Literature in English, British Isles Commons^™

Tolkien’S Glee: A Reading Of The Songs In The Hobbit And The Lord Of The Rings By John R. Holmes, Glenn R. Gray

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This is a review of "Tolkien's Glee: A Reading of the Songs in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings" by John R. Holmes.

The Gospel Of Gollum By Ivano Sassanelli, Gabriela Clarke

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This review evaluates Ivano Sassanelli’s exploration of what Gollum represents and whether he is a personification of the biblical claim that where one’s heart is, there also will their treasure be. As current scholarship focuses on secondary The Lord of the Rings characters, from Galadriel to Tom Bombadil, this book provides fascinating insights regarding perhaps the most anomalous figure in the canon.

Sassanelli brings together a unique body of international scholarship, especially works from his native Italy, and discusses several niche topics relating to Gollum, such as the character’s grandmother, film portrayal, and Italian-dubbed voice. Comparative reading between early editions …

J.R.R. Tolkien And G.B. Smith: With Wind In Our Ears, Edited By Guiseppe Pezzini, Mercury Natis

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Oxford At War: “Leaf By Niggle” As A Wartime Work, Part 1, Josh B. Long

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

J. R. R. Tolkien suggested that "Leaf by Niggle" was written around 1938-1939; however, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull argue that it was actually composed in 1942. This corrected date changes how one reads the story: often viewed as an autobiographical allegory of art and faith, “Leaf by Niggle” falls into place as a wartime work, informed and transformed by the World War II pressures of Tolkien’s Oxford—the city and the University. This article situates the story within WWII and analyzes how that context influenced the imagery, characterization, symbols, and motifs of "Leaf."

Dreaming Of Bag End: The Hobbit And Medieval Dream-Poetry, Samuel A. Masters

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Medieval dream-poetry has had a profound impact upon the structure, character development and escapism effect in Tolkien's The Hobbit. As a professor of medieval literature, Tolkien was highly knowledgeable on such dream-poems and the late-antique dream theory of Macrobius. Imitating the structure behind the dream-poems of Chaucer, Dante and Langland, Tolkien presents Bilbo's adventure as comparable to a dream (although is careful not to present it as an actual dream). Within his journey, Bilbo also has several symbolic actual dreams. Through both the dream-like structure and the episodic actual dreams, Tolkien both foregrounds Bilbo's character change as his Tookish …

Russell Hoban: Faithful To The Strange By Graeme Wend-Walker, Nicholas Birns

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This is a review of David Wend-Walker's critical book on the fiction of Russell Hoban.

From Maldon To Mordor: Hobbits And The Lord-Retainer Relationship In The Lord Of The Rings, Samuel A. Masters

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Content warning: this paper discusses suicide and suicidal thoughts.

Tolkien’s interest in Old Germanic heroism had a profound impact upon the hobbits of The Lord of the Rings, and the Christianised form of heroism that they represent. In his essays, ‘Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1936) and ‘The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son’ (1953), Tolkien praises the loving, paternalistic relationship between a lord and his retainers in Old English poetry; this aspect of medieval heroism is retained in Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin However, Tolkien also highlights several shortcomings of the Old Germanic ‘Northern Courage’. In …

The Romantic Imagination Of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer And J.R.R. Tolkien, Mariana Rios Maldonado, Andoni Cossio

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Studies on the presence of Romantic elements in J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary production have steadily risen to prominence, especially since the publication of Julian Eilmann’s landmark monograph J.R.R. Tolkien: Romanticist and Poet (2017) and, more recently, the edited collection The Romantic Spirit in the Works of J.R.R Tolkien (2024). Our paper seeks to contribute to this scholarly upsurge by presenting a comparative analysis of Tolkien’s works and those penned by one of the most noteworthy authors of Spanish Romanticism, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870). Akin to the Kunstmärchenof German Romanticism and Tolkien’s Fairy-stories, Bécquer’s Leyendas—e. g. “El monte de las …

“Mysterium Tremendum Et Fascinans”: Melian’S And Lúthien’S Numinosity, Alexandra (Oleksandra) Filonenko

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

At the heart of all the positive changes in Middle-earth, and at the starting point for undoing the great evil wrought by male characters (divine or otherwise), are two female characters: Melian the Maia and her daughter Lúthien. They form a kind of mythological complex of mother and daughter goddesses, similar to that of Demeter and Persephone. Melian, as a static, maternal figure, forms a sacred centre of Beleriand to which all in need of protection gravitate, while Lúthien, representing a dynamic principle, can be considered the greatest hero of Tolkien’s Legendarium, performing feats unmatched by any male character. Yet …

Owen Barfield’S Poetry, Drama, And Fiction: Rider On Pegasus By Jeffrey Hipolito, Landon B. Loftin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Fathoming The Mathom-House: Museums And Material Heritage In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Stuart Bowes

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

As a renowned author and philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien has long been associated with the processes of literary transmission performed by libraries and archives. His engagement with the comparable cultural institution of the museum is less evident. By charting the gradual integration of the Michel Delving Mathom-house into Middle-Earth, this paper considers Tolkien’s fictional interpretation of a contemporary museum and how it served to enrich his legendarium. It first traces the textual history of this collecting institution from its marginal addition in the drafts of The Hobbit to its considered treatment in The Lord of the Rings. A pivotal development …

The Influence Of The Pearl-Maiden On The Imagination Of J. R.R. Tolkien, Jane Beal

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

I’D Rather (S)He Was Dead: Resurrection & Gender Transition In Superhero Comics, Jonathan Sexton, Eitan Runyan

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

From Hildeburh To Héra: Recuperating Women’S Presence In Beowulf, J.R.R. Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings, And Kenji Kamiyama’S The War Of The Rohirrim, Christopher Vaccaro

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

The Tragedy Of Arwen Evenstar In “The Tale Of Aragorn And Arwen” And In Her Legacy On Film, Nicole Duplessis

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

The Lay(Er)S Of The Corrigan, Lelie Brémont

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

“Mysterium Tremendum Et Fascinans”: Melian’S And Lúthien’S Numinosity, Alexandra Filonenko

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Mythopoeic Awards Ceremony, The Mythopoeic Society

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Our Flag Means Gender: Gender “Fuckery” In Our Flag Means Death, Megan Abrahamson, Dusty Brooks, Cassidy Percoco

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Bolg’S Mother: Orc Women In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Robert T. Tally Jr.

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Grendel's Mother Talks Back: Contemporary Women's Mythopoeic Revisions, Anna Smol

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Revisiting Ambiguous Aredhel, Megan Abrahamson

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Sex, The Body, And Learning Gender: Demons In The World Of The Five Gods, Erin Mcbrien

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Desirable Lady’ Or ‘She Who Desires’: Examining Aredhel’S Agency In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Lyra Keran Zhang

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Belief After The Death Of King Arthur: Lev Grossman’S Postsecular Portrayal Of Nimue In The Bright Sword, Liz Busby

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

She Chose Her Fate: The Genderqueer Women Of Tolkien And Freedom Beyond The Patriarchal Binary, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Grace Moone, Leah Hagan

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

“The Gift Which Was Withheld I Take”: The Rape Of The Sun Maiden In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Kristine Larsen

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

From Once To Future Queen: Revitalizing Guinevere In Recent Arthuriana, Michael A. Torregrossa

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Painting “The Most Beautiful Of All The Children Of Ilúvatar”: Aesthetic Beauty In The Silmarillion And Its Illustrations, Marie Bretagnolle

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.

Witches, Prophets, And Outcasts: Liminal Women In Mythopoeic Fantasy, Supriya Baijal

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

No abstract provided.