J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth

Sir George Clark, Sir

Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000 - Literary Criticism - 213 pages

Although Tolkien's literary works have, over the past few decades, attracted a considerable and varied body of criticism, much of this material is inaccessible, unreflective, and repetitive. Most criticism has concentrated on his sources and biographical influences, but such studies generally do not look beyond his interest in medieval literature. Nonetheless, Tolkien's writings have links and resonances with the whole of English literature from Old Norse traditions to contemporary literary thought. This book corrects a striking imbalance in Tolkien scholarship by placing his works within a larger literary context.

The volume ranges over the entire history of English literature, including oral narrative tradition, Anglo-Saxon poetry, medieval romance, Renaissance poetics, 19th-century adventure stories, modern art, and contemporary fantasy. Each chapter is written by an expert contributor who demonstrates Tolkien's relation to an earlier literary movement and examines the literary resonances of his works from a variety of informed perspectives. By grounding Tolkien's writings within the larger canon of literature, the book argues that his works actually fall within the mainstream literary tradition.

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Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Tolkien the Bard His Tale Grew in the Telling: 11
• The DragonLore of Middleearth Tolkien and Old English and Old Norse Tradition: 21
• JRR Tolkien and the True Hero: 39
• Tolkiens Versecraft in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: 53
• The Monsters Are Talismans and Transgressions Tolkien and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: 71
• The Sins of Middleearth Tolkiens Use of Medieval Allegory: 83
• Is Tolkien a Renaissance Man? Sir Philip Sidneys Defense of Poesy and JRR Tolkiens On FairyStories: 95
• Weaving Nets of Gloom Darkness Profound in Tolkien and Milton: 109
• Gagool and Gollum Exemplars of Degeneration in King Solomons Mines and The Hobbit: 121
• Joy Beyond the Walls of the World The Secondary WorldMaking of JRR Tolkien and C S Lewis: 133
• Taking the Part of Trees EcoConflict in Middleearth: 147
• Women Fantasists In the Shadow of the Ring: 159
• Loss Eternal in JRR Tolkiens Middleearth: 173
• Orcs Wraiths Wights Tolkiens Images of Evil: 183
• Selected Bibliography: 199
• Index: 207
• About the Contributors: 211

About the author

GEORGE CLARK is Professor Emeritus and Adjunct in English at Queen's University at Kingston. He has published a book on Beowulf and numerous scholarly articles.

DANIEL TIMMONS is Communication Instructor at Ryerson Polytechnic University. He has published articles and reviews on Tolkien, William Golding, and the theory of the fantastic.

Bibliographic information

• Title: J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth; ABC-Clio ebook; Volume 89 of Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture; Volume 89 of Contributions to the Study of; Issue 89 of Contributions to the study of science fiction and fantasy, ISSN 0193-6875
• Author: Sir George Clark, Sir
• Editors: George Clark, Daniel Timmons
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000
• ISBN: 0313308454, 9780313308451
• Length: 213 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Literary Criticism / Science Fiction & Fantasy