The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia

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J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment
J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia.jpg
Editor Michael D. C. Drout
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject J. R. R. Tolkien
Publisher Routledge
Publication date
2006
Media typeHardcover
Pages720
ISBN 978-0415969420
OCLC 71004244
828/.91209 22
LC Class PR6039.O32 Z664 2007

The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, edited by Michael D. C. Drout, was published by Routledge in 2006. A team of 127 Tolkien scholars on 720 pages cover topics of Tolkien's fiction, his academic works, his intellectual and spiritual influences, and his biography. Co-editors were Douglas A. Anderson, Verlyn Flieger (both Drout's co-editors also of Tolkien Studies ), Marjorie Burns and Tom Shippey. [1] [2]

Contents

Contents

Michael D. C. Drout's aim for this project, as stated in the book's introduction, was to make it appealing to a wide group of readers. [1] The volume has over 125 contributors from a wide variety of countries. [1] Entries discuss their concepts' connections with various of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, as well as related literary criticism and theory. [1]

Themes covered by the essays, as listed in full in the volume's "Thematic list of entries", include adaptations for cinema, stage, and television; art and illustrations; characters; critical history; influence; languages real and invented; biography; literary sources; literature; monsters, peoples, objects, and places of Middle-earth; reception; scholarship by Tolkien; stylistic elements; Tolkien's themes; theological and philosophical concepts; contemporary history and culture; and Tolkien's literary works.

Reviews

Kelley Wickham-Crowley, reviewing the work, noted that the quality of the entries was very uneven, and that while some entries were written by experts and were highly interesting and informative, others were much less so; in his words, "the quality of entries can run the gamut from masterful to pedestrian". He wrote that "For characters in particular, entries that rehearse attributes and deeds suffer in comparison to more sophisticated analysis where we learn something or are graced with a perceptive insight or new direction of enquiry". Further, Wickham-Crowley suggested that a number of entries should have been merged. For example, some entries, like those on "Hobbits" and "Shire", repeat most of their corresponding content with few changes and should have likely ended up combined. Similarly, topics like "Environmentalism and Eco-Criticism" and "Environmentalist Readings of Tolkien" or "Comedy" and "Humor" may also not have warranted separate sections. Inclusion of some topics was rather surprising and arbitrary to Wickham-Crowley, for example the entries on "Thomas Aquinas" or "Law" (the latter focusing on theology instead of civil, or in-universe examples). In the end, Wickham-Crowley concluded, the level of contributors, and their contributions, varied significantly. [1]

Wickham-Crowley attributed the failings of the work to insufficient copyediting, noting that it was "badly served" by Taylor & Francis's acquisition of Routledge, which, during the ensuing restructuring of its acquisitions, discontinued the Routledge encyclopedia division while this work was in production. This effectively led to the Tolkien Encyclopedia's publication being unfinished, a view endorsed by its chief editor, Michael D. C. Drout. The final volume is missing not only about a hundred planned illustrations—there are none in the printed work—but several entries were not properly proofed, and many errors were not corrected. [1] Wickham-Crowley noted that while some entries were excellent, the work sports a "multitude of errors in word omission, grammar, spelling, spacing, word division, and bibliographic format [and other] embarrassing mistakes." In the end, Wickham-Crowley concluded that the project was ambitious, but execution was marred by the work's flaws. [1]

Likewise, Jennifer Goodfellow in her review noted that the entries vary significantly, with some offering only a short summary of a topic, while others are much more in-depth. She noted that the organization of entries is not optimal, but concluded that the work was "an excellent resource for serious scholars of English literature as well as those with a general interest in Tolkien". [3]

Tracy Carr in her short review of the work noted that it was intended more for scholars than Tolkien fans, as it aimed to engage more with real-world theories than describe the world Tolkien created. She concluded that the volume was "a suitable starting place" for "budding scholars" of Tolkien. [2]

See also

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.

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<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".

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.

<i>Tolkien Studies</i> Academic journal

Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review is an academic journal 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 bestselling fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings had an initial mixed literary reception. Despite some enthusiastic early reviews from supporters such as W. H. Auden, Iris Murdoch, and C. S. Lewis, literary hostility to Tolkien quickly became acute and continued until the start of the 21st century.

The Ainur (singular: Ainu) are the immortal spirits existing before the Creation in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe. These were the first beings made of the thought of Eru Ilúvatar. They were able to sing such beautiful music that the world was created from it.

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Arden Ray Smith is a member of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship and holds a Ph.D. in Germanic Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley. He has published numerous articles relating to the languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien. He was a columnist and editor of Vinyar Tengwar, for which he wrote the popular column "Transitions in Translations", in which odd elements in translations of Tolkien's work were described and commented upon.

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<i>Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon</i> Book of literary criticism of Tolkien

Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon is a 2003 book of literary criticism by Brian Rosebury about the English author and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien and his writings on his fictional world of Middle-earth, especially The Lord of the Rings. A shorter version of the book, Tolkien: A Critical Assessment, appeared in 1992. Rosebury examines how Tolkien imagined Middle-earth, how he achieved the aesthetic effect he was seeking, his place among twentieth century writers, and how his work has been retold and imitated by other authors and in other media, most notably for film by Peter Jackson.

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David Bratman is a librarian and Tolkien scholar.

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<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

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