Middle-earth and Beyond: Essays on the World of J.R.R. Tolkien by Kathleen Dubs and Janka Kascakova (02.02.11 by Pieter Collier) - Comments

Thanks to Jason Fisher we all learned about the book called Middle-earth and Beyond, bringing a collection of fascinating essays on the world of J.R.R. Tolkien.

One wonders whether there really is a need for another volume of essays on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Clearly there is. Especially when the volume takes new directions, employs new approaches, focuses on different texts, or reviews and then challenges received wisdom. This volume intends to do all that. The entries on sources and analogues in The Lord of the Rings, a favorite topic, are still able to take new directions. The analyses of Tolkien’s literary art, less common in Tolkien criticism, focus on character — especially that of Tom Bombadil — in which two different conclusions are reached. But characterization is also seen in the light of different literary techniques, motifs, and symbols. A unique contribution examines the place of linguistics in Tolkien’s literary art, employing Gricean concepts in an analysis of The Lay of the Children of Húrin. And a quite timely essay presents a new interpretation of Tolkien’s attitude toward the environment, especially in the character of Tom Bombadil. In sum, this volume covers new ground, and treads some well-worn paths; but here the well-worn path takes a new turn, taking not only scholars but general readers further into the complex and provocative world of Middle-earth, and beyond.

About the Editors

Before her work in Europe, Kathleen Dubs taught and held administrative positions at a number of American universities and liberal arts colleges. She is currently on the faculty of Arts and Letters at Catholic University in Ruzomberok, Slovakia, and the Institute of English Studies at Pazmany Peter Catholic University, Hungary. We best know her from the entry "Fortune and Fate" in The J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment.

Janka Kascakova took her PhD from Comenius University, Bratislava, and teaches English literature at the Department of English language and literature at Catholic University in Ruzomberok, Slovakia. The main focus of her research is modernism and the modernist short story, with a specialization in Katherine Mansfield. She also conducts research in fantasy literature, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. In addition to her forthcoming publications on Mansfield, on whom she has presented several papers, she has also presented papers on tolkien's work. Her article "Elves and Orcs in the Fictional World of J.R.R. Tolkien" is forthcoming.

List of contributors

Kathleen Dubs; Jason Fisher; Sue Bridgwater; Liam Campbell; Kinga Jenike; Silvia Pokrivcakova; Anton Pokrivcak; Jana Kascakova and Roberto Di Scala.

Table of contents

* List of Abbreviations
* Acknowledgments
* Introduction / Kathleen Dubs
* Sourcing tolkien's "Circles of the World": Speculations on the Heimskringla, the Latin Vulgate Bible, and the Hereford Mappa Mundi / Jason Fisher
* Staying Home and Travelling: Stasis Versus Movement in Tolkien’s Mythos / Sue Bridgwater
* The Enigmatic Mr. Bombadil: Tom Bombadil’s Role as a Representation of Nature in The Lord of the Rings / Liam Campbell
* Tom Bombadil – Man of Mystery / Kinga Jenike
* Grotesque Characters in Tolkien’s Novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings / Silvia Pokrivcakova and Anton Pokrivcak
* "It Snowed Food and Rained Drink" in The Lord of the Rings / Janka Kascakova
* "No Laughing Matter”, Kathleen Dubs
* "Lit.", "Lang.", "Ling.", and the Company They Keep: The Case of The Lay of the Children of Húrin Seen from a Gricean Perspective / Roberto Di Scala
* Contributors

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