JRR Tolkien and LOTR

J.R.R. Tolkien

The father of modern fantasy

Index

life

THe lord of the rings

Pag. 03

Pag. 13

Works

Characters

Pag. 06

Pag. 17

the father of modern fantasy

the themes

Pag. 10

Pag. 18

J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Unit 01

John Ronald Reuen Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973) was an English writer, philologist, linguistic and historian and he is considered the father of the modern fantasy genre.

He didn't write only for the sake of writing, but his works are indeed literary archeology, a riconstructions of the lost myths of the British Isle.

A depressing thought that the votes for the world's best 20th century book should have come from those burrowing an escape to a nonexistent world.

Joseph Pierce, writer

J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Unit 01

Tolkien's Lord of the Ring became popular soon after its publishing, especially in America (1960s). It won several awards, among which "best 20th century book". However, not all scholars were happy with such result.

Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison walls? The world outside has not become less real because the prisoner cannot see it.

J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories"

Tolkien argued that when the fantasy genre is forced to remain childlike it is deprived of its true potential.He cemented the idea that fantasy is a tool to narrate deeper truths.

J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Unit 01

J.R.R.Tolkien was born in South Africa. He moved to England in 1895 and received home education from his mother.

1892

His mother died and Ronald is brought up by Father Morgan, a priest at the Birmingham Oratory. He became passionate about the studying of Latin and Anglo-Saxon. He also met his future wife.

Early childhood

Even though he didn't wanto to, he participated in the First World War. A close friend of his died and he turned back home due to trench fever.

1914-1918

Tolkien started a carreer at the Oxford English Dictionary where he could work with his greatest passions: language, etimology of words, and glottology.

From 1920 to 1959

THE WORKS

Unit 02

The Works

THE WORKS

Unit 02

Silmarillon

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

On Fairy-Stories

The Hobbit is a fantasy novel following Bilbo Baggins on a quest to reclaim treasure from the dragon Smaug. The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic chronicling the journey of Frodo Baggins to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron.

A collection detailing the creation, history, and legends of Tolkien's fictional universe, Middle-earth, from its inception to the end of the Third Age. It is the result of about 20 years of worldbuilding.

An essay exploring the nature, purpose, and significance of fairy tales and fantasy literature, wherein Tolkien discusses their ability to evoke "recovery, escape, consolation, and fantasy."

THE WORKS

Unit 02

Influences from Oxford's studies

The invention of languages is the foundation.The ‘stories’ were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first, and the story follows."

Tolkien had been an Oxford scholar and professor for many years before the publication of LOTR. There, he had taught Language, Literature, History, and Geography.He wrote his works not only for the sake of writing but as literary archaeology, a reconstruction of the myths of the British Isles. He decided not to express the results of his studies through abstract argumentation but by demonstration.

J.R.R. Tolkien in a letter

THE WORKS

Unit 02

Tolkien was particularly passionate about nordic languages and myths.He wrote about Beowulf, which he translated and commented.Upon it and its chivalry tropes he based and developed the characters of Aragorn, Arwen, Faramir and Éowyn. In fact, their ideals, actions and relationships are typical of the heroes of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem. Also some moods and atmospheres take inspiration from Norse mythology.

THE FATHER OF MODERN FANTASY

Unit 03

Why can J.R.R. Tolkien be considered the father of modern fantasy?

Even though the fantasy genre undoubtedly existed before LOTR, J.R.R. Tolkien's worldbuilding set high standards that modern writers feel compelled to follow. Writers, in fact, now assume that for readers the presence of a perfect consistency in the fantastic world is unquestioned.

LOTR has also made the quest structure dominate the fantasy genre and the battle between good and evil has become omnipresent.

THE FATHER OF MODERN FANTASY

Unit 03

Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding is the process of creating an imaginary or fictional world, often for use as the setting of a story, novel, game, or other creative work. It involves developing all aspects of this world, including its geography, history, cultures, languages, societies, magic systems, flora and fauna, and more. Worldbuilding aims to make the fictional world feel vivid, immersive, and internally consistent, allowing the audience to suspend disbelief and engage with the story or work on a deeper level. It often requires attention to detail and may involve creating maps, timelines, character backstories, and other supplemental materials to flesh out the world.

