DOCSLIB.ORG

The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien Discussion & Activities Guide Tolkien’s The Hobbit is one of my favorite stories to mentor youth and adults through. I also enjoy The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I agree with many literary critics and lovers of classics, that this trilogy is a more complete epic and hero story. However, I like to start out with The Hobbit, because it contains all the elements of a Hero’s Journey or Hero’s Cycle in just the one book. It’s a great warm up to The Lord of the Rings. There are many layers to Tolkien’s works. Choose from the suggestions below, which discussion topics and activities are best suited for your students. Hero Discussion What is a hero? Ask your students to define this (don’t define it for them). Look up some quotes about heroes and discuss whether you agree with that person’s definition or description of a hero. Here are a few examples of hero quotes: “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson) “A hero is someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself.” - Joseph Campbell “Everyone is the hero of his own life story.” - John Barth “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” - Christopher Reeve Discuss whether or not Bilbo is a hero. Do any of the quotes you found describe him? Literary Discussion Discuss the terms protagonist and antagonist. Usually the protagonist is the hero (but not always). The protagonist is the main character – the character driving the action. The antagonist is the character working to stop or block the protagonist. In bent or broken stories, the hero may be the antagonist. The way to tell which character is the hero is not by simply determining who the main character is, but by tracing the character through a Hero’s Journey to determine if he/she completes a his/her journey. In some stories, there is no hero – meaning no character completes a Hero’s Journey. Some characters may get a happy ending, but if they did not go through all the steps in the Hero’s Journey, then they may not be a true hero. This becomes important as youth and adults choose books that have no true heroes, but idealize the main characters despite that. The Hero’s Journey The Hobbit is a great story for teaching The Hero’s Journey. Depending on the ages and readiness of your students, you can adjust how many of the steps or details you include. The 4 main parts of the Hero’s Journey are: - The Call (briefly discuss refusal & acceptance) - The Road of Trials (Tests, Traps & Trials) - The Boon or The Gift - The Return If your students are younger, or they are unfamiliar with The Hero’s Journey, I would start with just these 4 parts. If you are mentoring older students or adults, take extra time and go through all of the elements. A link for a detailed PowerPoint (in pdf format) is included on the SDLAA website, on same page as link for this discussion guide. Review the steps of the Hero’s Journey with students. Activity Give students several examples from various books and movies and have them trace The Hero’s Journey. Students can do this individually or in pairs. For this activity, you should only choose examples of characters who do, indeed, complete a full Hero’s Journey. - Luke Skywalker - Jesus - Odysseus - Moses - Harry Potter (although sometimes controversial, he can be traced through all of the steps of the Hero’s Journey) - Percy Jackson Hero Games Project Have students design and create board games that follow a Hero’s Journey. They can use any setting and any set of characters and any theme, but players must move through at least the 4 main parts of The Hero’s Journey. You can purchase blank boards as well as dice, game pieces, money, and cards at http://www.barebooks.com/gameboards.htm Be sure students plan out their game, write up all the rules, and create a sketch before starting on the actual blank board. Students can do this individually or in pairs. Once the games are done, bring them to class to play as a group. This is a favorite activity in my literature class! Students become very involved, working out all of the rules and designing their games. The results, with my students, are always impressive. Hero Skits You need at least 3 students for this activity. Divide students into groups of 3-5 students. Have each group draw out a card from each of the following categories (I placed cards for each category into brown paper bags, and students drew out 1 card from each bag). A set of possible cards is included below, or you can add or create your own. - Protagonist / Hero - Antagonist / Villain - Setting - The Call / Mission - Supernatural Aid - The Road of Trials After drawing their combination of cards, the students work together to create a skit that incorporates each card. These are some funny, mixed up stories! Allegiance Discussion J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” This quote is about allegiance. To what has Tolkien given his allegiance? Discuss the 4 possible allegiances: Allegiance to Self Allegiance to Others Allegiance to Evil Allegiance to Good For an in-depth explanation of each allegiance, I recommend Dr. Oliver DeMille’s Keynote address Depth Phase, available for download at www.tjed.org. Discuss which allegiance is the correct allegiance? Which allegiance will yield the best results in the end? Literary Discussion Theme – What do you think Tolkien’s theme is? What is the universal message he wanted to teach to readers? Symbolism & Motifs The Hobbit (and The Lord of the Rings) are symbolic of the first Christian Hero’s Journey – that of Adam & Eve. What parallels