The Plants of Middle-earth - Botany and sub-creation

Dinah Hazell

The Kent State University Press

2006

124 páginas

4h 8m

ISBN-10: 0873388836

Beautifully illustrated with dozens of original full-color and black-and-white drawings, The Plants of Middle-earth connects readers visually to the world of Middle-earth, its cultures and characters and the scenes of their adventures. Tolkien's use of flowers, herbs, trees and other flora creates verisimilitude in Middle-earth and serves important narrative functions. This botanical tour through Middle-earth increases appreciation of Tolkien's contribution as preserver and transmitter of English cultural expression, provides a refreshing and enlivening perspective for approaching and experiencing Tolkien's text, and allows readers to observe his artistry as sub-creator and his imaginative life as medievakist, philologist, scholar and gardener. The Plants of Middle-earth draws a biography, literary soucers, and cultural history and is uniquy in using botany as the focal point for examining the complex network of elements that comprise Tolkien's creation. Each chapter included the plant's description, uses, history, and lore, which frequently lead to their thematic and interpretative implications. The book will appeal to general readers, students and teachers of Tolkien as well as to those with an interest in plant lore and botanical illustration.