Tolkien's Art: 'A Mythology for England' by Jane Chance Nitzsche

The author discusses not only such classics as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, but focuses on Tolkien's minor works as well, tracing in detail the sources and influences - from pagan epic to Christian legend - which formed the foundation of Tolkien's masterpieces, his 'mythology for England'.

As a storyteller, Tolkien became both a cult figure and an object of severe criticism. In this absorbing study, however, it is not so much of the writer who is under observation as the 'discoverer of legend'.

J. R. R. Tolkien wrote some of the greatest pieces of imaginative fiction of this century and, perhaps, of any other century as well. He created a mythological world that is timeless; a magical kingdom that profoundly reflects the truths of the 'real' world as few other works have done.

For it was Tolkien's passion for the medieval literary, religious and cultural ideas in which his entire life was steeped that provided the seeds for his own fiction.


Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 The Critic as Monster: Tolkien's Lectures, Prefaces, and Foreword
2 The King under the Mountain: Tolkien's Children's Story
3 The Christian King: Tolkien's Fairy-Stories
4 The Germanie King: Tolkien's Medieval Parodies
5 The Lord o[ the Rings: Tolkien's Epic
Conclusion: The Silmarillion - Tolkien's 'Book of Lost Tales'
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index