A Tolkien Compass

by Lodbell, Jared

• ISBN13: 9780875483030
• ISBN10: 0875483038
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-18
• Publisher: Open Court

Summary

This guide to travels in Middle-Earth includes an original chapter by Tolkien himself, explaining the meaning and origin of the names in Lord of the Rings. Can hobbits be psychoanalyzed? Does Tolkien’s Christianity shine through his imitations of pagan legends? Do his books offer a useful guide to everyday life? These and many more questions are addressed in the eleven chapters of this book. Contributors analyze Gollum’s character transformation, the psychological journey of Bilbo, the regime set up by Saruman at the end of Lord of the Rings and its parallels to fascism, the books’ narrative technique, and Tolkien’s rich use of myth and symbol. This is an insightful book that will appeal to both old and new Tolkien fans.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Gollum's Character Transformation in The Hobbit	p. 7
The Psychological Journey of Bilbo Baggins	p. 27
The Fairy-tale Morality of The Lord of the Rings	p. 41
The Corruption of Power	p. 55
Everyclod and Everyhero: The Image of Man in Tolkien	p. 67
The Interlace Structure of The Lord of the Rings	p. 75
Narrative Pattern in The Fellowship of the Ring	p. 93
'The Scouring of the Shire': Tolkien's View of Fascism	p. 105
Hell and The City: Tolkien and the Traditions of Western Literature	p. 115
Aspects of the Paradisiacal in Tolkien's Work	p. 141
Postscript	p. 151
Index	p. 159
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.