we are commemorating this milestone by highlighting our top 5 Tolkien themed podcasts that we have produced over the seasons. From little known facts about professor J.R.R. Tolkien, and how we celebrate his memory 50 years on since his passing, to recent adaptations of his works and Andy Serkis’s now iconic audiobook reading of the Lord of the Rings- we have been highly anticipating his reading of The Silmarillion! Join us as we celebrate 3...

As we look forward to celebrating Father's Day, on today’s episode of Mythmakers we’ll take a look at the best and worst fathers in The Lord of the Rings. Do you agree with our picks for the three worst fathers? One is very controversial! The top four fathers jostle for their place, but one stands out as being a particularly great role model. Any idea who that is? Hint: it isn't Denethor.

Let's celebrate the contribution to fantasy by our favourite illustrators! Today we start by taking a look at the grandfather of Oxford Fantasy Illustration: Sir John Tenniel, the illustrator behind the iconic Alice in Wonderland images. Listen in to find out about the unfortunate accident in his youth that he hid from his father, his extraordinary memory, and his artistic influences. Guess who was at his retirement dinner- it was quite the fantasy dinner party moment!

As our Readathon of The Hobbit drew to a close, we celebrated our journey to the Lonely Mountain and back again with a Hobbit Tea Party Livestream event! Julia Golding was joined by friend of the Centre, Jacob Rennaker, and participants of the Readathon as we discussed our favourite aspects of the book and tested our knowledge with a fun quiz. Listen in to learn our guests' unique points of view and to test out how well YOU know The Hobbit.

As King Charles III is crowned in the first coronation in most people's living memory, we take this opportunity to look at our top 10 fantasy royals. We trawl the world for the best examples - and even venture into outer space. Do you agree with our list? And what bone do we have to pick with Stephen Colbert? :) Have a listen and let us know if we've missed your favourite fantasy royal.

Where in all the fantasy worlds is the best place to hatch from an egg?

Where in all the fantasy worlds is the best place to be a lighthouse keeper?

The best place to be a professor of languages.

Best place to be a rabbit

As we approach the end of the year, we reach the end of Season 2 of our Mythmakers podcast. Today’s episode highlights this year’s most popular podcasts, hosted by Julia Golding and featuring our esteemed guests: A.J. Lancaster, T.A. White, Victoria Goddard, Lisa Edmonds and Kathrin Tordasi, as well as giving special mentions to many others who we were delighted to have on the show. Julia, and our various guest speakers, touched on a variety of topics from writing tips and processes to world-bui...

Best place to stay with an aunt

Best place to be Cinderella

Julia Golding and Tolkien experts Jacob Rennaker and Paula Kalamaras hosted the second exclusive Readathon livestream event on completion of our latest Readathon, featuring The Silmarillion. Our participants tested their Tolkien knowledge in our quiz, we looked back at the past few weeks of our Readathon, and we announced our December Readathon topic! Watch now to find out what we'll be reading next. Visit https://oxfordcentreforfantasy.org/mythmakers

Best place to be a miser

Today we're re-releasing one of our most popular podcasts! Why is Oxford, England, such a fantasy hotspot? From Lewis Carroll to Philip Pullman, Diana Wynne-Jones to Deborah Harkness, it has inspired writers and is even the location for many fantasy stories. It is famously home of the Inklings whose leading figures, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, established two of the biggest fantasy worlds yet invented. So what's the secret? Is it the university with its exchange of ideas, the beautiful built enviro...

Best place to be a scientist

Best place to go into exile