RICE UNIVERSITY
SPRING, 2002
ENGLISH 318: J. R. R. TOLKIEN
10:50-12:05 TTH Dr. Jane Chance
J.R.R. Tolkien is now recognized as one of the
greatest writers of the twentieth century for his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings (written during a
period from the end of the thirties to the early fifties). As an Oxford
Professor and eminent medievalist, he wrote out of what he knew about Old
English, Old Norse, and Middle English literature. As a contemporary of T.S.
Eliot, George Orwell, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, and other modernists, he
wrote out of what he had lived through. The course will trace the tension
between the exile--the wraecca--and
the community, otherness and heroism, identity and marginalization, revenge and
forgiveness.
To locate The
Lord of the Rings within a broader historical and literary context, we will
trace the development of Tolkien's art, beginning with The Hobbit and The Lord of
the Rings as a mythology for England and following up with The Silmarillion. Along the way we will
investigate his works on fantasy and mythmaking, such as “Mythopoiea,” “Leaf by
Niggle,” and “On Fairy-Stories.” Clearly evident will be his interest in
medievalness—especially the Old English Beowulf.
Cassettes and films of and about Tolkien and his writings will supplement
readings and discussions.
Requirements:
Class attendance is mandatory; your grade will be based on class
participation/quizzes; 2 papers (5-7 pages each); a midterm and a final
examination.
Texts (in order of reading):
Readings (both required and recommended texts)
will also be placed on reserve (see below). Prices are those at amazon.com. Please note that ISBN numbers are
important in order to have a text with page numbers cited in class.
J. R. R. Tolkien, Letters, ed. Humphrey Carpenter (Houghton Mifflin, 2000), pb ISBN 0618056998 $12.00
____. The
Hobbit, rev. ed. (Houghton Mifflin, 1937; rpt. 1999), Pb 0-618-00221-9
$9.60
Beowulf:
A New Verse Translation (Norton Critical Edition, 2002), trans. Seamus
Heaney, ed. Denis Donoghue, pb.
0393975800 $10.65
J.
R. R. Tolkien, Tolkien Reader, 2nd
ed. (Ballantine, 1989), pb PR 6039.032T6
1966 0345345061 $6.99
____, The Fellowship of the Ring
(Ballantine, 1986), pb ISBN 0-345-33970-3
J.
R. R. Tolkien, The Two Towers (Ballantine, 1988), pb ISBN 0-345-33971-1
___ , Unfinished Tales
(Ballantine, 1988), pb ISBN 0-345-35711-6
___
,
Return of the King (Ballantine, 1988), pb ISBN
0-345-33973-8
The Silmarillion
(Manner Books, 2001), 2nd ed., pb. PR 6039 .O32 S5 1977 6-93078 $11.20
Recommended:
Chance, Jane, The Lord of the Rings: The
Mythology of Power, rev. ed (UPK,
2001) pb 0-8131-9017-7 $13.65
____, Tolkien’s Art: A Mythology for England,
rev. ed. (UPK, 2001), pb 0-8131-9020-7 $13.65
Foster, Richard, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth: From the Hobbit to the Silmarillion
(Ballantine), pb. PR6039.O32 Z49 1993 0-345-32436-6
Hammond, Wayne G., and Christina Scull, ed. J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator
(Houghton Mifflin, 1997, rpt. 2000), pb. NG797.T64 H36 1995 0618083618 $17.50
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Monsters and the Critics
and Other Essays, Acacia Press, 1997, pb. 0-261-10263-X $22.95
Syllabus:
Introduction:
Tolkien’s Life and Times
Week 1
Jan. 15 Tues.
Read Letters #43, 163, 199, 213
1892-1911 The early years: South Africa,
Mabel Tolkien, King Edward’s School, Father
Francis Morgan, Edith Bratt
1911-1920 Oxford University, Edith Bratt, WWI, the germ of “The
Silmarillion”
1920-25 Leeds University
1925-1959 Oxford University: C.S. Lewis, the
Inklings, and the Tolkien Family
1917ff The “Lost Tales”
1929-37 The
Hobbit
1937-1954 The
Lord of the Rings
1959-73 Retirement and the `Silmarillion’
I. A Mythology for
England: The
Silmarillion
Jan.
17 Thurs.
The Evolution of Arda and Language as its Seed: A Revolutionary Linguistic
Aesthetic
Read Silmarillion, “Ainulindale”; “Quenta Silmarillion, The History of
the Silmarils,” pp. 1-112
Read
Tolkien, Letters #131, 165, 186, 297
Week 2
Jan. 22 Tues.
