Christopher Allen Snyder is the Dean of Shackouls Honors College at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

, in Starkville,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. He was previously a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early Eu ...

and director of the Honors Program at

Marymount University Marymount University is a Private university, private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington County, Virginia, United States. It was founded as Marymount College in 1950. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degre ...

, in Arlington,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Snyder received his Ph.D. in

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

in 1994 from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He entered the world of Tolkien research with his 2013 book ''The Making of

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...

''.

Publications

* ''An Age of Tyrants: Britain and the Britons, A.D. 400–600'',

Pennsylvania State University Press The Penn State University Press, also known as The Pennsylvania State University Press, is a non-profit publisher of scholarly books and journals. Established in 1956, it is the independent publishing branch of the Pennsylvania State University ...

1998, . * ''The World of King Arthur'', Thames & Hudson 2000, . * ''The Britons (The Peoples of Europe)'', Wiley-Blackwell 2003, . * ''Early Peoples of Britain and Ireland: An Encyclopedia'' volumes Greenwood 2008, . * ''The Making of Middle Earth: A New Look Inside the World of J.R.R. Tolkien'', Sterling New York 2013, * ''Hobbit Virtues'', 2020

Reception

David Bratman, reviewing ''The Making of Middle-earth'' for ''

Tolkien Studies The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his High fantasy, fantasy writings. These encompass ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion'', along with Tolkien's legendarium, his legendarium t ...

'' journal, calls Snyder "that rare thing, a medievalist writing on Tolkien who did not become a medievalist through being a Tolkien fan first." Bratman describes the book as for a general audience, to some extent conflating

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

's '' Lord of the Rings'' films (about which Bratman says Snyder is enthusiastic) with Tolkien's book. He finds Snyder "most in his element" in the chapter on "Tolkien's Middle Ages" where he introduces everything from classical civilisation to the pre-Raphaelites and the early fantasy author George MacDonald. David W. Marshall, reviewing the book for '' Arthuriana'', writes that it stands out on the well-trodden road as it explores all aspects from languages and Tolkien's sources to his artwork and life. Marshall calls it "a lovely book, with early maps, manuscript illuminations, illustrations, and photos adorning pages that are printed to resemble vellum", and call-out boxes highlighting aspects such as the

Sindarin Sindarin is one of Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien, the constructed languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda (Tolkien), Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoke ...

language or the development of

Gollum Gollum is a Tolkien's monsters, monster with a distinctive style of speech in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth. He was introduced in the 1937 Fantasy (genre), fantasy novel ''The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, ' ...

's character. Kate DiGirolamo, reviewing the book for ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'', notes that even fantasy fiction "has its roots in reality", and finds Snyder an "expert guide" through the historical context and literary influences on Tolkien's Middle-earth, though she finds the account of Tolkien's own life "sparse". In her view, Snyder "brilliantly interweaves Tolkien's academic papers, letters, and reviews of his books, along with gorgeous illustrations and supplementary images" to give readers a view of how Middle-earth derives from real history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Christopher Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Emory University alumni Historians of the British Isles Living people Mississippi State University faculty Tolkien scholars