can you perceive between Bilbo’s journey and the story of Adam & Eve? Literary Essays Compose a thesis stating that Bilbo is a hero, because he completed a hero’s journey. Discuss and cite evidence from the story (quotes from the book) to show how he completed at least the four main parts of a Hero’s Journey. Write an essay showing how The Hobbit is a Christian allegory, explaining and citing evidence from the story about specific symbols that can be connected to people, things or events in the Bible. The Hero’s Journey Based on Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell Departure The Call to Adventure The hero starts off in an ordinary or normal setting, and is called to leave in order to accomplish a task. Refusal of the Call Often when the call is given, the future hero first refuses. The key to overcoming refusal is the next step – supernatural aid. Supernatural Aid Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known. Usually, this supernatural mentor will present the hero with one or more talismans or artifacts that will aid them later in their quest. The Crossing of the First Threshold This is the point where the hero actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known. Belly of The Whale The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero's known world and self. By entering this stage, the person shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis. Initiation The Road of Trials The road of trials is a series of tests, traps and trials that the hero must undergo to begin the transformation. All hero’s have a fatal flaw – some element of their character that must be overcome in order for them to complete their mission. Characters who are rescued from tests, traps, and trials without overcoming their flaw are not true heroes. The Meeting With the Goddess This is the point when the hero experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing. This can be romantic, friendship, or family. Atonement with the Father In this step the hero must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving in to this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power. Apotheosis When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. A more mundane way of looking at this step is that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero begins the return. The Ultimate Boon The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the hero went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the holy grail.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Children's Fairy Tales Science Fiction and Fantasy
    Children's Fairy Tales Science Fiction and Fantasy *Multiple Children's Fairy Tales, Science Fiction and Fantasy Locations Author Title Call # Abbott, Tony Secrets of Droon (Series) JF Adler, Carole S. Eddie’s Blue-Wing Dragon JF Alcock, Vivien The Monster Garden JF Alexander, Lloyd The First Two Lives of Lucas Kasha JF Alexander, Lloyd Prydain Chronicles (Series) JF* Alexander, Lloyd Vesper Holly Adventure (Series) JF Alexander, Lloyd Westmark Trilogy (Series) JF* Applegate, K.A. Animorphs (Series) JF Applegate, K.A. Animorphs Megamorphs (Series) JF Arnold, Louise Golden and Grey (an Unremarkable Boy and a RatherJF Remarkable Ghost) Austin, R.G. Famous and Rich JF Avi Crispin (Series) YA Avi Midnight Magic JF Avi No More Magic JMyst Avi Perloo the Bold JF* Avi Something Upstairs : A Tale of Ghosts YA Avi Windcatcher JF Babbitt, Natalie The Devil’s Other Storybook JF Babbitt, Natalie Tuck Everlasting JF* Banks, Lynne Reid The Fairy Rebel JF Banks, Lynne Reid The Indian in the Cupboard (books) JF* Banks, Lynne Reid The Magic Hare JF Barrie, James M. Peter Pan JF* Baum, L. Frank The Wizard of Oz (Series) JF* Beachcroft, Nina The Wishing People JF Bechard, Margaret Star Hatchling JF Bellairs, John Johnny Dixon Mystery (Series) JMyst Bellairs, John The House With a Clock in It’s Walls JMyst *Multiple Children's Fairy Tales, Science Fiction and Fantasy Locations Author Title Call # Bellairs, John Anthony Monday Mystery (Series) JMyst Billingsley, Fanny The Folk Keeper JF Billingsley, Franny Well Wished JF Blade, Adam Beast Quest (Series) JF Brittain, Bill Devil’s Donkey JF Brittain, Bill Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • On Fairy Stories by J
    On Fairy Stories By J. R. R. Tolkien On Fairy-stories This essay was originally intended to be one of the Andrew Lang lectures at St. Andrews, and it was, in abbreviated form, delivered there in 1938. To be invited to lecture in St. Andrews is a high compliment to any man; to be allowed to speak about fairy-stories is (for an Englishman in Scotland) a perilous honor. I felt like a conjuror who finds himself, by mistake, called upon to give a display of magic before the court of an elf-king. After producing his rabbit, such a clumsy performer may consider himself lucky, if he is allowed to go home in proper shape, or indeed to go home at all. There are dungeons in fairyland for the overbold. And overbold I fear I may be accounted, because I am a reader and lover of fairy-stories, but not a student of them, as Andrew Lang was. I have not the learning, nor the still more necessary wisdom, which the subject demands. The land of fairy-story is wide and deep and high, and is 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 sorrow and joy as sharp as swords. In that land a man may (perhaps) count himself fortunate to have wandered, but its very riches and strangeness make dumb the traveller who would report it. And while he is there it is dangerous for him to ask too many questions, lest the gates shut and the keys be lost.
