The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature Through the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien

290 Pages·2005·1.001 MB·English

by  Stuart D. Lee, Elizabeth Solopova (auth.)

The Keys of Middle-earth
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The Keys of Middle-earth
Discovering Medieval Literature through the
Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien
Stuart D. Lee
and
Elizabeth Solopova
© Stuart D.Lee and Elizabeth Solopova 2005
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this publication may
be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or transmitted save
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copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court Road,
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work
in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2005 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
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ISBN 978-1-4039-4671-3 ISBN 978-0-230-50381-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230503816
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and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lee,Stuart D.
The keys of Middle-earth:discovering medieval literature through the fiction of
J.R.R.Tolkien / Stuart D.Lee,Elizabeth Solopova.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Tolkien,J.R.R.(John Ronald Reuel),1892–1973–Criticism and interpretation.
2. Tolkien,J.R.R.(John Ronald Reuel),1892–1973 – Knowledge – Literature.
3. Literature,Medieval – Adaptations – History and criticism. 4. Fantasy fiction,
English – History and criticism. 5. Literature,Medieval – Appreciation –
England. 6. Middle Earth (Imaginary place) I. Solopova,Elizabeth. II. Title.
PR6039.O32Z677 2005
823¢.912–dc22 2005049806
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
For Sarah, Michael and Anastasia
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations x
1. How to Use This Book 1
2. Introduction 2
2.1 Background 2
2.1.1 Why another book about Tolkien? 2
2.1.2 This is not a source book 3
2.1.3 Tolkien’s career 4
2.1.4 Tolkien’s fiction and medieval literature 7
2.1.5 Medieval sources 11
2.2 Medieval literature 12
2.2.1 Old English 16
2.2.2 Middle English 20
2.2.3 Old Norse 23
2.3 Thematic and technical parallels 25
2.3.1 The theme of the quest 25
2.3.2 The epic 28
2.3.3 The runes 31
2.3.4 Alliterative verse and Tolkien’s verse 38
2.3.5 The names 50
3. The Editions 54
4. The Texts 57
The Hobbit 59
4.1 Gandalf and the Dwarves – Vo¸luspá, stanzas 9–16
(TH, ‘An Unexpected Party’) 59
4.2 Bilbo and Gollum’s Riddle-Game – Vafprúdnismál and Solomon
and Saturn II, ll. 47–68 and 104–23 (TH, ‘Riddles in the Dark’) 73
4.3 Bilbo meets Smaug – Beowulf, ll. 2207–311
(TH, ‘Inside Information’) 106
The Lord of the Rings 123
4.4 The Elves at Rivendell – Sir Orfeo, ll. 107–94 (FR, ‘Many
Meetings’; TH, ‘A Short Rest’ and ‘Flies and Spiders’) 123
4.5 Legolas’s ‘Lament of the Stones’ – The Ruin
(FR, ‘The Ring Goes South’) 133
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viii Contents
4.6 The Fight at Balin’s Tomb – The Fight at Finnsburg and
‘Cynewulf and Cyneheard’ (FR, ‘The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm’) 146
4.7 The Crossing of the Nimrodel – Pearl, ll. 61–276
(FR, ‘Lothlórien’) 164
4.8 Boromir’s Death – Beowulf, ll. 26–52 (TT, ‘The
Departure of Boromir’) 177
4.9 Treebeard’s List – Maxims II (TT, ‘Treebeard’) 183
4.10 The Rohirrim – The Wanderer and Beowulf, ll. 306–70
(TT, ‘The King of the Golden Hall’) 194
4.11 The Death of Théoden and the Arrival of the Mûmakil –
The Battle of Maldon, ll. 111–84 and Ælfric’s Homily on the
Maccabees, ll. 499–519 (RK, ‘The Battle of Pelennor Fields’) 217
4.12 The Landscape of Mordor – Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,
ll. 713–63 and Beowulf, ll. 1345–82 (RK, ‘The Land of Shadow’) 235
4.13 The Final Journey – The Seafarer (RK, ‘The Grey Havens’) 250
Bibliography 266
Index 277
Acknowledgements
The authors of the book would like to acknowledge the following people and
institutions for all their kind help: Patrick Conner, Judith Priestman, Elaine
Treharne, Catherine Rohll, the staff at the Bodleian Library, and The Tolkien
Estate. In particular we would like to express our sincerest thanks to Dr Shaun
Hughes of Purdue University for his suggestions and improvements to the
whole book which were extremely valuable. We would also like to thank
HarperCollins Ltd for allowing us to quote from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
Copyright notice
Extracts from The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien (1999) reprinted by permission of
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Extracts from The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien (1995) reprinted by per-
mission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Extracts from The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays, by J. R. R. Tolkien
(1997) reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Extracts from The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, by J. R. R. Tolkien (1995) reprinted
by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Extracts from Sauron Defeated, by J. R. R. Tolkien (2002) reprinted by permis-
sion of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Extracts from The Lost Road, by J. R. R. Tolkien (2002) reprinted by permission
of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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