• The Cupid and Psyche Myth Retellings: C. S. Lewis’ ‘Till We Have Faces’ and J. K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike Novels

    ByJohn
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    At the Hogwarts Professor Substack page, Nick Jeffery and I both wrote pieces this month about C. S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces and Rowling-Galbraith’s Strike-Ellacott mysteries. We then filmed our conversation about why the Serious Striker or Generic Thoughtful Rowling Reader would benefit from time with CSL in the Kingdom of Glume, Queen Orual presiding.

    I began my post about the two Cupid and Psyche adaptations with several reasons reading Till We Have Faces is a very good investment of any Rowling fan’s time:

    First, anything by C. S. Lewis rewards a close reading by any thoughtful person and lover of challenging modern writing (and, though Lewis is often dismissed as some kind of Christian dinosaur, he is a thoroughly modern writer). Faces was his last fiction piece, he and Tolkien thought it was his best, and it is a catharsis inducing masterpiece, frankly, that makes a more than generous return on any time invested in it.

    Second, despite Rowling’s several digs at Lewis near the end of Potter Mania’s peak around the publication of Deathly Hallows, it would be hard to exaggerate the hat-tips and references to CSL’s Narniad in the Hogwarts Saga. Rowling’s efforts to diminish if not dismiss that influence have to be read in tandem with her earlier effusion of admiration for Lewis and his work. Her Christmas Pig, I think, can be read as her attempt — her wonderfully successful attempt, by the way, at least with respect to accessibility and humor — to out-do Lewis’ The Great Divorce. Reading Lewis is a good idea for the Serious Striker, then, because its a decent bet based on the postmodern writer’s track record that the bibliographical inspiration or Lake aspect of her work might be found in his writing.

    Third, forget the Lake, Rowling’s Shed is filled with tools that Lewis used.

    • Literary alchemy? Read his Space Trilogy.
    • Ring composition? Every Chronicles of Narnia novel and Space Trilogy piece is chiastic.
    • Psychomachia or Soul-Allegory? Pilgrim’s Regress, Great Divorce, Till We Have Faces.
    • Genre Blend with Heavy Doses of Literary Allusion? Again, the Narniad and Space Trilogy.
    • Christian symbolism? If Lewis is known for anything, loved by his fans and despised by his detractors, it is because of his “smuggling the Gospel” into his stories, not-so-subtly and supremely subtly (see Planet Narnia for exposition of the latter).

    And to the point today, use of Classical myth as a story launching pad and template. Serious Strikers know that the Strike-Ellacott series is up to its eyeballs in mythic backdrops; think of Leda and the Swan, Castor and Pollux, Tisiphone and Artemis, and, the only one confirmed by the author via tweet, Cupid and Psyche. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces is a re-telling of this exact myth.

    It’s not a direct match by any means. Lewis’ adaptation is fairly straight-forward (well, relative to Rowling-Galbraith’s). He re-tells the Cupid and Psyche myth from the perspective of one of Psyche’s supposedly jealous sisters. It’s still set in a mythic time and in a pagan or pre-Christian Greece (or thereabouts). Rowling uses the myth, in contrast, as a near invisible back-drop or atmosphere that informs her story, a subtle deployment that wasn’t noticed by readers until its reveal in Troubled Blood and Ink Black Heart (a revelation that wasn’t accepted by fandom until Rowling’s tweet post Hallmarked Man).

    Nick Jeffery wondered if it was possible that Rowling-Galbraith used Till We Have Faces as something of a template’s template for her adaptation of Cupid and Psyche in her Strike novels. Read his C. S. Lewis’ ‘Till We Have Faces’ and Rowling-Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike Series (Part One) for his answer to the question, ‘Is Till We Have Faces the The Thematic Template for the ‘Strike-Ellacott’ Series?’

    In my follow-up to Nick’s post, C. S. Lewis’ ‘Till We Have Faces’ and Rowling-Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike Series (Part Two), I shared the seven points of intersection I found in CSL’s 1956 adaptation and JKR’s eight Strellacott books: the underlying myth, Artemis and Aphrodite, the Pursuit of the Real, the Hidden Nature of Divinity, the Story Structure, the Meaning of ‘Faces,’ and the Eros-Anteros Distinction (what Lewis called ‘The False Cupid’ in his essays on Spenser).

