What can tiny people learn from fairy tales, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Gulliver’s Travels? In Terry Pratchett’s Nome Trilogy, quite a lot. New Miniature Fantasies essay: dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/terry-prat... @uofgfantasy.bsky.social

Did #Tolkien originally imagine the One Ring being swallowed by a fish? This week’s “slow” LotR Re-read explores an international folklore motif, early Lord of the Rings drafts, and a very strange fish. dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-slow-l... @tolkiensociety.org @uofgfantasy.bsky.social

Joined “A kind of elvish craft” recently and not sure where to begin? I’ve made a Tolkien route through the open archive: Bilbo, Gandalf, hobbit talk, Sam Gamgee, the Ring, and the opening chapters of The Lord of the Rings. Archive open until 7 September. dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/a-route-th...

There were so many swallows at Doune Castle, flying all around the walls and in and out of the Great Hall. I managed to get this slow mo video - you’ll miss their lovely twittering (slow mo messes up sound) but you can see their elegant flying! #birding #BirdsSeenIn2026

We visited Doune Castle today, a 14th-century stronghold close to Stirling and a location for: - Ivanhoe - Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Game of Thrones (Winterfell) - Outlander (Castle Leoch) Beautifully looked after by Historic Scotland and worth every penny of the very affordable tickets! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏰

Are the Borrowers:🪲 insects? 🧚 fairies? 🐭 mice? Or something else entirely? My latest Miniature Fantasies essay explores how Mary Norton invites us to classify the Borrowers... and why every category fails. 🔗 dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-borrow...

What kind of object is the Ring? In the latest instalment of my “slow” Lord of the Rings re-read, I explore gold, inscriptions, posy rings, and the material power of Tolkien's most dangerous artefact. dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-slow-l... @uofgfantasy.bsky.social @tolkiensociety.org

Impromptu trip to Aberfoyle today to pay our respects to Scotland’s first folklorist, the Reverend Robert Kirk, author of The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies. Then we climbed up Doon Hill to find the Fairy Tree (some believe it’s an entrance to Faërie, where Kirk is still) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Always worth photographing the University of Glasgow‘s magnificent gothic tower and spire - especially as I’ve just got out of a meeting right here and the sun is shining!

Wonderful post on a childhood favorite of mine 👇🏻

Prof. Dimitra Fimi@dimitrafimi.bsky.social · 4w ago

What exactly is Thumbelina? A female Tom Thumb? A flower-fairy? Or something else altogether? In my latest essay I explore various critical readings before focusing on what her tiny size and intriguing ending can tell us about the history of miniature fantasy dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/thumbelina...

What exactly is Thumbelina? A female Tom Thumb? A flower-fairy? Or something else altogether? In my latest essay I explore various critical readings before focusing on what her tiny size and intriguing ending can tell us about the history of miniature fantasy dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/thumbelina...

Gremlins existed long before the 1984 film. WWII RAF pilots blamed them for mechanical failures, accidents, and crashed aircraft. Here's a free preview of my new subscriber lecture on Roald Dahl's The Gremlins and the folklore of tiny saboteurs. open.substack.com/pub/dimitraf...

Today it’s Alice’s Day, commemorating the “golden” afternoon on 4 July 1862 when Lewis Carrol (Charles Dodgson) first told the story of Alice’s fantastical adventures to Lorina, Alice, and Edith Liddell. Art by: John Tenniel, Salvador Dalí, Tove Jansson, and Helen Oxenbury. @uofgfantasy.bsky.social

Gandalf knows the Ring is dangerous and still refuses to take it from Bilbo by force. Instead, he chooses to wait. That kind of restraint is difficult - and it turns out to be crucial. 👉 open.substack.com/pub/dimitraf...

Always lovely to wear my robes for graduation, and especially today, seeing two of my own PhD students receiving their doctorate degrees! One thesis on Tolkien, by Dr Tom Emanuel (@realtomemanuel.bsky.social), the other on Tamora Pierce, by Dr Grace Worm!

