Randel Helms

Last updated

Randel McCraw Helms, also known as Loyce Helms [1] (born November 16, 1942, in Montgomery, Alabama) [2] is an American professor of English literature, a writer on J. R. R. Tolkien and critical writer on the Bible.

Contents

Biography

Helms studied at University of California, Riverside, B.A. 1964, University of Washington, Ph.D. 1968, then taught from 1968 at the University of California as assistant professor of English, before becoming professor at the Department of English, Arizona State University. In 2007 he established the Randel and Susan McCraw Helms Homecoming Writing Contest for undergraduate students. [3]

Writings on William Blake

As Loyce Randel Helms he wrote his dissertation on William Blake: Artful Thunder: a Literary Study of Prophecy [4] [5] He has also written on Blake's "Everlasting Gospel" (1980). [6]

Writings on Tolkien

Helms's many writings on J. R. R. Tolkien include journal articles on topics such as the structure and aesthetics of The Lord of the Rings , [7] and the books Tolkien's World (Houghton, 1974) and Tolkien and the Silmarils (Houghton Mifflin, 1981). [8] Emily Auger, reviewing that book in Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts , calls it "pioneering" and writes that it identifies similarities between The Silmarillion and the Bible, finding the Old Testament especially important. [9]

Biblical criticism

Helms has written a series of books using Higher Criticism to analyze the Bible. In Gospel Fictions, Helms argues that the Gospel writers used the Old Testament as a source of material to build up fictional details about events surrounding Jesus. [10] He also wrote Who wrote the Gospels? (1997) [11] and The Bible against itself (2006) on similar themes. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. R. R. Tolkien</span> English writer and philologist (1892–1973)

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

<i>The Lord of the Rings</i> 1954–1955 fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel by the English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.

<i>The Hobbit</i> 1937 book by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction. The book is recognized as a classic in children's literature and is one of the best-selling books of all time, with over 100 million copies sold.

The "Ainulindalë" is the creation account in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, published posthumously as the first part of The Silmarillion in 1977. The "Ainulindalë" sets out a central part of the cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium, telling how the Ainur, a class of angelic beings, perform a great music prefiguring the creation of the material universe, Eä, including Middle-Earth. The creator Eru Ilúvatar introduces the theme of the sentient races of Elves and Men, not anticipated by the Ainur, and gives physical being to the prefigured universe. Some of the Ainur decide to enter the physical world to prepare for their arrival, becoming the Valar and Maiar.

<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".

Mythopoeia, or mythopoesis, is a narrative genre in modern literature and film where an artificial or fictionalized mythology is created by the writer of prose, poetry, or other literary forms. The concept was introduced by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 1930s. The authors in this genre integrate traditional mythological themes and archetypes into fiction. Mythopoeia is also the act of creating a mythology.

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.

"Errantry" is a three-page poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, first published in The Oxford Magazine in 1933. It was included in revised and extended form in Tolkien's 1962 collection of short poems, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Donald Swann set the poem to music in his 1967 song cycle, The Road Goes Ever On.

Roger Sale was an American literary critic and author, brother of Kirkpatrick Sale and father of Tim Sale. He spent most of his career as a professor of English at the University of Washington.

<i>The Tolkien Reader</i> 1966 anthology of works by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Tolkien Reader is an anthology of works by J. R. R. Tolkien. It includes a variety of short stories, poems, a play and some non-fiction. It compiles material previously published as three separate shorter books, together with one additional piece and introductory material. It was published in 1966 by Ballantine Books in the USA.

<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.

Michael D. C. Drout is an American Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College. He is an author and editor specializing in Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature, science fiction and fantasy, especially the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and Ursula K. Le Guin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saruman</span> Fictional character created by J. R. R. Tolkien

Saruman, also called Saruman the White, is a fictional character of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the novel, but eventually he desires Sauron's power for himself and tries to take over Middle-earth by force from his base at Isengard. His schemes feature prominently in the second volume, The Two Towers; he appears briefly at the end of the third volume, The Return of the King. His earlier history is summarised in the posthumously published The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

Elizabeth Solopova is a Russian-British philologist and medievalist undertaking research at New College, Oxford. She is known outside academic circles for her work on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings.

<i>Poems and Songs of Middle Earth</i> 1967 studio album by J. R. R. Tolkien and Donald Swann

Poems and Songs of Middle Earth is a studio album of spoken-word poetry by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien and art songs composed by the English musician Donald Swann. On the first half of the album, Tolkien recites seven poems from or related to his fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). The second half is a performance of Swann's song cycle The Road Goes Ever On, which sets selections from Tolkien's verse to music. The vocalist William Elvin sings The Road Goes Ever On to Swann's piano accompaniment. Caedmon Records issued the album on 18 October 1967 in the United States, and then on 28 March 1968 in the United Kingdom. Its release coincided with the publication of The Road Goes Ever On as a book of sheet music with commentary and illustration by Tolkien.

