Tolkien in the New Century: Essays in Honor of Tom Shippey ed. by John Wm. Houghton, et al (review)

A whole book of criticism, a Festschrift, in honor of Tom Shippey? Well, why not? At the top of Tolkien scholars’ favorite works, Shippey’s The Road to Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, and stacks of essays have added much to the depth of Tolkien criticism. The 15 contributors to this collection celebrate Shippey’s contributions to the field, answering the questions he has posed, echoing their mentor’s research interests and methods, and joining in examining Tolkien’s shorter and more obscure works with the enthusiasm and depth Shippey brings to the table.

The fat list of prestigious editors emphasizes the book’s range: John Wm. Houghton (chair of religious studies and philosophy at the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania), Janet Brennan Croft (editor of Mythlore and head of access and delivery services at Rutgers University Alexander Library), Nancy Martsch (editor of Beyond Bree, newsletter of the J.R.R. Tolkien Special Interest Group of American Mensa), John D. Rateliff (author of many role-playing games and editor of The History of The Hobbit), and Robin Anne Reid (professor of literature and languages at Texas A&M University–Commerce).

First comes a section of personal anecdotes—unusual in this type of essay collection yet perfectly suited to a celebration of a single author. These include “Counseling the Scippigræd: How T. A. Shippey Taught Us to Read” (John R. Holmes), “Shippey: The Philologist and the Critics” (David Bratman), “Tom Shippey, and a Few New Leaves on Some Old Roots and Branches” (E. L. Risden), “A Talk by Tom Shippey” (Todd Jensen), “Tom Shippey and the Tolkien Society” (Jessica Yates), and “Shippey amongst the Mercians” (John Wm. Houghton). Admittedly, the titles are rather all of a piece. Each work is short—only a few pages. Holmes explains his new word “Scippigræd,” the Shippey counseled, to describe the scholarship springing up after Shippey, under his influence. He also includes the rather funny and mildly impossible top-ten list of “How to Be like Tom Shippey”—it is no wonder this one appears first.

Bratman and Jensen, in parallel perspectives, begin by describing memorable encounters with The Road to Middle-earth, followed by many meetings with the scholar at conferences. Risden sticks closer to the writings, focusing on Shippey’s enthusiasm for linguistics. Yates, a Londoner, describes her time in the Tolkien Society, in which she was personally impressed by Shippey’s research enough to invite him to be guest of honor several times over, as she tells in a lively story. Houghton finishes up with humorous anecdotes of conferences and scholarly aptitude as Shippey chats with grad students and tackles academics with a rugby player’s passion. All these are like quick snapshots, making a bright and pleasant collage of other scholars’ impressions of the book’s celebrated guest star.

Part 2, “Answering Questions,” tackles many of the dangling inquiries Shippey posed in his writings. First, in “The ‘Lady with the Simple Gown and White Arms’ or Possible Influences of 19th and Early 20th Century Book Illustrations on Tolkien’s Work,” Nancy Martsch thoughtfully answers how much Tolkien may have taken his sources from Andrew Lang’s colored fairy books and similar children’s works that brought in an idealized, semimedieval world. She observes that Tolkien’s heroines all dress simply in a single defining color, each with the “white arms” actually unrelated to historic medieval dress yet typical for the fairy tales with their evocative illustrations that may have inspired the young author. Pictures are helpfully included. In the same vein, Verlyn Flieger answers Shippey’s question on the metaphor of the Silmarils. She brings in Shippey and his arguments throughout her essay, thoughtfully comparing Silmarils to the One Ring and Arken-stone, the Holy Grail, the...