An illustrated journey into the life and imagination of one of the world's best-loved authors, Tolkien's Worlds provides a unique exploration of the relationship between the real and the fantastical and is an essential companion for anyone who wants to follow in Tolkien's footsteps.

"The exhibition ... [and catalog] represents a collaboration between the Haggerty Museum of Art and the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Marquette University Archives. The exhibition was held in conjunction with the international conference The lord of the rings, 1954-2004: scholarship in honor of Dr. Richard E. Blackwelder at Marquette University (October 22-23, 2004) ... the aim of the exhibiton is to examine in a scholarly context and for the public the work of J.R.R. Tolkien in the Marquette University collection ... presented with the cooperation of Christopher Tolkien, The J.R.R. Tolkien Estate Limited and The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust ... Curtis L. Carter, director"--Acknowledgments, p. 4.

As Peter Jackson’s cinematic hobbits set forth, 3-Minute Tolkien celebrates the enduring influence of the world’s most revered fantasy writer. It offers a readable, absorbing structure, dividing J.R.R. Tolkien’s life and cultural contribution into 60 neat portions, every one digestible in a mere three minutes: 20 mini-sections each on Life, Work and Influence. From a childhood inventing new languages in the sylvan landscape of the Severn valley, through a First World War that saw him witness the horrors of the Somme, to academic success founded on a passion for Old English tales, we trace Tolkien’s life and look at the way in which it informs his creation of imaginary worlds so intricately mapped that modern readers, writers and artists continue to explore them in a quest for their myths, monsters and meaning.

A detailed work of reference and scholarship, this one volume Encyclopedia includes discussions of all the fundamental issues in Tolkien scholarship written by the leading scholars in the field. Coverage not only presents the most recent scholarship on J.R.R. Tolkien, but also introduces and explores the author and scholar's life and work within their historical and cultural contexts. Tolkien's fiction and his sources of influence are examined along with his artistic and academic achievements - including his translations of medieval texts - teaching posts, linguistic works, and the languages he created. The 550 alphabetically arranged entries fall within the following categories of topics: adaptations art and illustrations characters in Tolkien's work critical history and scholarship influence of Tolkien languages biography literary sources literature creatures and peoples of Middle-earth objects in Tolkien's work places in Tolkien's work reception of Tolkien medieval scholars scholarship by Tolkien medieval literature stylistic elements themes in Tolkien's works theological/ philosophical concepts and philosophers Tolkien's contemporary history and culture works of literature

The doctorial thesis argues that the term Subcreation with its revised and broadened definition, in part differing from J.R.R. Tolkien's original term sub-creation, may be used for the discussion of the making of fictional worlds in literary discourse. The successful conception of a fictional world depends on the reader's willing suspension of disbelief. This depends both on the author and his skilled composition of the world and all its aspects, as well as on the reader's acceptance of this invented fictional world. The author needs to create a narrative with an inner consistency, which is crucial to achieving the effect of the reader's immersion in the fictional world. The fundamental aspects that an author needs to realize to achieve successful Subcreation have been structured into and analysed in four categories: Language and Linguistic Variation, Physiopoeia, Anthropoeia and Mythopoeia. Furthermore, this thesis shows that, as contemporary examples of fantastic literature, both Tad Williams's and Terry Pratchett's fictional worlds are successfully created through the realization of these aspects of Subcreation. Apart from commenting on the success of the subcreative process, this thesis also remarks upon the cultural influences both authors include in their writings. While both may be considered Anglophone in a general categorization, Pratchett's Discworld retains a feeling of 'Britishness' that is not to be found in Williams's Otherland. The thesis proposes several approaches to Subcreation that may be studied subsequently. So, for example, it may be possible to determine the success of an author's Subcreation by collecting empirical data. Apart from literary works this field of studies may also include other media.

