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
Reading Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings through the literary criticism trauma theory. Investigates the impact of war trauma on the presence of heroism, evil and post-war developments.
For his deeply considered secondary world Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien shaped and reshaped all the elements of this fictional realm, not least the way that he conceived his Elves. In doing so, he...Show moreFor his deeply considered secondary world Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien shaped and reshaped all the elements of this fictional realm, not least the way that he conceived his Elves. In doing so, he deviated from the popular and traditional Germanic concept of elves with regards to their origins, their inner characters, their external appearance, and their function and significance within society. This thesis shows how, why and to what end Tolkien’s Elves are different from the conventional figure of the elf.Show less
J.R.R. Tolkien took the values and virtues found in Anglo-Saxon heroic literature and applied them to his Legendarium. Tolkien established his own form of modern heroism by examining Old English...Show moreJ.R.R. Tolkien took the values and virtues found in Anglo-Saxon heroic literature and applied them to his Legendarium. Tolkien established his own form of modern heroism by examining Old English works such as "Beowulf" and "The Battle of Maldon". He admired the Germanic heroic tradition, yet condemned its pagan nature. This comparative paper discusses four works of heroic literature - i.e. "Beowulf", "The Battle of Maldon", "The Lord of the Rings", and "The Children of Húrin" - focusing on the heroes of each work and how their actions reflect their ethics. The author emphasises Tolkien's disapproving views of Anglo-Saxon heroism found in "The Children of Húrin" in which its prideful hero Túrin brings about disaster and tragedy upon himself and those around him.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
