John Garth (author)

Last updated

John Garth
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author
Alma mater St Anne's College, Oxford
Genres
Years active1997–present
Website
www.johngarth.co.uk

John Garth is a British journalist and author, known especially for writings about J. R. R. Tolkien including his biography Tolkien and the Great War and a book on the places that inspired Middle-earth, The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien . He won a 2004 Mythopoeic Award for Scholarship for his work on Tolkien. [1] The biography influenced much Tolkien scholarship in the subsequent decades.

Contents

Biography

John Garth read English at St Anne's College, Oxford. He trained as a journalist and worked for 18 years in newspapers including the Evening Standard in London. He then became a freelance author specialising in J. R. R. Tolkien, while continuing to contribute newspaper articles. [1]

Among his works of Tolkien scholarship are two monographs, namely the 2003 Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth and the 2020 The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth . His many articles and chapters on Tolkien include "A Brief Biography" in Wiley-Blackwell's 2014 A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien , and ten historical essays in Routledge's 2006 J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment . He has contributed articles and book reviews on Tolkien-related subjects in the specialist journals Tolkien Studies and Mallorn , and in the national press including The Guardian , The Times , The Daily Telegraph , New Statesman , and The Times Literary Supplement . [2]

Reception

Tolkien and the Great War

Tolkien fought with the Lancashire Fusiliers (pictured) on the Western Front in 1916. Lancashire Fusiliers trench Beaumont Hamel 1916.jpg
Tolkien fought with the Lancashire Fusiliers (pictured) on the Western Front in 1916.

Luke Shelton, editor of Mallorn , the journal of the Tolkien Society, called Tolkien and the Great War an excellent book on how the First World War might have shaped Tolkien's thought. [3] The Tolkien scholar Janet Brennan Croft, reviewing the same book for World Literature Today, wrote that Garth had ably portrayed Tolkien's early life with his close friends, using their own papers and their British Army company records. She found the first part of the book "somewhat leisurely", but the account of Tolkien's training and battlefield experience was "gripping". [4] Garth's biography of Tolkien in his war years influenced much Tolkien scholarship in the subsequent decades. By 2021, a reviewer was able to state that each of the 16 essays in a scholarly collection was responding to "Garth's seminal [work]". [5]

Tolkien at Exeter College

The Tolkien scholar Michael Foster, reviewing Tolkien at Exeter College for Mythlore , described it as "a very good thing indeed", even if small (at 64 pages), with "rare photographs" that revealed "a time of innocence, a time of confidences", and serving as a kind of prequel to Tolkien and the Great War. [6]

The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien

In The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, Garth is critical of the theory that the Ring of Silvianus inspired Tolkien's Ring. Vyne Ring.jpg
In The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, Garth is critical of the theory that the Ring of Silvianus inspired Tolkien's Ring.

Reviewing The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth for Mythlore, Foster described the book as a "masterful study ... encyclopedic in its scope", combining details of Tolkien's life with Middle-earth. He admired the photographs as well as their scholarship and found "virtue" in the journalistic use of sidebars on background topics like Tolkien's debt to Anglo-Saxon cosmology or his mythology for England. He quotes Garth's account of the impact of Tolkien's "many trips to the trenches" in 1916, passing a crossroads where "a calvary had once stood .. at a tree-girt crossroads that the soldiers called Crucifix Corner. Similarly, en route to Mordor, Frodo and Sam see the old stone king at the Crossroads in Ithilien—his head knocked off by orcs yet still whole." Foster comments that "Thus the Somme was reborn as the most horrific geography of Middle-earth. It inspired the Dead Marshes, the Barrow-downs, and Morgul Vale." [8]

Awards and distinctions

Works

Garth has written many articles and book reviews in newspapers and magazines including The Guardian. [10] Some of his major works are listed below.

Books

Chapters

Related Research Articles

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Lothlórien or Lórien is the fairest realm of the Elves remaining in Middle-earth during the Third Age. It is ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn from their city of tree houses at Caras Galadhon. The wood-elves of the realm are called Galadhrim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Shippey</span> British medievalist (born 1943)

Thomas Alan Shippey is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien about whom he has written several books and many scholarly papers. His book The Road to Middle-Earth has been called "the single best thing written on Tolkien".

<i>J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator</i> Book by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull

J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator is a collection of paintings and drawings by J. R. R. Tolkien for his stories, published posthumously in 1995. The book was edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. It won the 1996 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies. The nature and importance of Tolkien's artwork is discussed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythopoeic Awards</span> Literary award

The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award is given for "fiction in the spirit of the Inklings", and the Scholarship Award for non-fiction work. The award is a statuette of a seated lion, with a plaque on the base. It has drawn resemblance to, and is often called, the "Aslan".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythopoeic Society</span> Nonprofit organization

The Mythopoeic Society (MythSoc) is a non-profit organization devoted to the study of mythopoeic literature, particularly the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and C. S. Lewis. These men were all members of The Inklings, an informal group of writers who met weekly in Lewis' rooms at Magdalen College, Oxford, from the early 1930s until late 1949.

The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his fantasy writings. These encompass The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, along with his legendarium that remained unpublished until after his death, and his constructed languages, especially the Elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin. Scholars from different disciplines have examined the linguistic and literary origins of Middle-earth, and have explored many aspects of his writings from Christianity to feminism and race.

