Thomas Honegger (born 1965) is a German scholar of literature, known especially for his studies of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

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'' ...

Biography

Thomas Honegger obtained an MA in English Studies, Medieval Germanic Languages, and Medieval German Literature from the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

. He then worked in that university's Department of English as an assistant. He took his PhD in 1996 on the subject of "Animals in Medieval English Literature". He worked as a researcher at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

and at the Sorbonne Nouvelle, before becoming a lecturer at the University of Zurich. He had temporary postings at the universities of Kiel, Berlin, Zurich and Jena before becoming professor of Old English at the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena in 2002. He contributed a chapter on Tolkien's academic writings to Wiley-Blackwell's '' A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien'', published in 2014.

Books

* 2004: ''Riddles, knights and cross-dressing saints : essays on medieval English language and literature''. Bern, Berlin, Oxford: Peter Lang. * 2004: ''Translating Tolkien: Text and Film''.

Walking Tree Publishers Walking Tree Publishers was founded in 1996 by members of the (now defunct) Swiss Tolkien Society with the aim of publishing the proceedings of the Cormarë conference held that year to mark the 10th anniversary of the Swiss Tolkien Society. Th ...

. Reprinted 2011. * 2004: ''News from the Shire and Beyond: Studies on Tolkien'', with Peter Buchs. Zurich: Walking Tree Publishers. * 2005: ''Reconsidering Tolkien'', Zurich: Walking Tree Publishers. * 2006: ''Tolkien and Modernity'', with Frank Weinreich (eds.) 2 vols. * 2007: ''Myth and magic : art according to the Inklings''. Zollikofen: Walking Tree Publishers. * 2011: ''Tolkien in Translation'', with Eduardo Segura. Zurich: Walking Tree Publishers. * 2014: ''Crime and the Fantastic 1 & 2'', with Fanfan Chen. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. * 2016: ''Fantastic Animals, animals in the fantastic'', with Oliver Bidlo, Frank Weinreich, Erwin Otto. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. * 2016: ''Laughter in Middle-earth: Humour in and around the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien'', with Maureen F. Mann. Jena: Walking Tree Publishers. * 2017: ''Subcreation: world-building in the fantastic'', with Erwin Otto. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. * 2019 ''Sub-creating Arda'', with

Dimitra Fimi Dimitra Fimi (born 2 June 1978) is a Greek academic and writer. She became the Professor of Fantasy and Children's Literature at the University of Glasgow in 2023. Her field of research includes the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien and children's fa ...

(eds). Walking Tree Publishers. * 2019: ''Introducing the Medieval Dragon''. Cardiff:

University of Wales Press The University of Wales Press () was founded in 1922 as a central service of the University of Wales. The press publishes academic journals and around seventy books a year in the English and Welsh languages on six general subjects: history, poli ...

. * 2023: ''Tweaking Things a Little: Essays on the Epic Fantasy of JRR Tolkien and GRR Martin''. Walking Tree Publishers.

Reception

Harley Sims, reviewing ''Tolkien in Translation'', notes that few topics are more interesting or more divisive. He comments that "one might say that translation ''is'' Tolkien, and that no analysis of his work can pretend to be complete without some exegesis of his actual wording." Finding the book a good introduction to its subject's theory and practice, and making both the cultural and literary aspects accessible, Sims commends Honegger and the publishers for assembling "specialists in five languages".

References

External links

University of Jena

Tolkienists

Around 100 of Honegger's papers and reviews
on Academia.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Honegger, Thomas Tolkien scholars 1965 births Living people University of Zurich alumni Academic staff of the University of Zurich Academics of the University of Sheffield Academic staff of Paris-Sorbonne University Academic staff of the University of Jena German scholars