Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

Report From The West: Explotation Of The Hobbit, Bonniejean Christensen

Tolkien Journal

Reports on commercial tie-ins to Tolkien such as sales of posters and buttons, and in particular on one musical adaptation of The Hobbit. Updates the Ace publication controversy as well.

Power In The Lord Of The Rings, Alexis Levitin

Tolkien Journal

Analyzes Power and its tendency to corruption in The Lord of the Rings, with a discussion of the weaknesses of Evil, and the function of the Ring as a temptation to Power and Pride.

Introduction, Richard C. West

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

Conferences And Conventions: Past And Future / Inklings, Richard C. West

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

An Annotated Bibliography Of Tolkien Criticism - Supplement Two, Richard C. West

Tolkien Journal

The first part of this series appears in Orcrist #1.

Tolkien And Coleridge, Clyde S. Kilby

Tolkien Journal

Finds similarities in both authors’ love of philology, ability to tell a spell-binding story, and the long torment of the Mariner and Frodo, as well as an essentially Catholic orientation and a regard for the numinous nature of life. (The author does not posit any influence on Tolkien by Coleridge but simply notes similarities.)

Hobbits: Common Lens For Heroic Experience, David M. Miller

Tolkien Journal

Theorizes that works of fantasy need some sort of bridge linking them to the primary world in order to have literary depth. After discussing bridging devices in several other fantasies, notably Eddison’s The Worm Ouroboros, the author locates Tolkien’s bridging device in the initial utter ordinariness and realistic character growth of the hobbits, with whom the reader is led to identify from the start and therefore throughout their later encounters with the high and heroic of Middle -earth.

The Genre Of The Lord Of The Rings, Alexis Levitin

Tolkien Journal

Attempts to define the genre of The Lord of the Rings, an “alien but very effective piece of work” that defies easy categorization. Settles on “a quest-story presented in an epic and fairy-tale medium.”

Contemporary Medieval Authors, Richard C. West

Tolkien Journal

Discusses works of the “contemporary medieval” genre, a sub-genre of twentieth-century romance, including T.H. White’s Arthurian cycle, and more briefly, Lewis’s Narnia books and Space Trilogy and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

At The Back Of The North Wind: George Macdonald: A Centennial Appreciation, Glenn E. Sadler

Tolkien Journal

A brief overview of MacDonald’s life and writing, with a particular focus on At the Back of the North Wind.

Keynote Address: On Hobbit Lore & Tolkien Criticism, Fred Lerner

Tolkien Journal

Keynote Speech, First Annual Tolkien Conference, Belknap College, October 1968. Discusses the contemporary state of Tolkien criticism and scholarship, classifying it into certain categories: bibliographic studies, literary criticism, Middle-earth studies (comparing this type of work to the Sherlockian tradition), and source studies.

Editorial, Ed Meskys

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

Reviews, Veronica M.S. Kennedy, Bonniejean Mcguire Christensen, Sandra Miesel, Richard V. Knight

Tolkien Journal

The Tolkien Relation: A Personal Inquiry. William Ready. Reviewed by Veronica M. S. Kennedy.

The Tolkien Relation: A Personal Inquiry. William Ready. Reviewed by Bonniejean McGuire Christensen.

Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings". Lin Carter. Reviewed by Sandra Miesel.

Of Middle-earth and the Story of the Hobbit . Lin Carter. Reviewed by Richard V. Knight.

Old Irish Influences Upon The Languages & Literature Of The Lord Of The Rings, Cory Seidman Panshin

Tolkien Journal

First looks at historical changes in Old Irish as possible sources for similar changes in the development of Sindarin from Quenya. Then considers the subject matter and rhyme scheme of “Eärendil,” Bilbo’s poem composed in Rivendell, and “Errantry,” its comic companion from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, as similar in structure and subject matter to Old Irish “voyages” poems.

