Mythlore is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal published by the Mythopoeic Society. It focuses on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and the genres of myth and fantasy.
THE HISTORY OF MYTHLORE
Mythlore was launched in 1969 by the late Glen GoodKnight, Founder of the Mythopoeic Society. He edited its first 84 issues, with the exception of issues 18–23, which were edited by Gracia Fay Ellwood. In its early years, Mythlore was a “fanzine” that, in addition to scholarly articles, columns, and book and media reviews, included a great deal of art work, poetry, and other creative work. Over the years, the articles became more and more exclusively scholarly, and the creative work and fiction reviews moved to sister publications like Mythprint and Mythic Circle. When Dr. Theodore Sherman of Middle Tennessee State University assumed the editorship with issue #85 in 1999, Mythlore completed its transformation into a refereed scholarly journal publishing only articles and reviews. At that time, its format also changed from 8½” x 11” to 6½” x 9”. Janet Brennan Croft, University of Northern Iowa (emerita), became editor in 2006 and switched to a double-issue format with issue #93/94. The journal was published in two double issues per year, in approximately April and November through Spring 2013. In Fall 2013 the double issue numbering was dropped starting with issue #123, and electronic subscriptions became available for individuals.
Current Issue: Volume 45, Number 1 Issue 149, fall/winter 2026 (2026)
Editorial Introduction
Articles
The Rhetoric of the Road: The Romantic Journey as a Map of Myth, Memory, and Majesty
Joe R. Christopher
Dreaming of Bag End: The Hobbit and Medieval Dream-Poetry
Samuel A. Masters
“A Story Must be Told”: Narrative Engagement in The Lord of the Rings
Matthew Thompson-Handell
The Path of Wisdom: Reassessing Tolkien’s Paremiology in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
Luis J. Tosina Fernández
“Salvation Must be Communicated”: An Ecumenical Reading of The Place of the Lion
Avery-Claire Galloway
The Political Vitalities of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea
Joseph Charles Ironside
Notes
In Memoriam: Gracia Fay Ellwood
Janet Brennan Croft
Book Reviews
The Gospel of Gollum by Ivano Sassanelli
Gabriela Clarke
Between Interpretation and Imagination: C.S. Lewis and the Bible by Leslie Baynes
Katherine Cooper Wyma
The Mismeasure of Orcs: A Critical Reassessment of Tolkien’s Demonized Creatures by Robert T. Tally Jr.
Gerry Canavan
Science and Religion in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis: The Quest for the Best Mental Model of the Universe by Alister E. McGrath
Martina Juričková
A Diasporic Mythography: Myth, Legend and Memory in the Literature of the Indian Diaspora by P.M. Biswas
G. Connor Salter
Tolkien’s Glee: A Reading of the Songs in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by John R. Holmes
Glenn R. Gray
Briefly Noted

