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Master Of Middle-Earth
''Master of Middle-earth: The Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien'' is a 1972 book of literary criticism of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings, written by Paul H. Kocher, and one of the few to be published in Tolkien's lifetime. It focuses especially on the best-selling novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'', and also covers some of his minor works such as "Leaf by Niggle" and "Smith of Wootton Major". At a time when scholars were largely critical of Tolkien and his prose style, it both praised his writing and, in the absence of Christopher Tolkien's ''The History of Middle-earth'' on the process of creation of Tolkien's fiction, it correctly guessed many of his major themes. It was one of the earliest book-length analyses of Tolkien's work, winning Kocher the 1973 Mythopoeic Society's Scholarship in Inkling Studies Award. Context Paul H. Kocher was a scholar of English literature. He wrote extensively on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien as well as on Eliza ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trees And Forests In Middle-earth
Trees and forests play multiple roles in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth, some such as Old Man Willow indeed serving as characters in the plot. Both for Tolkien personally, and in his Middle-earth writings, caring about trees really mattered. Indeed, the Tolkien scholar Matthew Dickerson wrote "It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of trees in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien." Tolkien stated that primeval human understanding was communion with other living things; critics note that Middle-earth was set in the distant past, when primeval forests still existed. Forests play varying roles in his books. In ''The Hobbit'', Mirkwood is the dark forbidding forest of fairy tale. In ''The Lord of the Rings'', forests are more complex; some trees are woken up by the Elves, while others are going bad. Fangorn Forest is the realm of Treebeard, a tree-giant or Ent, who herds trees including the Huorns which are halfway between Ents and trees, either becoming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames & Hudson
Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, and popular culture. Headquartered in London, it has a sister company in New York City, and subsidiaries in Melbourne, Singapore, and Hong Kong. In Paris it has a sister company, Éditions Thames & Hudson, and a subsidiary called Interart which distributes English-language books. The Thames & Hudson group currently employs approximately 150 staff in London and approximately 65 more around the world. The publishing company was founded in 1949 by Walter and Eva Neurath, who aimed to make the world of art and the research of top scholars available to a wider public. The company's name reflects its international presence, particularly in London and New York. It remains an independent, family-owned company, and is one of the largest publish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Addiction To Power In The Lord Of The Rings
The theme of addiction to power in ''The Lord of the Rings'' is central, as the Ring, made by the Dark Lord Sauron to enable him to take over the whole of Middle-earth, progressively corrupts the mind of its owner to use the Ring for evil. The corrupting power of the Ring has been compared to the Ring of Gyges in Plato's ''Republic'', which gave the power of invisibility and so tempted its owner, but there is no evidence that Tolkien modelled ''The Lord of the Rings'' on that story. Scholars such as Tom Shippey consider the theme to be modern, since in earlier times, power was considered to reveal character, not to alter it, recalling the English politician Lord Acton's 1887 statement that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". The corrupting effect of power in the book is not limited to the Ring. Sauron was already corrupted when he chose to put much of his power into the Ring to gain further control of Middle-earth. Some other characters are of an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauron
Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middle-earth. In the same work, he is identified as the "Necromancer" of Tolkien's earlier novel ''The Hobbit''. ''The Silmarillion'' describes him as the chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Tolkien noted that the Ainur, the "angelic" powers of his constructed myth, "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but by far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron". Sauron appears most often as "the Eye", as if disembodied. Tolkien, while denying that absolute evil could exist, stated that Sauron came as near to a wholly evil will as was possible. Commentators have compared Sauron to the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula'', and to Balor of the Evil Eye in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vala (Middle-earth)
The Valar (; singular Vala) are characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They are "angelic powers" or "gods", #154 to Naomi Mitchison, September 1954 subordinate to the one God ( Eru Ilúvatar). The Ainulindalë describes how those of the Ainur who chose to enter the World (Arda) to complete its material development after its form was determined by the Music of the Ainur are called the Valar, or "the Powers of the World". The Valaquenta indicates that the Elves generally reserved the term "Valar" for the mightiest of these, calling the others the Maiar. The Valar are mentioned briefly in ''The Lord of the Rings'' but were developed earlier in material published posthumously in ''The Silmarillion'', ''The History of Middle-earth'', and ''Unfinished Tales''. Scholars have noted that the Valar resemble angels in Christianity but that Tolkien presented them rather more like pagan gods. Their role in providing what the characters on Middle-earth experience as luck or provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wizards (Middle-earth)