    [Show full text]
  • HO-767 Enchanted Forest (Enchanted Forest Theme Park)
    HO-767 Enchanted Forest (Enchanted Forest Theme Park) Architectural Survey File This is the architectural survey file for this MIHP record. The survey file is organized reverse- chronological (that is, with the latest material on top). It contains all MIHP inventory forms, National Register nomination forms, determinations of eligibility (DOE) forms, and accompanying documentation such as photographs and maps. Users should be aware that additional undigitized material about this property may be found in on-site architectural reports, copies of HABS/HAER or other documentation, drawings, and the “vertical files” at the MHT Library in Crownsville. The vertical files may include newspaper clippings, field notes, draft versions of forms and architectural reports, photographs, maps, and drawings. Researchers who need a thorough understanding of this property should plan to visit the MHT Library as part of their research project; look at the MHT web site (mht.maryland.gov) for details about how to make an appointment. All material is property of the Maryland Historical Trust. Last Updated: 02-07-2013 HO-767, Enchanted Forest 10040 Baltimore National Pike, EUicott City Howard County 1955 Private CAPSULE SUMMARY The Enchanted Forest Theme Park is located on Route 40 just west of EUicott City. Now surrounded by residential development to the north and shopping malls and other commercial development to the east and west, it is hard to believe that when it opened it was out in the country. Conceived of as a family oriented theme park where young children and their families could go into the fairy tales they all knew by heart, visitors found a wooded, tranquil park with its own lake and streams where winding paths led from a larger than life interpretation of the Three Little Pigs past Humpty Dumpty on his wall to the Old Lady's Shoe which incorporated a slide.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Trauma Through Fantasy
    IN-BETWEEN WORLDS: EXPLORING TRAUMA THROUGH FANTASY Amber Leigh Francine Shields A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2018 Full metadata for this thesis is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this thesis: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/16004 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 4 Abstract While fantasy as a genre is often dismissed as frivolous and inappropriate, it is highly relevant in representing and working through trauma. The fantasy genre presents spectators with images of the unsettled and unresolved, taking them on a journey through a world in which the familiar is rendered unfamiliar. It positions itself as an in-between, while the consequential disturbance of recognized world orders lends this genre to relating stories of trauma themselves characterized by hauntings, disputed memories, and irresolution. Through an examination of films from around the world and their depictions of individual and collective traumas through the fantastic, this thesis outlines how fantasy succeeds in representing and challenging histories of violence, silence, and irresolution. Further, it also examines how the genre itself is transformed in relating stories that are not yet resolved. While analysing the modes in which the fantasy genre mediates and intercedes trauma narratives, this research contributes to a wider recognition of an understudied and underestimated genre, as well as to discourses on how trauma is narrated and negotiated.
