Ce travail de thèse se focalise sur l'écrivain anglais John Ronald Reuel Tolkien et sur son oeuvre littéraire. Celle-ci est composée de plusieurs écrits et surtout des romans The Hobbit (1936) et The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955). L'intention que Tolkien avait au début de sa carrière littéraire était la création d'une mythologie pour son pays, l'Angleterre. Cette profonde ambition primaire s'unit à sa passion de jeunesse pour les langages imaginaires et à sa profession de philologue et d’enseignant d ’anglo-saxon à l’université d’Oxford. La Terre du Milieu, le monde que Tolkien dessine pour sa mythologie, devient alors le lieu où ses contes, qu'il définira de contes de fées, se déroulent et où ses langages peuvent se développer. Nous allons démontrer dans ce travail, qui est formé de trois parties, la pertinence de l’oeuvre de Tolkien dans le contexte de la littérature contemporaine et le fait que sa production littéraire implique plusieurs éléments qui relient mythologie, philologie, fantaisie et modernité. Nous nous concentrons sur certains aspects thématiques de la littérature européenne qui ont inspiré la création mythologique par Tolkien. La deuxième partie du travail encadre le point de vue linguistique au sein de l’oeuvre de Tolkien. Finalement, la troisième partie a la fonction de résumer les aspects précédents et d'analyser la théorisation des contes de fées par Tolkien, tout comme il la développe dans son célèbre essai "On Fairy-Stories", pour conclure avec la réception critique que notre auteur a reçue dans le monde moderne et contemporain, et qui lui a aussi permis d’être l’un des auteurs les plus lus et influents du XXe siècle. / This thesis focuses on the English writer John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973), the famous author of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s literary work gathers many writings, stories and two famous novels, such as The Hobbit (1936) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), that achieved a great succes all over the world. At the beginning of his literary career Tolkien aimed at the creation of a mythology to his country, England. This ambition was matched with his juvenile passion of inventing languages and his profession as a philologist and Anglo-Saxon teacher at Oxford University. Middle-earth, Tolkien’s secondary world, becomes the place where his fairy tales occurs and his languages may develop. This work shows how Tolkien’s work fits in the context of contemporary literature and that his production involves many elements collecting mythology, philology, fantasy and modernity.It consists of three parts: in the first part, some of the themes and the mythological sources of Tolkien’s tales are analyzed, in particular the Finnish sources, the Medieval and poetic ones. Thesecond part, the linguistic matters concerning Tolkien's work are taken into consideration and, in particular, the way how languages may create a world and the relation between reality and the perception of such reality, which will inevitably influence the language referred to it.Finally, in the third part, the Fairy element, which is one of the bases of Tolkien’s work is discussed, as well as the reception of our author, both from the critique point of view and the audience one, so as to demonstrate why he may be considered as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.

This essay investigates the applicability of Joseph Campbell’s notion of the Hero’s Journey from his theoretical work The Hero with a Thousand Faces on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again. This has been done by outlining the essential aspects of Campbell’s theory and then performing a reading and analysis of Tolkien’s work. Furthermore, this essay focuses on the narrative structure proposed by Campbell, but also the heroic character’s development—in this instance, Bilbo Baggins’ development. As such, a brief examination of Campbell’s attitude and use of Freudian psychoanalysis has been performed as well as a presentation of Bilbo Baggins’ character and dual nature before the adventure. As a possible line of argument Tolkien’s knowledge of myth is also briefly expounded on. This essay does not research or make any definitive statements on the universal applicability of Campbell’s theory, but merely finds that Tolkien’s The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again appears to conform well to Campbell’s proposed narrative structure and that the development of Bilbo’s heroic character, or his character arc, is in concurrence with this as well.

<p>The purpose of this essay is to analyze Tolkien’s work The Hobbit since this has not been done to the same extent as the Lord of the Rings. The aim of this essay is see if the hobbit Bilbo is a hero and if so in what way. The questions I aim to answer in this essay are:</p><p>• Why does the main character leave his home?</p><p>• What creatures does the hero encounter on his journey and how does he defeat these?</p><p>• In what ways is Bilbo a hero?</p><p>• How does Tolkien narrate The Hobbit?</p><p>To answer these questions I have used Jung’s archetype theory which is useful when comparing different works and looking for similarities. I have partly used the approach of psychoanalysis as well, where knowledge of the author is important when interpreting the work.</p><p>The reason the main character, Bilbo, leaves his home is part curiosity and part that he is forced by others to go. On his journey he encounters many different creatures including trolls, goblins, the creature Gollum, spiders, wood-elves and the dragon Smaug. Bilbo uses his wits and bravery to survive the different creatures he meets. Bilbo is a hero in that, even though he may not have what is usually characteristic for a hero, he tries his best and many times acts first and thinks later to save his friends. Through the encounters in the world, the main character Bilbo develops into a hero. The author mostly uses the view of a third-person narrative, but sometimes intrudes and turns directly to the reader. The work shares narrative features with how oral narratives are told, and the narrator is omniscient. In his work, you can trace older stories and traditions which the author was very familiar with.</p>

