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Issues and Problems in Medieval Literature and Culture

01-Tolkien and Medieval Literature

This course explores the medieval sources of Tolkien’s mythologies, and puts the 20th century fantasist into conversation with Anglo-Saxon elegy, medieval romance, and theories of language, linguistics, semiotics, and phenomenology.  We will begin by reading excerpts from Tolkien’s non-trilogy works: The Hobbit, Lost Tales, and The Silmarillion and three key scholarly essays.  There will be a short introduction to the linguistic features of Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. Then we will proceed to survey the medieval texts that haunt his works: Beowulf, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Volsunga Saga, The Poetic Edda, The Song of Roland, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  At the same time we are reading the medieval texts we will slowly be working our way through the trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.  You are warned in advance that this class will involve a lot of reading, some of it in Middle English.  Excerpts from the Peter Jackson movies will be screened and discussed, along with supplementary readings on temporality, imagination, fantasy, and nostalgia.  Requirements: 2 short papers, optional class presentation, and short weekly response papers.