The poetry in The Lord of the Rings consists of the poems and songs written by J. R. R. Tolkien, interspersed with the prose of his high fantasy novel of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings. The book contains over 60 pieces of verse of many kinds; some poems related to the book were published separately. Seven of Tolkien's songs, all but one from The Lord of the Rings, were made into a song-cycle, The Road Goes Ever On, set to music by Donald Swann. All the poems in The Lord of the Rings were set to music and published on CDs by The Tolkien Ensemble.

Interlacing in <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> Literary device of interlacing in J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien's narrative interlacing in The Lord of the Rings, also called by the French term entrelacement, is an unusual and complex narrative structure, known from medieval literature, that enables him to achieve a variety of literary effects. These include maintaining suspense, keeping the reader uncertain of what will happen and even of what is happening to other characters at the same time in the story; creating surprise and an ongoing feeling of bewilderment and disorientation. More subtly, the leapfrogging of the timeline in The Lord of the Rings by the different story threads allows Tolkien to make hidden connections that can only be grasped retrospectively, as the reader realises on reflection that certain events happened at the same time, and that these connections imply a contest of good and evil powers.

Ralph C. Wood is a scholar of theology and English literature, with a special interest in Christian writers, mainly of fiction, including J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, Gerard Manley Hopkins, George Herbert, and Dorothy Sayers.

Rose Abdelnour Zimbardo was an American professor of English literature. Her work covered such subjects as Shakespeare, Restoration drama, and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. She was a pioneer in the academic study of Tolkien's works, and co-edited three collections with fellow Tolkien scholar Neil Isaacs: Tolkien and the Critics ; Tolkien: New Critical Perspectives ; and Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism.

<i>Tolkiens Art: A Mythology for England</i> 1979 book by Jane Chance

Tolkien's Art: 'A Mythology for England' is a 1979 book of Tolkien scholarship by Jane Chance, writing then as Jane Chance Nitzsche. The book looks in turn at Tolkien's essays "On Fairy-Stories" and "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics"; The Hobbit; the fairy-stories "Leaf by Niggle" and "Smith of Wootton Major"; the minor works "Lay of Autrou and Itroun", "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth", "Imram", and Farmer Giles of Ham; The Lord of the Rings; and very briefly in the concluding section, The Silmarillion. In 2001, a second edition extended all the chapters but still treated The Silmarillion, that Tolkien worked on throughout his life, as a sort of coda.

References

  1. ↑ "Loyce Helms". Arizona State University. Retrieved 7 February 2021. Loyce Helms Randel.Helms@asu.edu
  2. ↑ Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature: Volume 2 - Page 934 R. Reginald, Douglas Menville, Mary A. Burgess - 2010 -"RANDEL HELMS Full Name: Randel Helms. Born November 6, 1942, at Montgomery, Alabama. Son of Loyce Virgil Helms (a contractor) ... "
  3. ↑ ASU Randel and Susan McCraw Helms Homecoming Writing Contest Archived 2011-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Helms, Loyce Randel (1968) Dissertation abstracts: The humanities and social sciences University Microfilms - 1969 Loyce Randel Helms. Ph.D. University of Washington, 1968 Chairman: Professor Frank Warnke This dissertation is an attempt to fill, in part, a need in Blake scholarship that Northrop Frye announced some time ago, ..."
  5. ↑ Studies in the literary imagination: Volumes 13-14 Georgia State University. Dept. of English, Georgia State College (Atlanta, Ga.). Dept. of English - 1980 "LOYCE RANDEL HELMS, of Arizona State University, is interested in the Bible as literature; he has spoken and written on the Inklings, and included among his publications is Tolkien's World."
  6. ↑ Blake Volumes 16-18 University of New Mexico. Dept. of English - 1982 "A full treatment of the work and the bibliographical and interpretational problems it raises can be found in Randel Helms's essay The Genesis of "The Everlasting Gospel" in Blake Studies, 9 (1980), 122-60."
  7. ↑ Helms, Randel (1971) "The Structure and Aesthetic of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings", Mythcon Proceedings: Vol. 1 : Iss. 2 , Article 2.
  8. ↑ Stewart, J. I. M. (17 September 1981). "Favourite Subjects". London Review of Books . 3 (17). Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Auger, Emily E. (2012). "[Review] Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays by Jason Fisher". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts . 23 (1): 108–110. JSTOR   24353152.
  10. ↑ Helms, Randel (1988). Gospel Fictions. Prometheus Books. ISBN   0879754648.
  11. ↑ Helms, Randel (1997). Who wrote the gospels?. Millennium Press. ISBN   0-9655047-2-7.
  12. ↑ Helms, Randel (2006). The Bible against itself. Millennium Press. ISBN   0-9655047-5-1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.