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One Ring to Bind Them All: Tolkien's Mythology
Fascination with J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is at an all-time high following the release of Peter Jackson’s widely acclaimed film adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring. A new generation of devotees is immersing itself in the fictive world of Middle-earth to find fantasy, wonder, and enchantment. And hobbits, elves, dwarves, and wizards once again people the imaginations of readers revisiting this classic story of sacrifice, loss, and redemption.
In One Ring to Bind Them All, Anne Petty shows that when viewed through the combined methodologies of Joseph Campbell, Vladimir Propp, and Claude Lévi-Strauss a folkloristic/mythic structure is seen to underlie Tolkien’s epic work. The Lord of the Rings is 20th-century mythology manifested in the familiar pattern of the three-stage hero quest made popular by Campbell—departure, initiation, and return—and in the elemental motifs of folktales, as discovered by Propp and expanded upon by Lévi-Strauss.
This cross-disciplinary analysis shows that Tolkien presented to modern readers and other writers a rich array of reinvented mythic archetypes and icons: the desperate quest (good vs. evil); a magical object that embodies or initiates the quest (the ring); the wise wizard who oversees or aids the quest (Gandalf); the reluctant hero, an ordinary person with untapped abilities (Frodo); the hero’s loyal friend and supporter (Sam); the warrior king whose true identity is hidden (Strider/Aragorm); the goddess figure (Galadriel); and so on.
Petty asserts that through The Hobbitt and The Lord of the Rings Tolkien created a fully realized world that evokes a sense of authentic history and is imbued with clarity and a beauty of linguistic expression, a world that continues to draw new audiences to the myth of Middle-earth.
In One Ring to Bind Them All, Anne Petty shows that when viewed through the combined methodologies of Joseph Campbell, Vladimir Propp, and Claude Lévi-Strauss a folkloristic/mythic structure is seen to underlie Tolkien’s epic work. The Lord of the Rings is 20th-century mythology manifested in the familiar pattern of the three-stage hero quest made popular by Campbell—departure, initiation, and return—and in the elemental motifs of folktales, as discovered by Propp and expanded upon by Lévi-Strauss.
This cross-disciplinary analysis shows that Tolkien presented to modern readers and other writers a rich array of reinvented mythic archetypes and icons: the desperate quest (good vs. evil); a magical object that embodies or initiates the quest (the ring); the wise wizard who oversees or aids the quest (Gandalf); the reluctant hero, an ordinary person with untapped abilities (Frodo); the hero’s loyal friend and supporter (Sam); the warrior king whose true identity is hidden (Strider/Aragorm); the goddess figure (Galadriel); and so on.
Petty asserts that through The Hobbitt and The Lord of the Rings Tolkien created a fully realized world that evokes a sense of authentic history and is imbued with clarity and a beauty of linguistic expression, a world that continues to draw new audiences to the myth of Middle-earth.
- GenresNonfictionLiterature
122 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
37 people want to read
About the author
Anne C. Petty
10 books21 followersWriter, editor, publisher, anime/manga addict. Tastes run toward the dark side.
Anne Petty (Ph.D. in English, Florida State University) has over 30 years’ experience in the wordsmithing field as teacher, author, editor, and publisher.
Anne explores myth, legend, and the world of J.R.R. Tolkien in her online blog and her published non-fiction writing—Tolkien in the Land of Heroes (2005, a Mythopoeic Society Award Finalist), Dragons of Fantasy (2nd ed. 2008), and One Ring to Bind Them All (2nd ed. 2001). Chapters in anthologies include contributions to Modern Critical Views (2000); Tolkien Studies (2004); More People’s Guide to J. R. R. Tolkien (2005); Tolkien and Shakespeare (2007); Good Dragons Are Rare (2009); and Light Beyond All Shadow (2011).
Anne also writes dark urban fantasy/horror fiction. The first novel in her Wandjina series was Thin Line Between (2005), and the follow-up novel, Shaman's Blood, is due out later in 2011. Recent short stories include “The Veritas Experience” published in The Best Horror, Fantasy, & Science Fiction of 2009 (Absent Willow Review). Another story, “Blade,” received Honorable Mention in AWR’s 2010 Best Horror, Fantasy, & SciFi competition.
Anne is an active member of the Horror Writers Association, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, the Mythopoeic Society, and the Tolkien Society. She is a founding member of the Tallahassee Writers Association and is a regular presenter at writers’ conferences and pop-culture conventions such as Dragon-Con in Atlanta. In 2006, she founded Kitsune Books, a small press specializing in literary novels, short story collections, book-length poetry collections, and literary criticism. Kitsune Books authors have won Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards from the Florida Book Awards and the Florida Publishers Association.
