The works of J. R. R. Tolkien

Through the popularity of his Lord of the Rings, many consider J. R. R. Tolkien "the author of the [20th] century" or his book "the book of the century." He's been studied extensively, especially by scholars such as Tom Shippey and "The Tolkien Professor," Corey Olsen. He is often credited for singlehandedly creating the most vibrant and believable Secondary World ever, Middle-earth—a place many of us pine after with a false sense of nostalgia.

Others, however, relegate works like Tolkien's to the "literary ghetto" along with other works of science fiction and fantasy (or, if you will, "speculative fiction," collectively).

Written at a time of great literary upheaval, The Hobbit and, later, The Lord of the Rings, act as a kind of counterweight to the modernist and postmodernist movements. To some, Tolkien's work may even be considered an antidote, or a font of healing.

Today, the debate about the literary legitimacy of speculative fiction rages on, and Tolkien remains as popular as ever.

There is a reason for this. Although he didn't create a literary genre on his own, he is definitely the main reason for its success and growth through its inevitable commercial feasibility. Interestingly enough, what we enjoy about these types of works from an aesthetic sense can still be drawn back to Tolkien (though many other great works, both in fiction and nonfiction, have been produced since).

Tolkien wasn't just a novelist. He was more than a world-builder too. He had a very well-developed sense of what he was doing with his writing from a theoretical and artistic standpoint. His literature, and the wider literature of fantasy, is more than simply frivolous escapism.

This thread is to allow us to discuss not only works such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings but also Tolkien's view of the kind of literature he was creating and why.

If you've read either of these novels, you are fully equipped to participate in this thread. However, I highly recommend reading more of Tolkien's work to gain a greater sense of what he produced. This will help you understand his work much more fully, but it will also help you understand the power of fantastical fiction and the practice of myth-making, or, as Tolkien would call it, mythopoeia.

I recommend, at the very least, reading also the following:

• Tree and Leaf (especially for the essay "On Fairy-Stories" and the demonstrative tale "Leaf by Niggle")
• The Silmarillion (I admit I haven't read it in its entirety, though it is foundational in terms of understanding Tolkien's mythos and world-building—I'm going to revisit it myself)
• The Tolkien Professor podcast (This is brilliant. The lectures are entertaining and go into great detail regarding Tolkien's major works.)
• The Road to Middle-earth: How J. R. R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology [advanced study] (self-explanatory: It's an overview of Tolkien's creative powers, looking at his sources and his creation of languages).

These aren't required reading (especially the last one, which might be a bit heavy), but they will certainly give us more to talk about other than "Aragorn is awesome at Helm's Deep," etc. (Mind you, we're going to want to talk about that stuff too.)

Feel free to jump in on any topic you wish: orcs, Gollum, the Evenstar, Erebor, Ilúvatar, Frodo, what/whoever!

I don't want to foist the first subject on the thread. I want to know if there is anything anyone wants to dive into specifically.

[This thread is dedicated to @Levite : Your love of Tolkien reinforces my own, brother.]

 

One of the topics I often get into with students in regard to Tolkien is the role of friendship in The Lord of the Rings. In my discussion with them, I usually try to pull in the influence that World War I had on Tolkien's works. Living through war gives a person a unique perspective on bonds, after all. What do you all think? I should note that my students find it difficult to conceptualize such a close, intimate friendship with another man or men as those portrayed in The Lord of the Rings.

 

This is a subject of some interest among many, and some of it is controversial. Tolkien admitted that he dislikes allegory, but that hasn't prevented readers from applying the concept to his books. Some regard the One Ring as an allegory for the H-bomb. This is kinda silly, considering it was WWI in which Tolkien fought and most of the book was completed before 1945. Although Tolkien rejects the idea that his work is allegorical, that doesn't mean his life experience wasn't an influence on his writing.

