Lord of the Rings: The Mythology of Power

by Jane Chance

Overview

" With New Line Cinema's production of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the popularity of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien is unparalleled. Tolkien's books continue to be bestsellers decades after their original publication. An epic in league with those of Spenser and Malory, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, begun during Hitler's rise to power, celebrates the insignificant individual as hero in the modern world. Jane Chance's critical appraisal of Tolkien's heroic masterwork is the first to explore its "mythology of power"–that is, how power, politics, and language interact. Chance looks beyond the fantastic, self-contained world of Middle-earth to the twentieth-century parallels presented in the trilogy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813190174
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	10/26/2001
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

	Note on the References and Acknowledgments	vii
	Chronology: J.R.R. Tolkien's Life and Works	ix
1.	Introduction: A Voice for the Dispossessed	1
2.	"Queer" Hobbits: The Problem of Difference in the Shire	26
3.	The Political Hobbit: The Fellowship of the Ring	38
4.	Knowledge, Language, and Power: The Two Towers	59
5.	Power and the Community: The Return of the King	95
6.	Conclusion: Heroic Narrative and the Power of Structure	128
	Notes	139
	An Annotated Bibliography: Recommended Works by and about Tolkien	145
	About the Author	153
	Index	155

Editorial Reviews

Chance's companion volumes on Tolkien are brilliantly written and critically significant. Her understanding of his works is profound, and she convincingly confirms him as a major writer of the 20th century.

Kritikon Litterarum

Presents a strong case for Tolkien as a mainstream contemporary writer.

Seven

Both provocative and stimulating... provides a rewarding exploration of that web of relationships which defines Middle-earth.

Florida Atlantic University Robert A. Collins

An interesting examination of themes like the value of language and the corrupting effects of a will to power.

Ont.) Artsforum (Oshawa

"An interesting examination of themes like the value of language and the corrupting effects of a will to power." — (Oshawa, Ont.) Artsforum

"Chance's companion volumes on Tolkien are brilliantly written and critically significant. Her understanding of his works is profound, and she convincingly confirms him as a major writer of the 20th century." — Kritikon Litterarum

"Both provocative and stimulating... provides a rewarding exploration of that web of relationships which defines Middle-earth." — Robert A. Collins, Florida Atlantic University

"The author has taken a complex and convoluted masterpiece and dissected it in a clear and concise style. Fans of Tolkien's classic will welcome it." — School Library Journal

"Presents a strong case for Tolkien as a mainstream contemporary writer." — Seven

From the Publisher