The current volume, being the second of two dedicated to 'Tolkien and Modernity', grew out of the wish to further the exploration of Tolkien as a 'contemporary writer', i.e. an author whose literary creations can be seen as a response to the challenges of the modern world. It comprises papers that focus on four broad themes: love, time, heroism, and style. Although one could argue that these topics have been present since the beginning of literature, though sometimes temporarily submerged, it is with the cataclysm of World War I and the entry of Einstein's Theory of Relativity into the public consciousness - two events that shook the very foundations of pre-modern society - that they gained a new and immediate relevance.

Tolkien and Modernity 2

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Walking Tree Publishers

J.R.R.Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", it has long been recognized, was shaped and undergirded by his Christian beliefs. But he was not the only writer of fantasy to have a close relationship between his faith and his fiction. This book is a study of such relationships in four writers: Tolkien himself, his friends C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams, and, from an earlier generation, George MacDonald. It seeks to look at their use of other worlds and other beings; at their attitudes towards 'escapism'; at the presence of symbolism and myth in their writings; at the themes and ideas they had in common; and at the extent to which their fiction has a value for Christian apologetics.

Four Christian Fantasists. A Study of the Fantastic Writings of George MacDonald, Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien

Sturch, Rector of Islip Diocese of Oxford Richard

Professor Tom Shippey is best known for his books 'The Road to Middle-earth' and 'J.R.R. Tolkien. Author of the Century'. Yet they are not the only contributions of his to Tolkien studies. Over the years, he has written and lectured widely on Tolkien-related topics. Unfortunately, many of his essays, though still topical, are no longer available. The current volume unites for the first time a selection of his older essays together with some new, as yet unpublished articles.

Roots and Branches: Selected Papers on Tolkien

Tom Shippey

Inside Language

Ross Smith

This volume presents papers by Tom Shippey, Verlyn Flieger, Colin Duriez, Patrick Curry, John Garth, Martin Simonson, Dieter Bachmann, Devin Brown, Miryam Librán-Moreno, Eugenio Olivares-Merino, Margarita Carretero-González, Fernando J. Soto & Marta García de la Puerta, Eduardo Segura and Thomas Honegger. The essays focus on the use of Myth, Magic, and Art in the works of the Inklings and explore the interconnectedness of these concepts in the thinking of the members of this group.

Myth and Magic: Art according to the Inklings (Cormare)

The six articles in this collection commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the long-awaited publication in 1977 of Christopher Tolkien's edition of The Silmarillion, the first opportunity for most readers to learn more about the detailed mythology and history which underlie, explicitly or implicitly, the narrative of The Lord of the Rings. In view of the long and complex publication history of the texts relating to the legendarium, even thirty years is perhaps too short a time to form a critical consensus about the work. Nevertheless, the articles presented here hope to give a picture of some of the the areas of investigation that have established themselves in that period: mythopoeia, theology, the legacy of the ancient North, and the ways in which a text is created. The contribution by Rhona Beare is a completely re-written version of a section from her now out of print introduction to The Silmarillion; the others have all been written specially for the occasion.

The Silmarillion - Thirty Years On (Cormare Series)

Tolkien's Middle-earth and its legendarium have drawn extensive scholarly attention. But there is more to Tolkien than the history and legends of Middle-earth, and there has hitherto been a certain lack of academic criticism focused primarily on his shorter fictional works Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wootton Major, Roverandom and his poetry. Although scholarly evaluations of these works exist, they often deal with the shorter texts more as an afterthought, as footnotes to the 'major' texts rather than as demanding attention in their own right. This dearth of studies suggests that it is time for a closer look at Tolkien's 'Shorter Works'. The current volume collects the findings of a joint conference of Walking Tree Publishers who co-organised this event in order to celebrate their tenth anniversary, and the German Tolkien Society at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany in 2007. Various interesting aspects, details and connections are unearthed which are likely to broaden not simply the understanding of Tolkien's Shorter Works, but also of the author's overall fictional work as well as the man and author J.R.R. Tolkien himself.

Tolkien's Shorter Works

In the year after his graduation from Exeter College, Oxford, the great mythopoeic work for which he would become famous was already germinating in Tolkien's mind. In August 2006 the College offered a week of seminars and papers by leading international specialists on Tolkien's Exeter years, the influence of the Great War, the healing power of his narrative, and its relevance to religious and linguistic studies, comparative mythology, and history. Priscilla Tolkien, C.S. Lewis's secretary and friend Walter Hooper, Tolkien's friend the Jesuit priest Robert Murray SJ, and grandson Simon Tolkien attended as special guests, representing the family and those who knew Tolkien personally. The conference was intended to encourage the growth of Tolkien Studies through international and interdisciplinary collaboration. The papers from this conference have been selected, edited, and supplemented by other essays on complementary themes especially for this volume, in order to reveal the dynamic growth of Tolkien Studies around the world. This book explores the spiritual, poetic, personal, and academic sources of inspiration for what is widely regarded as the greatest book of the twentieth century.

Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Sources of Inspiration (Cormare Series)

Tolkien's View: Windows into his World contains a number of selected essays by Professor J.S. Ryan, for their most part originally published over three decades from the 1960s to the 1990s, on the theme of J.R.R. Tolkien and his works. Having himself studied under Professor Tolkien at the time of the publication of his masterwork The Lord of the Rings, Professor J.S. Ryan is uniquely well-placed to comment on some aspects of Tolkien's academic environment in Oxford, the subject matters J.R.R. Tolkien studied and brooded upon in his regular professional work and the people he personally knew, cherished and was influenced by as a student and then as a professor of Old and Middle English, a writer and a person.

Tolkien's View: Windows into his World

Biographies & Memoirs

Ryan, J. S.

Arts & Literature

From the Grand Theme that the Ainur played before Ilûvatar at the beginning of the world, to the various songs and melodies performed by the characters of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the world that J.R.R. Tolkien created contains numerous references to song and music. Indeed, these songs form an integral part of the narrative. It is therefore surprising that little mention of this aspect of Tolkien's sub-creation has so far been made in secondary literature. The papers collected in this volume set out to address this important gap. The scope of music related to Middle-earth has more recently been further extended by various attempts to either set Tolkien's song texts to music, or to create derivative musical works. Such creations range from the songs and music of the films and radio adaptions to such phenomena as Tolkien-inspired Black Metal. Music in Middle-earth presents 14 papers, each addressing a different aspect of this topic.

Music in Middle-earth

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