The Road to Middle Earth draws the reader into the core of JRR Tolkien's creativity by following the routes of Tolkien's own obsessions: the poetry of languages, and of myth.' Professor Shippey shows, in this fascinating, accessible and deeply-admired work (now fully updated and published for the first time in paperback) how Beowulf, The Lord of the Rings, Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Elder Edda, and many other works, form part of a live and continuing tradition of literature.
The book shows in detail how Tolkien's professional background led him to The Hobbit and how the same professionalism-could' create a timeless ' charm for millions of readers. The contribution of The Silmarillion and - Unfinished Tales to Tolkien's great myth-cycle is also discussed: while at its centre The Road to Middle-Earth examines The Lord of the Rings successively as a linguistic and cultural map; as a twisted web of story; and as a response to the inner meaning of myth and poetry.
Subsequent chapters deal in detail with The Silmarillion and the later works, explaining Tolkien's private symbolism and the problems of reading archaic literary modes; and in a new final section Professor Shippey examines the remarkable History of Middle-Earth (by Tolkien's youngest son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien) which in a series, so far, of nine scholarly volumes, traces the creative and technical processes through which Middle-Earth evolved.
The Road to Middle-Earth takes repeated issue with many basic premises of ' orthodox criticism, and offers 'a new approach to Tolkien, to fantasy, and to the importance of language in literature. Professor T.A. Shippey holds the Chair of English Language and Medieval Literature at Leeds University, which Tolkien also held early in his career.
Science Fiction & Fantasy
