On the Lines of Morris' Romances: Two Books that Inspired J. R. R. Tolkien-The Wood Beyond the World and The Well at the World's End [Paperback]

William Morris (Author), Michael W. Perry (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 2003

J. R. R. Tolkien said that his writing was inspired by William Morris. This book includes two of William Morris' most popular tales in one inexpensive, wide-format, two-column edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This book is part of an inexpensive series of books by William Morris and dedicated to the influence he had on J. R. R. Tolkien. This book contains all the text of two Morris classics, The Wood Beyond the World and The Well at the World's End. Both will also be available in single volume hardback and paperback editions.

Readers who like this book will also like More to William Morris, which contains the entire text of two other Morris classics, The House of the Wolfings and The Roots of the Mountains. Both books are available separately in hardback and paperback editions.

About the Author

Do a web search for "William Morris" and you'll find dozens of matches for this talented nineteenth English artist, poet and writer. Combining the ancient tales of northern Europe he loved so much with folk tales and writing them as a modern novel, William Morris pioneered modern fantasy literature and influenced books such as J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Inkling Books (December 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587420244
• ISBN-13: 978-1587420245
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #947,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Story for Fantasy Fans, January 6, 2008

By 

J. Holland (Winston-Salem, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On the Lines of Morris' Romances: Two Books that Inspired J. R. R. Tolkien-The Wood Beyond the World and The Well at the World's End (Paperback)

I was lucky enough to stumble across this book before the holidays, and promptly ordered it along with several other books that were influences to Tolkien. This book is the one I started with. It contains two stories, both of which are wonderfully written. They are written using an older form of English, but once you get used to the dialect you will become fully immersed in the story.

I gave this review 5-stars only because of how great the stories are. The formatting of this book is horrible. It is the size of a textbook with 2 columns per page. I think it would have been better using a standard paperback format, but this seems to be the only available edition out, so look past this and enjoy the amazing stories!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good bargain, November 12, 2005

By 

Tevis Fen-Kortiay (Bloom county) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Lines of Morris' Romances: Two Books that Inspired J. R. R. Tolkien-The Wood Beyond the World and The Well at the World's End (Paperback)

The Well Beyond The World's End is usually published in 2 volumes, so this edition includes the text of 3 books that would normally cost you about $42 if purchased separately.

The text is printed in two columns, as in a magazine. It's very readable and aesthetically pleasing (don't judge by the unfortunate cover). The only downside is that Morris originally published his books in an elaborate illuminated manuscript style (like [...]). Unfortunately no modern printing of Morris seems to include his gorgeous original format. On the plus side, this edition is definitely more readable.

As for the stories themselves, I think it's fair to say Tolkien (and to a degree C.S. Lewis) retained every innovation Morris made, more or less replacing him. It's likely that only hardcore Tolkien/Lewis fans will find these books worth reading. Compare Tolkien's Gandalf and his horse Shadowfax to 'The Well at the World's End' character Gandolf and the horse Silverfax.

The text is widely available free online (though it's not fun to read on a screen), so you might test a few pages before committing to a purchase: [...]