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# Tolkien, Sub-Creation, and the Case for Video Games (Mythic Mind, ep. 80)
- URL: https://mythicmindfellowship.com/tolkien-sub-creation-and-the-case-for-video-games-mythic-mind-ep-80/
- Published: 2025-03-24T13:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:59:38.000Z
- Author: Andrew Snyder

Mythic MindEpisode 80

# Tolkien, Sub-Creation, and the Case for Video Games (Mythic Mind, ep. 80)

Dr. Andrew Snyder

24 March 2025

[Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3dsEIdSAcc&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com)

## In this episode

Are video games only a waste of time, or can they share in what Tolkien called sub-creation? Dr. Andrew Snyder (professor of philosophy and theology) reads his essay “Video Games as Sub-Creation” and rethinks an old prejudice through On Fairy-Stories.

This Mythic Mind episode asks what happens when play builds secondary worlds with the materials of the primary one: enchantment, truth in fiction, and why “made up” is a poor synonym for false. Elder Scrolls games (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim) show up as a lived example of open-world mythmaking.

Topics include Tolkien’s sub-creation, games as more than diversion, and the line between idle escape and formative enchantment.

### People

**Dr. Andrew Snyder**Host and speaker

### Key themes

- Tolkien’s sub-creation
- Games as more than diversion
- Idle escape versus formative enchantment

## Related

- [**The Art of Video Games: Craft Worth Taking Seriously (Mythic Mind, ep. 78)**Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znENVLKB3e8&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com)
- [**On Fairy-Stories: Sub-Creation, Escape, and Consolation (Mythic Mind, ep. 36)**Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0hIBT-Ncss&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com)
- [**Knights of the Old Republic: Choice, Jolee, and the Light (Mythic Mind, ep. 93)**Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfutgcIdL5M&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com)
- [**War of the Rohirrim: The Lord of the Rings Anime (Mythic Mind, ep. 67)**Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yns-tDu%5FS-4&ref=mythicmindfellowship.com)

## Books mentioned

- [**Tales from the Perilous Realm**J.R.R. Tolkien](https://bookshop.org/a/129785/9780358652960?ref=mythicmindfellowship.com)

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