Myth & Middle-Earth: Exploring the Medieval Legends Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings

by Leslie Ellen Jones

J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction, especially "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings", made him a world-renowned fantasy writer. These tales were based on Tolkien's personal mythology of a place he called Middle-Earth, but Middle-Earth was strongly influenced by the myths and legends of Dark Age Europe that Tolkien studied professionally as a professor at Oxford University. This title takes a popular - not academic - look at the mythic world and mythic themes that inspired Tolkien, not only the Germanic and Norse mythology that most experts discuss, but also Celtic and Finnish myths. It talks of the journeys and quests that inspired Tolkien, dragon myths, beliefs in supernatural, non-human races such as dwarves and elves, the role and function of the warrior, the nature of heroism and more.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2002

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gem! This was such a fascinating, really "readable" analysis of Tolkien; partly, I'm sure, because it was interested in broad overviews vs the dry and dusty detailed treatises. Jones made me appreciate Tolkien's saga in a whole new way, especially in revealing the various dyads/duals.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the mythological sources that Tolkien used in writing his "Middle Earth" books; I bought this book to use as a resource for a mythology course I used to teach, but I never got around to reading it. I no longer teach the class, but I finally read the book, and I found it an excellent resource for mythology. If I ever teach such a course again, this will be a useful reference. This book won't teach a scholar much he or she doesn't already know, but it gathers a lot of handy references in one place.

[Elizabeth Lozano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a scholarly but accessible book. It analyzes several mythological themes in the works of Tolkien and connects them to Germanic, Celtic and Old English folklore and myths. I found the book to be well written and researched, and enjoyed reading it throughly.

[Amanda Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never managed to finish this book, even after renewing it from the library twice. I think I made it halfway through before deciding I really didn't feel like finishing it. If I had read the entire The Lord of the Rings saga, I probably would have had more interest in the various anecdotes and connections to mythology that the author gives. However, I have only read The Hobbitt (and that was a long time ago) and have seen the movies, so I don't think I had enough connection to the author's references when I started reading. The mythological tales are all fun to read, but they're only passing references, and I was really wanting fuller stories of the heroes and monsters of the Norse, Celts, and other cultures from which Tolkien "borrowed" to write his novels. This book was also a little difficult to read. I felt as though I should have really been an academic in all things mythology and Tolkien in order to understand everything the author says. I think I'll pick it up another time when I've read LOTR and have a better knowledge of his world.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good analysis of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. I learned a lot from the book and where Tolkien gained his inspiration.

[Thara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the content but the structure was disorganized and distracting. How many parenthetical statements can an author really use? (A lot, apparently)

[Markku Kesti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stars for the myths in their halls of origin,
Two stars for the use of words of Tolkien,
in the land of literature
Where the critics lie.