The Road to Middle-earth - How J. R. R. Tolkien created a new mythology

Tom Shippey

HarperCollins

1992

432 páginas

14h 24m

ISBN-10: 0261102753

The Road to Middle-Earth is a fascinating and accessible exploration of J.R.R.Tolkien’s creativity and the sources of his inspiration. Tom Shippey shows in detail how Tolkien’s professional background led him to write The Hobbit and how he created a work of timeless charm for millions of readers. He discusses the contribution of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales to Tolkien’s great myth-cycle, showing how Tolkien’s more ‘complex’ works can be read enjoyably and seriously by readers of his earlier books, and goes on to examine the remarkable 12-volume History of Middle-earth by Tolkien’s son and literary heir Christopher Tolkien, which traces the creative and technical processes through which Middle-earth evolved. The core of the book, however, concentrates on The Lord of the Rings as a linguistic and cultural map, as a twisted web of a story, and as a response to the inner meaning of myth and poetry.

By following the routes of Tolkien’s own obsessions – the poetry of languages and myth – The Road to Middle-earth shows how Beowulf, The Lord of the Rings, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, the Elder Edda and many other works form part of a live and continuing tradition of literature. It takes issue with many basic premises of orthodox criticism and offers a new approach to Tolkien, to fantasy, and to the importance of language in literature.

This new edition is revised and expanded, and includes a previously unpublished lengthy analysis of Peter Jackson’s film adaptations and their effect on Tolkien’s work.

Resenhas (1)

5 (Perfeito)

Um dos trabalhos mais completos sobre Tolkien. Neste livro, Tom Shippey investiga assuntos como as inquirições filológicas de Tolkien; o enredo cartográfico de O Senhor dos Anéis; as reconstruções de mitos nórdicos feitas por Tolkien na Terra-Média; A Terra-Média como um mito entre o Evangelho e os mitos pagãos; a influência de obras medievais como Beowulf, Sir Gawain e Pearl; a natureza do mal representada por Tolkien; a representação de destino e providência presente em SDA; a teoria da coragem vista na literatura antiga do Norte; as diferentes versões do Silmarillion; as ficções infantis do autor; as inúmeras críticas que o autor recebeu; entre outros.

Brevemente, porém, é possível afirmar que O Senhor dos Anéis é uma obra com enorme profundidade cultural e linguística, inserida em uma narrativa mitológica que é capaz de dialogar com nossa era e que busca resgatar as virtudes antigas desprezadas pelo mundo moderno, constituindo, nesse quesito, um "violento conflito cultural".