Good essay, but a bit short. Next time develop your thoughts a little more.
Word Count: 618
Before taking this class, I was vaguely familiar with Lord of the Rings but I had heard a lot on J.R.R. Tolkien and his literary works. I was surprised that there were so many Tolkien critics that claimed his literary works were not well supported and not academic. I plan on doing my research paper on the history of elves. I became interested in this topic when I learned Tolkien created his own elvish language. Even with the creation of his own language, Tolkien still had critics. I was impressed by how Shippey supported Tolkien by returning judgment on Tolkien critics. In the forward, Shippey seemed more like a close friend of Tolkien than a scholar researching the history of the Lord of the Rings.
- At the end of the forward Shipppey mentioned that none of Tolkien’s critics have been able to organize their arguements into a debatable form. I found this very interesting and amusing. Shippey seems like he would jump at the chance to debate a Tolkien critic. Based on his scholarly academic background, I think he has a GREAT chance of winning a debate. A filmed debate between Tom Shippey and a Tolkien critic would be an interesting film for class if one was ever created.
I never realized how influential Tolkien was. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is still a popular book for people to read although it was published over half a century ago. After reading the forward I thought a little more on the history of Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien lived a rather safe life until the war. It is amazing how much Tolkien’s small part in the war influenced his books and the chain reaction that has influenced society for the past 60 years.
Shippey’s forward was a good overview on what we are about to read in the upcoming weeks. He grazed the surface of several topics that I look forward to reading more about.
- Additional Posting on the Foreword:
Shippey did a great job in the Foreword arguing why he thinks J.R.R. Tolkien was the author of the century. It does not surprise me that he came to this conclusion based on opinion and sales figures. The second, and more prominent arguement that Shippey made was classified as “generic.” I have read past articles that claimed Tokien was not the true creator of the heroic fantasy genre. I agree with the fact that he was not the original creator and some of the arguements that Tolkien critics have made. Although he was not the creator, I believe Tolkien was the literary genius who helped propel the fantasy genre to where it is today. Every genre has a person or specific piece of work known for being the founder or the original. Shakespeare for example helped increase interest in playwrights and poems through his works. It has been over four hundred years since Shakespeare’s death and students are still learning about him in school. I believe this is how J.R.R. Tolkien will be remembered. More and more teachers are including the works of J.R.R. Tolkien in their lectures and I believe these numbers will increase as the future progresses. Ultimately, I agree with Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of the century. Overall, the Forward was a strong introduction on is to come in later chapters.
Shippey’s forward provided an overview about the chapters that we will be reading in later weeks. He outlined the book in the section “plan and scope of this book.” I was impressed by the wide range of topics Shippey discussed in this book. I am looking forward to reading the Silmarillion chapter because for my research paper I will be focusing on the elvish language.
