by Travis 
I planned to record a pubcast today on H.P. Lovecraft with some biographical information and the like, but alas, working on this new house stole all my time.  I’ve provided below a list of Lovecraft links, including a biography and an essay he wrote on “Supernatural Horror in Literature.”
And now, if you have not [...]

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by Johnny
Berit Kjos, one of the most staunch opponents of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, reveals her gross misunderstanding of Deathly Hallows in her review, “Harry’s Last Battle & Rowling’s Beliefs“. Concentrating on the Vancouver Sun quotation where JKR told Max Wyman that if she discussed her faith then the “intelligent reader, whether 10 or [...]

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More on the fundamentalist response to Harry Potter; H.P. Lovecraft Month; “The Last Dementor”
There will be another podcast in just a couple of days, which will be an official introduction to H.P. Lovecraft Month, with biographical information.
I’ve added an H.P. Lovecraft section to the Store of Gryffindor.

 

 Hog's Head PubCast #36 [24:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1229)

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by Dave
If a reader drops Deathly Hallows on the ground in expectation of the book opening to the literal center of its story, she will more than likely find Chapter 21, “The Tale of the Three Brothers”. Presented as a children’s story of three brothers attempting to cheat Death, Beadle the Bard’s tale narrates [...]

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by Travis 
Whereas SoG is dedicated to the pursuit of great literature through the window of Harry Potter, and whereas October is a month for the celebration of the imagination and scary stories, and whereas H.P. Lovecraft’s stories have been a primary influence on many of today’s horror story writers, the Blogengamot is officially christening October 2007, “H.P. [...]

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By Matthew
There’s not much happening in the HP universe this week so I thought I’d make up my own.
The Rugby World Cup is happening at the moment and the titanic struggle will rival the Quidditch World Cup in Goblet of fire. Unlike Quidditch, Ireland is looking wobbly and Bulgaria didn’t even qualify (Ranked 91st [...]

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by Travis
I promised folks at Prophecy 2007 that I’d get this post up before the end of August. I apologize for the terrible delay. This is the content of my discussion at Prophecy 2007.
At Lumos 2006, and in his book Unlocking Harry Potter, John Granger enumerated the evidence that J.K. Rowling has written [...]

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by Dave]
The heart of the classical Hero type drives towards some sacrifice — either in a quest for glory sometimes doomed from the start, or on the behalf of something judged “the greater good”. Classical epic heroes struggle against their humanity, often goaded by the self realization of their partial divinity. They hope [...]

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By Matthew
Update from Travis: I’m a little late on this, but in honor of Madeleine L’Engle, who recently passed away, I’ve added a Madeleine L’Engle section to the Store of Gryffindor. 
Gryffindor’s sword… Did you ever wonder why such a puissant (presumably) wizard as Godric Gryffindor needed a sword? I’m sure he was a great fighting [...]

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by Johnny
I want to briefly respond to the assertion held by “culture warriors” like Michael D. O’Brien, Tom Snyder, and Ted Baehr that there are Gnostic elements in Harry Potter. The latter two, in “Don’t Be Fooled”, mentions “Gnosticism” in passing as one of the ingredients along with “modern humanism” and “pagan/occult ideas about the [...]

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by Dave
Harry’s credibility as a Christian symbol/figure fixed well and good within the Christian tradition marks most of the public discussion of HP in the wake of Deathly Hallows. I’m not nearly as well versed in theology and Christian thinking as Travis or Johnny, but I do teach a lot of Rhetoric/Composition for a [...]

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Response to Drs Synder and Baehr about Deathly Hallows, in which the sarcasm is plentiful and the responses are right off the top of my head with zero preparation.
You can subscribe for free through iTunes, and you can say nice stuff about the pubcast there.
No pubcast next week; it’s moving weekend for us!
Pub Menu

“Don’t Be [...]

 

 Hog's Head PubCast #35: A Defense Lesson [19:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1361)

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By Matthew
Over the past week there has been excellent discussion happening at the various posts here at Sword of Gryffindor. The topics have been varied and I’d like to reflect this in today’s links.

George MacDonald’s name has cropped up at various times, let’s take a look at the man.
Despite some obvious errors, this is [...]

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by Johnny
Who would have thought that Michael D. O’Brien and Lev Grossman would have something in common, particularly since both, while holding diametrically opposing worldviews, are so eager to say that there is no God in Harry Potter. And they proclaim this in the midst of an overwhelming positive response to the Christian themes in [...]

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by Travis
I believe Johnny has a post planned for us in the morning, but here’s a few quick notes from me.

I’ve discovered a blog I had not seen before - Shell Cottage, run by BabyBlue who is simultaneously a Harry Potter and Bob Dylan fan, which is great (I’m going to see Dylan for the [...]

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