    In our subsequent discussion-podcast, A Spirited Conversation about Rowling-Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike Series and C. S. Lewis’ ‘Till We Have Faces,’ we reviewed our findings and played pickle-ball with the subject of what Faces might suggest about the contents of Strike 9, tentatively titled Sleep Tight, Evangeline.

    Nick and I will be talking about fan theories and Rowling’s Golden Threads this week and I will be writing about the literary alchemy of the Lions in Hallmarked Man as well as more notes about the plethora of names in Strike 8. I also hope to share the introduction to and TOC for my book in progress, Harry Potter for Grown-Ups: Volume 1 Philosopher’s Stone, and a chapter of the only book to my knowledge written exclusively about the Perennialist Theory of Literature, the school of thought best suited to grasping the traditional tools used by both Lewis and Rowling in their stories.

    See you there!

  • Guest Post: The Church Across the Street from the Strike & Ellacott Agency’s Denmark Street Office

    ByJohn
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    Ed Shardlow visited the church across the street from the Agency office on Denmark Street and sent me some fascinating fotos he took there. I asked him to write up his visit and he obliged me with these notes. Enjoy!

    I was in the vicinity of Denmark St a few weeks ago and thought I’d drop in on the Church of St Giles.

    John Granger has raised the possibility that the Church of St Giles in the Fields, located at the end of Denmark St, in plain sight of the Strike & Ellacott Agency office, will feature significantly at some point at the climax of the Strike series (see his 2017 post, a 2021 follow-up, and this year’s conversation about the Christian content of Rowling’s Evangeline charm bracelet) . As yet, the presence of this place of worship in close proximity to the Denmark St office has been hidden in the story with no mentions in the text.

    The church is like so many in central London – an oasis of stillness open to public visitation in the midst of the busy city. It is steeped in history, while still providing a religious function for believers and a fascinating space for enquiring heathens. When I made my visit, there were a couple of fellow travelers having a look around, and a couple of organists airing the pipes of the instrument housed within.

    I wasn’t sure what I was looking for as I explored the church. I read the memorials and tombstones, but didn’t spot any Strikes or Evangelines that may have provided Rowling with inspiration. There were of course numerous Christian images and icons which undoubtedly share some symbolism with the Christian imagery in Rowling’s works. But there didn’t seem to be anything particularly relevant to Strike.

    The most interesting thing to me was the memorial for Andrew Marvell.

    I know Marvell best for his superb Restoration-era booty call, To His Coy Mistress. A marvelous piece of verse, pointing out that life is short, and so we might as well get jiggy while we can. “Had we but world enough and time…”

    I took some photos, which I sent to John after my visit. That very day John posted a discussion with Nick Jeffery about the different modes of alchemy, and mentioned Marvell’s interest in alchemy. Which was a fairly major coincidence and perhaps offers us a pointer as to what part St Giles in the Fields may yet play in the Strike saga.

    Three Quick Notes from John:

    Read More “Guest Post: The Church Across the Street from the Strike & Ellacott Agency’s Denmark Street Office”

  • Sleep Tight, Evangeline – Title Release for Strike 9

    ByNick Jeffery
    10 Comments

    As a wonderful surprise for Friday the 13th, not only has J. K. Rowling met the team from StrikeFans.com, she has shared with both them and now us, the title of Strike 9 – Sleep Tight, Evangeline. A quick google search reveals that this is the title of song and album from Whiskey Shambles, who are described as “pitch dark ultra-blues” and “RL Burnside and Black Sabbath jamming with Nina Simone in a burned-out rum shack…”

    The Whiskey Shambles refuse to accept the constraints of the narrow opinions of how a blues band should sound. Their prime objective is to steal your heart, melt your face, and make you feel alive. With backgrounds steeped in the traditions of the Delta to the hallowed opera stage, they are just as likely to call up the darkness with a murder ballad as they are to take you to church.

     The lyrics for the tune and a Whiskey Shambles performance:


    I live the closest dreams, when I’m lying broken, and done for.

