A Dish of Orts

Reflections on the Christian Imagination 

A Dish of Orts is a collection of essays by George MacDonald (1824-1905) about Shakespeare, the romantic poets, and the function of the imagination from a Christian perspective. MacDonald, the grandfather of modern fantasy fiction, was revered by G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien in the last century. He was the single greatest influence on C.S. Lewis (author of The Chronicles of Narnia), who wrote “I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed, I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.” During his life, MacDonald’s lectures on Shakespeare were highly popular on both sides of the Atlantic, and years after his death, his essay “The Fantastic Imagination” is likely to have influenced J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous work, “On Fairy-Stories.”