Jan. 24 Thurs.
Read Silmarillion, “Quenta
Silmarillion, The History of the Silmarils,” pp. 113-316
Read Tolkien,
Letters #178, 180, 181, 211
Week
3
Jan.
29 Tues. Read Kalevala:
Tale of Kullervo Paper #1 Due
II. Tolkien as Exile:
“I Am in Fact a Hobbit”
Jan. 31 Thurs.
The Origin of the Name “Hobbit” and the Structure of the Children’s Story
Read Tolkien, Letter #257
Tolkien,
The Hobbit, Chapters 1-7
Week
4
Feb. 5 Tues. The Heroism of Bilbo Baggins
Tolkien,
The Hobbit, Chapters 8-14
Feb. 7 Thurs. “There and Back Again” Read
Tolkien, The Hobbit, Chapters 15-19
III. The Origins of Tolkien’s Heroism:
The Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and Beorhtnoth
Week 5
Feb. 12 Tues.
Read Beowulf: The Hero Beowulf and Bilbo
Feb.
14 Thurs. Tolkien’s Recording of the Drama Tolkien,
“Homecoming of Beorthnoth Beorthelm’s Son”
Read The
Battle of Maldon (Hand-out)
Week 6
Feb.
19 Tues. Exile
and Heroism
Read Tolkien, “Homecoming of
Beorthnoth Beorthelm’s Son” (in the Tolkien
Reader, pp. 3-27)
Feb. 21- Thurs. Film: Tolkien Remembered
Week
7
Feb. 26 Tues.
Tolkien’s Artwork (Slide Lecture)
Read
Hammond and Scull, ed. Tolkien as Artist
and Illustrator
Feb. 28 Thurs. Midterm Examination
Mar.
4-8 Midterm Break
III.
The Lord of the Rings
Week
8
Mar.
11 Tues. The Composition of LOTR and
the Issue of Allegory
Read Tolkien’s
“Foreword” and Fellowship, Chap. 1
Letters #142, 215,
328; 129, 181, 203
Mar. 13 Thurs. The Hobbit and the Fellowship
Read Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1
Week
9
Mar.
18 Tues. The
Hobbit: The Development of Frodo as Hero
Read Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring, Books 1-2
Read Tolkien, Letters
#191, 192, 24
Mar.
20 Thurs. Religiosity
and the Valar: The Elves, Galadriel
Elven Songs
Sung by Tolkien (from The Road Goes Ever On (Hand-out)
Read Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2 (cont.)
Read the Chapter on
Galadriel in Unfinished Tales, pp.
239-80
Week 10
Mar.
25 Tues. Saruman and his Adversaries: The Ents, the Lost
Entwives, and the Entmoot
Read The Two Towers, Book Three
Tolkien's Reading of
the Coming of the Ents (cassette)
Mar.
27 Thurs.
Saruman and Gandalf: Two Wizards
Read “Palantír” and “The Istari” in Unfinished Tales (On Reserve, PR 6039
O32U5 1980)
Tolkien, Letter #246
Week
11
April
2 Tues. Gollum/Smeagol
Read
The Two Towers, Book Four
April 4 Thurs. Male Society and Women: Eowyn and
Shelob
Read Return of the King, Book Five
Week
12
April 9 Tues. Aragorn: War and Pacifism
Read
Return of the King, Book Six
April 11 Thurs. The Return, “Home Again”: Samwise Gamgee
IV. Tolkien as Artist and Adaptations of His
Works
Week
13
April
16 Tues. Tolkien and Faërie: The Quest for God
Read Tolkien, “On Fairy-Stories” (in the Reader), including “Mythopoeia”
(Hand-out)
April
18 Thurs. Read
Tolkien, “Leaf by Niggle” (in the Reader)
Paper #2 Due
Week
14
April
23 Tues. Cinematic/Audio
Adaptations: How Well Do They Work
(Selections)
The
Arthur Rankin, Jr. /Jules Bass Production of The Hobbit (1977) 76 mins. Voices by Orson Bean, Richard Boone, Hans Conried, John Huston, Otto
Preminger, Theodore Bikel, Glenn
Yarborough
The
Arthur Rankin, Jr. /Jules Bass Production of The Return of the King (1979) 96 mins. (Voices by John Huston
[Gandalf], Orson Bean [Frodo], Roddy McDowell Samwise], Theodore Bikel, William
Conrad, Glenn Yarborough)
Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978) 130
mins
Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the
Ring
April
25 Thurs. Cinematic/Audio
Adaptations: How Well Do They Work
(Selections) (cont.)
