New Tolkien Books:updates

[davem]

And this one

[Child of the 7th Age]

Davem

I have that Croft book on Middle-earth and war and am just beginning to read it now. I'll let you know my impressions when I finish.

Has anyone read this or do you know anything about it? The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature through the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien by Stuart Lee, published december 2005, Palgrave MacMillan.

At first glance, I thought it was just another beginner's text that publishes excerpts from medieval lit and tries to tie them in with Tolkien. There are several of those and I could defnitely pass that by. But one of the reviews on UK Amazon mentions that Tolkien's unpublished lecture notes are quoted. I am always interested in texts that give us access to archival material that is either hard to get hold of or even impossible to see because of restrictions on access. Plus Palgrave MacMillan has put out some decent stuff.

Here is one part of the review on this book:,

As well as taking you through some of the basics of medieval literature (Tolkien's academic background of course), what I found fascinating about this book was the material from Tolkien's unpublished lecture notes. This gives a new insight into his work as a scholar, and occasionally (as with the piece about the Rohirrim and their possible link to the Anglo-Saxons) a new insight into his thinking. It really does bridge the gap between his mythology and his studies.....

The link between the A-S and the Rohirrim is definitely mentioned in other places, so I am not sure how significant that reference is. But I am intrigued by his mention of lecture notes, which I've not seen elsewhere. Anyone know anything about these original lecture notes or this particular book?

[davem]

Originally Posted by Child

But one of the reviews on UK Amazon mentions that Tolkien's unpublished lecture notes are quoted. I am always interested in texts that give us access to archival material that is either hard to get hold of or even impossible to see because of restrictions on access. Plus Palgrave MacMillan has put out some decent stuff.

Don't know of it. As to the 'unpublished lecture notes', I suspect its referring to Finn & Hengest , which was edited by Alan Bliss (actually what he did was gather together Tolkien's lecture notes). Downloading the sample from here (which is mostly the index) it seems that there are lots of references to those notes from F&H.

Don't know if F&H is published in the US, but Harper Collins publish it in the UK.

I've just bought Somme , which has 5 or 6 references to Tolkien, so I'm about too make a start on that (I suspect most of the references come from Garth's book, which is cited in the bibliography).

[Lalwendë]

The other day I found a new book, The Roots of Middle Earth, written by a Tolkien Society member (and endorsed by them). It's not an earth-shattering read but is very interesting, particularly if anyone is fancying a trip to Brum to find Tolkien's old stamping grounds, and it is filled with lovely old pictures which the author has sourced from postcard fairs, including pics of Sarehole Mill and the Cole valley as it used to look.

This one will likely be of great interest to local history buffs in Birmingham too.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Thanks, Davem.

I see from your link there is a second author and she is a librarian in the Bodleian archives so I am a little more inclined to buy this. (OK, I am biased here, but librarians generally know their collections better than anyone else, including profs and perhaps they did fiddle around in the archives.) US Amazon lists paper copies for about $20.

You may be right about Finn and Hengest and the lecture notes. I don't own that one because the hardcover came out in the eighties in the US by Houghton Mifflin. Those copies are hard to find. The recent paperback was only published in the UK. You can get reasonably priced copies on Amazon U.S. but must pay for shipping from the UK.

One of the nice things is that I live near the Rice University library. They have a decent Tolkien collection because Jane Chance has taught there a number of years and apparently had them build up holdings in that area. Looking for these books sounds like a good excuse for a trip to the library and a day on the Rice campus. I'll post here if I find anything interesting.

[davem]

I haven't read Finn & Hengest - one of the few Tolkien works I don't possess - after picking up Mr Bliss a few weeks back.

If you want the UK edition you can get it for less than $10 including P&P from The Book Depository. I've used them before & they're very good.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Thanks Davem. The Book Depository is the same source as given in the US Amazon but it looks as if the price is a little lower when you order direct.

"[QUOTE=Child of the 7th Age]Thanks, Davem.

I see from your link there is a second author and she is a librarian in the Bodleian archives so I am a little more inclined to buy this. (OK, I am biased here, but librarians generally know their collections better than anyone else, including profs and perhaps they did fiddle around in the archives.) US Amazon lists paper copies for about $20."

Actually it is unpublished lecture notes. Tolkien's notes from Oxford (and some from Leeds) are all contained in the Bodleian library. The authors have gone through these and pulled out things mainly relating to his literature lectures/unpublished editions and used them. The piece about the Rohirrim comes from his lectures in a box called A30/1 (?). Anyway it says 'No one would learn anything valid about the 'Anglo-Saxons' from any of my lore, not even that concerning the Rohirrim. I never intended that they should'. The authors argue that this explains Tolkien's reluctance to link the Rohirrim to the Anglo-Saxons - namely he was wearing his lecturer's hat and did not want people to think they could learn about that period of history.

Looking through the book there are lots of quotes from various A29s and A30s which I kind of guess are the boxes in the library.

F&H gets a mention in a chapter on 'The Fight at Balin's Tomb' where the texts presented are 'The Fight at Finnsburg' and something called 'Cynewulf and Cyneheard' (from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).


Woz

[Child of the 7th Age]

Woz,

First, welcome to the Downs. I hope you'll stick around.

Secondly, thanks so much for that detailed information. It's very helpful and looks as if it would be worthwhile for me to pick up this book.

_______________

Summer is my time for extra reading. I recently purchased a book The Lord of the Rings, 1954-2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder" published by Marquette University Press. These were papers given at a conference at Marquette in October 2004. I have only delved into the chapters here and there, but the contributors do look interesting: Douglas Anderson, Verlyn Flieger, John Garth, Wayne Hammond, Carl Hostetter, John Rateliffe, T.A. Shippey, Michael Drout and the list goes on.

Has anyone read this collection of essays? Hopefully, I'll let you know what I think after I get further into the book.