Tolkien research

"Tolkien studies" redirects here. For the journal, see Tolkien Studies.

The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his fantasy writings, principally The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, along with the large legendarium that remained unpublished on his death in 1973, and the constructed languages that he invented in connection with these, especially the Elvish languages that gave rise to many of the names he used, Quenya and Sindarin. Scholars from different disciplines have examined the linguistic and literary origins of Middle-earth, and have explored many aspects of his writings from Christianity to feminism and race.

Biography and letters

Biographies of Tolkien have been written by Humphrey Carpenter, with his 1977 J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography and of Tolkien's wartime years by John Garth with his 2003 Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth. Carpenter edited the 1981 The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, assisted by Christopher Tolkien.

As a writer

Institutions

A variety of institutions have developed to support Tolkien research. These include The Tolkien Society and The Mythopoeic Society. Tolkien archives are held in the Bodleian Library in Oxford and Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Publishers of scholarly books on Tolkien include Houghton Mifflin, McFarland Press, Mythopoeic Press, Walking Tree Publishers, Palgrave MacMillan, and Kent State University Press.

Journals

Early publications on Tolkien's writing were essentially fanzines; some, such as Mythlore, founded in 1969, developed into scholarly peer-reviewed (refereed) technical publications; among the non-refereed but "reputable" journals is Mallorn. Other specialised journals include Tolkien Studies (2004-) and Journal of Tolkien Research (2014-). There are several journals that focus on the literary society The Inklings, of which Tolkien was a member, especially Journal of Inklings Studies (2011-).

Fields

A large literature examines Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy fiction from numerous points of view, including medievalism, its philological roots in languages such as Old Norse and Old English, its influences from literature of different periods, its poetry, its Christian symbolism, feminism, race, sexuality, and many other themes. These are overviewed in Blackwell's A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien, which effectively marked his acceptance into the English literary canon.

Constructed languages

Further information: Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien

Tolkien's constructed languages, Quenya and Sindarin, the main languages of Elves, have inspired linguistic research. Parma Eldalamberon and Vinyar Tengwar are published by the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship of the Mythopoeic Society a non-profit organization. The Vinyar Tengwar and Parma Eldalamberon material published at an increasing rate during the early 2000s is from the stock of linguistic material in the possession of the appointed team of editors (some 3000 pages according to them), consisting of photocopies sent them by Christopher Tolkien and notes taken in the Bodleian library around 1992. An Internet mailing list dedicated to Tolkien's languages, called tolklang, has existed since November 1, 1990.

Literature

Major introductory books

• (Revised and expanded 1992, 2005)

Journals

• Tolkien Studies (ISSN 1547-3155, West Virginia University Press)
• Mythlore (ISSN 0146-9339, Mythopoeic Society)
• Journal of Tolkien Research (ISSN 2471-934X, Valparaiso University)
• Mallorn (ISSN 0308-6674, The Tolkien Society)
• Vinyar Tengwar (ISSN 1054-7606, Elvish Linguistic Fellowship)

External links

• The home page of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship, which publishes the journals Parma Eldalamberon, Vinyar Tengwar, and Tengwestie, and sponsors the discussion list, Lambengolmor (discussion list launched 29 May 2002, archives at lambengolmor-l).
• Mellonath Daeron, the language guild of the Stockholm Tolkien Society.
• Tolkien's Linguistic Writings and Drafts by Ryszard Derdzinski
• TolkienBooks.net Chronological Book Index - a comprehensive index of Tolkien Publications
• A List of Tolkien's Unpublished and Slightly Published Manuscripts by Lisa Star (concentrates on linguistic materials)
• Tolkien Studies at the Wheaton College, Massachusetts, USA
• Proceedings of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference 1992 (out of print)
• Publications of the Tolkien Society (UK)
• Michael Drout's home page in Wheaton College, Massachusetts, USA
• Verlyn Flieger's home page (associated with the University of Maryland, College Park, USA)
• Tom Shippey's home page in Saint Louis University, USA
• Omentielva is a European bi-yearly conference on research into Tolkien's Languages, Sweden
• Hither Shore is the German Tolkien Society's bilingual yearbook on modern fantasy literature, specialising in Tolkien
• Tolkienian courses by The Tolkien Society.
• Tolkien Studies at Signum University
• The Tolkien Professor website, offering free materials from Corey Olsen's courses at Signum University