The Good Guys & The Bad Guys, Gracia Fay Ellwood

Tolkien Journal

Considers the popularity of The Lord of the Rings, with its unfashionably clear division of good and evil, as in part due to its appeal to the deep human need for stories embodying archetypes. Applies Jungian analysis and the theories of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade to the story.

Mysticism In The Ring, Sister Pauline C.S.M

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

The Shire Post, Vera Chapman, Martha Muench, Chris Jones, Ian Collins, Roger Black, Nan Scott, Anthony Cermak, Kirk L. Thompson, Dave Greene, Annette Harper, Judy Mosinger, Anne Little Etkin, Tom Eaton, John Stephen Maddux, David Damrosch, Robert Karp, Dainis Bisenieks, Chris Jones, John Forrest, Owen Clayton, Susan Shwartz, Max Grober, Beth Myers, Mike Harper, Karl-Gustaf Lofvander, Jonathan Glixon, Drusilla Mckinney, Dave Boersema

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

Tolkien Critcism, George Thomson

Tolkien Journal

Discusses the then-nascent field of Tolkien studies, noting trends such as consideration of Tolkien as an “Oxford Christian” and source studies in medieval literature and culture.

The Hobbit Habit In The Critic's Eye, Dainis Bisenieks

Tolkien Journal

Discusses ways in which criticism can or should deal with fantasy, and examines several critics’ takes on The Lord of the Rings for usefulness to the reader.

Reprinted in revised edition due to numerous typesetting errors in its original appearance. Please use this revised version instead:

Bisenieks, Dainis. “The Hobbit Habit in the Critic’s Eye” [Revised]. Tolkien Journal, vol. 5, no. 1, #15, 1972, pp. 14–15. https://dc.swosu.edu/tolkien_journal/vol5/iss1/3

The Singular Incompetence Of The Valar, Burt Randolph

Tolkien Journal

Pre-Silmarillion speculation on the roles and powers of the Valar in Middle-earth, and why they seem to be depicted as fallible and not entirely omnipotent.

Editorial, Ed Meskys

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

The Shire Post, John C. Wooten, Robert Reed, David Friedman, D. Musselman, Karen Rockow

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

The Rise Of The Lord Of The Rings: A Synopsis Of The Ancient Annals, Christine Jones

Tolkien Journal

Attempt to synthesize the material in the Appendixes to The Lord of the Rings and other sources available at that time into a single chronological synopsis of events. Useful as an indication of pre-Silmarillion understanding of Middle-earth history.

Letter, Bob Foster

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

Editorial, Dick Plotz

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

Samwise—Halfwise? Or Who Is The Hero Of The Lord Of The Rings?, Jan Wojcik S.J.

Tolkien Journal

Considers Sam the true hero of The Lord of the Rings; shows him to be the “focal point of two main motifs [...]: friendship and gifts,” and suggests using the description of eucatastrophe from “On Fairy-stories” to judge Sam’s development as a hero.

The Elder Ages And The Later Glaciations Of The Pleistocene Epoch, Margaret M. Howes

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.

Good And Evil In The Lord Of The Rings, W. H. Auden

Tolkien Journal

Explores the interplay of good and evil in the story through the actions and motivations of species “capable of speech and therefore of moral reasoning,” and praises Tolkien for creating characters with a realistic moral balance. Makes the important observation that good characters can imagine being evil while evil characters cannot imagine being good. (Note that this piece is pre-Silmarillion and Auden’s assessment of the Elves is based only on LotR.) Reprinted in Critical Quarterly 10 (1968):138–42.

A Birthday Menu For Professor Tolkien, Nancy Smith

Tolkien Journal

As we all know, hobbits love celebrations, and occasions, and opportunities for feasting; and, beyond all else, they love birthdays. In the case of this particular author and gentleman, I am sure they would consider a seventy-fifth every bit as exciting as an eleventy- first.

Letters, Barry Tunick, Bob Foster, Nan C. Scott, P. L. Travers, Howard Nemerov

Tolkien Journal

No abstract provided.