    I live the closest dreams, when I’m dying, choking, and dead for . . .

    Sleep tight, Evangeline. I’ll see you in my dreams

    When I’m lying broken, and done for.

    Sleep tight, Evangeline. I’ll be there in your dream

    when I’m dying, choking, and dead for you.

    The trademark for “Sleep Tight, Evangeline” was registered in 2023 (almost certainly by a J. K. Rowling cut-out) and the album was released in November 2025, which makes this album an unlikely source for the book title, but…

    The band are followed by J. K. Rowling on Twitter, and they have been playing the song Sleep Tight, Evangeline, at least since 2014. It seems possible, and I would argue likely, that permission was sought and gained from Whiskey Shambles to use the title in 2023. The band, realising the huge publicity potential, releases an album with that title in 2025 prior to the book release, their first album in more than ten years.

    Other Likely Inspirations for the Title

    The Longfellow Poem:

    John Granger found that: The name Evangeline was first popularised in the 19th century by the poem “Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie” written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem tells the story of a young woman named Evangeline who is separated from her true love during the forced deportation of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. The poem was incredibly popular in its time and helped to establish the name Evangeline as a classic and romantic choice for baby girls.

    Musical Inspiration:

    Evangeline is most famous in popular music as a song by The Band.

    Emmy Lou Harris recorded the song and titled the album Evangeline.

     

  • The Strike 9 Christmas Charm Bracelet: Nine Links, 13 Charms, All Explained

    ByJohn
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    Elizabeth Baird Hardy, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts Professor, the genius behind AppalachianInkling.com, Hunger Games expert, and author of Milton, Spenser and the Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels, joined Nick and John to discuss the Charm Bracelet that J. K. Rowling posted on her Twixter home page as a Christmas gift to her readers. Mrs Murray said that that the thirteen charms on nine links were a set of clues about the next Strike novel, the ninth in a ten book series.

    In the first Part of Elizabeth, Nick, and John’s conversation, they discussed Rowling’s charm bracelet history, speculated about why she posted this picture when she did, decided to look at each charm on the bracelet for its stand-alone meaning and its place in the nine link set, and to read the whole series as if it were a ring composition, one reflecting a nine Part structure in Strike 9. They then made deep dives into the details of each charm: the heart shaped box containing a ‘You and Me’ engagement ring, a golden diamond-laden egg, a foul anchor, two angels, and a Trojan horse.

    In the second Part of that conversation, the trio of Serious Strikers continue with the remaining charms on the bracelet, namely, a Jack-in-the-box, an Hourglass, a White Rose and Crocodile, a Corvid head, and a Psalter paired on the last link with the Head of Persephone. They share their thoughts, too, about the bracelet as a symbolic integer and its ring meaning.

    Each Substack video post comes with links to or excerpts from sources mentioned in their Deep Dive discussions.

    Their conclusions? The bracelet is an avalanche of Christian content, one more instance of Rowling ring-writing, here in jewelry, with latched objects at beginning, middle and end, and several hints that Robin Ellacott won’t be getting out of this decalogy alive.

    Enjoy! And sign up for the HogwartsProfessor Substack feed while you’re over there! It’s free and the comment thread conversations are the beating heart of Strike-Ellacott fandom.

  • J. K. Rowling Drops All the Strike 9 Clues for Christmas!

    ByNick Jeffery
    9 Comments

    J. K. Rowling has consistently used the headers to her Twitter (X) account to drop clues to the books she has been working on. You can find all of her previous Twitter headers here. As a special  early Christmas present to Strike fans, she has changed her header to a charm bracelet filled with clues for the upcoming ninth in the Strike-Ellacott series. Each of the charms on the bracelet are discussed below:

    Link 1

    A diamond ring in a heart shaped box. Described by Robert Harris Jewellers as “An attractive vintage 9 carat gold ring box charm. This splendid little charm has a gorgeous heart shaped filigree lid, opening to display a pretty two stone ring. A lovely and interesting item dating to 1966.”

    This could be “the silver-coloured band hidden in the depths of Murphy’s wardrobe: a tiny, sparkling shackle.” However this is not a solitaire and the band is gold rather than silver. Could this be a ring from another suitor?

