Scholarly Works About Tolkien's Legendarium

[Barliman Butterbur]

This thread is for announcements of serious books by serious scholars whose interest is JRR Tolkien. For openers:

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Sutton Publishing Release Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings: A Guide to Middle-Earth
By James Wray
Dec 16, 2004, 23:50 GMT

Sutton Publishing have recently released Colin Duriez's book
'Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings: A Guide to Middle-Earth'. We have a special offer for UK users and some further details.

The most celebrated book of the 20th century is now a major motion picture. This absorbing guide to the mind behind Middle-earth will introduce or remind readers of the abundance that exists in Tolkien's thought and imagination. Interweaving sections explore The Lord of the Rings and its history; the key themes, concepts and images in Tolkien's work; the people, and places in his life, and his other writings. At the heart of the book is an indispensable A-Z of Middle-earth, with detailed entries on Beings, Places, Things and Events.

Readers will also be introduced to Tolkien's deeply spiritual message, which was of great importance in his creation of Middle-earth.

Central to

Tolkien's fiction, as Colin Duriez points out, is the creation of elves. These are representative of human spirituality and culture, and human spirituality itself has an elven quality. Just like C. S. Lewis, his close friend, Tolkien was deeply inspired by a broad range of spiritual and philosophical imagery, like trees, angels, the fall of humankind, the power of healing, the personification of wisdom, light and darkness, nature and grace, and the metaphysical portrayal of heroism and evil.

"A welcome addition to any Tolkien reader's bookshelf. It is impossible to read Colin Duriez's volume without wanting to reread Tolkien's books-an undoubted compliment to both authors." -Brian Sibley, author of 'The Lord of the Rings' Official Movie Guide'.

M&C UK users can get a discount on this book, all you need to do is call Haynes Customer Services desk on 01963 442030 and quote the code ' TL ' - this will then give you the advantage of purchasing the books for £6.50 instead of £8.99!

Amazon have the book in stock, the UK edition here (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0750939826/monstersandcr-21/026-2939662-6713206) and for US users here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1587680173/monstersandcr-20/002-4883981-3677639).

Source: http://books.monstersandcritics.com/news/printer_3012.php

Barley

[Earendilyon]

Jane Chance ed., Tolkien the Medievalist, Routledge Research in Medieval Religion and Culture, III (Routledge, London and New York 2003)

About the Book
Interdisciplinary in approach, this book provides a fresh perspective on J. R. R. Tolkien's medievalism. Fifteen essays explore how professor Tolkien responded to a modern age of crisis - historical, academic and personal.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction, Jane Chance
I. J.R.R. Tolkien as a Medieval Scholar: Modern Contexts
2. An Industrious Little Devil: E.V. Gordon as Friend and Collaborator with Tolkien, Douglas A. Anderson
3. There would always be a Fairy-Tale: J.R.R. Tolkien and the Folklore Controversy, Verlyn Flieger
4. A Kind of Mid-Wife: J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis-Sharing Influence, Andrew Lazo
5. I Wish to Speak: Tolkein's Voice in his Beowulf Essay, Mary Faraci
6. Middle-earth, the Middle Ages and the Aryan Nation: Myth and History in World War II
II. J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Medieval Literacy and Mythological Text/Contexts
7. Tolkein's Wild Men: From Medieval to Modern, Verlyn Flieger
8. The Valkyrie Reflex in J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings: Galadriel, Shelob, Eowyn and Arwen, Leslie A. Donovan
9. Exilic Imagining in The Seafarer and The Lord of the Rings, Miranda Wilcox
10. Oathbreakers, Why Have Ye Come?: Tolkien's Passing of the Grey Company and the Twelfth-Century Exercitius Mortuorum, Margaret A. Sinex
III. J.R.R. Tolkien: The Texts/Contexts of Medieval Patristics, Theology and Iconography
11. Augustine in the Cottage of Lost Play: The Ainulindale as Asterisk Cosmogony, John William Houghton
12. Music of the Spheres: Realtionships between Tolkien's Silmarillion and Medieval Cosmological and Religious Theory, Brad Eden
13. The Anthropology of Arda: Creation, Theology and the Race of Men, Jonathan Evans
14. A Land Without Stain: Medieval Images of Mary and their Use in the Characterization of Galadriel, Michael W. Maher, S.J.
IV. J.R.R. Tolkein's [sic!] Silmarillion Mythology: Medievalized Retextualization and Theory
15. The Great Chain of Reading: (Inter-)Textual Relations and the Technique of Mythopoesis in the Turin Story
16. Real World Myth in a Secondary World: Mythological Aspects in the Story of Beren and Luthien

Source (http://www.routledge-ny.com/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?isbn=0415289440). For sale at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0415289440/qid=1104165739/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-4106897-7702430?v=glance&s=books)

- Earendilyon