Anne Petty (Ph.D. in English, Florida State University) has over 30 years’ experience in the wordsmithing field as teacher, author, editor, and publisher.
Anne explores myth, legend, and the world of J.R.R. Tolkien in her online blog and her published non-fiction writing—Tolkien in the Land of Heroes (2005, a Mythopoeic Society Award Finalist), Dragons of Fantasy (2nd ed. 2008), and One Ring to Bind Them All (2nd ed. 2001). Chapters in anthologies include contributions to Modern Critical Views (2000); Tolkien Studies (2004); More People’s Guide to J. R. R. Tolkien (2005); Tolkien and Shakespeare (2007); Good Dragons Are Rare (2009); and Light Beyond All Shadow (2011).
Anne also writes dark urban fantasy/horror fiction. The first novel in her Wandjina series was Thin Line Between (2005), and the follow-up novel, Shaman's Blood, is due out later in 2011. Recent short stories include “The Veritas Experience” published in The Best Horror, Fantasy, & Science Fiction of 2009 (Absent Willow Review). Another story, “Blade,” received Honorable Mention in AWR’s 2010 Best Horror, Fantasy, & SciFi competition.
Anne is an active member of the Horror Writers Association, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, the Mythopoeic Society, and the Tolkien Society. She is a founding member of the Tallahassee Writers Association and is a regular presenter at writers’ conferences and pop-culture conventions such as Dragon-Con in Atlanta. In 2006, she founded Kitsune Books, a small press specializing in literary novels, short story collections, book-length poetry collections, and literary criticism. Kitsune Books authors have won Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards from the Florida Book Awards and the Florida Publishers Association.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 4, 2012
Commentary on Tolkien's mythmaking in Lord of the Rings, using Joseph Campbell's work pretty heavily. Some of the details are wrong -- Elbereth was not an elf, Isildur didn't cut anything from Morgoth's hand -- but it's a quick, relatively interesting read. Might've got more out of it if I'd already read The Hero With A Thousand Faces.
It doesn't so much focus on what Tolkien borrowed from medieval literature, in the sense of characters, situations, themes, etc, but about the structures his work shares with medieval mythology (and indeed, other mythology, I would think).
Not useful for my essay, mostly reminded me that I should get round to The Hero With A Thousand Faces.
It doesn't so much focus on what Tolkien borrowed from medieval literature, in the sense of characters, situations, themes, etc, but about the structures his work shares with medieval mythology (and indeed, other mythology, I would think).
Not useful for my essay, mostly reminded me that I should get round to The Hero With A Thousand Faces.
November 3, 2013
The gist of the book is very well-summarized by the synopsis. Down to earth and objective, this book seeks to account for the second LOTR revival in our age.
Though I was looking for a lighter account when I first started reading it. The 3rd para in the intro reads: "What strikes me about this experience is the emotional and intellectual force Tolkien's creation continues to exert nearly fifty years after the LOTR first appeared in print. The last time I experienced a Tolkien 'tsunami' of these proportions was in the late 1960s, when anyone who was hip had a map of Middle-earth on their door and a T-shirt proclaiming 'Frodo lives.' My fellow graduate students in English literature and I carried well-worn copies of the LOTR in our bags along with the usual course-required texts such as Bright's Anglo-Saxon Reader and Beowolf. We adopted elvish names for ourselves and used them religiously. In 2002, it is happening again- only this time the Internet's contribution have made the tidal wave even bigger."
The book turned out to be more technical but nevertheless - still read it. It's like the secret of my success - not phenomenally but literarily.
Though I was looking for a lighter account when I first started reading it. The 3rd para in the intro reads: "What strikes me about this experience is the emotional and intellectual force Tolkien's creation continues to exert nearly fifty years after the LOTR first appeared in print. The last time I experienced a Tolkien 'tsunami' of these proportions was in the late 1960s, when anyone who was hip had a map of Middle-earth on their door and a T-shirt proclaiming 'Frodo lives.' My fellow graduate students in English literature and I carried well-worn copies of the LOTR in our bags along with the usual course-required texts such as Bright's Anglo-Saxon Reader and Beowolf. We adopted elvish names for ourselves and used them religiously. In 2002, it is happening again- only this time the Internet's contribution have made the tidal wave even bigger."
The book turned out to be more technical but nevertheless - still read it. It's like the secret of my success - not phenomenally but literarily.
May 28, 2017
As in-depth as the technical discussion was, the fact that many of the minor details were blatantly wrong takes away from the work.
July 16, 2012
A decent guide to the mythological elements in Tolkien, and especially how Tolkien's narrative follows traditional mythological narrative forms.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews