The Mythopoeic Code of Tolkien

The Mythopoeic Code of Tolkien PDF Author: Jyrki Korpua
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147664361X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
J. R. R. Tolkien is arguably the most influential fantasy writer of all time--his world building and epic mythology have changed Western audiences' imaginations and the entire fantasy genre. This book is the first wide-ranging Christian Platonic reading on Tolkien's fiction. This analysis, written for scholars and general Tolkien enthusiasts alike, discusses how his fiction is constructed on levels of language, myth and textuality that have a background in the Greek philosopher Plato's texts and early Christian philosophy influenced by Plato. It discusses the concepts of ideal and real, creation and existence, and fall and struggle as central elements of Tolkien's fiction, focusing on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and The History of Middle-earth. Reading Tolkien's fiction as a depiction of ideal and real, from the vision of creation to the process of realization, illuminates a part of Tolkien's aesthetics and mythology that previous studies have overlooked.

The Mythopoeic Code of Tolkien

The Mythopoeic Code of Tolkien PDF Author: Jyrki Korpua
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147664361X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 203

Get Book

Book Description
J. R. R. Tolkien is arguably the most influential fantasy writer of all time--his world building and epic mythology have changed Western audiences' imaginations and the entire fantasy genre. This book is the first wide-ranging Christian Platonic reading on Tolkien's fiction. This analysis, written for scholars and general Tolkien enthusiasts alike, discusses how his fiction is constructed on levels of language, myth and textuality that have a background in the Greek philosopher Plato's texts and early Christian philosophy influenced by Plato. It discusses the concepts of ideal and real, creation and existence, and fall and struggle as central elements of Tolkien's fiction, focusing on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and The History of Middle-earth. Reading Tolkien's fiction as a depiction of ideal and real, from the vision of creation to the process of realization, illuminates a part of Tolkien's aesthetics and mythology that previous studies have overlooked.

Defending Middle-Earth

Defending Middle-Earth PDF Author: Patrick Curry
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0544106563
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
A scholar explores the ideas within The Lord of the Rings and the world created by J. R. R. Tolkien: “A most valuable and timely book” (Ursula K. Le Guin, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of Changing Planes). What are millions of readers all over the world getting out of reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Defending Middle-earth argues, in part, that the appeal for fans goes far deeper than just quests and magic rings and hobbits. In fact, through this epic, Tolkien found a way to provide something close to spirit in a secular age. This thoughtful book focuses on three main aspects of Tolkien’s fiction: the social and political structure of Middle-earth and how the varying cultures within it find common cause in the face of a shared threat; the nature and ecology of Middle-earth and how what we think of as the natural world joins the battle against mindless, mechanized destruction; and the spirituality and ethics of Middle-earth—for which the author provides a particularly insightful and resonant examination. Includes a new afterword

Tolkien, Race and Cultural History

Tolkien, Race and Cultural History PDF Author: Dimitra Fimi
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Fimi explores the evolution of Tolkien's mythology throughout his lifetime by examining how it changed as a result of his life story and contemporary cultural and intellectual history. This new approach and scope brings to light neglected aspects of Tolkien's imaginative vision and contextualizes his fiction.

Tolkien in the Land of Heroes

Tolkien in the Land of Heroes PDF Author: Anne C. Petty
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Petty explores why J.R.R. Tolkien's works continue to resonate with new generations of readers as she reveals the underlying themes of his timeless classics. Illustrations.

Tolkien and the Great War

Tolkien and the Great War PDF Author: John Garth
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0544263723
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
How the First World War influenced the author of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy: “Very much the best book about J.R.R. Tolkien that has yet been written.” —A. N. Wilson As Europe plunged into World War I, J. R. R. Tolkien was a student at Oxford and part of a cohort of literary-minded friends who had wide-ranging conversations in their Tea Club and Barrovian Society. After finishing his degree, Tolkien experienced the horrors of the Great War as a signal officer in the Battle of the Somme, where two of those school friends died. All the while, he was hard at work on an original mythology that would become the basis of his literary masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In this biographical study, drawn in part from Tolkien’s personal wartime papers, John Garth traces the development of the author’s work during this critical period. He shows how the deaths of two comrades compelled Tolkien to pursue the dream they had shared, and argues that the young man used his imagination not to escape from reality—but to transform the cataclysm of his generation. While Tolkien’s contemporaries surrendered to disillusionment, he kept enchantment alive, reshaping an entire literary tradition into a form that resonates to this day. “Garth’s fine study should have a major audience among serious students of Tolkien.” —Publishers Weekly “A highly intelligent book . . . Garth displays impressive skills both as researcher and writer.” —Max Hastings, author of The Secret War “Somewhere, I think, Tolkien is nodding in appreciation.” —San Jose Mercury News “A labour of love in which journalist Garth combines a newsman’s nose for a good story with a scholar’s scrupulous attention to detail . . . Brilliantly argued.” —Daily Mail (UK) “Gripping from start to finish and offers important new insights.” —Library Journal “Insight into how a writer turned academia into art, how deeply friendship supports and wounds us, and how the death and disillusionment that characterized World War I inspired Tolkien’s lush saga.” —Detroit Free Press

J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth

J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth PDF Author: Bradley J. Birzer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1684515351
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
With a new introduction by the author Peter Jackson's film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy - and the accompanying Rings-related paraphernalia and publicity - has played a unique role in the disemmination of Tolkien's imaginative creation to the masses. Yet, for most readers and viewers, the underlying meaning of Middle-earth has remained obscure. Bradley Birzer has remedied that with this fresh study. In J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth, Birzer reveals the surprisingly specific religious symbolism that permeates Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He also explores the social and political views that motivated the Oxford don, ultimately situating Tolkien within the Christian humanist tradition represented by Thomas More and T.S. Eliot, Dante and C.S. Lewis. Birzer argues that through the genre of myth Tolkien created a world that is essentially truer than the one we think we see around us everyday, a world that transcends the colorless disenchantment of our postmodern age.

J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien PDF Author: Thomas Trotter
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 9780345284297
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Myth & Middle-Earth

Myth & Middle-Earth PDF Author: Leslie Ellen Jones
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fantasy fiction, English
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This title takes a popular - not academic - look at the mythic world and mythic themes that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien, not only the Germanic and Norse mythology that most experts discuss, but also Celtic and Finnish myths. It talks of the journeys and quests that inspired Tolkien.

The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion PDF Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007322569
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
The forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion tells the earlier history of Middle-earth, recounting the events of the First and Second Ages, and introducing some of the key characters, such as Galadriel, Elrond, Elendil and the Dark Lord, Sauron.

Tolkien's Art

Tolkien's Art PDF Author: Jane Chance
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813170869
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
" J.R.R. Tolkien's zeal for medieval literary, religious, and cultural ideas deeply influenced his entire life and provided the seeds for his own fiction. In Tolkien's Art, Chance discusses not only such classics as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, but focuses on his minor works as well, outlining in detail the sources and influences–from pagan epic to Christian legend-that formed the foundation of Tolkien's masterpieces, his "mythology for England."