    Link 2

    A diamond encrusted and enamelled gold egg. This egg is from Fabergé, and is by some distance the most expensive item on the bracelet, retailing at $9,770. 

    The egg is a universal symbol of creation, rebirth, fertility, and potential. Its ability to contain and birth new life makes it a powerful symbol of renewal, growth, and the afterlife, found in spring rituals and Christian Easter celebrations. Robin’s ectopic pregnancy in The Hallmarked Man was a surprise to all except John Granger. This may represent her difficult decision to freeze her eggs to maintain fertility.

    A golden anchor. Anchor symbolism primarily represents safety, stability, hope, strength, and steadfastness, stemming from its nautical function of holding a ship secure; it also signifies strong ties, commitment, and love, especially in relationships, and holds deep roots in Christianity as hope in Christ, often appearing in catacombs as a hidden symbol of faith during persecution. Paired with the egg, this could represent Cormoran Strike’s support for Robin.

    Link 3

    Possibly Cupid and Psyche, but these figures aren’t very distinct. Twitter user, hsmum has brilliantly identified the Hattern Garden jeweller where the pink Angel was purchased.

    Link 4

    A Trojan horse. This one looks to be sourced from Ogden a jeweller in Harrogate. They say: “Expertly crafted from high-quality 9ct gold, this charm is designed to open, revealing intricate details inside, adding an element of surprise and intrigue. A symbol of cunning and strategy, the Trojan Horse makes a bold statement while offering a delightful, interactive experience.” 

    This reader is hoping that Strike reflects on the success of his ‘cunning and strategy’ in Hallmarked Man, and tries another tactic.

    Link 5

    A Jack-in-a-box. Badly-Wired-Lamp identified this on Twitter, and Worth Point describe this as “A terrific vintage English, solid 9 carat gold charm; beautifully modelled as a jack in the box type toy, with a catch-release revealing a tiny silver horned devil inside on a spring!”

    A Jack-in-a-box is the archetypal surprise, and it is certain that Strike 9 will contain its share of surprises.

    Link 6

    A hourglass. Time may be running out! A similar one is available at Butter Lane Antiques who say: “The hourglass (aka sand timer), along with it’s obvious practical uses, has long been associated with death – particularly the brevity of individual human existence. Often found on grave stones from the middle ages through to the Victorian era, occasionally with the words Fugit Hora (Latin: ‘Hours are Fleeting’ or ‘Time Flies’). This miniature hourglass pendant dates from the late Victorian era, and, while it does measure out a length of time (approx. 3 seconds), it was likely intended as a symbolic Memento Mori piece more than anything else.”

    Link 7

    The white rose of Yorkshire. Robin Ellacott’s home county. White roses symbolise purity, innocence, new beginnings, and reverence, making them popular for weddings (new union), funerals (remembrance, peace), and as tokens of loyalty, respect, and honour, representing a pure, untainted love or deep admiration. They signify fresh starts, quiet love, spiritual connections, and are a timeless way to express deep emotions from joy to sorrow.

    A crocodile or alligator. A crocodile may symbolise power, survival, resilience, and primal energy, but also cunning, deceit, and danger.

    Link 8

    A golden corvid. A crow or raven. I really wanted this to be a chough to symbolise Cornwall, but the beak looks too thick. As Badly-Wired-Lamp pointed out, Strike has a close encounter with a raven in The Running Grave: “A loud bang made Strike start. A bird had hit the office window. For two seconds, he and the raven blinked at each other and then, in a blur of black feathers, it had gone.”

    Link 9

    A psalter. J. K. Rowling herself has identified this as: “The book is a psalm book and holds real, miniature psalms.” I can find three of these for sale recently. Two were empty and this one has Psalm 23. I can find other designs with the commandments and the lords prayer.

    23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

    3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

    4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

    5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

    6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

    The head of Persephone. Rowling helpfully provided us another view of this charm to help us identify it. This one is sold as a necklace by Common Era. Persephone plays a crucial role in Psyche’s final trial: obtaining a box of her beauty from the underworld to appease Aphrodite. We know already that the myth of Cupid and Psyche will form the framework for the upcoming books, and Psyche in Hades will certainly need psalm 23!