Defending Middle-Earth

A scholar explores the ideas within The Lord of the Rings and the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien: "A most valuable and timely book" (Ursula K.Le Guin, Los Angeles Times-bestselling author of Changing Planes).

What are millions of readers all over the world getting out of reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Defending Middle-earth argues, in part, that the appeal for fans goes far deeper than just quests and magic rings and hobbits. In fact, through this epic, Tolkien found a way to provide something close to spirit in a secular age.

This thoughtful book focuses on three main aspects of Tolkien's fiction: the social and political structure of Middle-earth and how the varying cultures within it find common cause in the face of a shared threat; the nature and ecology of Middle-earth and how what we think of as the natural world joins the battle against mindless, mechanized destruction; and the spirituality and ethics of Middle-earth-for which the author provides a particularly insightful and resonant examination.

Includes a new afterword