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Constructing The Lord Of The Rings
The task of constructing ''The Lord of the Rings'' was long and complex, lasting from its start in 1937, soon after the success of J. R. R. Tolkien's children's book ''The Hobbit'', until the novel's publication in 1954–1955. Tolkien began with no idea where the story would go, and made several false starts before the tale of the One Ring emerged. The names of the characters, including the protagonists, of ''The Lord of the Rings'' changed many times. Tolkien stopped writing repeatedly, sometimes for years at a time. Inspiration, when it came, was based on practical work with maps, names, and languages that Tolkien incorporated in the novel. He illustrated places described in the text, updating drawings and text together until he felt they were correct. Context The request for a sequel to the 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' prompted J. R. R. Tolkien to begin what became his most famous work: the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' (first published in three volumes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' New York Herald Tribune'' for best juvenile fiction. It is recognized as a classic in children's literature and is one of the best-selling books of all time, with over 100 million copies sold. ''The Hobbit'' is set in Middle-earth and follows home-loving Bilbo Baggins, the titular hobbit who joins the wizard Gandalf and the thirteen dwarves of Thorin's Company on a quest to reclaim the dwarves' home and treasure from the dragon Smaug. Bilbo's journey takes him from his peaceful rural surroundings into more sinister territory. The story is told in the form of a picaresque or episodic quest; several chapters introduce a new type of monster or threat as Bilbo progresses through the landscape. Bilbo gains a new level of maturity, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allies of World War I, Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played History of the Royal Air Force, a significant role in Military history of the United Kingdom, British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established Air supremacy, air superiority over Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities nee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ring Verse
The Rings of Power are magical artefacts in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, most prominently in his high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. The One Ring first appeared as a plot device, a magic ring in Tolkien's children's fantasy novel, ''The Hobbit''; Tolkien later gave it a backstory and much greater power. He added nineteen other Great Rings, also conferring powers such as invisibility, that it could control, including the Three Rings of the Elves, Seven Rings for the Dwarves, and Nine for Men. He stated that there were in addition many lesser rings with minor powers. A key story element in ''The Lord of the Rings'' is the addictive power of the One Ring, made secretly by the Dark Lord Sauron; the Nine Rings enslave their bearers as the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths), Sauron's most deadly servants. Proposed sources of inspiration for the Rings of Power range from Germanic legend with the ring Andvaranaut and eventually Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', to fairy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee (, usually called Sam) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. A hobbit, Samwise is the chief supporting character of ''The Lord of the Rings'', serving as the loyal companion (in effect, the manservant) of the protagonist Frodo Baggins. Sam is a member of the Company of the Ring, the group of nine charged with destroying the One Ring to prevent the Dark Lord Sauron from taking over the world. Sam was Frodo's gardener. He was drawn into Frodo's adventure while eavesdropping on a private conversation Frodo was having with the wizard Gandalf. Sam was Frodo's steadfast companion and servant, portrayed as both physically strong for his size and emotionally strong, often supporting Frodo through difficult parts of the journey and, at times, carrying Frodo when he was too weak to go on. Sam served as Ring-bearer for a short time when Frodo was captured by orcs; his emotional strength was again demonstrated when he willingly gave the Ring back to Fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins ( Westron: ''Maura Labingi'') is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings and one of the protagonists in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins, described familiarly as "uncle", and undertakes the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor. He is mentioned in Tolkien's posthumously published works, '' The Silmarillion'' and '' Unfinished Tales''. Frodo is repeatedly wounded during the quest and becomes increasingly burdened by the Ring as it nears Mordor. He changes, too, growing in understanding and compassion, and avoiding violence. On his return to the Shire, he is unable to settle back into ordinary life; two years after the Ring's destruction, he is allowed to take ship to the earthly paradise of Valinor. Frodo's name comes from the Old English name '' Fróda'', meaning "wise by experience". Commentators have written that he combines courage, selflessn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picaresque Novel
