What I Learned Today

Like so many others, I’ve loved Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy since I first encountered it, around age 7 or 8. But partly because I fell in love with it so long ago, it can be hard to really pin down what I now consider to be “good” about it—to detach and analyze it objectively, outside of the strong sentimental attachment I have. But last week I discovered The Tolkien Professor (podcast available on iTunes), and he’s pointing out all the book details that together make up Tolkien’s genius. I feel like I’ve been given new glasses, or picked up a decoder ring, or otherwise suddenly gained entry into a new realm of Tolkien appreciation.

The Tolkien Professor is Dr. Corey Olson, a professor of Medieval Literature at Washington College in Maryland. He is podcasting his lectures on Tolkien’s works, specifically aiming to critique them from a perspective he thinks Tolkien would have appreciated. That is, he refrains from analyzing the books by trying to find parallels with the author’s biography; he does not seek to interpret the books using allegory; and he does not comb through the books trying to link their content to “source material” (e.g., Beowulf and other sources that Tolkien undoubtedly was inspired by). Instead, he approaches the books in their own right, and he discusses what it is about them that makes them so enjoyable, as well as taking a step back (or inside) to illuminate techniques Tolkien used to achieve different effects (see the introductory lecture, “How to Read Tolkien and Why”).

Dr. Olson has begun with a series of lectures on The Hobbit, and I am enjoying this (simpler) story more than I ever had before; there’s so much more going on than I’d been consciously aware of! As just one example, Dr. Olson points out that Tolkien, in aiming to draw the reader into a “fairy-tale” or fantasy story, used Bilbo as a surrogate; the fantastical world (wizard Gandalf, dwarves, adventures, tales of dragons, gold, etc.) breaks into Bilbo’s mundane and peaceful world and invites him to step away, into adventure and danger and wonders, just as Tolkien hopes we will step into his “sub-creation” (fictional world). Dr. Olson also has interesting and wonderful things to say about the dwarves, the trolls, the elves of Rivendell, Bilbo’s evolution into an Adventurer (or Thief, as it were), Gollum, etc., and overall, about Tolkien’s delightful and delighting use of language. I’m hooked.

He even inspired me to finally start reading The Silmarillion.

(And as I write this, on January 13, Frodo and the Fellowship are at Moria’s West Gate, stymied by the cryptic instructions on the door, rendered in ithildin. I hope they figure it out soon.)