THE FATHER OF MODERN FANTASY

Unit 03

All modern fantasy writers fall into three categories who have Tolkien as a basis for comparison

Those who intentionally avoid him

Those whogrow from him

Those whocopy him

The Lord of the Rings

THE PLOT

Unit 04

The Fellowship of the Ring

his loyal friends Samwise Gamgee, Merry, and Pippin, as well as representatives of various races of Middle-earth, forming the Fellowship of the Ring. Along the way, they encounter dangers, including the pursuit of Sauron's servants. Eventually, Frodo and his companions decide to continue the quest on their own, with Frodo and Sam heading towards Mordor while the rest of the fellowship takes different paths.

The story begins in the peaceful land of the Shire, where Frodo Baggins inherits a mysterious and powerful ring from his uncle, Bilbo Baggins. Gandalf the wizard informs Frodo that the ring is the One Ring, created by the dark lord Sauron to control all of Middle-earth. Frodo embarks on a perilous journey to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom, accompanied by

THE PLOT

Unit 04

The Two Towers

Meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli form an alliance with the Riders of Rohan and the people of Gondor to defend against the rising threat of Sauron's armies. The forces of good must unite to hold back the darkness while Frodo and Sam draw closer to the heart of Mordor and the fires of Mount Doom.

As the fellowship is broken, Frodo and Sam continue their journey to Mordor alone, while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursue Merry and Pippin, who have been captured by orcs. Frodo and Sam are guided by Gollum, who has his own conflicted motives regarding the ring.

THE PLOT

Unit 04

The Return of the King

the charge against Sauron's armies, while Frodo and Sam face their own desperate struggle within Mount Doom. Ultimately, the ring is destroyed, and Sauron is defeated, bringing an end to the War of the Ring. The surviving characters return to rebuild their shattered world, and a new era and prosperity begins.Frodo needs to abandon Middle-earth to leave the scars left on his soul by the Ring and finally find peace.

The final installment sees the culmination of the epic struggle for Middle-earth. Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom, but the ring's power begins to corrupt Frodo, threatening to derail their quest. Meanwhile, the armies of Gondor and Rohan gather for a epic battle against Sauron's forces at the gates of Mordor. Aragorn embraces his destiny as the rightful king of Gondor and lead

THE CHARACTERS

Unit 05

Frodo Baggins

Samwise Gamgee

Gandalf the Wizard

Aragorn and Theoden

Saruman

Gollum

THE THEMES

Unit 06

The Themes of The Lord of the Rings

The Limits of the Fellowship

Protection of the Environment

Destiny

Good v. Evil

Congratulations

Hope you enjoyedour journey together

The Sword of Shannara

By Terry Brooks

The plot of the epic fantasy starts in a very similar way to The Lord of the Rings, where different characters such as human, elves and dwarves join a quest to fight the evil in the world. The story develops in a different way than The Lord of the Rings, but it maintains the tropes set by Tolkien mosty unaltered.

Philology

A definition

Philology is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology.

A Song of Ice and Fire

By George R. R. Martin

Less drastically than Pullman, George R. R. Martin tries to differentiate his work by giving them a more realistic tone. Rather than presenting a black and white world, he depicts a grey reality that Tolkien decided to avoid in favour of a more idealisitc world. Martin essentialy answers those questions left unanswered in The Lord of the Rings.

His Dark Materials

By Philipp Pullman

Disliking the way Tolkien explores certain themes, such as the fight between good and evil or the veil of Christianity that can be inferred from some lines, some authors aim to differentiate their works from The Lord of the Rings. P. Pullman, for example, dips into the world of speculative philosophy which is openly anti-Christian. Still, Pullman created an identity which started from LOTR.

Discworld saga

By Terry Pratchett

Coraline

By Neil Gaiman

The third group consist of those author who took the spark of fantasy created by Tolkien and threw it into the bonfire. In the same way in which Tolkien drew inspiration from old legends and myth to create his stories, these authors look at the past to create the new.

