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Research related to British writer J. R. R. Tolkien
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his legendarium that remained unpublished until after his death, and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 .
Biographical
Biographies of Tolkien have been written by
Humphrey Carpenter , with his 1977
J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography
[1] and of Tolkien's wartime years by
John Garth with his 2003
Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth .
[2] Carpenter edited the 1981
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien , assisted by
Christopher Tolkien .
[3] The brief period after the war when Tolkien worked for the
OED is detailed in the 2006 book
The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by
Peter Gilliver , Jeremy Marshall and
Edmund Weiner .
[4]
On Tolkien's writings
Institutions
A variety of institutions have developed to support Tolkien research. These include
The Tolkien Society and
The Mythopoeic Society . Tolkien archives are held in the
Bodleian Library in
Oxford
[5] and
Marquette University in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin .
[6]
Publishers of scholarly books on Tolkien include
Houghton Mifflin ,
McFarland Press , Mythopoeic Press,
Walking Tree Publishers ,
Palgrave MacMillan , and
Kent State University Press .
[7]
Journals
Early publications on Tolkien's writing were essentially fanzines; some, such as
Mythlore , founded in 1969, developed into scholarly
peer-reviewed (refereed) technical publications; among the "reputable"
[7] journals is
Mallorn
[7] by the
Tolkien Society . Other specialised journals include
Tolkien Studies (2004–) and Journal of Tolkien Research (2014–). There are several journals that focus on the literary society
The Inklings , of which Tolkien was a member, especially Journal of Inklings Studies (2011–).
[7]
Conferences
In 1992, the Tolkien Society and the Mythopoeic Society held a joint conference for the centenary of Tolkien's birth, combining papers that were published in the conference proceedings,
[8] with a mixed programme of events over a period of eight days, 17–24 August 1992, in Oxford. The Mythopoeic Society has been holding conferences in the U.S. (and once in Canada) nearly annually since 1970. In recent years some conferences have been virtual.
[9]
Omentielva is a European bi-yearly conference on research into Tolkien's invented languages.
[10]
Fields
A large literature examines Tolkien's
Middle-earth fantasy fiction from numerous points of view, including
medievalism , its
philological roots in languages such as
Old Norse and
Old English ,
its influences from
literature of different periods,
its poetry , its
Christian symbolism ,
feminism ,
race ,
sexuality , and
many other themes .
[12] These are overviewed in Blackwell's
A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien , which effectively marked his acceptance into the English literary canon.
[15]
Constructed languages
Tolkien's constructed languages,
Quenya and
Sindarin , the main languages of
Elves , have inspired
linguistic research.
Parma Eldalamberon and
Vinyar Tengwar are published by the
Elvish Linguistic Fellowship of the
Mythopoeic Society a non-profit organization. The Vinyar Tengwar and Parma Eldalamberon material published at an increasing rate during the early 2000s is from the stock of linguistic material in the possession of the appointed
team of editors (some 3000 pages according to them), consisting of photocopies sent them by
Christopher Tolkien and notes taken in the
Bodleian Library around 1992. An Internet
mailing list dedicated to Tolkien's languages, called tolklang, has existed since November 1, 1990.
[16]
Bibliography
Major introductory books
Drout, Michael D. C. , ed. (2013) [2007]. "Tolkien Scholarship: Institutions".
J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment .
Routledge .
ISBN
978-0-415-86511-1 .
Flieger, Verlyn ;
Hostetter, Carl F. , eds. (2000).
Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth .
Greenwood Press .
ISBN
978-0-313-30530-6 .
Hammond, Wayne G. ;
Christina Scull (2005).
The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion .
HarperCollins .
ISBN
978-0-00-720308-6 .
Hammond, Wayne G. ;
Scull, Christina (2006b).
The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: Reader's Guide . London:
HarperCollins .
ISBN
0-007-14918-2 .
Lee, Stuart D. , ed. (2020) [2014].
A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien .
Wiley Blackwell .
ISBN
978-1119656029 .
Olsen, Corey (2012). Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit . Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt .
ISBN
978-0-547-73946-5 .
Pesch, Helmut W. (2003). Elbisch – Grammatik, Schrift und Wörterbuch der Elben-Sprache J.R.R. Tolkiens (in German). Bergisch Gladbach: Bastei-Lübbe.
ISBN
3-404-20476-X .
Shippey, Tom (1982).
The Road to Middle-earth .
George Allen and Unwin .
ISBN
978-0-04-809018-8 . (Revised and expanded 1992, 2005)
Solopova, Elizabeth (2009). Languages, Myths and History: An Introduction to the Linguistic and Literary Background of J. R. R. Tolkien's Fiction . New York City:
North Landing Books .
ISBN
978-0-9816607-1-4 .
Journals
Current
Transitory
Fastitocalon: Studies in Fantasticism Ancient to Modern: Immortals and the Undead briefly existed in the 2010s.
[23]
[24]
References
^
"Tolkien Bibliography: 1977 - Humphrey Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: a biography" . The Tolkien Library. Retrieved 1 November 2016 .
^
Garth, John (2003).
Tolkien and the Great War: the threshold of Middle-earth . London:
HarperCollins .
ISBN
978-0-00-711953-0 .
OCLC
54047800 .
^
Carpenter, Humphrey , ed. (2000). "Letter 294".
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien .
Houghton Mifflin .
ISBN
978-0-618-05699-6 .
^ Gilliver, Peter (2006). The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary . Oxford:
Oxford University Press .
ISBN
978-0-19-861069-4 .
^ Barella, Cecilia (2013) [2007]. "Tolkien Scholarship: Institutions". In
Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.).
J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment .
Routledge . pp. 656–659.
ISBN
978-0-415-86511-1 .
^
"J R R Tolkien Collection - Marquette University Libraries" .
Marquette University Libraries. 30 November 2020. Archived from
the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 25 January 2021 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
Croft, Janet Brennan (2016).
"Bibliographic Resources for Literature Searches on J.R.R Tolkien" . Journal of Tolkien Research . 3 (1). Article 2.
^ Proceedings of
The J. R. R. Tolkien Centenary Conference 1992
– separate articles (out of print);
– single PDF with index
^
GoodKnight, Glen H. ; Reynolds, Patricia (15 October 1996).
"Editorial" .
Mythlore . 21 (2): article 1.
^
Omentielva
^
Drout, Michael D. C. , ed. (2006).
The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment . New York City:
Routledge . pp. xxix–xxx.
ISBN
0-415-96942-5 .
^ Higgins, Andrew (2015).
"A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. Stuart D. Lee, reviewed by Andrew Higgins" . Journal of Tolkien Research . 2 (1). Article 2.
^ Bradfield, Julian.
"The Tolkien Language List" . Quettar.org . Retrieved 25 January 2021 .
^
Tolkien Studies at
West Virginia University Press
^
Mythlore
^
Journal of Tolkien Research
^
Mallorn
^ At its issue #15 ,
Tolkien Journal merged with Mythlore .
^
Vinyar Tengwar
^ Petersen, Vibeke Rützou (2012).
"Review of Fastitocalon. Studies in Fantasticism Ancient to Modern: Immortals and the Undead 1.2 (2010): 91–200" .
Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts . 23 (2 (85)): 334–337.
ISSN
0897-0521 .
JSTOR
24352949 .
^
Croft, Janet Brennan (2010).
"Review of Fastitocalon: Studies in Fantasticism Ancient to Modern: Immortals and the Undead" .
Mythlore . 29 (1/2 (111/112)): 188–192.
ISSN
0146-9339 .
JSTOR
26815554 .
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