What do Gandalf and Merlin have in common, besides robes and magical staffs? Where do hobbits get their recipes, riddles, and love of rambling? What other Rings of Power were circulating in medieval Europe? How did Thorin violate the rules of medieval kingship?
You’ll find the answers and more in this book, which explores the magic and creativity behind J.R.R. Tolkien’s bestselling story from a historical perspective. Tolkien was a professor of medieval languages and literature at Oxford University, and he drew on his scholarship—and the homely comforts common in his own day—to build the world of The Hobbit.
The Hobbit and History uncovers the parallels between the Middle Ages and the intricate culture of Middle-earth that Tolkien created in The Hobbit, showing how historical cultures provided the models for Tolkien’s characters, foods, riddles, and battle tactics. The book explores how European myths and legends inspired Tolkien’s wizards, dragons, and the monsters he created. Seeing Middle-earth and its peoples against these historical backdrops shines new light on the richness of Tolkien’s world, which is rooted in knowledge of European cultures as deep as the archive that Gandalf explores in Minas Tirith.
Filled with fascinating facts and reproductions of Tolkien’s original artwork of Smaug and other aspects of Middle-earth, The Hobbit and History is the missing piece for every book and movie fan and anyone who thought their J.R.R. Tolkien collection was complete.
Price: $17.95
Pages: 288
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Imprint: Trade Paper Press
Series: Wiley Pop Culture and History Series
Publication Date:
04 November 2014
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781118167649
Format: Paperback
For Star Wars and History: "A timely, insightful collection that honors Star Wars fandom by acknowledging its intelligence. Even readers who've always assumed history is a dull, stale subject will be captivated by these scholarly meditations upon the links between our world and a galaxy far, far away . . ." —Dr. Andrea Cremer, author of the New York Times bestselling Nightshade series
Introduction: Bilbo, the Hands-On Historian – Janice Liedl and Nancy R. Reagin
Timeline
I “A darkness came on with dreadful swiftness”: Middle-earth’s Warriors and Worthies
1. The Faces of the Five Armies - Marcus Schulzke
2. From Oakenshield to Bloodaxe: The Viking Roots of Tolkien’s Dwarves – Colin Gibbons
3. It Is Good to Be the King: Monarchs in Middle-Earth and the Middle Ages - Mark Sundaram and Aven McMaster
4. “The Last Homely House”: Elf-Lords and the Rules of Medieval Nobility – Janice Liedl
II From Hobbit-holes to Riddle-Games in the Middle Ages and Middle-earth
5. Dreaming of Eggs and Bacon, Seedcakes and Scones - Kristen M. Burkholder
6. Battle of Wits, Battle of Words: Medieval Riddles and The Hobbit – Christina Fawcett
7. Bilbo’s Ring: Magical Objects in Middle Earth and Medieval Europe – Laura Mitchell
8. “Roads go ever ever on”: Rambling and Roughing it in The Hobbit – Bram Mathew
III Wizards and Bears and Monsters, Oh My!: Magic and Mystery in Middle-earth
9. Merlin, Odin and Mountain Spirits: The Story of Gandalf’s Origins – Leila Norako
10. Berserkers, Were-Bears and Ursine Parents: Beorn the Skin-Changer and his Ancestors - Stefan Donecker
11. From Whence Came the Great Worms? History and Tolkien’s Monsters – Jessica Monteith
12. “Until the Dragon Comes”: Literature, Language, and The Hobbit – Martha Driver
The White Council (Contributors)
Index
