In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • The Year's Work in Tolkien Studies 2017
  • David Bratman (bio), Kate Neville (bio), Jennifer Rogers (bio), Robin Anne Reid (bio), Jason Fisher (bio), John Wm. Houghton (bio), and John Magoun (bio)

Introduction [David Bratman]

Several anthologies of note are prominent in the Tolkien literature studied this year. They include the recipients of both the 2018 and 2019 Mythopoeic Scholarship Awards from the Mythopoeic Society. The first of these is The Inklings and King Arthur: J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain, edited by Sørina Higgins (Berkeley, CA: Apocryphile Press, 2017). Its Tolkien-related content, largely but not entirely concerned with The Fall of Arthur, is covered under Source and Comparative Studies. The other award-winner is There Would Always Be a Fairy-tale: More Essays on Tolkien, by Verlyn Flieger (Kent, OH: Kent State UP, 2017), the second not-quite-miscellaneous collection of short essays on Tolkien by this distinguished and prolific author (the first was Green Suns and Faërie, 2012). It is not-quite-miscellaneous because the tracing of recurrent themes in Tolkien's work is a major concern here (and one far from unique to Flieger). It's covered under General Criticism.

Two genuinely miscellaneous anthologies in Tolkien studies also feature prominently in this year's consideration. Tolkien Among Scholars, edited by Nathalie Kuijpers, Renée Vink, and Cécile van Zon (Leiden, Netherlands: Tolkien Genootschap Unquendor, 2016), was originally announced as Unquendor's Lembas Extra 2017 issue, which is why it was not covered last year, though when it arrived it turned out to be labeled Lembas Extra 2016 and with that year of publication as well. Binding Them All: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on J.R.R. Tolkien and His Works, edited by Monika Kirner-Ludwig, Stephan Köser, and Sebastian Streitberger (Zurich: Walking Tree, 2017) is volume 37 in the publisher's Cormarë Series of Tolkien-related scholarship. Both contain a large variety of interesting essays whose consideration is spread throughout this survey.

There are also two somewhat more focused anthologies this year. Death and Immortality in Middle-earth: Proceedings of The Tolkien Society Seminar 2016, edited by Daniel Helen (Edinburgh: Luna Press, 2017) is volume 17 in the Society's Peter Roe Series, and is largely covered under General Criticism, with a few articles elsewhere. Tolkien and [End Page 253] Alterity, edited by Christopher Vaccaro and Yvette Kisor (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), has a broad topic range but a specific thematic focus. Because of the cultural basis of alterity studies, it has been placed in the Gender Studies subsection of General Criticism.

Important monographs of the year include J.R.R. Tolkien, Romanticist and Poet by Julian Eilmann, a survey in an area of emerging interest in Tolkien studies (General Criticism); The Great Tower of Elfland: The Mythopoeic Worldview of J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and George MacDonald by Zachary A. Rhone, a consideration of some common features and themes among these four authors (Source and Comparative Studies); The Flame Imperishable: Tolkien, St. Thomas, and the Metaphysics of Faërie by Jonathan S. McIntosh, an excursion into deep theology (Religious and Ethical); and Flora of Middle-earth: Plants of J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium by Walter S. Judd and Graham A. Judd, a virtuosic encyclopedia that's as much scientific botany as it is Tolkien (Sub-creation). To these could be added the revised and expanded edition of The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion & Guide by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, an essential scholarly reference work (General Works); and above all what has turned out to be the second in the late Christopher Tolkien's final trilogy of material from his father's papers, his edition of the tale of Beren and Lúthien, one of the Great Tales of the Silmarillion (covered under General Criticism: Other Works).

Journals of the year include volume 14 of the present journal, Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review; issue 58 of Mallorn: The Journal of The Tolkien Society, dated Winter 2017; two issues of Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis...

pdf