    [Show full text]
  • Genre Study-- Fantasy
    Top Picks for Fantasy Beauty: a Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley A most unforgettable love story is wonderfully reinvented in this Young Adult fantasy novel where Beauty is no beauty, but rather her father's plainest but most faithful daughter who must leave her family to enter the enchanted world of the Beast. Much of the classic fairy tale remains unaltered by McKinley, but added details and observations, narrated in first-person by our heroine, grant the story complexity and realism by allowing young readers to more deeply delve into the emotions of this cursed-- and then blessed-- pair of lovers. The Bellmaker by Brian Jacques Joseph the Bellmaker is troubled. It has been four seasons since his warrior-mouse daughter, Mariel, and her companion, Dandin, set off from Redwall to fight evil in Mossflower. Nothing has been heard of them since. Then one night, in a dream, the legendary Martin the Warrior comes to the Bellmaker with a mysterious message. The Conan Chronicles by Robert Jordan Less than nineteen years old, and new to the snares and enticements of civilization, the young Conan must join forces with Karela, a dangerously seductive female bandit, to storm the palace of Amanar, a supremely evil necromancer, and confront the dreaded Eater of Souls. Conan the Defender: As revolution brews in the shadowy streets of Belverus, Conan braves the traps and treacheries of the Royal Palace of the Dragon. Pursued by the luscious and shameless Sularia, the mighty warrior challenges a magic- spawned menace that cannot die: the invincible Simulacrum of Albanus.
    [Show full text]
  • Great Hall the Crystal Cave the Enchanted Forest the Sorcerer's
    The Crystal The Enchanted The Sorcerer's Arcane The Wizard's Chamber of Mystification The Dragon’s Great Hall King's Cross Hall of Illusions Imaginarium Goblin's Glade Jittery Wizard Quidditch Field FRIDAY Cave Forest Study Academy Wardrobe Competition Manor Den Chattahoochee Sinclair Allatoona Harding Rabun Ogeechee Okefenokee Suwanee Savannah Lanier Andiamo Chattooga unknown 17th Floor Outside 2:00pm - 2:15pm Choose Your Choose Your Choose Your Choose Your Choose Your Choose Your Maxina Own Adventure: Own Adventure: Own Adventure: Own Adventure: Own Adventure: Own Adventure: The Game Room Wandmaking, Storibrook: 2:15pm - 2:30pm Hunt for the Hunt for the Hunt for the Hunt for the Hunt for the Hunt for the Opens! Free Quillography, & Excerpts from 2:30pm - 2:45pm Horcrux Horcrux Horcrux Horcrux Horcrux Horcrux Play ALL DAY Bracelet Making Danarko and NIGHT! ONGOING 2:45pm - 3:00pm 3:00pm - 3:15pm Hermione, Sorting Spell Tutor Web The Psychology Wandmaking, 3:15pm - 3:30pm Harp Twins Q&A Hufflepuff, and Beyond D&D Wand Battles Trollhunters! Series of Roleplay Quillography, & 3:30pm - 3:45pm House Elves Bracelet Making ONGOING Quidditch 3:45pm - 4:00pm (all ages) The Ever- Closet Cosplay - 4:00pm - 4:15pm Words From Movie Magical Changing, A Game of Easy Alterations Wandmaking, The Tomb of 4:15pm - 4:30pm Harp Twins Triheart Beyond the Creatures Bewitching Memes for Cosplay on Quillography, & Terrors Grave Edition Bracelet Making 4:30pm - 4:45pm Sabrina-Verse the Cheap Build-A- ONGOING 4:45pm - 5:00pm Character 5:00pm - 5:15pm Workshop Wandmaking, 5:15pm - 5:30pm Quillography, & OPENING CEREMONIES 5:45pm - 6:00pm Bracelet Making ONGOING 5:45pm - 6:00pm Hermione Magical 6:00pm - 6:15pm Sorting Make 'em C.
