B.A., M.Phil (Merton), D.Phil (Oriel), University of Oxford. Medieval Scholar. #Tolkien Scholar. Author of first doctoral thesis on Tolkien at @UniofOxford.
Oxford Tolkien Network
Joined July 2026
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Ah #Tolkien -- if only ALL your handwriting was this readable 😆
Below is my chapter on Lieut. Geoffrey Bache Smith, poet friend of #Tolkien whose personal and literary influence had an immense impact on JRRT long after Smith's death in December 1916.
#GreatWar #WorldWarI
academia.edu/171659030/Geoff…
Geoffrey Bache Smith's wit, wisdom, and imagination are apparent in his surviving letters in the Bodleian Library in #Oxford (which I have read in full and helped make widely available to scholars there because of an access request).
#WorldWarI #GreatWar
G.B. Smith debated at the Oxford Union (sometimes with humorous results), had a sharp wit and masterful intelligence in writing poetry and in literary parodies. Yet he also had a highly developed metaphysical imagination apparent in his poetry.
#GreatWar #WorldWarI
I highly recommend this book (it should go to paperback next year) about the great literary friendship of Tolkien's life -- poet Geoffrey Bache Smith (fellow Oxonian and officer at the Somme in 1916). I wrote chapter 2 about the facets of wit, imagination, and sorrowful nostalgia
Really pleased to see this is now out. Congratulations to Beppe Pezzini on pulling this collection together. I have a piece in there on Smith and #Tolkien's war poetry! @engfac @ExeterCollegeOx
link.springer.com/book/10.10…
Article I wrote a few years ago on #Tolkien, war, and imagination (and other soldier-poets drawn to myth during #WorldWarI.
#GreatWar
‘Saving Imagination: Myth and Legend in WWI Poetry,’ The Poor Print, 35 (‘Fantasy,’ October 27, 2018):
thepoorprint.com/2018/10/27/…
Here is Part II of the TolkienGuide 20th anniversary livestream (the last two hours featuring members of the Oxford Tolkien Network). I discussed my #WorldWarI research relating to #Tolkien and his early mythology, The Book of Lost Tales (c. 1917-19).#Silmarillion #LordoftheRings
For all who heard the #TolkienGuide 20th Anniversary livestream (and those who couldn't make it) -- you can learn more about my wider #Tolkien, #WorldWarI, and #medieval research and teaching via by my Oxford English Faculty webpage:
english.ox.ac.uk/people/grac…... #GreatWar
Very moving -- the graves of Tolkien's two TCBS friends who died on the Western Front -- Geoffrey Bache Smith and Robert Quilter Gilson. This year marks the 110th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
#Tolkien #GreatWar #WorldWarI
Dr Grace Khuri retweeted
Amazing panel beginning on Livestream Part 1 right now: Carl Hostetter, Holly Ordway, Wayne Hammond, and Christina Scull on Tolkien studies and editing Tolkien
Livestream Part 1 available here: youtube.com/watch?v=ApkaUtJs…
Livestream Part 2 available here: youtube.com/watch?v=67yEiByZ…
Link to the list of talks and times: tolkienguide.com/TG20
Dr Grace Khuri retweeted
TolkienGuide 20th Anniversary Livestream Party (part 1)! youtube.com/live/ApkaUtJsLMY… via @YouTube
I will be taking part in the TolkienGuide 20th Anniversary livestream tomorrow (along with fellow members of the Oxford Tolkien Network). Many wonderful Tolkien scholars will be taking part, so do have a listen if you have some free time. 🙂 tolkienguide.com/TG20 #Tolkien
Dr Grace Khuri retweeted
Day: Angel Holding a Sun and Night: Angel Holding a Waning Moon by William Morris, 1862-64
For my new role as RA for the #OxfordUniversity project: 'British Fantasy and the #FirstWorldWar', I'll be drawing on my extensive research experience with the widespread mythic framing of #WorldWarI. Below is an illustrated article on the topic.
academia.edu/113103338/The_P…
This kind of historical #WorldWarI research with a mythic spin was an outgrowth of my doctoral thesis project findings (relating to #Tolkien and his mythology -- the earliest version of the #Silmarillion). Tolkien worked in a mythically-minded culture, even during #WorldWarI.
Dr Grace Khuri retweeted
One more image for Michaelmas Day, from Christopher Whall’s wonderful if tragic window of 1918 in Chippenham commemorating the death of three Wilson sons in the Great War. Below these four Archangels are scenes of mourning and battle, but they stand resplendent all the same.
In just over a month, Michael G.R. #Tolkien (J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson) will return to give a second talk for the Oxford Tolkien Network (Oct. 30). He will be speaking about (what he told me) was his favorite of his grandfather's works: the #Silmarillion
tolkien50.web.ox.ac.uk/event…
For those who cannot attend in person, the event will be recorded and will likely be made available in December.
#Tolkien #Silmarillion