<i>Mythlore</i> Academic journal

Mythlore is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal founded by Glen GoodKnight and published by the Mythopoeic Society. Although it publishes articles that explore the genres of myth and fantasy in general, special attention is given to the three most prominent members of the Inklings: J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. The current editor-in-chief is the Tolkien scholar Janet Brennan Croft. The Tolkien Society describes Mythlore as a "refereed scholarly journal".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul H. Kocher</span> American scholar of literature

Paul Harold Kocher was an American scholar, writer, and professor of English. He wrote extensively on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien as well as on Elizabethan English drama, philosophy, religion, and medicine. His numerous publications include studies of Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon. He also authored books on the Franciscan missions of 18th- and 19th-century California.

<i>Tolkien Studies</i> Academic journal

Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review is an academic journal founded in 2004 publishing papers on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. The journal's founding editors are Douglas A. Anderson, Michael D. C. Drout, and Verlyn Flieger, and the current editors are Michael D. C. Drout, Verlyn Flieger, and David Bratman. It states that it is the first scholarly journal published by an academic press in the area of Tolkien research.

J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy books on Middle-earth, especially The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, drew on a wide array of influences including language, Christianity, mythology, archaeology, ancient and modern literature, and personal experience. He was inspired primarily by his profession, philology; his work centred on the study of Old English literature, especially Beowulf, and he acknowledged its importance to his writings.

<i>The Road to Middle-Earth</i> Book of literary criticism of Tolkien

The Road to Middle-Earth: How J. R. R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology is a scholarly study of the Middle-earth works of J. R. R. Tolkien written by Tom Shippey and first published in 1982. The book discusses Tolkien's philology, and then examines in turn the origins of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and his minor works. An appendix discusses Tolkien's many sources. Two further editions extended and updated the work, including a discussion of Peter Jackson's film version of The Lord of the Rings.

Janet Brennan Croft is an American librarian and Tolkien scholar, known for her authored and edited books and journals on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy.

<i>A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien</i> 2014 scholarly book edited by Stuart D. Lee

A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien is a 2014 book edited by Stuart D. Lee and published by Wiley-Blackwell. It is a part of the Blackwell Companions to Literature series, which have been described as prestigious reference works, and features authors well-known in the field of Tolkien studies.

Women in <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> Role of women in Tolkiens fantasy

The roles of women in The Lord of the Rings have often been assessed as insignificant, or important only in relation to male characters in a story about men for boys. Meanwhile, other commentators have noted the empowerment of the three major women characters, Galadriel, Éowyn, and Arwen, and provided in-depth analysis of their roles within the narrative of The Lord of the Rings.

Jason Fisher is a Tolkien scholar and winner of multiple Mythopoeic Scholarship Awards, including one in 2014 for his book Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays. He served as the editor of the Mythopoeic Society's monthly Mythprint from 2010 to 2013. He is the author of many book chapters, academic articles, and encyclopedia entries on J. R. R. Tolkien.

<i>Tolkien and the Great War</i> 2003 biography of author J. R. R. Tolkien

Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth is a 2003 biography by John Garth of the philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien's early life, focusing on his formative military experiences during the First World War.

<i>The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien</i> Non-fiction book on Tolkiens Middle-earth

The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth is a 2020 non-fiction book by the journalist and Tolkien scholar John Garth. It describes the places that most likely inspired J. R. R. Tolkien to invent Middle-earth, as portrayed in his fantasy books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Those places include many that Tolkien lived in or visited in his early life, as well as sites from history and literature. Most are real, for instance with England as the counterpart of the Shire, though some, like Atlantis, are mythical, and others, like Mirkwood, probably have roots in real places. He notes the ambiguities in some of the connections, and that others have made superficial comparisons, such as of Tolkien's towers with various modern towers in Birmingham, where Tolkien lived as a child. Garth presents his theories of the likely origins of some of these places, supporting these with maps and photographs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Great War and Middle-earth</span> Effect of the First World War on Tolkiens fantasy writings

J. R. R. Tolkien took part in the First World War, known then as the Great War, and began his fantasy Middle-earth writings at that time. The Fall of Gondolin was the first prose work that he created after returning from the front, and it contains detailed descriptions of battle and streetfighting. He continued the dark tone in much of his legendarium, as seen in The Silmarillion. The Lord of the Rings, too, has been described as a war book.

Bradford Lee Eden is a librarian and musicologist, best known as a Tolkien scholar.

Holly Ordway is a professor of English at Houston Christian University. She is known also as a Tolkien scholar. She won a 2022 Mythopoeic Award for her book Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Garth, John. "About". John Garth. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  2. Garth, John. "John Garth on Tolkien: publications: Biographical research, literary criticism, reviews and other articles". John Garth.
  3. Shelton, Luke (8 March 2019). "The Best (and Worst) Books for Tolkien Biography". Luke Shelton. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  4. Croft, Janet Brennan (2005). "[Review] Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth". World Literature Today . 79 (1 (January–April)): 93. doi:10.2307/40158819. JSTOR   40158819.
  5. Hamby, James (2021). "Book Review: "Something Has Gone Crack": New Perspectives on J.R.R. Tolkien in the Great War" (PDF). Fafnir - Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research. 8 (1): 37–40. ISSN   2342-2009. reviewing Croft, Janet Brennan; Röttinger, Annika, eds. (2019). Something Has Gone Crack. Zurich: Walking Tree Publishers. ISBN   978-3-905703-41-2. OCLC   1121292764.
  6. Foster, Mike (2015). "[Review] Tolkien at Exeter College: How an Oxford undergraduate Created Middle-Earth. John Garth". Mythlore . 33 (2).
  7. The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, Appendix, pages 187–188
  8. Foster, Mike (2020). "[Review]: The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth". Mythlore . 39 (1 (Fall/Winter 2020)): 220–229.
  9. "Previous Winners". The Tolkien Society. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  10. "John Garth". The Guardian . Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  11. 1 2 Garth, John. "Welcome". John Garth.