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Tolkien And The Invention Of Myth
''Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader'' is a 2004 collection of scholarly essays on J. R. R. Tolkien's writings on Middle-earth, edited by Jane Chance. It has been warmly welcomed by critics, though some of the student contributions are less useful than the revised journal articles, conference papers and lectures by the more experienced essayists, who include the established Tolkien scholars Marjorie Burns, Michael D. C. Drout, Verlyn Flieger, Gergely Nagy, Tom Shippey, and Richard C. West. Chapter summaries Reception Chad Engbers writes in ''The Lion and the Unicorn'' that the essay authors include "the usual suspects", a small number of well-known Tolkien scholars – here " Nagy, Shippey, Burns, Drout, Flieger, and West", who write knowledgeably in a style "more expository than polemical". A second category, the weakest in Engbers's view, comprises the junior scholars such as Baltasar, Dimond, and Lazo. He finds Baltasar's essay "like a very respectable g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ted Nasmith
Ted Nasmith (born 1956) is a Canadian artist, illustrator and architectural renderer. He is best known as an illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien's works ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion''. Tolkien praised and commented on his early work, something that encouraged him in his career. Biography Early life Nasmith was born in Goderich, Ontario, Canada. As the son of a Royal Canadian Air Force officer, Nasmith's childhood was characterized by a series of moves, chiefly when his father was stationed in eastern France when Ted was 2 years old, until the family returned to Ontario 3 years later. By the time Nasmith became a teenager, they had settled in Toronto. Nasmith's public school guidance counselor encouraged him to enter a high school which featured a 4-year commercial art program. During his third year of high school, however, Nasmith's sister introduced him to ''The Lord of the Rings'', and it quickly became a huge inspiration and focus in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finnish Influences On Tolkien
Finnish influences on Tolkien include both the Finnish language, which he especially liked, and the ''Kalevala'', Elias Lönnrot's 19th century compilation of Finnish mythology, which Tolkien stated had powerfully affected him. He further stated that his invented Elvish language of Quenya was influenced by the phonology and structure of Finnish. Scholars have identified both multiple surface-level parallels between elements and characters in the ''Kalevala'' and Tolkien's legendarium, and deeper resemblances. These began with his unfinished 1914 '' The Story of Kullervo'', his adaptation of a section of the ''Kalevala''. The story already displays numerous features characteristic of his Middle-earth writings. Another work from this period, "The Voyage of Éarendel the Evening Star", resembles the ''Kalevala's'' closing scene. Among the specific parallels between the ''Kalevala'' and Tolkien's writings is a magical object of great power, the Sampo, reflected in Tolkien's Silmaril ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inklings
The Inklings were an informal literature, literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative in fiction and encouraged the writing of fantasy. The best-known, apart from Tolkien and Lewis, were Charles Williams (British writer), Charles Williams, and (although a Londoner) Owen Barfield. Members The more regular members of the Inklings, many of them academics at the University, included: * Owen Barfield * Lord David Cecil * Hugo Dyson * Adam Fox (poet), Adam Fox * Robert Havard (Lewis's and Tolkien's doctor, dubbed "Useless Quack" by Warren Lewis) * C. S. Lewis * Warren Lewis (C. S. Lewis's elder brother) * J. R. R. Tolkien * Christopher Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien's son) * Charles Williams (British writer), Charles Williams Less frequent visitors included: * Nevill Coghill * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' (Latin: ) and the ''Histories'' (Latin: ), originally formed a continuous narrative of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the end of Domitian’s reign (96 AD). The surviving portions of the Annals focus on the reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD). Tacitus's other writings discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see ), Germania (in ''De origine et situ Germanorum''), and the life of his father-in-law, Agricola (the general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain), mainly focusing on his campaign in Britannia ('' De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae''). Tacitus's ''Histories'' offers insights into Roman attitudes towards Jews, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandra Ballif Straubhaar
Sandra Ballif Straubhaar is a Germanic studies scholar known for her work on women's poetry in Old Norse, and for her contributions to scholarship on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, in particular his use of Scandinavian medieval literature and lore. Biography Sandra Straubhaar obtained her bachelor's degree in German and English at Brigham Young University in 1972. She gained an MA in German at Stanford University in 1975, and then studied Old Norse and modern Icelandic at the University of Iceland until 1978. She obtained her PhD in German Studies and Humanities at Stanford University in 1982. She held positions as lecturer and assistant professor at Lansing Community College, the University of São Paulo, Michigan State University, and Brigham Young University before moving to the University of Texas at Austin in 1998; she became a distinguished senior lecturer there in 2013. Straubhaar is well known from her articles on Old Norse women's poetry as well as he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