    [Show full text]
  • The Enchanted Forest As a Place of Knowing
    The Enchanted Forest as a Place of Knowing Patsy Maritz … the feathers from the wings of angels are taken and strewn along the forest paths. Only the women who need enter the forest see them rocking softly on a leafy bed. Introduction In his essay ‘Fairy Tales as Ways of Knowing’, Bruno Bettelheim states of women who have confronted their deepest fears: Having found their own strength and gained the ability to exercise it, they no longer need to live in fear, or to depend on others for their well-being. Life will be good for them forever after. It [is] their experience in the dark and pathless forest; it [is] their successful encounter with terror which did all this for them. Finding oneself in a dark, impenetrable forest is an ancient literary image for [a woman] in need of gaining self knowledge (Bettelheim 1981:14). When a woman has a powerful internal struggle and descends into the unconscious mind or the deep feminine (a well-hidden locale under many layers of thought and feeling), the struggle on a metaphorical level manifests itself in a difficult journey through the world between worlds, one of the ‘ancient literary images’ to which Bettelheim refers. After her induction, the woman dies to her former way of knowing and acquires a different way of knowing, relinquishing her naïve and childish Alternation 14,2 (2007) 137 - 157 ISSN 1023-1757 137 Patsy Maritz understanding of the world for a more mature awareness and comprehension. It is often necessary for women go through a form of initiation in order to become thus independent, strong and perceptive.
    [Show full text]
  • Fantasy Versus Fairy Tale: How Modern Fairy Tale Variants Measure up to One of the Greatest Literary Traditions of All Time
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Undergraduate Honors Theses Student Works 12-2013 Fantasy Versus Fairy Tale: How Modern Fairy Tale Variants Measure up to One of the Greatest Literary Traditions of All Time. Cheryl Lee East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/honors Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Lee, Cheryl, "Fantasy Versus Fairy Tale: How Modern Fairy Tale Variants Measure up to One of the Greatest Literary Traditions of All Time." (2013). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 87. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/87 This Honors Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Introduction Fairy tales have always had a life of their own. For centuries, they have grown, evolved, and reshaped; they have taken many different forms and projected many different messages across a vast number of cultures. It is because of this growth and adaptability that the fairy tale has become one of the world’s most important literary traditions. But fairy tales have become so engrained in today’s society that we often fail to appreciate them. We see them everywhere and pass them off as children’s stories, failing to revisit them as adults. They have become synonymous with the myth of simpler times, where good and evil were always black and white and the hero always lives happily ever after.
    [Show full text]
  • Perilous Wanderings Through the Enchanted Forest: the Influence of the Fairy-Tale Tradition on Mirkwood in Tolkien's the Hobbit
    Volume 33 Number 1 Article 5 10-15-2014 Perilous Wanderings through the Enchanted Forest: The Influence of the Fairy-Tale Tradition on Mirkwood in Tolkien's The Hobbit Marco R.S. Post Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Post, Marco R.S. (2014) "Perilous Wanderings through the Enchanted Forest: The Influence of the airF y- Tale Tradition on Mirkwood in Tolkien's The Hobbit," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 33 : No. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol33/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Considers the roots of Mirkwood in European fairy tale traditions, using Basile’s Pentamerone as a typical example, and how Tolkien adapted and rejected traditional features of the perilous wood to suit his thematic and stylistic needs as a story-teller.
    [Show full text]
  • MAP KEY Other Fun Things to Find!
    22 19 18 21 20 17 23 24 16 25 26 15 14 13 27 28 12 8 11 29 10 30 31 9 32 7 4 6 33 3 5 2 34 1 42 43 38 37 44 39 35 36 46 45 41 47 40 48 Other fun things to find! 50 49 FAIRY HOUSES DRAGON’S NEST 3 GNOME VILLAGES FAIRY HOUSES MAP KEY TREE POPS ACTIVITY STATIONS NATURE NOTES MEET ENCHANTING FRIENDS RAINBOW PHOTO OPP Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center The Estate of Mr. Rufus L Shingleberry 1 Christy L, Elizabeth C, Christy F Smith 2 ? Untiltled 3 Stacey Hann Ruff ? 4 Builder Twinkling Tower 5 Joann Foltz Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center Untitled 6 Richard Mooney Matilda Town 7 Lauren Park & Emily Campagna Social Distancing with an N 8 Jill, Lainey, Drew Nielson Kids Fairy Neighborhood 1— IVY Lane 9 Commodore’s Magical Sanctuary Jess, Zi, Jaylasia Commodore Friendship Bay Fairy House Lawrence Fullerton Rainbow Land Girl Scout troop 10021 Babywearing Fairies Patuxent Babywearing Fairy Gnome Hotel Kyleigh, Chrissy Welch. Bob, Carol Harvat 10 Kids Fairy Neighborhood 2 — 10 Holly Trail Daisy Squeezy House Fairy Castle Carol Wade & Evelyn Rapp Abigail Anderson Rose’s Rustic Cottage 2020 Tylean & Diane Krzywdik Sydney, Shawn, Chloe, Ezra Rockin Gnome House Rainbow Hope Selena Howson Little Bugs Family Daycare Mystical Gnome Tree Untitled Rachel Howson Wendy Collien & Karen Richar Untitled Brooke Cowan Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center 11 Kids Fairy Neighborhood 3 — Pine Terrace Fairy Perfect Fairy Sweet Shoppe Vivian Slade Violet Crowell Branch’s Annex Magical Creature Village Cook Family Eryn, Thomas, Hannah Fleming.
