The Lay of Leithian: Tolkien’s Epic Fairy Tale Audry Hepburn once said, “If I’m honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales, and I like them best of all.” Often, a child’s first introduction to literature begins with fairy tales and which tends to resonate with them years later. Fairy tales then become a story that is inspiring for children and nostalgic for adults. The fairy tale story varies in definition between critics, yet it is always a form of fantasy. J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy novels The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion follow clear structural patterns common among fairy tales. One story in particular, “Of Beren and Lúthien” found within The Silmarillion, was originally to be Tolkien’s epic poem titled The Lay …show more content…
While the Victorian era saw fairies as diminutive creatures and fantastical worlds or adventures, Tolkien’s emphasis was on the mortal man. He writes in his essay, “Faerie contains many things besides elves and fays, and besides dwarfs, witches, trolls, giants, or dragons: It holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and all the things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted “(On Fairy Stories 4). Tolkien thus believed that a fairy tale consisted of the entire world through an enchanted perspective, that even mortal men are enchanted in a fairy tale. Within “Of Beren and Lúthien,” the protagonist is Beren who is a man in love with Lúthien. Lúthien is the daughter of an Elf and a Maiar and is thus connected with the Valar, the “angels” of Middle Earth and based off of Germanic and Greek/Roman Gods. Their love is thus enchanted and Beren’s quest to make Lúthien his is Heroic and full of enchantment. Tolkien also writes, “Stories that are actually concerned primarily with “faries,” that is with creatures that might also in modern English be called “elves,” are relatively rare, and as a rule not very interesting. Most good “fairy stories” are about the adventures of men in the Perilous Realm or upon its shadowy marches” (On Fairy Stories 4). Thus he stresses the importance of a fairy tale to emphasize the adventures of men and not focus completely on the lives of elves or fairies. As well, the journey through the “Perilous Realm” then becomes more enchanting and fantastical when completed by a
Lord Acton once said, "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely." He was probably referring to the powerful kings and queens who held power over many people. But, we could see how power is something many of the characters in Tolkien's story are trying to have and hold onto in some form or another. In The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien tells us a story about Frodo Baggins who is ordered by Gandalf to destroy the powerful ring discovered accidentally by his older cousin, Bilbo. Like the rest of the hobbits, Frodo has lived quite peacefully and well, not having to worry about how dark and dreary the rest of Middle Earth was becoming under Sauron's growing power. Now, Frodo,
In comparing and contrasting the Arthurian Legends and J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Fellowship of the Ring, it is almost like a medieval contest between the two with many of the similarities coming from the customs of the Middle Ages. A look at the make up of the groups involved, the moral code, the protagonist, the antagonist, the use of supernatural elements and the knightly quest involved in each book shows how alike they are but yet different.
The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is a book widely known for its rich language, detailed imagery, and profound story that expands over three volumes and six books. The book is scattered with deep characters ranging in back stories and eventual character development. Motifs, key parts throughout the story, include lightness and darkness, eyes, jewelry, and sword. JRR Tolkien even creates his own language for the solemn race of elves in the lengthy three volume novel. A part of this length may be attributed to the unusual placement of many full-form songs and poems within the book, as a break between the usual story. These poems and songs have ranges of playfulness and thoughtfulness. With uses of made up Hobbit words and beautiful
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit living in the Shire having a peaceful quiet life in his hobbit hole. One day after living a life of leisure and pleasure he is awakened by a rude knock on his door. In a matter of a few hours he will meet the people that changed his life for good. The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien is a story about a hobbit and his adventure. His adventure starts with a knock on his door by his old Friend Gandalf. Gandalf then promptly asks Bilbo”I am looking for someone to share in an adventure”(tolkien). Bilbo then denies Gandalf and continuous with his usual day until that night. When Bilbo is about to eat his dinner he gets a knock. He opens it to find two dwarves Dwalin and Balin. Bilbo 's shocked but invites them in. Bilbo does this eval times until he 's left with thirteen dwarves Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Ori, Nori, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin Oakenshield. They then invite him on a quest that would change his life. During his quest he faces many evils and overcomes them all to become a hero.
The setting of Beowulf acknowledges the story as a fairy
How can an author write a story which appeals to a present day audience? Richard H. Tyre published an article in 1978 that gives an answer to this very question. Tyre explains how most kids today choose to read books like the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings series, and even The Wizard of Oz. An existing theory that Tyre came up with explains that each of these books, along with many others, have one thing in common: 6 plot elements. Not only do these stories contain the same 6 elements but those elements are in the same order! Tyre states that “(1) those who hunt for treasure, (2) must go alone, (3) at night, (4) and when they find it, (5) they must leave some of their blood behind, (6) and the treasure is never what they expected.” (Tyre 2). J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of The Hobbit. The Hobbit revolves around one hobbit in particular named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo embarks on a journey with 14 others to recover a treasure that is guarded by a dragon. Along the way Bilbo faces many challenges that range from running into huge trolls, to taking part in fierce battles. Due to it’s main character hunting for treasure, facing most of the dangers alone, battling during the wee hours of the night, eventually finding the treasure, after sweating/crying/and enduring injuries, just to have the treasure revealed to him as not what he expected, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is undoubtedly a perfect example of Tyre’s 6 plot elements.
