The Road to Middle-Earth

by Tom Shippey and T.A. Shippey

Book Overview

The Road to Middle-earth, Tom Shippey's classic work, now revised in paperback, explores J.R.R. Tolkien's creativity and the sources of his inspiration. Shippey shows in detail how Tolkien's professional background led him to write The Hobbit and how he created a timeless charm for millions of readers. Examining the foundation of Tolkien's most popular work, The Lord of the Rings, Shippey also discusses the contribution of The Silmarillion and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618257608
• ISBN13: 9780618257607
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Don't let the word "philology" deter you

This book is quite simply superb in every conceiveable respect. It is written by a scholar who understands and respects Tolkien's own scholarly passion for philology, the science and stories of the evolution of words and language. This is very different from the humanistic field of literary criticism, and Shippey explains at some length what a philologist can and cannot do. The close reader will end Shippey's book with a wistful feeling that some very wrong turns have been made in academia over the past one hundred years, and one of the reasons for Tolkien's greatness in his time was quite simply his refusal to accept or acknowledge that these wrong turns had been made. At bottom, a scholar of literature is, or at least ought to be, someone who loves words. We will always have a few of these people among us, and Tolkien's and Shippey's works remind us that no overgrown pathway is ever truly lost.

A very informative Study

Tom Shippey has an intimate knowledge of the mind and creative processes of the late Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, perhaps nearly as intimate a knowledge as Christopher Tolkien himself. The degree of the schism between language and literature professors of his day was most startling, and how that affected the early critics' appraisals of his masterpiece was also not what I had expected. Tom Shippey's knowledge of JRR Tolkien's mind is most revealing and is encyclopedic, and his ability to explain how deeply the master philologist would see legends and myths in the most ordinary of names and words left me thunderstruck. I have read all five of the main Middle Earth volumes several times and have read some of the Lost Tales, but I had not gained any insight from previous volumes saying how Pr. Tolkien created his world. The authors of those books seemed to lack legitimacy. Tom Shippey does not have that problem, and his book demonstrates that he is Pr. Tolkien's bona fide pupil and linguistic heir. Fans of Middle Earth should be thankful for Tom Shippey's insight, an insight that could only be bettered by Christopher Tolkien, or Pr. Tolkien himself.

The single best critical study on Tolkien

Shippey's "J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century" places Tolkien in the context of his time. "The Road to Middle-earth" has the more scholastically challenging job of placing Tolkien in the context of his tradition. As that tradition is primarily philological and philosophical, these are his subjects. He tells us what Tolkien meant the words and names in his stories to mean; he tells us how Tolkien used modern language to convey modern and ancient styles and philosophies in contrast; he tells us how the Ring mediates two mutually exclusive concepts of evil; he explains Tolkien's complex narrative strategies; he dresses down critics who misunderstand Tolkien and blame him for not fitting into their concepts of literature; and he does all this with such a blistering display of erudition and general intelligence that the reader sits back amazed.The book is discursive, and the opening theoretical chapters may seem heavy going, but have patience: they provide necessary context. Shippey has Tolkien's measure in full throughout. He explains what was important to Tolkien, what Tolkien thought he was doing, and - no less vitally - why it is necessary to understand this if one is not to bash Tolkien in annoyance for not accomplishing something totally different.If you read Shippey, will you necessarily understand Tolkien? No. But if you don't read Shippey, and if you also don't have his insight and knowledge, you will not fully understand Tolkien.

Excellent Background to Tolkien's Works

Tom Shippey's book focuses on the creative process leading to LOTR and the Silmarillion and draws from all of Tolkien's other works as well as a variety of other appropriate works that were familiar to Tolkien. It is dense with interesting information and analysis, and was quite engaging for a work with a rather academic focus. The book is wide-ranging covering topics from the philological origins of Tolkien's names and languages to the various types of literature from romantic to epic to lower modern forms represented by the various characters and passages, to the possibly religious aspects of Tolkien's story and the various compromises he made in the process of finishing his never-finished work (And many other aspects, as noted in previous reviewers' comments). "Much food for thought" is an understatement. Shippey's book is a must-read for any true Tolkien fan.

A Masterpiece

This is one of the best books I know. Far superior to The History of Middle-Earth (which, though superbly informative, can get very dry, and makes one wonder how many real-world histories and/or mythologies have got this detailed a treatment of their creation).I got this as a present when I was 13. It was my first introduction to Tolkien's 'scholarly' side, and I found it fascinating and accessible even though I was young, inexperienced with academic writing, and English isn't my mother tongue.12 years later I am still reading it. Through the years new aspects of the book have opened up; Prof. Shippey's writing is the very best of academia, erudite in a way which makes the layers upon layers of accumulated knowledge open up like the rolling meadows of Rohan (say). I have even started doing academic work myself on some issues which concerned Tolkien - and Shippey remains my great, solid stepping-stone (whoops, online alliterative reviews?) to understanding Tolkien and Tolkien's sources of inspiration and academic interest.