Literature in English, British Isles Commons^™

Josef Madlener’S “Der Berggeist”: Not The “Origin Of Gandalf”, Douglas A. Anderson

Journal of Tolkien Research

Article on why Josef Madlener’s “Der Berggeist” can not be the “Origin of Gandalf”

“Of Their Women We Hear Less”: Pride And Prejudice In The Tale Of ‘Aldarion And Erendis.’, Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

In discussing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Second Age “Tale of the Mariner’s Wife,” past scholars have used descriptors such as ‘resentful’, ‘strong-willed’, ‘unhappy’ – even ‘misandrist’. There can be no doubt that this is a story of a deeply unhappy marriage between two people with irreconcilable differences, to use the modern parlance of the divorce courts, but it would also be true to say that Erendis seems to come out of the narrative with a more sullied reputation than her husband. In fact, Aldarion appears to have everything he could have wanted, such as his freedom to sail and an heir for …

Romanticism In Tolkien’S The Hobbit: Nature And Domestic Life As A Force For Good, James J. Schultz

Journal of Tolkien Research

J.R.R. Tolkien’s works tend to be viewed by both the public and by scholars through the lens of religious moralism, or else in the context of medievalism, such as with Tom Shippey’s arguments in The Road to Middle Earth. While these take much into consideration in their arguments, these and other works tend to ignore the influences of the Romantic literary movement on Tolkien’s work. This movement, lasting from the late 1700s to the early 1800s, held ideals like beauty and nature in the highest regard. This is seen in some of the most famous works of its time, such …

"Things That Were, Things That Are, And Things That Yet May Be": The Matter Of Time In The Faërie Realms Of Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, Noelia Ramos

Journal of Tolkien Research

Tolkien’s feelings and relationship to Celtic themes are more nuanced than a simple binary of aversion versus passion. As he professed to Stanley Unwin—"Needless to say they are not Celtic!" (Letters #19)—his stance encompassed both resistance and fascination. His essay On Fairy-Stories, originally delivered as the Andrew Lang Lecture in 1939, can be seen as an early foundation for concepts later developed in The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955). In this context, the concept of fiction and the secondary world—particularly regarding the nature of time—is notably prominent, drawing parallels to the Celtic Otherworld.

This study aims to analyze …

No One Listens To Melian: When Women Speak And Men Ignore Them In Middle-Earth, Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

Throughout J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium, opportunities exist for male characters to participate in and learn from the wisdom and experience offered by female characters: what is remarkable is how often they fail to do so. The consequences of this failure are often considerable, ranging from a failed marriage (Aldarion and Erendis) to the loss of an entire kingdom (Melian and Thingol). However, on one occasion where a female character, Aredhel, is listened to, she is then severely punished via the narrative. The question must therefore be asked – what is Tolkien telling us about this gendered space of learning?

Beowulf And Théoden: Differing Teaching Methods Of Hrothgar And Gandalf, Ali Mirzabayati

Journal of Tolkien Research

Most studies on the character of Théoden in The Lord of the Rings center on Germanic heroic themes like courage and oath-keeping, often emphasizing his renewal by Gandalf at Meduseld and his death at the Battle of Pelennor Fields. This perspective overlooks Théoden's growth in wisdom and hope between these events. During this period, Théoden learns about the various forces in Middle-earth and contemplates his role in the broader world, leading to a profound sense of humility. Building on Tolkien's inspiration from Beowulf, this paper compares Théoden and Beowulf to explore their learning processes and heroic outcomes. This comparison …

Representing Middle-Earth: Tolkien, Form, And Ideology (2024), By Robert T. Tally, Jr., Andrew Higgins

Journal of Tolkien Research

Nook review, by Andrew Higgins, of Representing Middle-earth: Tolkien, Form, and Ideology (2024), by Robert T. Tally, Jr.

Bilbo's Boethian Heroism, Wendy Marie Hoofnagle

Journal of Tolkien Research

Tolkien’s Boethian heritage has been amply explored, particularly for The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, but little scholarly attention has been paid to his development of Boethian ideals in The Hobbit, especially in regard to Bilbo’s heroic arc and the importance of luck on his journey. I argue that Tolkien develops Bilbo’s heroic identity and his famous “luck” as the actions of Fortune on behalf of Fate and divine Providence, interpreting the influential theology from Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy as a new kind of heroism that fulfills the teachings of Lady Philosophy.

