Tolkien & Fantasy Literature

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New this week is a conversation about J. R. R. Tolkien and the genre of Fantasy literature. I have back with me special guest Dr. Fred Putnam, recently retired professor from Templeton Honors College and Eastern University in eastern Pennsylvania. We provide a brief biography of this famous writer and teacher, share some fun ideas on how to teach Tolkien in your classes, explain the benefits of reading Fantasy literature, and discuss the wonderful program offered to high school students in Templeton Honors College's Summer Scholars Program. There are a few little spoilers so if you haven't read the Lord of the Rings or watched the movies, beware! Maybe take this opportunity to enter Middle-earth this summer.  

Favorite Resources:

• Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination, by Vigen Guroian
• The Tolkien Reader: Stories, Poems, and Commentaries by the Author of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wooten Major, Roverandom, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Mr. Bliss, Letters From Father Christmas, by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Art of the Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Art of the Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Tolkien Gateway
• The Philosophy of Tolkien, by Peter Kreeft
• J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, by Tom Shippey
• The Road to Middle-Earth, by Tom Shippey
• Tolkien: The Authorized Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter
• The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien by J. R. R. Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien
• Writing Down the Dragon and Other Essays: On the Tolkien Method and the Craft of Fantasy, by Tom Simon
• The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis
• The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, and At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
• On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature, by C. S. Lewis
• An Experiment in Criticism, by C. S. Lewis

Regarding faerie, it is a  “perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold.” - J. R. R. Tolkien, “On Fairy-stories,” The Tolkien Reader, p. 33

“The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords. In that realm a man may, perhaps, count himself fortunate to have wandered, but its very richness and strangemeness tie the tongue of a traveller who would report them. And while he is there it is dangerous for him to ask too many questions, lest the gates should be shut and the keys be lost.” - J. R. R. Tolkien, “On Fairy-stories,” The Tolkien Reader, p. 33

 “Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity.” - J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-stories, The Tolkien Reader, p. 74-75

Regarding the  Eucatastrophe -  the sudden joyous “turn,” “sudden and miraculous grace” - J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-stories," The Tolkien Reader, p. 86

"The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by ‘the veil of familiarity’. The child enjoys his cold meat (otherwise dull to him) by pretending it is buffalo, just killed with his own bow and arrow. And the child is wise. The real meat comes back to him more savoury for having been dipped in a story; you might say that only then is it the real meat. . . . we do not retreat from reality: we rediscover it. As long as the story lingers in our mind, the real things are more themselves. . . . By dipping them in myth we see them more clearly. . .[regarding the book], we know at once that it has done things to us. We are not quite the same men.”  - C. S. Lewis, "Tolkien's Lord of the Rings," On Stories, p. 138-139

 . . . give a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information . . . - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 174 

1. Either as a family or personally, read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings this year. Also try some of his other short stories, like Farmer Giles of Ham and Leaf by Niggle.
2. Do something creative: craft a scene of one of Tolkien's books - diorama, painting, Legos, clay; memorize one of his poems; recreate one of Tolkien's maps or design your own using similar style and drawings; study heraldry and design your own shield or coat of arms.
3. Celebrate Hobbit Day September 22, 2024, in honor of Bilbo's and Frodo's birthdays. Be sure to include all the meals. This Day is a great compliation of all our major holidays -- include feasting, gifts, picnics, costumes, and fireworks.