My Substack, A kind of elvish craft, is where I share my current writing on Tolkien, fantasy, children’s literature, folklore, and miniature worlds.
I am currently working on two book projects: one on Tolkien and one on miniature fantasies. The newsletter is where I share essays, research notes, recorded lectures, and work-in-progress from both projects.
Topics include:
- J.R.R. Tolkien and Middle-earth
- miniature worlds and little people
- fantasy and children’s literature
- folklore, myth, elves and fairies
- medievalism and world-building
- research, writing, and academic life
Subscribe on Substack
Free subscribers receive the opening section of each weekly essay, along with Notes and updates.
Paid subscribers receive the full essays, access to the archive, and monthly recorded lectures connected to my current research.
Recent essays and lectures
The Slow LotR Re-read #10: What Kind of Object Is the Ring?
Thumbelina: Between Tom Thumb and the Fairies
July 2026 Lecture: Sizing Up the Gremlins
The Slow LotR Re-read #9: Gandalf the Parent
From the archive
For summer 2026, the archive is open to all subscribers until Oxonmoot. If you’re new to A kind of elvish craft, these are some of the most-read pieces from the archive and offer good starting points for the themes I return to often:
On Tolkien’s Letter 131 (1): Capturing “timeless Elvish enchantment”
Tracing a source for the Mirror of Galadriel (in Tolkien’s own early work)
Little People and Miniature Worlds: Contexts and Chronologies (with Tolkien as a guide!)