“Orts” refers to scraps of food, hardly suitable for a full meal. While MacDonald offered the poems of Sidney as A Cabinet of Gems, he described his own essays as A Dish of Orts, stating that they were “but fragmentary presentments of larger meditation.” But he hastened to explain that fragmentary did not mean worthless: “It could hardly, however, be imagined that I associate the idea of worthlessness with the work contained in it. No one would insult his readers by offering them what he counted valueless scraps, and telling them they were such.” Readers of A Dish of Orts then and now regard these fragments as essays of the highest value on literature and the imagination. So even now, in his honor, the George MacDonald Society offers valuable fragments under the name of “orts.”
Orts was an occasional newsletter of the George MacDonald Society. It is now issued as the Orts blog on this website. Each post offers a “valuable fragment” with various tags designating news and events, publication announcements, reviews, research notices, and short essays. To submit such valuable fragments, contact the Orts editor…