Tolkien, Race and Cultural History From Fairies to Hobbits [Hardcover]

Fimi explores the evolution of Tolkien's mythology throughout his lifetime by examining how it changed as a result of his life story and contemporary cultural and intellectual history. This new approach and scope brings to light neglected aspects of Tolkien's imaginative vision and contextualises his fiction.List of Figures Conventions and Abbreviations Introduction PART I: HOW IT ALL BEGAN In the Beginning were the Fairies... 'Fluttering Sprites with Antennae': Victorian and Edwardian Fancies The Fairies, Faith and Folklore PART II: IDEAL BEINGS, IDEAL LANGUAGES The Cat and the Whiskers: Tolkien's Linguistic Creation 'Linguistic Aesthetic': Sounds, Meaning and the Pursuit of Beauty Ideal Languages and Phonetic Spelling PART III: FROM MYTH TO HISTORY The Claim to History A Hierarchical World Visualising Middle-earth: Real and Imagined Material Cultures Epilogue: From Fairies to Hobbits Appendix: 'And Wither Then?': Stepping into the Road Bibliography Index

Winner ofthe Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies 2010

Short listed for the Katharine Briggs Award 2009

'Dimitra Fimi's Tolkien, Race and Cultural History traces the evolution of the legendarium with admirable care...This scholarly yet approachable book is filled with...surprising fragments.' - Jon Barnes, Times Literary Supplement

'Fimi's book reads so well that it's hard to believe that it's an academic tome' - Henry Gee, Mallorn

'constitutes an important contribution to Tolkien studies...the author brings together (often for the first time) relevant research from cultural history and lays out her arguments fair and square...Fimi's book has given us some answers but has also opened up some avenues for future research. What more can we ask for?' Thomas Honegger, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat, Germany

'...a rich study into Tolkien's creative impulses and the influences that worked on those impulses in thlC@