Tolkien's world

by Randel Helms

This new and searching study of J. R. R. Tolkien's works was written before his death. In it, the author breaks new ground, relating Tolkien's scholarly works to his great imaginative creations and presenting the famous lecture on Beowulf as the forerunner of his fiction in its insistence on the worth of heroes and monsters. Tolkien's World is sure to arouse interest, enthusiasm, and perhaps controversy among scholars and all those who admire Tolkien's work.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Literature, Biography

167 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1974

About the author

Randel McCraw Helms (born November 16, 1942 in Montgomery, Alabama) is an American professor of English literature, a writer on J. R. R. Tolkien and critical writer on the Bible.
[Wikipedia]

Reviews

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable analysis of Tolkien's work. It was very accessible considering I haven't picked up LOTR in 6 years but it has made me want to read it again when I can soon. The plot parallels between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were really insightful and it wasn't something that had ever occurred to me in the past, even after reading Tree and Leaf. I'd say the psychoanalytical angle used at some points didn't strike a chord with me, even if at one point it was done in a rather tongue in cheek manner. I was also disappointed by the lack of discussion of the female characters in the story; I think more could have been said about Éowyn, and Arwen and Galadriel are never even alluded to. That being said I still enjoyed reading Helms's take and would recommend it to other literary buffs.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must have companion, not for The Lord of the Rings, but for Tolkien's essay "On Faerie Stories". While I don't fully agree with the analysis of LotR (Freud this and Freud that essentially), his interpretation of Tolkien's essay and story "Leaf by Niggle" was certainly enlightening. Beyond that the stark Freudian view of both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings will either make you laugh or cringe, but the analysis at least gives one an idea of where others have looked into his works and where a good jumping of place is for ones own analysis.

[Rebekah Byson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This slim critical look at LOTR was published 5 days before Tolkien's death. I found it randomly browsing the library stacks last week, and being a Tolkien believer, had to read it. If you love Tolkien, and love old myths and old story from the Middle Ages, then you have to read this book. It's academic in tone, but I found it intetesting and now I'm thinking about LOTR in a different light.

[JD Shaffer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just awful, in my opinion. Chapter 4 on seems to be mostly psychological and Jungian rubbish (not that Jungian psychology is rubbish, in and of itself, but it's application to LotR is rubbish, that is.)

The author obviously was ignorant of Tolkien's own thoughts and intents in his work. He also seems to ignore Tolkien's own professed hatred of allegory (and goes to say that LotR is an allegory!)

It's no wonder this book isn't much referenced or still in print. It basically comes across as an atheistic, Jungian assessment of a Christian work that was meant as a retelling of the great Story of creation, Sacrifice, and Salvation.)

[Shelby Rollenhagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fairly interesting read. Helms presents interesting, scholarly, thoughts on Tolkien's works and the world he created.

I selected this book specifically with the intent of learning more from a scholarly perspective about the world Tolkien created and was very pleased with the result. Whether you are interested in world-building for fictional writing or Tolkien's works specifically, this book is a good choice to begin exploring both subjects more. What better way to learn about world-building than by studying the works of those who did it exceptionally well?

[James Prothero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some useful insights, but the author reveals his own conflict between his judgment of the importance of re-mythologizing the numinous in Tolkien and his rather drab and predictable Freudian analysis, which would reduce all myth to repressed sex. Too bad he couldn't make up his mind about Tolkien.

[Chrissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way this short book drew in different stories, although it was published before the release of The Silmarillion. The chapters were by and large free of jargon and the writing easy to follow, which gave it an odd contrast: A book underlining how Tolkien reinvigorated myth by giving the everyday back to Faerie manages to make books that have always been part of the fantastic to me more everyday than not. I didn't find all of his conclusions convincing and found the Freudian section in particular so reductive of symbol as to render it meaningless. It was also difficult for me to decide if he meant it as a joke, since his own commentary on performing that analysis seemed to imply it might be.

Overall, this was a brief summary of one initial critical reaction to Tolkien's extant works framed by Mr. Helms' enjoyment of the series.

[Anna C · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) Accessible and often very insightful literary criticism of Tolkien's work. I spotted a few minor lore mistakes, and the book is hampered by being published pre-Silmarillion, meaning Helms isn't working with the full scope of Tolkien's vision. The strength of the book, however, is in analyzing Tolkien's artistic purpose and the deeper cultural project of myth-making.

But still, if you want an actual deep dive into the behind the scenes work of Lord of the Rings, this book is no substitute for the History of Middle Earth volumes.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's some hit and miss ideas here. But overall, this was good. I'm not sure I agree w all the authors points, but he tries when he can to back them up. You do need to read a lot of the non middle earth books to really understand a lot of this. But read it all

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the analysis of Tolkien's work is, in my opinion, a little overdone, the book is a useful read for anyone looking to write a fantasy or Secondary World story.

