Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2005.

Allegory is not obsolete as Samuel Coleridge and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe have claimed. It is alive and well and has transformed from a restrictive concept to a concept that is flexible and can form to meet the needs of the author or reader. The most efficient way to evidence this is by making a case study of it with a suitable work that will allow us to perceive its plasticity. This essay uses J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as a multi-perspective case study of the concept of allegory; the size and complexity of the narrative make it a suitable choice. My aim is to illustrate the plasticity of allegory as a concept and illuminate some of the possibilities and pitfalls of allegory and allegoresis. As to whether The Lord of the Rings can be treated as an allegory, it will be examined from three different perspectives: as a purely writerly process, a middle ground of writer and reader and as a purely readerly process. The Lord of the Rings will then be compared to a series of concepts of allegorical theory such as Plato’s classical “The Ring of Gyges”, William Langland’s classic The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman and contemporary allegories of racism and homoeroticism to demonstrate just how adaptable this concept is. The position of this essay is that the concept of allegory has changed over time since its conception and become more malleable. This poses certain dangers as allegory has become an all-round tool for anyone to do anything that has few limitations and has lost its early rigid form and now favours an almost anything goes approach.

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most read novels throughout history. Its popularity is huge and it has a fan-base matched only by that of Star Trek and Star Wars. It is believed that its popularity is due to its applicability and its many interesting characters – which all have different personalities and appeal to different people. One of the most popular main characters is the powerful wizard Gandalf. In this essay, I argue that in Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf's relationship to Frodo is constructed as a mentorship as defined by the modern pedagogical research, in order to examine what affect Gandalf's mentoring has on Frodo. In order to confirm this, it will first be established that Gandalf and Frodo has the potential to be in a mentoring relationship. Second, a close reading of the novel will be undertaken, analyzing Gandalf's and Frodo's interaction, comparing it to the interaction between a "good mentor" and his mentee, as defined by modern pedagogical research. Third, I will analyze how Gandalf's actions as a mentor influence Frodo's development and actions in the novel. This study shows that Gandalf and Frodo did indeed interact in the way of a mentor and his mentee. Furthermore, Gandalf performed his role the way a "good mentor" should; he asked questions, challenged productivity, encouraged risk-taking, helped to identify goals, listened actively, offered encouragement, promoted independence, provided feedback, shared critical knowledge, provided structure and gradually granted Frodo more responsibilities – the way a "good mentor" should. This all contributed to Frodo's success in helping him develop confidence, competence, self-knowledge, self-sufficiency and determination.

The fictive world created by Oxford Professor J. R. R. Tolkien is intimately linked with his own views of the world. His love for the natural world shines through his works and has given rise to multiple scholars focusing on Tolkien and ecology. This study falls under that category and is an ecological interpretation of The Lord of the Rings and presents the argument that Tolkien divides his characters into three types. These types are representations of different approaches to nature: nature as a tool for human progress, nature as our ideal existence and nature as an equal part of the world. The significance of the study is the focus on the three wizards in The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White and Radagast the Brown, as representatives of different ecological positions. The study centres on the argument that Gandalf is a representative of nature as an equal part of the world. A balanced, holistic view of nature and humanity is put forward by J. R. R. Tolkien as the correct way for humanity to view nature. Furthermore, Gandalf as a character shows how humanity is supposed to act in terms of natural protection and preservation.

Thesis advisor: Philip O'Leary / This paper takes the opportunity to examine some of the lesser known roots the fictional world, Middle Earth, and its accompanying mythology, both created by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is concerned with tracing the elements of Celtic myth and legend that appear to have influenced Tolkien’s work. While he is ambiguous on the subject – flatly denying Celtic influences in one letter, while stating that his stories of Elves are rather Celtic – consulting the text yields a world rife with Celtic underpinnings. This paper makes no claims that such Celtic elements are the only myths Tolkien borrowed from, but attempts to give a compelling case that they some of the elements Tolkien used when creating Middle Earth and, consequently, are worthy of being introduced into the discussion of Tolkien’s extraordinary mythology. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English Honors Program. / Discipline: English.

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In this essay a conclusion about the way female characters are portrayed in fantasy novels will be attempted through an analysis of one selected female character from each selected novel. The works that have been chosen are; J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World and A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. The analysis will be done with the help of examples and theories from both feministic criticism and gender studies. During the course of the discussion the background of the fantasy genre and goal of the scientific theories will be explained.The fantasy genre in itself allows its authors a chance to criticize the norms of our society, freed from the restraints of realism. The findings of this essay however, imply that some fantasy authors forsake this chance in order to more accurately emulate the medieval European society or in fact actively reinforce patriarchal norms.

Sammanfattning: The Lord of The Rings-trilogin slog världen med storm då första filmen kom ut år 2001. J.R.R Tolkiens böcker var väldigt omtyckta och framförallt omtalade men det hade aldrig funnits icke-animerade filmer på dem. Peter Jackson tog på sig att skapa filmerna och klarade detta åtagande väldigt bra. Däremot var kvinnorollerna, precis som i böckerna, väldigt små och inaktiva. Detta är därför någonting jag valt att ta upp i min uppsats. Kvinnornas roller i jämförelse med männens. Uppsatsen jämför de olika rollfigurerna mot varandra och deras roller överlag i specialversionerna av filmerna.

<p>Sammanfattning: The Lord of The Rings-trilogin slog världen med storm då första filmen kom ut år 2001. J.R.R Tolkiens böcker var väldigt omtyckta och framförallt omtalade men det hade aldrig funnits icke-animerade filmer på dem. Peter Jackson tog på sig att skapa filmerna och klarade detta åtagande väldigt bra.</p><p>Däremot var kvinnorollerna, precis som i böckerna, väldigt små och inaktiva. Detta är därför någonting jag valt att ta upp i min uppsats. Kvinnornas roller i jämförelse med männens. Uppsatsen jämför de olika rollfigurerna mot varandra och deras roller överlag i specialversionerna av filmerna.</p>

Mental imagery as a form of human cognition is still not well understood, particularly in the area of spatiality. This thesis attempts to find the relationship between the mental images of places created while reading a story (ekphrastic) and the mental images created while viewing a cinematic adaptation of that story. Using Bakhtin’s idea of chronotope, and Panofsky’s theory of iconography, associations can be made between places in text and film that inform the themes that readers/spectators identify and evaluate. Netlytic, an online text analysis tool, permits the analysis of online message board fan opinions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s and Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings according to themes of visualization and of place. Analysis of findings suggests that mental images created from the text and from the filmic adaptation are both passively and actively integrated in order to increase comprehension of spatial elements in Tolkien’s epic.