The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt society. Picaresque novels typically adopt the form of "an episodic prose narrative" with a realistic style. There are often some elements of comedy and satire. The picaresque genre began with the Spanish novel '' Lazarillo de Tormes'' (1554), which was published anonymously during the Spanish Golden Age because of its anticlerical content. Literary works from Imperial Rome published during the 1st–2nd century AD, such as '' Satyricon'' by Petronius and ''The Golden Ass'' by Apuleius had a relevant influence on the picaresque genre and are considered predecessors. Other notable early Spanish contributors to the genre included Mateo Alemán's '' Guzmán de Alfarache'' (1599–1604) and Francisco de Quevedo's '' El Buscón'' (16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Bratman
David Bratman is a librarian and Tolkien scholar. Biography Bratman was born in Chicago to Robert Bratman, a physician, and his wife Nancy, an editor. He was one of four sons in the family. He was brought up in Cleveland, Ohio, and then in California. He was educated at the University of California-Berkeley, and took his M.L.S. at the University of Washington. He works as a librarian at university and other libraries. He has contributed to Tolkien scholarship since 1977, including 13 entries for the J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, and a chapter in Wiley-Blackwell's '' A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien''. He has helped to run the Hugo Awards for science fiction and fantasy. Bratman has edited the journal ''Mythprint'' for the Mythopoeic Society; he edits and contributes to the journal ''Tolkien Studies'' and to ''Mythlore'', a journal on the Inklings The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Shippey
Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien about whom he has written several books and many scholarly papers. His book ''The Road to Middle-Earth'' has been called "the single best thing written on Tolkien". Shippey's education and academic career have in several ways retraced those of Tolkien: he attended King Edward's School, Birmingham, became a professional philologist, occupied Tolkien's professorial chair at the University of Leeds, and taught Old English at the University of Oxford to the syllabus that Tolkien had devised. He has received three Mythopoeic Awards and a World Fantasy Award. He participated in the creation of Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, assisting the dialect coaches. He featured as an expert medievalist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ad Hoc
''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances (compare with ''a priori and a posteriori, a priori''). Common examples include ad hoc committees and commissions created at the national or international level for a specific task, and the term is often used to describe arbitration (ad hoc arbitration). In other fields, the term could refer to a military unit created under special circumstances (see ''task force''), a handcrafted network protocol (e.g., ad hoc network), a temporary collaboration among geographically-linked franchise locations (of a given national brand) to issue advertising coupons, or a purpose-specific equation in mathematics or science. Ad hoc can also function as an adjective describing temporary, provisional, or improvised methods ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Riders
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur – effets et symboliques'', pp. 105–26. Black and white have often been used to describe opposites such as good and evil, the Dark Ages versus the Age of Enlightenment, and night versus day. Since the Middle Ages, black has been the symbolic color of solemnity and authority, and for this reason it is still commonly worn by judges and magistrates. Black was one of the first colors used by artists in Neolithic cave paintings. It was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as the color of the underworld. In the Roman Empire, it became the color of mourning, and over the centuries it was frequently associated with death, evil, witches, and magic. In the 14th century, it was worn by royalty, clergy, judges, and government off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rayner Unwin
Rayner Stephens Unwin CBE (23 December 1925 – 23 November 2000) was an English publisher. He served as the chairman of the publishing firm George Allen & Unwin, which had been founded by his father Sir Stanley Unwin. Early life Unwin was born in 1925 in Hampstead, London, one of four children from the marriage of publisher Stanley Unwin and Mary née Storr (1883–1971). His father was the founder of the publishing house George Allen & Unwin. As a young boy, Unwin served as a test reader for the firm, as his father believed that children were the best judges of what made good children's books. He was paid one shilling for each written report, which as Unwin later remarked was "good money in those days". Most notable among the reviews he wrote for his father was his 1936 report, aged 10, for the J. R. R. Tolkien book ''The Hobbit''. "Not a very good piece of literary criticism," he later said of the report, "but in those happy days, no second opinion was needed; if I said i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allen & Unwin
George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian subsidiary in 1976. In 1990 Allen & Unwin was sold to HarperCollins, and the Australian branch was the subject of a management buy-out. George Allen & Unwin in the UK George Allen & Sons was established in 1871 by George Allen, with the backing of John Ruskin, becoming George Allen & Co. Ltd. in 1911 when it merged with Swan Sonnenschein and then George Allen & Unwin on 4 August 1914 as a result of Stanley Unwin's purchase of a controlling interest. Frank Arthur Mumby and Frances Helena Swan Stallybrass, Unwin's son Rayner S. Unwin and his nephew Philip helped him to run the company, which published works by Bertrand Russell, Arthur Waley, Roald Dahl, Lancelot Hogben and Thor Heyerdahl. It became well known as J. R. R. Tolkien's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