[Jack T · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reread for me, but, for anyone who enjoys Tolkien and also appreciates smart analysis, this is worth reading twice. It would be fascinating to compare Helms's examination of Tolkien's moral structure with Shippey's. Both are very enlightening, and they complement each other. Helms makes two points that I think I've never seen before. First, he points out that, in the world of "The Lord of the Rings", proverbs point to moral truth. He lists the rules of Tolkien's world on page 69:

"1. The cosmos is providentially controlled.
2. Intention structures results...
3. Moral and magical law have the force of physical law.
4. Will and states of mind, both evil and good, can have objective reality and physical energy.
5. All experience is the realization of proverbial truth."

The idea that startled me so much is, of course, number five. "ALL experience? Really?" I thought to myself. But Helms very nearly proves it, with citations! What he does with "Oft evil will evil mars" is fascinating, and his examination of "generous deed ought not to be checked by cold counsel" is perhaps even more so.

The second thing he points out is how carefully the book is structured, with episodes of book one, for example, being both mirrored and deepened in book two. Two examples of this mirroring are Frodo's striking at the hand of the barrow-wight and at the foot of the troll, and Sam's rescuing Frodo from the root of the willow and from the arm of the watcher. The clear and convincing comparison between Faramir and Treebeard was also illuminating.

Of course, this short book isn't comprehensive. There is no discussion of redemption (Theoden's; Boromir's), nor any mention of the feminine and feminine power. In fact, Boromir gets very short shrift here, and Arwen and Galadriel might as well not exist. But what Helms does do, he does very well.

To give just one example, I had never realized that "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are in many ways the same story, told at different levels. Helms both showed this, and made me believe it. I also liked what he had to say about Tolkien's minor works.

So, not a perfect book, but a very good one, and worth a read for fans of Tolkien's world.

[Joel Zartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randel Helms' book is an old work by now, but for all that I thought it is still good. His concern is to figure out what Tolkien thought he was trying to achieve. What is the point of fairy-tales? How do you have to build a secondary world? How did these answers arise and then get answered by Tolkien? That sort of thing.

The start of the book can seem wobbly, a bit pedantic, and especially the third chapter in which he uses the reproductive metaphors of psychoanalysis (aware that Tolkien would greatly object), but he has a point, and it gets made. When you translate The Hobbit into that system of obvious metaphors, you see a consistent meaning. He uses this to convince his perhaps more skeptical readers that the whole of his enterprise is not in vain.

I think his argument can hold. He has modestly refused to believe his take on The Hobbit as an incomplete attempt at what the trilogy later succeeded in doing is the only possible one; but as a grown reader who still loves The Hobbit, I think he makes sense out of Tolkien's later dissatisfaction with the book, and it had puzzled me. Helms' journey through Monsters & Critics and On Fairy-Stories, and then in a later chapter through Leaf by Niggle and Smith of Wooton Major are both instructive and compelling.

Helms did a lot with limited resources, since he did his work and handed in the manuscript right as Tolkien died and before even The Silmarillion was published. But if you want a good theoretical view at the thought behind the Lord of the Rings, starting here would work.

[East Bay J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this book for YEARS and finally decided to read it. Tolkien's World is an outstanding examination of Tolkien's writing. Helms deftly illustrates the role of myth in Lord Of The Rings and other Tolkien works, examines some of the writings that influnced Tolkien and explains some of the concepts Tolkien struggled with as a creator. While occasionally a bit dry, Helms covers his extremely academic subject, communicates concepts and ideas smoothly. Something I found interesting is that the manuscript for this book was delivered to the publisher five days before Tolkien's death. I would love to know what Tolkien himself would have thought of this book. I'd like to think he'd enjoy it.

[Alex Harris-MacDuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thinking of this book as an average, reasonably well done academic work. It was a bit sparse on references and heavy on the first person. There was a very silly Freud bit somewhere in the middle. However, there is a sentence at the end of the final chapter that shows a remarkable self-awareness lacking from a lot of academic writing, which was very welcome and enjoyable. The author's obvious affection for Tolkien is gratifying. Lately, criticism of Tolkien has been about his works being "too complicated" or "the endings being too happy". It's nice to read a criticism of Tolkien that frames Lord of the Rings of the context of a grand tradition of myth and Faerie, rather than in the context of Game of Thrones. Overall, I was surprised by how much I actually liked reading this book.

[M Beal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. It gave me a better look into Tolkien's essays and lectures than the Lord of the Rings. This was printed right after Tolkien died and before the release of the Silmarillion. He used his personal knowledge to add in details.

[Marea Kuehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helms did an amazing job of explaining Tolkien's motivations and the thought process behind writing the trilogy. I really enjoyed his tangential rants about different aspects of Tolkien's process and writing style. I think that my favorite part was the analysis of Bilbo's poem.

[Andy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Th book started out as mildly interesting but then I got to the 'Hobbit as Swain' section where the author compares a hobbit hole to a womb and other sexual analogies. I immediately put it down. I don't understand why people enjoy these kinds of comparisons, it's extremely off-putting to me.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather academic, as it was meant to be.