The Map Of Wilderland: Ecocritical Reflections On Tolkien’S Myth Of Wilderness (2022) By Amber Lehning, Andrew Higgins

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Andrew Higgins, of The Map of Wilderland: Ecocritical Reflections on Tolkien’s Myth of Wilderness (2022) by Amber Lehning

Surveillance, Punishment, And Rebellion: The Eye Of Sauron And Foucauldian Panopticism In J. R. R. Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings, Isabel M. Birge

Journal of Tolkien Research

This article uses Michel Foucault's theory of Panopticism, as outlined in his book Discipline and Punish as a framework for understanding the role of surveillance in Middle-earth throughout J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Drawing parallels between Foucault’s understanding of the Panopticon of Jeremy Bentham and Tolkien’s depiction of Sauron’s totalitarian vision, the paper explores the ways in which power operates invisibly through intermediaries, such as the Orcs and the Nazgûl, who internalize Sauron’s all-seeing gaze and perpetuate his dominion as well as through magical/technological means of gazing such as the Palantíri. This essay argues that, …

Túrin Was Dead: To Begin With. Death, Fate, And A Happy Ending In The Book Of Lost Tales, Thomas Hillman Phd

Journal of Tolkien Research

The final weight of the Tale of the Children of Húrin is crushing. Only the prophecy that Túrin will slay Melkor in the Last Battle offers any relief. Yet its first version, “Turambar and the Foalókë,” has an ending one might call happy. For Túrin’s death is not the end of his story, but its turning point. A coda details the afterlife of Túrin and Nienor, which begins in sorrow and ends in joy, but it is Fionwë, not Túrin, who kills Melkor (LT I 219; II 116). By the “Sketch of the Mythology” in 1926 Túrin has replaced Fionwë, …

“Restless And Uneasy…Thin And Stretched”: The Ring, The Ringbearers, And Bodies In Psychological Crisis In Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings., Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

The attachment that Tolkien’s Ring-bearers have for the Ring, a twisted and perverted form of love, is sterile and barren; it leaves those affected unable to settle and form fruitful, loving relationships with others, an effect that Tolkien referred to as a “Ring-restlessness.” Gollum, Bilbo, and Frodo all suffer, to their own degree, from the psychological crisis caused by the Ring that renders them uneasy and agitated. This paper examines this crisis through a psychological lens, exploring how the Ringbearers are living in discord with their true selves, and struggling with the meaninglessness of life that the Ring leaves behind.

Grief, Grieving, And Permission To Mourn In The Quenta Silmarillion, Dawn M. Walls-Thumma

Journal of Tolkien Research

Tolkien asserted on multiple occasions that death was a primary theme of his work, and there are over ninety deaths of named characters in the Quenta Silmarillion alone. In reading the Quenta Silmarillion as historiography, the universality and psychologically powerful experience of death, grief, and mourning allows the narrators of the Quenta Silmarillion to shape how readers perceive characters, events, and themes in the text. Assuming Pengolodh as the primary narrator, this paper investigates how Tolkien used a limited, flawed, and biased narrative point of view as a strategy to shape reader responses and theme. Characters who die in the …

Tolkien And Attachment Theory : A Theory To Bind Them All?, Lelie Bremont

Journal of Tolkien Research

Tolkien and Attachment theory: One Theory to Bind Them All?

Ever since the first publication of The Hobbit in 1937, Tolkien’s works have been dominating the fantasy genre, often imitated but rarely equalled. Dozens of scholars over decades have looked for the reason behind this success, the secret ingredient that made Middle-earth so compelling.