Why does Gandalf behave less like a wizard in his confrontation with Bilbo—and more like a parent? That’s the starting point for my latest piece on The Lord of the Rings. The opening is free to read if you’d like to take a look: 👉 open.substack.com/pub/dimitraf...

The Slow LotR Re-read (9): Gandalf the Parent—Power, Persuasion, and Letting Go

My “slow” re-read of The Lord of the Rings has now reached Chapter 2 of Book I of The Fellowship of the Ring, “The Shadow of the Past”.

open.substack.com

I’ve been quietly writing not 1, but 2 books - and reshaping my Substack to make it possible. One will be on miniature fantasies, the other is the reason for my “slow” re-read of The #LordoftheRings. The full archive is open to all as I begin a new weekly series: open.substack.com/pub/dimitraf...

A Summer Confession: Two Books, and the Vaults Are Open

Why I’ve been keeping a major Tolkien secret – and how you can access my entire archive for free until September 7th.

open.substack.com

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published 29 years ago today! Here are some of the various editions and covers over the years. Particularly thinking about the 3rd one right now as I’m writing something… ✨🪄🚂⚡️

When I caveat research points about Tolkien (e.g. there’s no evidence that he knew/meant that - that we *know* of) is because there’s still primary material out there we haven’t seen yet. This is a case in point: newly discovered letter by Tolkien to be sold by Christie’s 1/2

Today I’ve been working on my conference paper for next week, on gremlins! Here’s my title slide! (P.S. if you’re coming to our conference, do find me and say hello! Details here: www.gla.ac.uk/schools/crit...) @uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social

Happy birthday to Chris Van Allsburg who is turning 77 today! Among his many picturebooks I’m thinking today of the Caldecott-Medal-winning Jumanji (1981) and the way it works as a tricksy intrusion fantasy. Beware of board games found abandoned in parks… 🦏 🦁 🐵 🐍

“Excuse me, but I'm very hungry. Do you think I could have tea with you?” 🐯 🐅 ☕️ 🫖 The Tiger Who Came to Tea, by Judith Kerr, born #OTD in 1923 (she would have been 103 years old today!)

My “slow” #LotR re-read continues with a piece on Sam Gamgee: his willingness to consider folklore as a genuine source of the numinous and his desire for Faërie resonate strongly with Tolkien’s own reflections in “On Fairy-stories”. dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-slow-l... @tolkiensociety.org

NEW TOLKIEN JUST OUT: delighted to see “JRR #Tolkien’s Soul’s Ward: A critical edition of his unpublished translation of the early Middle English homily Sawles Warde” edited by Andoni Cossio and Nelson Goering: academic.oup.com/res/advance-... Chuffed to have played a minor role in this 1/3

Great to see this new CFP from the Tolkien Society: www.tolkiensociety.org/events/semin... Deadline for proposals: 31st July 2026 @tolkiensociety.org

Tolkien Society Seminar 2026 – Tolkien’s Invented Languages

The Tolkien Society Seminar is a short conference of both researcher-led and non-academic presentations on a specific theme pertaining to Tolkien scholarship. After the seminar, all paper recordings f...

tolkiensociety.org

Buff-tailed bumble bee on allium blossom 🐝

Briar rose bud about to open, foxgloves blossoming, and yellow daylilies at their prime

It’s my birthday today, so, in true hobbit fashion, here’s my present to my readers: a new piece on “hobbit talk”, dialects, non-standard English, and “rustic” vs. “gentlehobbits”! dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-slow-l... Cover art by the amazing @miriamellis.bsky.social

As I continue my “slow” re-read of The Lord of the Rings I’m pausing to contemplate how Tolkien sets up the anxious times before the War of the Ring erupts, including movement of peoples driven by fear. dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-slow-l...

As I continue my “slow” re-read of The Lord of the Rings, I’m contemplating Tolkien's retconning of a crucial scene in The Hobbit, and the ways its implications show up in the first LotR chapter and shape Bilbo’s character. dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-slow-l... @uofgfantasy.bsky.social