This thesis will discuss how Le Guin has adapted both the standard medieval dragon and the dragons in the narratives of Tolkien and Lewis in her own work, The Books of Earthsea.
Since the very first published appearance of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, contained within the adventure-filled pages of The Hobbit (1937), readers have been drawn into the fantastical, wondrous...Show moreSince the very first published appearance of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, contained within the adventure-filled pages of The Hobbit (1937), readers have been drawn into the fantastical, wondrous world so masterfully crafted by this Oxford philologist. Such an extensive collection of stories, unfinished tales, and background information garners much opportunity for study, both casual and academic. Academic interest in particular has come so far as to spawn its own field of ‘Tolkien Studies’, entirely dedicated to the study of Tolkien and his oeuvre. Perhaps the most heated debate within Tolkien Studies considers whether Tolkien’s legendarium is essentially Christian or Pagan in nature. What has not yet been offered is an examination of Arda’s religion that would suit the wishes of its author: a discussion of religion in Tolkien’s works from inside Middle-earth. This thesis will consider the signs and instances of reverence and religion from an ‘in-world’ perspective, in the same fashion that a wanderer of Middle-earth would encounter them, and in doing so, brings a new and valuable approach to the Christian/Pagan debate, namely the approach of the writer and the sub-creator.Show less
Words have some power to change our reality, but it is limited. We cannot use speech to directly physically affect the world around us. One could order a rock to move, and it would not move. Even...Show moreWords have some power to change our reality, but it is limited. We cannot use speech to directly physically affect the world around us. One could order a rock to move, and it would not move. Even those things we can do through speech are limited. One could tell that same rock “I take you, rock, to be my lawfully wedded rock”, and fail to be part of the first ever rock-human marriage. There are conditions that must be met for the act to be successful. Austen states: “The uttering of the words is, indeed, usually a, or even the, leading incident in the performance of the act ... but it is far from being usually, even if it is ever, the sole thing necessary if the act is to be deemed to have been performed” (8). Neither of these limitations are the case in Arda (the name of the world that contains Middle-earth). In Arda, speech acts can effect entirely physical outcomes. To name one well-known example: Gandalf utters the word “friend” in Elvish, and the Doors of Durin open to him. These days this may seem less magical than it did a decade ago, given the advent of voice-recognition and voice assistants, but there are still not many people who would go up to a stone door that does not contain any electronics and expect it to open at the sound of the correct password. That Gandalf does expect this suggests that the world in which he lives operates differently from ours on a fundamental level.Show less
It is believed that Tolkien's knowledge of Anglo-Saxon culture did not only inspire him to write The Lord of the Rings, but that he also reproduced the Anglo-Saxons and their warrior culture in his...Show moreIt is believed that Tolkien's knowledge of Anglo-Saxon culture did not only inspire him to write The Lord of the Rings, but that he also reproduced the Anglo-Saxons and their warrior culture in his works. However, the heroic ethos that the characters live up to in The Lord of the Rings, and in particular oath-taking, diverges intentionally from the heroic ethos and oaths of loyalty in Anglo-Saxon warrior culture. This thesis explores Tolkien’s views on and presentation of oath-making and –breaking in his trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s works and his representation of oaths are compared to sworn speech in the Old English poems Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon. This thesis shows that Tolkien created a heroic code that is different from the traditional Anglo-Saxon heroic ethos, one in which free will plays an important part. Tolkien made a conscious attempt to reshape the heroic code and attached other values to the oath of loyalty in The Lord of the Rings.Show less
“Never look a gift horse in the mouth”. However sensible the advice in this proverb may be, raising questions about gifts is exactly what this thesis will do, because it will make an inquiry into...Show more“Never look a gift horse in the mouth”. However sensible the advice in this proverb may be, raising questions about gifts is exactly what this thesis will do, because it will make an inquiry into two primary sources, Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings (LOTR), and explore the functions of gift giving in both works. As Tom Shippey rightly states, J.R.R. Tolkien was a noted expert on Beowulf and his literary work was often inspired by the medieval literature he studied. In both LOTR and Beowulf, gift giving plays an important role; however, the function of gift exchange in the medieval poem somewhat differs from Tolkien’s work.Show less
Since Tolkien was a noted philologist, his writing was inspired greatly by Old English poetry such as Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon. Taking into account Tolkien's comments on the portrayal of...Show moreSince Tolkien was a noted philologist, his writing was inspired greatly by Old English poetry such as Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon. Taking into account Tolkien's comments on the portrayal of heroism in these poems, this thesis presents a comparison between several heroes from Tolkien’s own fiction – Aragorn, Beren and Fëanor – and the Germanic heroic ethos.Show less
After a summary of Old English poetic techniques and the use of these in the Old English poems "Beowulf" and "Judith", this thesis will aim to determine how well these poetic techniques were used...Show moreAfter a summary of Old English poetic techniques and the use of these in the Old English poems "Beowulf" and "Judith", this thesis will aim to determine how well these poetic techniques were used by J.R.R. Tolkien in his long poems "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth" and "The Fall of Arthur", in order to determine which of these poems was written (mostly) last.Show less
