David Grubbs
David decided in junior high that the best thing he could do in life was to become as much like J.R.R. Tolkien as possible, sine Roman Catholicism. Over the years, his interests shifted from Bilbo’s Middle-earth to Cædmon’s middangeard and Snorri’s Miðgarðr, but the love of old things and old ways, for their own sake, has remained. David has pursued that love through an M.A. in English (U of Alabama at Birmingham) and into the Ph.D. program at the U of Georgia. His dissertation–in the early stages–is about Beowulf (of course). Those who inquire further should be prepared for indigestible answers.
David is married to Katie Norman Grubbs, also pursuing her Ph.D. at the U of Georgia, albeit with a focus on English Renaissance drama. They live in Athens, Georgia, and are happy as clams.
When not immersed in things medieval, David has been known to read disposable fiction from the early 20th century, and watch movies featuring ninjas or men in rubber monster suits.
I just discovered your website, accidentally, because I inadvertently typed .org instead of .net in getting to my website….
Anyway, I guess we are colleagues, sort of, since I also have a Christian Humanist website…..
agb
David,
Greetings. I’m a friend of Michial’s who now considers myself a dedicated listener to the show. I’ve been playing catchup for the last few months, and I’m just now finishing the podcast on the Death of Conservatism, so I look forward to being current with you guys, and hopefully you keep it going, because I’m really enjoying it.
A friend of mine just had a birthday, and rather than going default and buying him a book that I would like, I thought I’d put the question to someone who is much more familiar with the topic my friend has taken more than a passing interest in as of late: Fairy Tales.
Though he is an undergrad, I’ve been extremely impressed with his writing skill. He’s a big film enthusiast and has already written numerous shorts and even a feature length adaptation of a Thurber novelette.
He is now in the process of writing a book that plays with fairy tale genre conventions, I guess in a sort of Neil Gaiman kind of way. Anyway, I put the question to you: what publications would you recommend that would help familiarize him with some of the nuances of the genre.
Interesting question! And the answer depends largely on what you mean by “fairy tales”. What we often think of as typical “fairy tales” are derived (largely) from the folklore collection of the Brothers Grimm; anyone determined to play with the conventions of the fairy tale in that sense had better get a fairly complete edition of the Grimms, preferably with good notes. This one looks good, though I’ve not used it: http://www.amazon.com/Grimms-Fairy-Tales-Barnes-Classics/dp/1593080565/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268950379&sr=8-10 .
Funnily enough, the Grimms’ tales have few fairies in them. If fairies proper are what you want, then try to get hold of Brigg’s _Encyclopedia of Fairies_: http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Fairies-Hobgoblins-Supernatural-Creatures/dp/039473467X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268949565&sr=8-2 . It’s a treasure trove of fairy lore, including not only specific creatures but also the tropes and tale-types of British fairy stories, which are the meat of fairy story conventions. I’m a fan of going back to sources, and this book is a good way to do it! Beware of “fairy encyclopedias” in general, however: most are written by hack writers with conventional imaginations and access to Wikipedia. Briggs was a legit scholar, so I recommend her without reservation.
As a bonus, here’s a novel that’s one of the best handling of fairy story I’ve ever read: _Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_: http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange-Mr-Norrell-Novel/dp/B000ENWIJO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268951139&sr=1-2 . It’s simply brilliant, creepily numinous, and any other phrases you can think of to mean “feels like a close encounter with something utterly strange and more than a little threatening.” And, also in the same vein but much older, Dunsany’s _King of Elfland’s Daughter_: http://www.amazon.com/King-Elflands-Daughter-Del-Impact/dp/034543191X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268951806&sr=8-1
Finally, here’s some links to public domain e-texts he may find helpful. Hooray for the interwebs!
Celtic Folklore: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/index.htm
Worldwide Legends and Sagas: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/index.htm
Hope these help, and my your friend have good luck with the writing!
DNG
David,
Are you by any chance the same David that was a grad assistant for Jonathon Evans Medieval Lit undergrad class about 3-4 years ago? Any chance you took Elissa Henken’s Celtic Lit class around the same time? If so, then we have met in real life and I’m marveling at how God works. I stumbled across this site due to your reflections on the passing of the Internet Monk and found the name of the site intriguing.
All of that qualified preamble to say: Hey man, how have you been? I’m loving the site and really enjoying the podcasts. I think you guys are doing some great work here.
-Sean Reid
It is the same Grubbs. I’ll send him to this page–just so you know, we don’t get notifications when people post on the “podcast” side of the webpage, so we stumble across these things haphazardly if at all. The blog side (or email, of course) is a much easier way to get in touch with us.
Sean!
It’s me, man! But before we start a conversation in this thread, how ’bout I just friend you on FB?