C.S. Lewis had an abiding interest in “northernness” and Nordic myth—early poems such as “Dymer,” “Descend to Earth,” “Descend,” “Celestial Nine” and “Loki Bound” are but three of Lewis’ reflections on the vision and challenging tensions of Nordic wisdom. “Renaissance” (chapter 5) in Surprised By Joy embodies Lewis’ enthusiasm for Wagner and The Ring of the Nibelung (with Rackham’s superb illustrations). This lecture will focus on Lewis’ ongoing interest in Nordic myth and the relationship, as he understood it, between Nordic myth, Wagner and The Ring of the Nibelung (and its many affinities with Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings).

In-person and on-line attendance