A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien

Stuart D. Lee is a senior member of the Faculty of English at the University of Oxford. He is a teacher and researcher in the areas of Fantasy Literature, War Poetry, Old English, and Digital Humanities. He has published extensively and most recently edited the 4-volume Critical Assessments of Major Writers: J. R. R. Tolkien and co-edited The Keys of Middle-earth. Dr Lee has led many major Digital Humanities research projects, including The First World War Poetry Digital Archive.

Acknowledgments ix

Notes on Contributors xi

Editorial Practices and Abbreviations xviii

Bibliography xix

Abbreviations xx

Brief Chronology of the Life and Works of J.R.R. Tolkien xxii

Introduction to the Second Edition xxxiv

Part I: Life 1

1 A Brief Biography 3
John Garth

Part II: The Academic 19

2 Academic Writings 21
Thomas Honegger

3 Tolkien as Editor 34
Tom Shippey

4 Manuscripts: Use and Using 48
Stuart D. Lee

Part III: The Legendarium 65

5 Myth-making, Sub-creation, and World-building 67
Carl Phelpstead

6 Middle-earth Mythology: An Overview 79
Leslie A. Donovan

7 The Silmarillion: Tolkien’s Theory of Myth, Text, and Culture 93
Gergely Nagy

8 The Hobbit: A Turning Point 104
John D. Rateliff

9 The Lord of the Rings 116
John R. Holmes

10 Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle-earth: A Lifetime of Imagination 127
Elizabeth A. Whittingham

11 “The Lost Road” and “The Notion Club Papers”: Myth, History, and Time-travel 140
Verlyn Flieger

12 Poetry 152
Corey Olsen

13 “Minor” Works 166
Maria Artamonova

14 Invented Languages and Writing Systems 177
Arden R. Smith

Part IV: Context 189

15 Fantasy: An Introduction 191
Edward James

16 Classical Literature 203
Hamish Williams

17 “On Fairy-stories” and Folktale Research 214
Juliette Wood

18 Old English 224
Mark Atherton

19 Middle English 235
Elizabeth Solopova

20 Old Norse 247
Tom Birkett

21 Finnish: The Land and Language of Heroes 260
Leena Kahlas-Tarkka

22 Celtic: “Celtic Things” and “Things Celtic” – Identity, Language, and Mythology 271
J. S. Lyman-Thomas

23 The English Literary Tradition: Shakespeare to the Gothic 283
Nick Groom

24 Earlier Fantasy Fiction: Morris, Dunsany, and Lindsay 297
Rachel Falconer

25 The Inklings and Others: Tolkien and His Contemporaries 309
David Bratman

26 Later Fantasy Fiction: Tolkien’s Legacy 324
Dimitra Fimi

27 Periodizing Tolkien: The Romantic Modern 337
Anna Vaninskaya

Part V: Critical Approaches 353

28 The Critical Response to Tolkien’s Fiction 355
Patrick Curry

29 Style and Intertextual Echoes 374
Allan Turner

30 The Hero’s Journey 386
Anna Caughey

31 Evil 399
Christopher Garbowski

32 Nature 410
Liam Campbell

33 Religion: An Implicit Catholicism 424
Pat Pinsent

34 War 437
Janet Brennan Croft

35 Women 448
Adam Roberts

36 Difference and Otherness 460
Christopher Vaccaro

37 Art 472
Christopher Tuthill

38 Music 485
Bradford Lee Eden

39 Film Adaptations: Theatrical and Television Versions 497
Kristin Thompson

40 Games: Playable Arda 511
Péter Kristóf Makai

41 Fandom 525
Cait Coker General Bibliography 535

Index 544