The Lord of the Rings

Catalog description

Before J.R.R. Tolkien was a famous novelist, he was one of medieval literature's most influential scholars. This course investigates how The Lord of the Rings is the product of an imagination shaped by this learning. We will read Tolkien's entire trilogy alongside excerpts of medieval texts, discovering how they inspired both the novels as well as the astoundingly complete languages and mythology he invented to support them. Selected passages from Tolkien's letters and essays are also on the syllabus; by studying the seminal work of modern fantasy literature we will thus answer broad questions about the relationship between knowledge, personal philosophy, fiction, and worldbuilding. Classes will begin with short lectures by the instructor - on the medieval material in particular - followed by seminar discussion of the assigned reading.