This thesis consists of a close reading and meta-analysis of themes and patterns in the works that comprise the fictional world of “Middle-Earth” created by J. R. R. Tolkien, in specific relation to the culturally prevalent views of the decadence of modernity and the ideological dynamics of fascism. This thesis explores the ideological dynamics of the fictional world constructed by Tolkien’s texts, and argues that his work contains demonstrable similarities to the ideological dynamics of fascism in its response to the existential challenges of modernity. To clarify, this thesis does not argue that Tolkien’s fiction can be read as “fascist,” tout court, but rather to give a comprehensive outline of how the fictional world created within his texts relate to discourses critical of modernisation and to what extent the aesthetic and ideological dynamics of this world present what I will call a fascist utopia. Tolkien’s work will be approached using the arguments and theories from canonical texts and authors regarding discourses on modernity, including works from the fields of philosophy (Nietzsche), political economy (Marx and Engels), literary studies, sociology (Durkheim, Weber and Simmel) and psychology (Freud). Alongside this I will use relevant studies of fascism to analyse how Tolkien fits within and relates to the aforementioned discourses. I assert the findings that Tolkien creates a world which, in its attempts to renew the values of the past through the presentation of mythology, rootedness, community, agrarianism and hierarchy, demonstrates a semi-fascistic utopia. This is not to cast aspersions or make claims about Tolkien’s creative intentions or personal ideology, rather an observation as to the content and themes of his fictional world. I will argue this fictional world aligns with fascist concepts of identity, nationhood, heritage, mythology and renewal; however, at the same time finding it non-aligned with the central thrust of fascism, in its overt condemnation of industrialism and technology. This contradictory combination produces a fictional world which presents the renewal of what Roger Griffin terms the “shields against ontological terror” (75) now lost or delegitimised in the modern age.

"The opening chapter of the paper presents a literary biography of Tolkien, giving the facts of his life and a chronology of his writings. Following this biography is a consideration of Tolkien's five major works of fiction; in the second chapter are discussed his two books for children, The Hobbit and Farmer Giles of Ham, while in the third is described his epic trilogy for adults, The Lord of the Rings, comprising The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. For each book, a synopsis of plot is given, together with excerpts from current and retrospective critical reviews. The final chapter is divided into two parts. The first explores the effect of Tolkien's scholarly pursuits on his fiction, with particular emphasis on the influence of his study of etymology and Norse epic literature. In the second part his theories of imaginative writing, as brought out in his essay, 'On Fairy-Stories,' are outlined with reference to their successful application in his own work"--Introduction. / "August, 1957." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-102).

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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The purpose of this essay is to analyze Tolkien’s work The Hobbit since this has not been done to the same extent as the Lord of the Rings. The aim of this essay is see if the hobbit Bilbo is a hero and if so in what way. The questions I aim to answer in this essay are: • Why does the main character leave his home? • What creatures does the hero encounter on his journey and how does he defeat these? • In what ways is Bilbo a hero? • How does Tolkien narrate The Hobbit? To answer these questions I have used Jung’s archetype theory which is useful when comparing different works and looking for similarities. I have partly used the approach of psychoanalysis as well, where knowledge of the author is important when interpreting the work. The reason the main character, Bilbo, leaves his home is part curiosity and part that he is forced by others to go. On his journey he encounters many different creatures including trolls, goblins, the creature Gollum, spiders, wood-elves and the dragon Smaug. Bilbo uses his wits and bravery to survive the different creatures he meets. Bilbo is a hero in that, even though he may not have what is usually characteristic for a hero, he tries his best and many times acts first and thinks later to save his friends. Through the encounters in the world, the main character Bilbo develops into a hero. The author mostly uses the view of a third-person narrative, but sometimes intrudes and turns directly to the reader. The work shares narrative features with how oral narratives are told, and the narrator is omniscient. In his work, you can trace older stories and traditions which the author was very familiar with.