To Read & To Write

The Hobbit - first of all - is a children's story about journeying. It's tone is playful even throughout the perhaps psychological and physical representations of the trauma of war (this was written between WWI and WWII) . There are huge spiders, evil trolls, and goblin battles, to name a few. These encounters that the hobbit (Bilbo Baggins), the dwarfs and elves have make them a team with the goal to retrieve the treasure that was wrongfully taken away from them (specifically from the dwarf Thorin Oakenshield) by yet another (recurring character in fantasy works) dragon, this one named Smaug. Gandalf the wizard acts as their guardian and teacher, offering kind words, advice, and support, the whole way, that is, the journey from the nice and homely place of Bag End to the dragon's lair at The Lonely Mountain. Bilbo Baggins is a naive jack-of-all-trades, even an odd-ball, and a partaker in pleasurable activities and hobbies, before he is practically pushed out of his co...

J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Beren and Luthien”, published for the first time as a standalone novel by his son, Christopher Tolkien, last year (2017), is a romantic fairy-tale and fantasy story about the love and journey between a mortal man – Beren - and an Elfin maiden – Luthien. The tale is included in Christopher Tolkien’s edition of his father’s other work, “The Silmarillion”, but is, in this publication, told in full detail, with most of J.R.R. Tolkien’s editions, revisions, embellishments and subtractions included. Reading this publication is like listening to the same piece of music over and over again. Though it is the same song being played, each time it is played the song sounds quite different, with each unique articulation changing the mood, tone, and pace of its story, allowing the listener, or here, the reader, to pay attention to the intricate details, from which an infinite amount of meanings and renderings can be produced. “Beren and Luthien” was notably written a year after...

“Tolkien On Fairy Stories: Expanded Edition, with Commentary and Notes”, edited by Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson, is a great reference resource for anyone seriously studying fairy-tales, or for anyone who just enjoys them. Included is an introduction by Flieger, which goes over “On Fairy-Stories”, a lecture which Tolkien presented to an audience at the University of St. Andrew on March 8, 1939 for the Andrew Lang Lecture. Flieger breaks down the essay, addressing each section such as Tolkien’s answer to the question “what is a fairy story” and “what is the origin of the story”. Then, she goes into immediate context, larger context, and publication history. Suffice it to say, there is enough here to even do without reading the actual essay, for the introduction sums it up comprehensively and succinctly. But there’s nothing quite like reading Tolkien’s own writing on the matter of fairy-stories itself. Even without taking studious notes, it is possible to read this essay and...