Frodo Baggins

Humble hobbit entrusted with destroying the One Ring, Frodo embodies courage and resilience on his journey through Middle-earth. He symbolizes the ordinary individual into extraordinary circumstances. His journey explores themes of heroism, sacrifice, and the struggle against temptation.

Samwise Gamgee

Loyal companion to Frodo, Sam symbolizes friendship and selflessness on their quest to destroy the One Ring. Despite facing frightening challenges, Sam's devotion and resilience don't waver. He supports Frodo even in the darkest of times, offering to bear the One Ring to alleviate his master's burden for a while. He represents the power of friendship and the triumph of hope over dispair.

Gandalf

Gandalf is the wise and powerful wizard who serves as a guiding force for the Fellowship, offering knowledge, leadership, and resolve in the face of darkness. His wisdom and courage inspire hope and determination in their quest against Sauron. Gandalf is the reflection of Tolkien's personal ideas. The writer's thoughts on war, destiny, life and death are, in fact, given voice by Gandalf's wisdom.

Aragorn

Aragorn is the rightful heir to Gondor's throne, though he had lived in exile by the elves. Aragorn is brave, honorable, and humble. He has a strong sense of duty and during his journey he will accept his fate and role as king of Gondor, kingdom of the Human race. Aragorn is the result of Tolkien's studies about the heroes of the ancient epic poems, embodying their morality and strenght.

Saruman the Wizard

Saruman had once been a wise and respected wizard, but he fell into darkness, betraying his allies and succumbing to the dark power of Sauron. He has a great thirst for dominance and he experimented with eugenics, creating the Uruk-hai by crossbreeding orcs and men. He represents those whose ambition lead them to try and conquer the evil, but in the end they fail and become evil themselves.

Gollum

Gollum was once a hobbit named Smeagol, but he became a wretched individual consumed by his obsession with the One Ring. His split personality, torn between Smeagol's innocence and Gollum's evil cunning, symbolizes the destructive nature of obsession and the struggle for redemption. Frodo and Sam provide two opposite narrations on Gollum's character, the first a merciful one, while the latter only sees evil with no possibility of redemption.

The limits of the Fellowship

Even though the Fellowship consists of nine people of different races who embark into the journey to destroy the One Ring, the only one who shall bear the burden of carrying the Ring is Frodo. The fellowship share only one goal, however multiple characters say to Frodo that he is ultimately alone. Frodo himself eventually comes to understand and accept his solitude. More evidence of this fact is that Frodo refuses Sam's offering to aid him in carrying the One Ring.

Such realization leads to a solitude that only those who have been directly touched by the darkness of the One Ring can understand.

The protection of the environment

The Ents are the living trees of the ancient forest, whose spirit they embody. They are threatened by Saruman's necessity to destroy them to fuel an industrialized world. Such technology advancement has the aim of bringing war to the world, by modern weaponry and eugenic expemirents. As ancient being who live for centuries, the Ents take longer times than human to take action, but they are hurried up by a member of the Fellowship to act in order to stop Saruman's madness.

The power of Nature summoned by the Ents eventually prevail over the industrial reality created by Saruman. However, even when evil is defeated the damage caused to the nature of Middle-earth cannot be totally reversed and will be scarred forever.

Good vs Evil

Saruman was originally a wizard who used to operate for the good of the world. However, when the moment came for him to face the darkness, he thought he could somehow dominate it through the political strategy of wisdom, intelligence and cunning adaptability. Such decision led Saruman to lose his moral integrity, and he was thus corrupted to the core by the One Ring and succumbed to its power, changing his title from "Saruman the White" to "Saruman of Many Colours".

Tolkien argued, in fact, that when having to face evil, no one should come to any kind of agreement, but shall take arms to fight it.

Destiny

Throughout the development of the events, Frodo wonders many times why Fate had chosen him to bear the One Ring and why he has to endure the difficulties that the task entails.Gandalf explains to him that all things that happen have a role in the greater river of Destiny. As we too are part of such river, we don't possess the capability to see it for its entirety, nor to understand where it leads. We are also blind to our own purpose in the flow of such river and thus to the meaning of our existence.

Such vision of life offers a sort of consolation when acknowledging the hardships of our lives, as we are relieved that all the evil and all the good play a part in shaping the common Destiny we are all part of.