Nicole Guédeney is a French psychiatrist specializing in Attachment Theory. Attachment Theory emerged in the early 20^th century and combines psychology with anthropology and ethnology to explore the early attachments created between a baby and the adults surrounding them and how these attachments determine the …

Perceiving The Perceiver: “Viewing” Sauron Through The Gestalt Theory Of Perception, Cameron Bourquein

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper uses Gestalt theory, the Gestalt laws of perception, and the reception theory of Wolfgang Iser to elucidate the character “Sauron” as he appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power, and Tolkien’s wider legendarium. It argues firstly that Sauron’s high degree of indeterminacy and ambiguity suggests he can be read as a gestalt entity, one the reader creates by mentally constructing a whole from (seemingly) disparate parts. Building on the semiotics work of Nagy (2013), it argues that Sauron in The Lord of the Rings can be read as gestalt across the spatial, …

Fears And Pains And Rages: The Psychology Of Gandalf's Anger, Nicholas Birns

Journal of Tolkien Research

We are used to seeing emotions in Tolkien as coded morally. Lust or possessiveness is evil whereas care and forbearance are good. There are some emotions, though, that cross these moral boundaries and one of these is anger Moreover, anger in Tolkien is very coded in terms of gender, as it is nearly always male rage. After examining the cases of Saruman and Wormtongue (angry because the world will not cooperate with their plans) and Thingol (angry because he realizes he has just postponed his doom rather than staved it off), we will examine the case of Gandalf. Gandalf is …

Just War, Pacifism, And Inevitability Of Conflict: Tolkien’S Changing Attitudes To War, Alexander Retakh

Journal of Tolkien Research

Tolkien’s approach to war is often considered through the lens of “just war” theory. Its main principles are the necessity of a just cause for war, proper conduct in battle, and the use of proper weapons; if possible, war should be avoided. The Lord of the Rings suggests an ethical framework inspired by this theory; however, the earlier Legendarium is more accepting of military conflicts and their harsh reality. Tolkien's attitude to war appears to shift in the mid-late 1930s, the time of intense debates about just war and pacifism among British Catholics. This paper discusses the evolution of his …

The Wheel Of Fire: An Obsessive-Compulsive Reading Of Frodo Baggins, Andreas J.W. Minshew

Journal of Tolkien Research

Although addiction has been the main psychological framework for understanding the Ring’s influence, it does not fully capture Frodo’s inner conflict. This paper argues that an obsessive-compulsive reading accounts for his ego-dystonic relationship with the Ring and his lack of an initial period of using it for pleasure, both of which differentiate his experience from other Ringbearers. This reading, rather than in opposition to addictive or post-traumatic frameworks, can coexist with both to bring added nuance to how readers and scholars understand Frodo’s experience.

J.R.R. Tolkien In Central Europe: Context, Directions, And The Legacy (2023), Edited By Janka Kaščáková And David Levente Palatinus, Andrew Higgins

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Andrew Higgins, of J.R.R. Tolkien in Central Europe: Context, Directions, and the Legacy (2023), edited by Janka Kaščáková and David Levente Palatinus

Wizard, Demon, Cat; Reformer, Satanist, Bureaucrat: A Diachronic Analysis Of Three Modes Of Sauron In The Legendarium In Light Of The Book Of Lost Tales, Cameron Bourquein

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper argues that Sauron is a metatextual shape-shifter. Through diachronic analysis it identifies and charts three distinct “modes” of Sauron coexisting in Tolkien’s legendarium. While Sauron’s most robust First Age appearance (in the tale of Beren and Lúthien) remained relatively unchanged from his introduction in the 1920s until Tolkien’s death, Sauron’s role in the Legendarium expanded significantly across Tolkien’s lifetime as Sauron became the primary antagonist of two additional Ages of Middle-earth. Some of the evolutions that accompanied this expansion are not retroactively reflected in the tales already written, hence these “modes” of Sauron could be said to remain …

“Walk No More In The Shadows, But Awake!”: Faramir’S Journey From Family Dysfunction And Grief To The Intimate Space In J.R.R. Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings, Rachel Crane

Journal of Tolkien Research

Examines Faramir's relationships--namely with Denethor, Boromir, and Éowyn--and role in Gondor via Yi-Fu Tuan's intimate space lens.

