J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy) (Hardcover)

~ George Clark (Editor), Daniel Timmons (Editor) "There is something about Tolkien's art which eludes the conventional strategies of contemporary criticism, even when these are deployed with sympathy and patience..." (more)
Key Phrases: women fantasists, heroic oath, boundary mismatches, New York, Old English, Old Forest (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Recommended for public academic libraries....All levels." -- Choice

Review

“Recommended for public academic libraries....All levels.”–Choice

“What all these essays have in common is their demonstration of the rich applicability of Tolkien's work....all the contributions are well-put and worthwhile, a bouquet of demonstrations of the depth, subtlety, and resonance of Tolkien's fiction.”–Mythprint

“This [is a] handsome volume.”–Seven: An Anglo-American Literary Review

“...this collection is a thoughtful and rich resource...for scholars interested in the literary history with which Tolkien drew and to which he contributed, these essays provide an intriguing range of insights that should enrich the Tolkien collections of larger academic libraries.”–SFRA Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (September 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313308454
• ISBN-13: 978-0313308451
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,992,272 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best collection of Tolkien articles yet published, October 18, 2001

By A Customer

For a long time, Tolkien scholarship has had an uneven character. This isn't the time or place to explain why or give examples, but the appearance of this book, along with the recently published _Tolkien's Legendarium_, suggests that things may be changing and for the better. This collection of a dozen essays, all written by top-notch Tolkien scholars, possesses the highest degree of intellectual rigor and operates within a genuinely scholarly framework of interpretation. (You won't find any fan fluff here!)

The essays may be loosely divided into three main sections. The first comprises essays on the poetics and sources of Tolkien's fiction. The standouts here are Sullivan's "Tolkien the Bard", which suggests and that Tolkien's style may be best understood as an application of oral poetry and orally told story to written medium, and "The Dragon-Lore of Middle-Earth", which takes a close look at what Tolkien took from medieval (and specifically Norse) dragon stories and how he specifically adapted the material to his own purpose. The articles on Tolkien's verse and on his use of _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_is also quite insightful.

The second section tends to be 'comparative' and places Tolkien and his work in juxtaposition with other authors. The most intriguing article here is one that compares Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories" with the Sir Philip Sydney's "In Defence of Poetry". What is so exciting about this is not so much the comparison of Tolkien's 'story theory' with that of Sydney, but the analysis of how, for Tolkien, creative writing-- and indeed the very act of subcreation itself-- is gendered masculine. Other articles touch on Tolkie and Lewis, _The Hobbit_ and _King Solomons Mines_, and Tolkien and Milton.

The third and final section is a more eclectic hodgepodge of articles on different subjects, ranging from Tolkien's legacy (and in particular, the ways in which female fantasy-writers have adopted, adapted, and responded to the overwhelming and masculine "shadow of the Ring"), to the elegeic quality of Tolkien's fiction and its concernw ith loss, to the nature of evil, to Tolkien's literary treatment of trees. Of all of these, the last, written by Verlyn Flieger is the most illuminating and advances the most excitin argument. Flieger carefully notes that the representation of trees and forests in _Lord of the Rings_ is *not* so universally favorable and sympathetic. By juxtaposing the Old Forest (and Old Man Willow) with Fangorn Forest (and the Ents), Flieger shows that this issue is more complex, ambiguous, and filled with internal tensions than has generally been assumed. It is, perhaps, the most important essay in this collection-- and may represent Flieger's finest work yet as a Tolkien scholar.

This is an academic book, published by a smaller press, so it's got a hefty pricetag on it-- but it's an outstanding collection of new Tolkien scholarship and I unqualifiedly recommend it to any serious Tolkien scholars. Those with an aversion to scholarly inquiry (a la _Tolkien's Legendarium_) and who prefer more fannish modes of discourse(e. g._Visualizing Middle-Earth_), however, might want to give this a pass.