Michael D. C. Drout (; born 1968) is an American Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at
Wheaton College. He is an
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
and
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
specializing in
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
and
medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...
,
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
and
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
, especially the works of
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
and
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
.
Career
Drout holds a Ph.D. in English from
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...
(May 1997), an M.A. in English from the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
(May 1993), an M.A. in Communication from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
(May 1991), and a B.A. in Professional and Creative Writing from
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
.
He is best known for his studies of
Tolkien's scholarly work on ''
Beowulf
''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
'' and the precursors and textual evolution of the essay ''
Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics'', published as ''
Beowulf and the Critics by J. R. R. Tolkien'' (2002), which won the
Mythopoeic Award for Scholarship in Inklings Studies, 2003.
He is the editor of the ''
J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment'' (2006), a one-volume reference on Tolkien's works and their contexts.
With the Tolkien scholars
Douglas A. Anderson
Douglas Allen Anderson (born December 30, 1959) is an American writer and editor on the subjects of fantasy and medieval literature, specializing in textual analysis of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. He is a winner of the Mythopoeic Award for sch ...
and
Verlyn Flieger, he is co-editor of ''
Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review'', (Volumes 1–7, 2004–2010).
Books
Books written or edited by Michael Drout include:
* 2002, (editor), ''Beowulf and the Critics by J. R. R. Tolkien'', Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies 248 (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies), Tempe, AZ,
* 2007, (editor), ''J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment'' (New York; London: Routledge, 2007), ; reprinted 2013,
Audio
Drout has published thirteen audio lectures for
Recorded Books' Modern Scholar Series. He has both a love of the Anglo-Saxon language, and academic expertise in its linguistic basis for the modern English Language; he maintains a growing collection of recorded Anglo-Saxon o
Anglo-Saxon Aloud
References
External links
Faculty page at Wheaton College
Michael D. C. Drout's personal home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drout, Michael D.C.
Living people
Tolkien studies
University of Missouri alumni
1968 births
Anglo-Saxon studies scholars
American medievalists
Carnegie Mellon University alumni
American academics of English literature
Wheaton College (Massachusetts) faculty