Of note, is, indeed, Tolkien's personal experiences during the first Great War. He faced trench warfare first-hand and witnessed the destruction of many of this closest friends. That must take a toll on a man. If you consider the relationship of Frodo and Sam throughout their ordeal whilst maintaining a sensitivity of the author's own experiences, it's difficult to deny that his life experience is an influence. However, it's also important to acknowledge Tolkien's literary influences. When you include Medieval and Classical works as a part of the analysis, it will reinforce Tolkien's ideas of unbreakable friendships, the bonds of duty (to both man and god), etc. These ideas are largely foreign to us who live in the age of cynicism, nihilism, and rampant individualism. I wouldn't be surprised if it's even more foreign to the younger generation of today, who are so accustomed to a fragmentary and detached concept of communication and bonding (via the Internet) that they might know little or nothing of traditional forms of friendships.

It would be an interesting analysis to take through both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. There are various examples of bonding that occur in different ways. Consider the bonds between elves and dwarves to their own kind. Consider the at first reluctant bond between Gimli and Legolas. Consider the bond between lands such as Gondor and Rohan. Consider the bonds between great beings such as Gandalf and Saruman. Consider the bond between a great being such as Gandalf and unassuming beings such as the Hobbits. The list goes on.

What tests the strength of these bonds, of course, is the travesty of war.
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His love of nature (trees, especially) is taken up in "Leaf by Niggle" and in a lecture on the subject by the Tolkien Professor. The Scouring of the Shire is a curious episode in The Lord of the Rings, and I think much of what draws people to fantastical literature in general is the desire to return to a pristine natural world (and even more so a world rife with supernatural/regenerative power).

 

Yes, in addition to the manga my avatar comes from, Naruto. In Naruto, the power of friendship is one of the central themes.

I also use all of them to illustrate analysis of the hero using different frameworks. It's fun stuff.

 

In rereading Lord of the Rings, there are a couple things I do.

I only reread the parts before Rivendell every other year. Similarly, I skim a lot of the Frodo/Sam action. They're not my favorite part of the book. I last reread it completely a couple years ago. I also reread The Hobbit and The Silmarillion in their entirety then. To anyone in this thread that hasn't read The Silmarillion, please do. It's a very unique, wonderful book, and it provides a great deal of depth for the world Tolkien created.

 

Personally, I'm not all that interested in comparing the films to the books. I don't see the films as Tolkien's Hobbit but on film or as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings but on film. I view the films as their own creative entities. I have a mixed response to the films. While I appreciate their scope and their technical wizardry, I think they pale (rather sadly) in comparison to the books when considering their mythological or "magical/fantastical" value. I also think Tolkien would have been rather appalled at the result.

Have a look at this page: Middle-earth in film - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tolkien was certainly open to the idea of film adaptations of his work, but he was reluctant because of his dissatisfaction with the plans. His criticisms against "incantations, blue lights, and some irrelevant magic" and "a preference for fights" I think would have been made rather acute in response to much of what Peter Jackson produced.

On the other hand, he would have apparently preferred a lack of Tom Bombadil than a diminished Tom Bombadil.

Anyway, I have limited interest in these sorts of comparisons. My view is that my energy could be better spent in analyzing Tolkien's work on the level of the literary, rather than the level of film adaptations. If I'm going to compare something, I'd be far more interested in comparing Tolkien's work to the work of other authors.

 

Plus, I feel like we've already had the film conversation elsewhere.

 

No, no. Feel free to discuss the films if that's what you want to do. I'm simply pointing out that I may not carry on with it myself for very long.

[Also: Judges would have accepted "My badness." ]

 

One of my least favorite phrases in the world. It never made it into my personal lexicon for a reason.

So, back on track. Have most people around here read The Silmarillion?

 

I got through maybe half of an audiobook version. I felt it wasn't sinking in, so I keep meaning to go to the book (which I have both in paperback and ebook). The Tolkien Professor has a series of lectures on The Silmarillion that you can follow along with as you read it (much like a university seminar, which is what most of the podcast is like).

I really should get on that.

Check it out: The Tolkien Professor | Silmarillion Seminar