In the lecture Tolkien tells the readers that the man has the power to create stories in order to describe the events of what people are going through. They can express these stories as “satire, adventure, morality, and fantasy” and “causes it to take living form and colour before the eyes.” This makes the readers understand that the fairy stories are created with the intentions to relate to existing events happening, but can be seen in different ways and told by different personifications.
Everyone has a hero. For some it’s a celebrity, or family for others it could be a comic book superhero or a Disney princess. Our heroes may differ, but they all have the same heroic journey according to Joseph Campbell’s studies. He came up with the Heroic Journey an outline that mostly fits any story with a hero. Lately I have been comparing the heroic journey in The Hobbit, and then I compare the book version of The Hobbit and the second movie of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug to each other.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic novel The Lord of the Rings showcases his affinity for what is small and how its measure contradicts its significance. Tolkien crams undetected, potent potential into unlikely vessels—vessels that seemingly lack the capacity. The reader sees this in Tolkien’s protagonist and antagonist, the hobbit and ring respectively. The measure of each conflicts with its significance. With a closer look, the reader also sees this in Tolkien’s word choice. In his essay “On Fairy-Stories,” Tolkien claims “How powerful, how stimulating to the very faculty that produced it, was the invention of the adjective: no spell or incantation in Faerie is more potent.” Throughout The Lord of
into the world of Middle Earth. If a reader investigates further into the songs and poems of The Hobbit, they will find that Tolkien uses poems and songs to reveal important attributes and estab-
Similarly, Lewis’ colleague at Oxford, J.R.R. Tolkien also defended Fantasy, or as he called it, “fairy-stories.” Tolkien was known for his fantastic works that included The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and an assortment of companion books to the series. He was also well known for his criticism of Beowulf, “The Monsters and the Critics.” His Fantasy series have had broad implications on the fantasy genre as a whole since publication, influencing the current generation of writers with the firm grasp of history
In many stories, there is a hero ‒ a character who rescues, saves, survives, and sacrifices in order to help the greater good. He usually is of mysterious origin and often starts off seeming ordinary and insignificant. However, as the hero eventually grows and develops, he follows the hero’s journey, or the general structure of a hero’s adventures. Such is the case in J.R.R. Tolkien’s renowned The Hobbit, a high fantasy novel detailing the adventures of Mr. Bilbo Baggins, a small furry creature known as a hobbit. Bilbo lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until he is compelled to join a dangerous quest with Gandalf the wizard and thirteen dwarves. As Bilbo Baggins progresses along his hero’s journey, he transforms, develops, and changes into an extraordinary hero.
“The murder of Déagol haunted Gollum, and he had made up a defense, repeating it to his ‘precious’ over and over” (The Fellowship of the Ring 62). This quote gives a look into the strongest moment of shock that impacted young Sméagol’s life forever. Gollum is a fictional character unlike any other in The Lord of the Rings series, as he is portrayed as having undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. There are six recurring symptoms that must happen in conjunction with traumatic factors in order for someone to be diagnosed with PTSD, and unfortunately for Sméagol his actions and history sync perfectly into the diagnosis. Due to the fact that Gollum is a fictional character out of a book, it seems that the author, J.R.R. Tolkien, may have purposely given these attributes to Gollum to display PTSD. Though Tolkien may argue that his time in the war did not highly influence his books, subconsciously Tolkien, like many who were in the war, could have had undiagnosed PTSD or known someone who did. As a combat veteran, Tolkien and his friends were more likely to develop PTSD. This may have resulted in portraying these symptoms on to one specific character, Gollum. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder “is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event” (NIMH), just as Gollum had and continues to be put through. He has had a rough past of loss and exile, as well as continuously trudges through horrific events and torture in which he must
"Three Rings for the Eleven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his Dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie(Tolkien)." Master of storytelling J.R.R. Tolkien continues the lives of the fictitious creatures that he introduced in The Hobbit, in his modern classic The Fellowship of the Ring. He artfully illustrates the truths of the evil that plague the hearts of man. He tells a story of greed, destruction and how mortal men are enslaved by
I would like to conclude by saying that this novel The Lord of the Rings has inspired many spin off works, including several games as well.The enormous popularity of Tolkien’s epic saga has greatly expanded the demand for fantay novels, largely thanks to the Lord of the Rings. It is an an extraordinary work, grandly conceived, brilliantly executed and wildly entertaining novel of Tolkien .In the whole novel we see that it 's a hobbit 's dream, a wizard 's delight. And, of course, it 's only the beginning.The language used in this novel is very simple and easy to understand by people. In short this novel has won the hearts of many .This novel is a must read. I see this novel as a near perfect: It 's one of the best fantasy novel ever written. The story just revolves around the Ring which is created by a Dark lord, Sauron.It has brought the supernaturalism in such a way that we could clearly make out where is the supernaturalism used.