Christopher Snyder (historian)

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Christopher Allen Snyder is the Dean of Shackouls Honors College at Mississippi State University, in Starkville, Mississippi. He was previously a professor of European history and director of the Honors Program at Marymount University, in Arlington, Virginia. [1] [2]

Contents

Snyder received his Ph.D. in medieval history in 1994 from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He entered the world of Tolkien research with his 2013 book The Making of Middle-earth .

Publications

Reception

David Bratman, reviewing The Making of Middle-earth for Tolkien Studies 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'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. [3]

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 language or the development of Gollum's character. [4]

Kate DiGirolamo, reviewing the book for Library Journal , 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. [5]

Related Research Articles

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<i>The Atlas of Middle-earth</i> 1981 book by Karen Wynn Fonstad

The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad is an atlas of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional realm of Middle-earth. It was published in 1981, following Tolkien's major works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. It provides many maps at different levels of detail, from whole lands to cities and individual buildings, and of major events like the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. The maps are grouped by period, namely the First, Second, and Third Ages of Middle-earth, with chapters on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A final chapter looks at geographic themes such as climate, vegetation, population, and languages around Middle-earth.

<i>The Shaping of Middle-earth</i> Fourth of the 12 volumes of The History of Middle-earth

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<i>The Fall of Gondolin</i> Literary work by J. R. R. Tolkien

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<i>Tolkiens Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth</i> 2000 collection of scholarly essays edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter

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<i>The History of The Hobbit</i> 2007 nonfiction book about The Hobbit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Map of Middle-earth</span> Fictional map

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Richard Carroll West was an American librarian and one of the first Tolkien scholars. He is best known for his 1975 essay on the interlace structure of The Lord of the Rings, for which he won the 1976 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Middle-earth</span> Music in J. R. R. Tolkiens Middle-earth fiction

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Elizabeth Whittingham is a former lecturer in English at the State University of New York College, Brockport, New York. She is known for her Tolkien studies research, including her 2008 book The Evolution of Tolkien's Mythology, which examines the development of his legendarium as published in the 12-volume The History of Middle-earth.

Jonathan Evans is a professor of medieval languages and literature at the University of Georgia. He is known as a Tolkien scholar, including for his 2006 book Ents, Elves, and Eriador and his contributions to The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia.

References

  1. "Chris Snyder". Marymount University. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  2. Clark, Rhodri (November 18, 2003). "Anglo-Saxon spin halted to credit Welsh". WalesOnline. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  3. Bratman, David (2014). "The Making of Middle-earth: A New Look Inside the World of J.R.R. Tolkien by Christopher Snyder, and: The Essential Tolkien Trivia and Quiz Book: A Middle-earth Miscellany by William MacKay". Tolkien Studies. 11 (1): 254–257. doi:10.1353/tks.2014.0007. ISSN   1547-3163. S2CID   170373518.
  4. Marshall, David W. (2014). "The Making of Middle-earth: A New Look Inside the World of J.R.R. Tolkien by Christopher Snyder". Arthuriana. 24 (4): 149–151. doi:10.1353/art.2014.0056. ISSN   1934-1539. S2CID   161712168.
  5. DiGirolamo, Kate (13 December 2013). "[Review] The Making of Middle-earth: A New Look Inside the World of J.R.R. Tolkien". Library Journal . Retrieved 14 February 2021.