Medieval History
Please find Leigh Smith's review of Christopher Vaccaro, The Body in Tolkien's Legendarium (McFarland, 2013) at Medievally Speaking. The review was curated by Ilse Schweitzer-Vandonkelaar.
Tolkien?s view of the body is a delicate issue for a medievalist. We who see him as a colleague are suspicious of readings that appear to evince a too-modern fascination with the material. On the other hand, we must admit that many of the conundrums with which all Tolkienists struggle are related to physicality. Where do little orcs come from? Does Sauron always have a body? Does Frodo actually ?fade,? and if so, how? What order of being is Tom Bombadil? No one who has read Tolkien seriously can believe he did not think of these questions. Every year, more of his previously-unpublished notes testify to his obsessive attention to detail. Therefore, if we find his treatment of physicality confusing or paradoxical, we must try to explain it. This is the purpose of The Body in Tolkien?s Legendarium, a varied ?collection of essays on middle-earth corporeality? (its subtitle), and its editor, Christopher Vaccaro, is well aware of the difficulty. His fine introduction places the major conundrums in their contexts?medieval heroic literature, Catholic theology, World War I?and summarizes the major attempts of critics to use postmodern theory to illuminate Tolkien?s view of the physical. The essays vary in quality, but all will contribute on some level to a reader?s understanding of Tolkien?s work and worldview, and several point to areas where further research is needed.
Read the entire review HERE.
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Medieval History
Leigh Smith reviews C. Vaccaro, The Body in Tolkien's Legendarium
Tolkien?s view of the body is a delicate issue for a medievalist. We who see him as a colleague are suspicious of readings that appear to evince a too-modern fascination with the material. On the other hand, we must admit that many of the conundrums with which all Tolkienists struggle are related to physicality. Where do little orcs come from? Does Sauron always have a body? Does Frodo actually ?fade,? and if so, how? What order of being is Tom Bombadil? No one who has read Tolkien seriously can believe he did not think of these questions. Every year, more of his previously-unpublished notes testify to his obsessive attention to detail. Therefore, if we find his treatment of physicality confusing or paradoxical, we must try to explain it. This is the purpose of The Body in Tolkien?s Legendarium, a varied ?collection of essays on middle-earth corporeality? (its subtitle), and its editor, Christopher Vaccaro, is well aware of the difficulty. His fine introduction places the major conundrums in their contexts?medieval heroic literature, Catholic theology, World War I?and summarizes the major attempts of critics to use postmodern theory to illuminate Tolkien?s view of the physical. The essays vary in quality, but all will contribute on some level to a reader?s understanding of Tolkien?s work and worldview, and several point to areas where further research is needed.
Read the entire review HERE.
- New Book Examines The Influence Of Medieval Welsh On Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote: ?I love Wales?and especially the Welsh language?. Now, a Cardiff University academic has explored Wales? influence on Tolkien in the first book-length study of his debts to Welsh language and literature. Tolkien and Wales: Language,...
- Atherton On Tolkien (trans.) & Tolkien (ed.), Beowulf
J.R.R. Tolkien (trans.) and Christopher Tolkien (ed). Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell. London: HarperCollins, 2014. 448pp. Reviewed by Mark Atherton Beowulf is "the major piece of Old English verse...
- Smol Reviews Ferré, Dictionnaire Tolkien
Anna Smol recently reviewed: Dictionnaire Tolkien. Ed. Vincent Ferré. Paris: CNRS Éditions, 2012. J.R.R. Tolkien?s fiction is read around the world, having been translated into dozens of languages, from Vietnamese and Korean to Slovak and Catalan to...
- Tolkien, The Fall Of Arthur, Reviewed
Alex Mueller reviews: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Fall of Arthur. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. Imagine Sir Thomas Malory pouring over the alliterative poem before him, reveling in its contagious rhythms, until the cataclysmic...
- Tolkien 2009 ?ten Years Of History?
Tolkien 2009 ?Ten Years of History? event to be held on August 15th-16th 2009 [no location given] The Asociación Tolkien Argentina (A.T.A.) is a non-profit cultural and literary association founded by Dr. Ricardo Irigaray and Mr. Jorge Ferro in 1999...