Fall, Spring
Intensive consideration of critical issues in literary history and interpretation. Topics vary.

Current Special Topics

ENGL 194N - Jr/Sr Seminar: Tolkien's Influences

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are among some of the most popular literary works of the 20th century and, thanks to various film and television adaptations, the 21st century as well. However, while most people are familiar with these works, in one form or another, what is less known is that Tolkien was a prominent scholar and teacher of medieval English language and literature at Oxford University and made significant contributions to our understanding of the history and development of Old and Middle English. He even wrote his own translations of key medieval works, including Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Orfeo, and Pearl, among others. As we will see this semester, Tolkien's scholarly work on medieval language and literature had a decided influence on his fictional writings and helped to shape his literary imagination, including his creation of Middle Earth and the various languages of its inhabitants. We will trace out the myriad connections between Tolkien's understanding of medieval England, its history, language, and culture, and his subsequent construction of Middle Earth, not only in The Hobbit and LOTR but also in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. Alongside those texts, we will also read some of Tolkien's translations of and scholarship on medieval literature to better understand the influences that shaped his fictional works.