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Location
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Document Type
Paper
Event Website
https://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-54.htm
Start Date
26-7-2026 9:00 AM
End Date
26-7-2026 9:50 AM
Description
Since Verlyn Flieger showed the importance of Owen Barfield’s account of poetic language outlined in Poetic Diction for the metaphysical structure of Tolkien’s universe (cf. Flieger 33-44), Barfield’s writings have been an object of increased scholarly attention. While the point most often commented upon is the impact of Barfield’s vision of the evolution of language on Tolkien’s theory of sub-creation, the traces of Barfield’s influence can also be found in other Inklings. Here I would like to offer some speculations on the connection between Barfield’s idea of language and the way in which the writings of the Inklings depict discovering and getting into another world, parallel in time but more ‘poetic’ (in the sense Barfield uses the word). Taking as my starting point Barfield’s reflection on the normal and poetic mode of perceiving the world as ‘the two living realities’ (Barfield 211) as well as his distinction between strangeness and wonder (cf. 168-177) and the remarks on Shelley’s portrayal of the soul as an ‘enchanted boat’ (45, 65-66; cf. Shelley 153), I will argue that his philosophy of language throws light not just on the Inklings’ shared vision of creation and creativity but also on the functioning of different incarnations of Faërie as a place to which one may travel. If it is indeed Barfield’s vision that underlies the alternative poetic worlds in the writings of his friends, such worlds are not just places but modes of perception. This, if true, may partially explain what it means that the Calaquendi ‘live in both worlds at once’ (Tolkien 294) and why one way to enter Narnia was through ‘a picture of a ship’ (cf. Lewis 9), but also what exactly made a pair of lions appear in the town of Smethem (cf. Williams 3-14) and how Eärendil managed to find Valinor.
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Included in
Perception as a Gateway of Faërie in Owen Barfield’s Philosophy of Language
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Since Verlyn Flieger showed the importance of Owen Barfield’s account of poetic language outlined in Poetic Diction for the metaphysical structure of Tolkien’s universe (cf. Flieger 33-44), Barfield’s writings have been an object of increased scholarly attention. While the point most often commented upon is the impact of Barfield’s vision of the evolution of language on Tolkien’s theory of sub-creation, the traces of Barfield’s influence can also be found in other Inklings. Here I would like to offer some speculations on the connection between Barfield’s idea of language and the way in which the writings of the Inklings depict discovering and getting into another world, parallel in time but more ‘poetic’ (in the sense Barfield uses the word). Taking as my starting point Barfield’s reflection on the normal and poetic mode of perceiving the world as ‘the two living realities’ (Barfield 211) as well as his distinction between strangeness and wonder (cf. 168-177) and the remarks on Shelley’s portrayal of the soul as an ‘enchanted boat’ (45, 65-66; cf. Shelley 153), I will argue that his philosophy of language throws light not just on the Inklings’ shared vision of creation and creativity but also on the functioning of different incarnations of Faërie as a place to which one may travel. If it is indeed Barfield’s vision that underlies the alternative poetic worlds in the writings of his friends, such worlds are not just places but modes of perception. This, if true, may partially explain what it means that the Calaquendi ‘live in both worlds at once’ (Tolkien 294) and why one way to enter Narnia was through ‘a picture of a ship’ (cf. Lewis 9), but also what exactly made a pair of lions appear in the town of Smethem (cf. Williams 3-14) and how Eärendil managed to find Valinor.
https://dc.swosu.edu/mythcon/mc54/schedule/22