Monstrous Feminine, Deviant Mother: Tolkien’S Shelob And The Grotesque Maternal, Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

J.R.R. Tolkien’s menacing character of Shelob embodies the ultimate danger that faces Frodo on his journey to destroy the Ring of Power. Her actions, in combination with the language that Tolkien uses to describe her, invite the reader to view Shelob with revulsion and horror, designating her as Other. However, Shelob is also undeniably a mother, a term laden with social and cultural expectation. This paper explores Shelob as a representation of what Barbara Creed, in her article “Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection”, has termed the ‘monstrous-feminine’, examining Shelob’s presentation within the text as not only identified as …

Celebrating Tolkien’S Legacy: Essays (2024), By Nancy Bunting, Seamus Hamill-Keays, And Toby Widdicombe, Douglas Charles Kane

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Douglas Charles Kane, of Celebrating Tolkien’s Legacy: Essays (2024), by Nancy Bunting, Seamus Hamill-Keays, and Toby Widdicombe

He Is The Master Of Wood, Water, And Hill: Is Tom Bombadil The True Key Keeper Of The Old Forest?, Noelia Ramos

Journal of Tolkien Research

Tom Bombadil, with his iconic singing―”Hey! Come merry doll! Derry doll and merry-o!―has captivated scholars worldwide, due to the enigmatic nature Tolkien intentionally left unexplained. This deliberate mystery has fuelled extensive debate, leading many to explore possible mythological and cultural frameworks that might decode Bombadil’s origins. Among these hypotheses, a Celtic interpretation has often been dismissed despite its potential relevance. This paper, thereby, seeks to analyse Bombadil’s function within the Old Forest and his interactions with the hobbits during their forest episode, presenting fresh insights into his role as a Celtic-inspired guide and druidic figure.

To support this analysis, primary …

Antiphons Of Iron And Blood: The Inspirations Of Tolkien's Poetry, Patrick J. Lyon

Journal of Tolkien Research

The new book, The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond, is a fascinating new look into a trove of previously unpublished Tolkien poetry. One of these new poems, “Ferrum et Sanguis,” includes an interesting series of addenda and subtitles written by Tolkien that give insight into the origins and inspirations for the poem. Furthermore, the interpretation given by the editors in their commentary on the poem misses the specific reference and applies it to a different source. The real source for the poem is very likely found in the Advent Vespers of the …

The Mirror Of Desire Unbidden: Retrieving The Imago Dei In Tolkien And Late Medieval English Literature (2024) By Giovanni Carmine Costabile, Łukasz Neubauer

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book Review, by Łukasz Neubauer, of The Mirror of Desire Unbidden: Retrieving the Imago Dei in Tolkien and Late Medieval English Literature (2024) by Giovanni Carmine Costabile

The English And The Welsh: Tolkien’S Rewriting Of History In The Legendarium, Alexander Retakh

Journal of Tolkien Research

Early legendarium is often called a "mythology for England," while Tolkien's later tales have been described as mythologies for Britain (by Dimitra Fimi) or Englishness (by Thomas Honegger). Later legendarium still contains fictional versions of English-like peoples, the Hobbits and the Rohirrim. Their construction leads to a re-construction of elements of English history in the subcreation, that often produces fictional analogs not only of the English but of the Welsh. How Tolkien described contacts between the English and their closest neighbors reveals his idea of Englishness (his own national identity) and its place in the narrative.

This article traces appearances …

The Nameless Enemy: How Do You Solve A Problem Like “Mairon”?, Cameron Bourquein

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper analyzes Sauron’s “original” name, “Mairon,” in its various contexts (textual, temporal, and linguistic) and then applies it to a reading of the character in order to produce a “capsule characterization” or “minimyth” for the Lord of the Rings himself. The name “Mairon” appears only in a note to a single entry in a list of Eldarin roots, not published until 2007 in the journal Parma Eldalamberon. This niche location suggests one of the many ways in which this name is marginal: typographically, linguistically, narratively, and historically (as in the Secondary World). The name appears to have been …

The Songs Of The Spheres: Lewis, Tolkien And The Overlapping Realms Of Their Imaginations (2024), Edited By Łukasz Neubauer And Guglielmo Spirito, G. Connor Salter

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by G. Connor Salter, of The Songs of the Spheres: Lewis, Tolkien and the Overlapping Realms of their Imaginations (2024), edited by Łukasz Neubauer and Guglielmo Spirito

The Feanorian Alphabet Part 2 [And] Eldarin Pronouns (2024), By J.R.R. Tolkien, Edited By Arden R. Smith And Christopher Gilson, Andrew Higgins

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Andrew Higgins, of The Feanorian Alphabet Part 2 [and] Eldarin Pronouns (2024), by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Arden R. Smith and Christopher Gilson