Available now from Oloris Publishing, Dr. Deborah A. Higgen’s Anglo-Saxon Community in J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ will add to the field of Tolkien scholarship a detailed study of how Tolkien entered into the community of Anglo-Saxon storytellers as a scholar and critic, but also as an insider, recasting historical details, heroic codes, and literary themes and motifs as he composed his most celebrated novel.
“Dr. Deborah Higgens is an archaeologist of Arda, uncovering the bones of Middle-earth to reveal the Anglo-Saxon marrow within!”
Constance G.J. Wagner, Writing Program Director at Saint Peter’s College
In two critical essays, “On Fairy-Stories” and “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” Tolkien discusses the manner in which ancient poets and writers created their great fairy-stories. Through an examination of these essays, Higgens demonstrates how the same principles and techniques were employed by Tolkien in writing The Lord of the Rings, as he integrated into his own sub-creation the themes of the Anglo-Saxon mead hall and its feasting protocol, the lord as gift-giver, the comitatus bond, and the role of the aristocratic woman in her function as cup-bearer. Anglo-Saxon Community in J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ will prove to be an informative and fascinating read for Tolkien fans and scholars of all types.
“My passion found itself in books of history, poetry, and of all places, in Rohan. J.R.R. Tolkien, as professor of Anglo-Saxon, not only felt what I felt, but explained it in his articles and wove it into his own fairy story. It is my wish to take you along with me on my journey into a fascinating culture of Anglo-Saxon warriors, ladies, landscape, and mead halls and their reinvention in Théoden, Éowyn, Galadriel, Lothlórien, Meduseld, and Rohan. May the journey stir your souls as it has mine.” ~ Dr. Deborah Higgens
About the Author
Dr. Deborah A. Higgens is director of the C.S. Lewis Study Centre and lives at The Kilns, the former home of C.S. Lewis, located in Oxford, England. She is known by her students as a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature and the works of C.S. Lewis; however, she is renowned by her most diligent students for taking them to the local Renaissance festival, examining medieval weaponry such as long bows and hand-crafted swords, and sharing stories of her favourite sport, falconry. Dr. Higgens also enjoys travelling, and has lived across the world in such places as Germany, Turkey, and Costa Rica, before venturing over to her now beloved England.
About Oloris Publishing
Oloris Publishing is a dynamic venture that seeks to expand the vision of traditional publishing by welcoming and showcasing vibrant, new voices, and embracing various media for their expression. They believe that the publishing process should be a true collaboration, in which authors and illustrators are very involved so that their own voices truly shine. Visit Oloris at olorisbookshop.com and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