The
BBC Recordings on Audio-Tape
Nicol Williamson, J. R. R. Tolkien,
and Others
Johan de Meij, Symphony no.
1, “The Lord of the Rings”
Final Examination
On Reserve
(in addition to works listed above):
J.R.R.
Tolkien, Book of Lost Tales PR6039.O32B6 1984
____________,
Lays of Beleriand PR6039.O32 L3 1985
____________, The Old English Exodus PR1609.A3T6 1981
____________, Father Christmas Letters PR6039.O32F38
1991
____________, Lays of Beleriand PR6039.O32 L3 1985
____________, Lost Road and Other Writings PR6039.O32
L64 198
____________, Morgoth’s Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part 1 PR6039.O32 M67 1933b
____________, Peoples of Middle-earth PR6039.O32
P41996
____________,
Pictures
N6797.T64 A4 1992
____________,
Return of the Shadow PR6039.O32 L6374 1
____________, Sauron Defeated: The End of the Third Age
PR6039.)32 L63743 1992b
____________,
The Shaping of Middle-earth PR6039.O32 S461986b
____________, Treason of Isengard PR6039.O32 L6375 1
____________, Tree and Leaf PN3437 .T6 1965
____________, War of the Ring PR6039.O32L6377 1990b
Beard,
Henry N., and Douglas C. Kenney, Bored of
the Rings: A Parody of J. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (Harvard
Lampoon/NAL) PS3552.E16 B 6
Carpenter,
Humphrey, Tolkien: A Biography PR6039.O32 Z621977
Day,
David, The Tolkien Companion PR6039.O32 Z49 1993b
Day, David , Tolkien:
The Illustrated Encyclopedia (Simon and Schuster, 1992), pb. PR6039.)32 Z634 1991
Donaldson,
E.T., trans. Beowulf PR1583.D6
Duriez, Colin, The J.R.R.Tolkien Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to his Life,
Writings, and the World of Middle-earth
PR6039.032 Z639 1992
Flieger,
Verlyn, Splintered Light PR6039.O32
S5325 1983
Fonstad,
Karen Wynn, The Atlas of Middle-earth
(Houghton Mifflin) G3122.M5 F6 1991
Giddings,
Robert, J. R. R. Tolkien PR6039.O32
L6337 1982
Goodknight,
Glen, ed. Proceedings of the J. R. R.
Tolkien Centenary Conference, 1992 PR6039.O32 Z6641995
Gordon,
R., Anglo-Saxon Poetry PR1508.G65
Green,
William, The Hobbit: A Journey into
Maturity PR6039.032 Z646 1995
Helm,
Randel, Tolkien’s World PR6039.O32
Z66
Isaacs,
Neil, and Rose Zimbardo, ed. Tolkien: New
Critical Perspectives (Univ. Kentucky Press, 1981) PR6039.O32 Z85
W.
Kilby, ed. Kalevala PH 324.E5 K5
Shippey,
T.A., The Road to Middle-Earth
PR6039.O32 Z8241983
Strachey,
Barbara, Journeys of Frodo: An Atlas
G3122.M5 S7 1992
Swann,
Donald, The Road Goes Ever On M1621.4
.S93
Tolkien,
John and Priscilla, The Tolkien Family
Album PR6039.O32 Z845 1992
Unwin,
Rayner, The Making of the Lord of the
Rings PR6039.O32 Z6386 1992
Tolkien Remembered
(videorecording) PR6039.032 Z855 1993
Tyler,
J.E.A., The Tolkien Companion PR6039 .O32
Z49
West,
Richard, Tolkien Criticism: An
Annotated Checklist, 2nd
ed. (Kent State, 1981) Z8883 .4S.W45 1981
Paper
Topics:
Paper
#1: Select one of the volumes of The History of Middle-earth and explain
the importance of one of the tales in relation to The Silmarillion, OR
Explain the relationship of some aspect of The Kalevala to the Silmarillion.
Paper #2: Select some aspect of the film of The Fellowship of the Rings and explain it as an adaptation or interpretation of Tolkien’s novel. How successful is it? Does it Hollywoodize Tolkien, or does it project his mythology in a different way?
Or explain how some tale in one of the volumes of The History of Middle-earth illuminates its parallel in The Lord of the Rings.
Conferences:
Office Hours 3:30-4:15 TTH and by
appointment
Office 501 Rayzor Hall
Office Phone 713-348-2625
Department Phone (for messages): 713-348-4840
Department Fax: 713-348-5991
E-mail: jchance@rice.edu
