Collections: The Practical Case on Why We Need the Humanities

I have been holding off writing something like this, because it is often such a well-worn topic and I hardly wanted to preach to the converted. But at the same time, the humanities need all of the defenses they can get and I've found, looking at the genre, that my answers for why we need … Continue reading Collections: The Practical Case on Why We Need the Humanities →

Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VIII: The Mind of Saruman

This is is the eight and last part of a series taking a historian’s look at the Battle of Helm’s Deep (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. Last time we looked at the overall impact of morale … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VIII: The Mind of Saruman →

Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VII: Hanging by a Thread

This is is the seventh part of a series taking a historian’s look at the Battle of Helm’s Deep (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. Last time, we looked at the weapons and armor of the film sequence … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VII: Hanging by a Thread →

Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VI: Is This a Good Sword?

This is is the sixth part of a series taking a historian’s look at the Battle of Helm’s Deep (I, II, III, IV, V) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. Last time, we looked at Saruman's siege tactics and found them badly wanting. Even … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VI: Is This a Good Sword? →

Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part V: Ladders are Chaos

This is is the fifth part of a series taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm’s Deep (I, II, III, IV) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. In our last two parts, we looked at the organization of the two opposing forces. … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part V: Ladders are Chaos →

Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part IV: Men of Rohan

This is the fourth part of a series taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm's Deep (I, II, III) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. In the last part, we looked in some depth at the organization of the host of Saruman … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part IV: Men of Rohan →

Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part III: The Host of Saruman

This is the third part of a series taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm's Deep (I, II), from both J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers (1954) and peter Jackson's 2002 film of the same name. In our last part, we looked at the film-only cavalry engagement that proceeds the main action of the … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part III: The Host of Saruman →

Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part II: Total Warg

This is the second part of a series taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm's Deep (Part I here), from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. Last time, we looked at the operations which led up to the fortress assault. This time, I … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part II: Total Warg →