The Literary Role of History in the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien

Reviews / Votes

"Nicholas Birns explores diverse and wide-ranging visions of history in Tolkien's works, including Roman, Mediterranean, Semitic, and Byzantine influences, thus significantly expanding the conventional focus in Tolkien studies on the early Germanic world, while his discussion of the Goths and Lombards provides a detailed and nuanced account of Tolkien's interest in Germanic histories. Various chapters offer different historical contexts and sometimes surprising insights, such as 18th-century politeness in Theoden and the hobbits; 19th-century Romanticism in the nature-loving Silvan Elves; 20th-century philologists and Tolkien, and the shocking effect of Appendix F in Lord of the Rings. Select a chapter or read the entire book, which examines history in the real world and inside the fiction, from Numenor to the last days of the Dwarves, and suggests ways in which history can be read as an analogue, a limitation, or a creative inspiration for our understanding of Tolkien and his fiction."

--Anna Smol, Mount Saint Vincent University

"Birns treats his readers to a fascinating array of historical debates.... Birns's final chapter deserves special mention for braving a discussion of philology via Tolkien, Erich Auerbach, and Edward Said-a trio not discussed often enough by Tolkienists."

--Dennis Wilson Wise, Los Angeles Review of Books

"...tackles boldly some problematic topics concerning Tolkien's historical influences and thus it is overall a fine piece of research which should be considered as part of the Tolkienian scholarship and literary criticism from now on."

--Maria Fernandez Portaencasa, Mythlore