The Wizards or Istari in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction were powerful angelic beings, Maiar, who took the form of Men to intervene in the affairs of Middle-earth in the Third Age, after catastrophically violent direct interventions by the Valar, and indeed by the one god Eru Ilúvatar, in the earlier ages. Two Wizards, Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White, largely represent the order, though a third Wizard, Radagast, appears briefly. Saruman is installed as the head of the White Council, but falls to the temptation of power. He imitates and is to an extent the double of the Dark Lord Sauron, only to become his unwitting servant. Gandalf ceaselessly assists the Company of the Ring in their quest to destroy the Ring and defeat Sauron. He forms the double of Saruman, as Saruman falls and is destroyed, while Gandalf rises and takes Saruman's place as the White Wizard. Gandalf resembles the Norse god Odin in his guise as Wanderer. He has been described as a figure of Christ. All ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cosmology Of Middle-earth
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher Christian Wolff, in ''Cosmologia Generalis''. Religious or mythological cosmology is a body of beliefs based on mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation myths and eschatology. In the science of astronomy it is concerned with the study of the chronology of the universe. Physical cosmology is the study of the observable universe's origin, its large-scale structures and dynamics, and the ultimate fate of the universe, including the laws of science that govern these areas. It is investigated by scientists, such as astronomers and physicists, as well as philosophers, such as metaphysicians, philosophers of physics, and philosophers of space and time. Because of this shared scope with philosophy, theories ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bert Bakker
Lambertus Jozef (Bert) Bakker (3 April 1912 in Huizum (Leeuwarden) – 19 September 1969 in Ilpendam) was a Dutch writer and publisher in the Netherlands. He wrote literary studies, two novels, poetry, and children's books. In World War II he was involved in the Dutch Resistance and assisted in the (illegal at the time) publication of ''Vrij Nederland''. After the war he founded a publishing company under his own name; his nephew, also named Bert Bakker, ran the company until 1993. In 1953 he founded the literary magazine '' Maatstaf'', which he edited until 1969. He (along with fellow publisher Geert van Oorschot) was described as a "living legend" in the Dutch publishing industry, having supported and published authors such as Adriaan Roland Holst, Martinus Nijhoff, Gerrit Achterberg, and Neeltje Maria Min. Books *''Au revoir'' (1934, poetry) *''De spannende zomer van Botte Spoelstra'' (1935, children's book) *''Drijfzand'' (1935, novel) *''Een held op sokken'' (1935, ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Schuchart
Max Schuchart (16 August 1920 – 25 February 2005) was a Dutch journalist, literary critic and translator. He is most famous for translating the works of J. R. R. Tolkien into the Dutch language. Life He was born on 16 August 1920 in Rotterdam. He died in 2005 in The Hague. Career His Dutch translation of the ''Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...'' ('':nl:In de Ban van de Ring, In de Ban van de Ring'') appeared in 1957 and was a resounding success, though Tolkien deeply disliked it, criticising its approach in a letter to his publisher Rayner Unwin. He translated many other English authors into Dutch language. These include Oscar Wilde, Terry Goodkind, Richard Adams, Lord Dunsany, William Horwood (novelist), William Horwood, Daniel Defoe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ã…ke Ohlmarks
Åke Joel Ohlmarks (3 June 1911 – 6 June 1984) was a Swedish author, translator and scholar of philology, linguistics and religious studies. He worked as a lecturer at the University of Greifswald from 1941 to 1945, where he founded the institute for religious studies together with the Deutsche Christen member . His most notable contribution to the field is his 1939 study of Shamanism. As a translator, he is notable for his Swedish version of the Icelandic Edda, of Shakespeare's works and a heavily criticised translation of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', as well as a version of the Qur'an and works by writers including Dante and Nostradamus. Early life and Career Ohlmarks was born in Kristianstad, Sweden and was the son of wholesaler Joel Ohlmarks and Anna-Lisa Larsson. He studied Nordic languages and the history of religion at Lund University, where he immersed himself in student life and became renowned for his occasional poetry and Spex writing. After earn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Markale
Jean Markale (May 23, 1928 in Paris – November 23, 2008) was the pen name of Jean Bertrand, a French writer, poet, radio show host, lecturer and high school French teacher who lived in Brittany. As a former specialist in Celtic studies at the Sorbonne, he researched pre-Christian and medieval culture and spirituality. He published numerous books about Celtic civilization, particularly the place of women in Celtic culture, and Arthurian literature. Works His many works deal with subjects as varied as summations of various myths, their relationships with subjects like the Templars, the Cathars and the Rennes le Château mystery, Atlantis, the megalith building civilisations, Druidism and the biography of Saint Columba. *''The Celts: Uncovering the Mythic and Historic Origins of Western Culture'' () *''Montségur and the Mystery of the Cathars'' () *''Women of the Celts'' (1972) *''The Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature'' () *''Cathedral of the Black Madonna: The Druids and the Myst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy books, and formerly manga under its (now defunct) Del Rey Manga imprint. The first new novel published by Del Rey was '' The Sword of Shannara'' by Terry Brooks in 1977. Del Rey also publishes the ''Star Wars'' novels under the LucasBooks sub-imprint (licensed from Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios division of The Walt Disney Company). Authors * Piers Anthony *Isaac Asimov * Stephen Baxter * Amber Benson *Ray Bradbury *Terry Brooks * Pierce Brown *Bonnie Burton *Jack L. Chalker *Arthur C. Clarke * James Clemens *Dan Cragg *Brian Daley * Maurice G. Dantec * Philip K. Dick *Stephen R. Donaldson * David Eddings * Philip José Farmer * Mick Farren *Joe Clifford Faust *Lynn Flewel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
