*Note: If you are interested in taking the summer abroad course “Oxford— Portal to Fantasy,” this post contains spoilers.
This last summer was, without hesitation or hyperbole, the best time of my life. For one month, I got to experience the luxury that was lodging at the University of Oxford in England. The decision to embark on this trip was an impulsive one, mostly rooted in the following facts: (a) London was my personal Mecca, and (b) I love fantasy literature. To backtrack just a little, the trip was through the UC Davis Study Abroad program and entailed a course which looked to study fantasy literature that was either conceived in, or inspired by, Oxford. Just by looking around, it was easy to see how the place became the breeding ground for so many works of fantasy.
Here are just some of the reasons why Oxford is such a magical locale.
1. Castles!
Imagine cobblestone walkways backdropped by a gray sky and lined with centuries-old architecture. And stonewalled castles—but not technically. While there is only one true castle in Oxford, many of the buildings (including those on the university’s various campuses) look like castles with their beautiful copper tones and ornate spires. Some of the city’s buildings (particularly pubs) look cottage-like, evoking the image of a quaint storybook town.
Cornmarket Street
2. The Harry Potter Connection
The Harry Potter movies were filmed on locations across several college campuses within the University of Oxford:
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In New College, one of the cloisters served as a first-floor hallway in Hogwarts. Right outside the hallway, if you recall Goblet of Fire, you can see the tree under which Professor Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret!
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J.K. Rowling reportedly modeled the Great Hall after the dining hall in Christ Church College. For the movies, many scenes were filmed by the staircase that leads into the dining hall.
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I’m sure you remember the hilarious Goblet of Fire scene in which Professor McGonagall calls on Ron to be her dance partner in a demonstration in front of his classmates. It was filmed in Oxford’s Divinity School.
3. A Portal to Narnia
C.S. Lewis, author of the The Chronicles of Narnia series, attended Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. Apparently, he would happen across this door everyday:
The ‘Narnia Door’ on Catte Street
Interestingly, the lion head on the door served as the inspiration for Aslan, and the gold-painted fawns on both sides of its frame similarly gave rise to the creation of Mr. Tumnus. And a few feet away from that door? The famous Narnia lamppost:
4. The Birthplace of Middle-earth
Linguist and author of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy J.R.R. Tolkien was also an Oxford alum and attended Exeter College. He was close friends with C.S. Lewis and like him, he used Oxford landmarks as sources of inspiration for his fantasy stories. Tolkien once described Radcliffe Camera as sinister. Apparently, this image resonated with him so much that it spawned his vision of Sauron’s temple to Morgoth on Númenor.
Radcliffe Camera
Tolkien’s first vision of Middle-earth vaguely came to him whilst grading some papers. Bored, he began daydreaming and wrote down what would be known as the first sentence of The Hobbit: “In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.”
5. The Real Wonderland
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, authored Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and was a student at Christ Church College. He met the Liddell family as soon as they moved to Oxford. In his interactions with them, he gradually found himself fascinated with their fourth youngest child, Alice Liddell, who became the muse for his most famous work. The story goes: Alice asked him to tell her a story while he was on a boat ride with her and her family, and afterwards, she delightedly told him to write his stories down. The rest, as they say, is history.
Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell
The city of Oxford commemorates the novel’s publication by annually designating an Alice’s Day— a celebration involving Wonderland-inspired activities across town and people (mostly children) dressing up as their favorite characters from the book.
For more information regarding this course, please visit the UC Davis Study Abroad webpage and/or office.
None of the images or gifs used belong to the author or Her Campus UC Davis.