An in-depth study on the philosophy of the Inklings. Listed on the official website of the Owen Barfield Literary Estate as recommended reading. Tolkien’s Middle-earth started with a name — the author came across a strangely-sounding name of Earendel when reading a piece of old Anglo-Saxon literature. On reading the first few lines of the poem, he felt "a curious thrill, as if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep. There was something very remote and strange and beautiful behind those words.” This encounter with the sound of a name was a call from beyond the veil of the world, which Tolkien later described as the primary reality. The stories of his legendarium were crafted around that name. For Tolkien, the narrative was a secondary reality, a sub-creation. The Name was primary. There is a secret literary theory behind the fantasy worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield who believed that when words are spoken aright, they invoke the invisible reality from behind the veil of the world. Words effect what they name. For the Inklings, words are NOT primarily communication tools. They are not the “things” we use to convey a message. Strictly speaking, the message doesn’t come THROUGH words; rather, words are the incarnation of the message—provided they are Spirit-breathed. This seems to be the overarching sentiment and a source of inspiration for all the Inklings—for them, the world is Music, a Sound condensed into matter. It is the Music of Iluvatar clad in stone, water, and grass. It is the Name breathed into a Story. It is Poetry incarnated in the pattering of rain. In modern-day movies and stories based on the works of the Inklings, this "call" from beyond the curtain of the world is often missing. We see a linear narrative that draws us in by its incessant action, but we feel that something is amiss. These movies are made to entertain, but they don’t do even that. Tolkien's stories are entertaining in a different way—it’s not the story that matters, but the Name behind it. Not "what happens," but "who" it happens to. The Name is the primary reality—a summons from behind the veil of the world. Unless the storyteller gets the “mind” of the Inklings, they will create parody. Modern writers use language and storytelling as communication tools. With this approach, the only purpose of using words is to convey the message. As a result, the choice of words becomes message-driven. Words are used to get the reader to move on from one word to the next one horizontally—to bring them to the message as quickly as possible. Peter Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College, pointed out that in modern writing, words have lost their vertical, static quality: "Each word comes more from the preceding word rather than from the silence. It moves on to the next word in front of it rather than to the silence." For the Inklings, language is not a communication tool but rather a portal into being—the invisible reality summoned into our world by the shape and sound of words. Properly speaking, words are incantations. Have you ever heard words that make you stop breathing for a moment or two? If you have, you know why the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, and other Inklings are so peculiar. They use words vertically—not to speed the reader on but to allure them to the music of the silence around the words. As Treebeard said: "Don’t be hasty, Master Meriadoc." This book has eleven chapters corresponding to the eleven hidden gems scattered throughout the works of J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield. Like ancient Silmarils, they illumine our present darkness with their magic light and allow us to peep through the curtain of the world.

A peerless A–Z guide to the names, places and events in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Mark J.P. Wolf’s study of imaginary worlds theorizes world-building within and across media, including literature, comics, film, radio, television, board games, video games, the Internet, and more. Building Imaginary Worlds departs from prior approaches to imaginary worlds that focused mainly on narrative, medium, or genre, and instead considers imaginary worlds as dynamic entities in and of themselves. Wolf argues that imaginary worlds—which are often transnarrative, transmedial, and transauthorial in nature—are compelling objects of inquiry for Media Studies. Chapters touch on: a theoretical analysis of how world-building extends beyond storytelling, the engagement of the audience, and the way worlds are conceptualized and experienced a history of imaginary worlds that follows their development over three millennia from the fictional islands of Homer’s Odyssey to the present internarrative theory examining how narratives set in the same world can interact and relate to one another an examination of transmedial growth and adaptation, and what happens when worlds make the jump between media an analysis of the transauthorial nature of imaginary worlds, the resulting concentric circles of authorship, and related topics of canonicity, participatory worlds, and subcreation’s relationship with divine Creation Building Imaginary Worlds also provides the scholar of imaginary worlds with a glossary of terms and a detailed timeline that spans three millennia and more than 1,400 imaginary worlds, listing their names, creators, and the works in which they first appeared.