HeyJaredTom Hillman -- Alas, not me
I post mostly on Tolkien, sometimes on Lewis, and other things that amuse me. I believe the unenchanted life is not worth living.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 6
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- Aug 27, 2026
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- Jul 13, 2026
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Gandalf in Latin by Way of Pope Leo (opens the original)
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As was widely noted back in May of this year Pope Leo XIV quoted Tolkien in his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, specifically Gandalf’s statement in chapter 9 of book 6 of The Lord of the Rings (RK 9.vi.879). I was talking to James Tauber, the Mad Max of Digital Humanities, the creator of the fabulously useful Digital Tolkien Project, and an all around nice guy. We were lamen
Sometimes a Goad Is Just a Goad (opens the original)
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The phrase “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” has for centuries years been a common English translation of the phrase in Acts 26:14, “σκληρόν σοι πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν.” Jesus says this to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus. Jesus is comparing him to a draught animal kicking when his driver prods him with his goad (=prick) to get him moving.Unsurprisingly, this translation has also been the cause of much snickering.The Greek nou
Tolkien's Imaginary Time and Our Real World (opens the original)
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Tolkien, it seems quite clear from multiple statements he made in his letters, thought of his tales as taking place in our world, but in an imaginary, mythical, or mythological time period. These are the words he uses repeatedly across the decades. He first refers to “this imagined world” in a letter to Sir Stanley Unwin on 15 October 1937 (Letters no. 17 p. 30). He first mentions the idea of an imaginary time period in another letter to Sir Stanley Unwin from 24 February 1950, where he calls th
Dominus Litis (opens the original)
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I ran across the Latin legal phrase dominus lītis the other day, which means “the master of the suit.” According to The Law Dictionary, it designates “the person who was really and directly interested in the suit as a party, as distinguished from his attorney or advocate.”Not the most interesting phrase on its own, I suppose, but it caught my eye for two reasons: first, it was misspelled, and second, it was in a decision by a federal judge in an important case here in the States. The incorrect s
Pity, Power, and Tolkien's Ring a finalist. (opens the original)
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