    [Show full text]
  • Through the Magic World: Tolkien's New Myth
    Università degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Letterari Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Lingue e Letterature Europee e Americane Classe LM-37 Tesi di Laurea Through The Magic World: Tolkien's New Myth Relatore Prof.ssa. Marilena Parlati Correlatore Prof. Gabriele Cocco Laureando Giulia Barbiero n° matr.1157104/ LMLLA Anno Accademico 2018 / 2019 Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................1 Chapter I: The Fantastic………………………………………………………………...5 I.i: A new genre between the uncanny and the marvellous…………………………... .5 I.ii: J.R.R. Tolkien: myth-maker and sub-creator……………………………………...15 Chapter II: Tolkien and the magic world in The Hobbit……………………………....23 II.i: Medieval and epic influences in The Hobbit……………………………………...23 Chapter III: The Hobbit on screen: a new myth……………………………………….55 III.i: From page to screen: Jackson’s creation of a new myth…………………………55 Summary………………………………………………………………………………….83 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………...87 Introduction “There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly west. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”1 I introduce my work with this quotation from The Hobbit (1937) by J.R.R. Tolkien because the fantasy novel is its core matter. This short passage perfectly represents my goal, that is to find the origin of the magic world of The Hobbit by looking at the processes of mythography and mythopoetics carried out by the author and by investigating the dynamicity of myth and the subsequent creation of new myths. Thus, speaking in Tolkienian terms, I look for the primary world in the secondary one and, through a journey in the magic world of Tolkien’s The Hobbit, I analyse not only the nature of myth, but also the figure of the hero, who, with his admirable humanity, transmits a message of tolerance and justice and represents the new myth.
    [Show full text]
  • ENCHANTED FOREST HALS OR-4 8462 Enchanted Way SE HALS OR-4 Turner Marion Oregon
    ENCHANTED FOREST HALS OR-4 8462 Enchanted Way SE HALS OR-4 Turner Marion Oregon WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA HISTORIC AMERICAN LANDSCAPES SURVEY National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240-0001 HISTORIC AMERICAN LANDSCAPES SURVEY ENCHANTED FOREST HALS NO. OR-4 Location: 8462 Enchanted Way SE, Turner, Marion County, Oregon Lat: 44.83197 Long: -123.00888 (Park Entrance, Google Earth, Simple Cylindrical Projection, WGS84) Significance: The Enchanted Forest is likely to be the first storybook theme park in Oregon, and has been continually owned and operated by the Tofte family since its earliest beginnings in 1964. The park opened to the public in 1971. Description: The Enchanted Forest is a place for family entertainment that makes the most of the lush vegetation of the site, a second-growth native forest. Oregon's dry and sunny summer weather makes the dappled shade of the forest an inviting place and an ideal backdrop to bring fairy tales alive and create a diverse, fantasy theme park. Although the parking lot is visible from Interstate 5 south of Salem, Oregon, one enters a different world after passing through the entry building. The park is situated under a virtually continuous forest canopy, composed of maturing native trees and plants such as Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), vine maple (Acer circinatum) and Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum). The restoration and preservation of this forest as wildlife habitat and shady retreat is an important part of the park's mission. The trees are carefully thinned to allow some light to reach through to the attractions.
    [Show full text]