Tolkien's Worlds: The places that inspired the writer's imagination

by John Garth

Hardcover, 2020

Status

Available

Call number

823.912

Genres

Collections

Physical Books, EvaStreet

Publication

White Lion Publishing (2020), 192 pages

Description

"This book takes you to the places that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to create his fictional locations in The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other classic works. Written by renowned Tolkien expert John Garth, The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien features a wealth of breathtaking illustrations, including Tolkien's own drawings, contributions from other artists, rare archival images, and spectacular color photos of contemporary locations across Britain and beyond, from the battlefields of World War I to Africa. Garth identifies the locales that served as the basis for Hobbiton, the elven valley of Rivendell, the Glittering Caves of Helm's Deep, and many other settings in Middle-earth, from mountains and forests to rivers, lakes, and shorelands. He reveals the rich interplay between Tolkien's personal travels, his wide reading, and his deep scholarship as an Oxford don. Garth draws on his profound knowledge of Tolkien's life and work to shed light on the extraordinary processes of invention behind Tolkien's works of fantasy. He also debunks popular misconceptions about the inspirations for Middle-earth and puts forward strong new claims of his own. An illustrated journey into the life and imagination of one of the world's best-loved authors, The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien provides a unique exploration of the relationship between the real and the fantastical and is an essential companion for anyone who wants to follow in Tolkien's footsteps"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member CarltonC

For me, having only read (and reread) The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, with a single reading of The Silmarillion many years ago, this is an occasionally fascinating, but often too detailed, book for the general reader of Tolkien.
Beautifully illustrated with photos, paintings, posters and some

relevant maps, these eased the tedium of the esoteric references to Tolkien’s lesser known books and poetry. Although there are some very interesting insights into places that inspired The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, this is a book for the enthusiast of all Tolkien’s work, rather than just his famous ones.

Show Less

2 more

LibraryThing member Shrike58

I've been meaning to read John Garth's "Tolkien and the Great War" for ages now, but have never gotten around to it, so I picked up this work sort of as a way to ease in to that endeavor. As for this book, it's basically a gazetteer of all the places in real life, and literature, that Tolkien

mentally assimilated in his effort to create a mythology that he considered worthy of England, and it's a very cool book; if only for all of Tolkien's own art that went into it. In the end, Garth concludes that Tolkien did better than create a mythos for one land, he created a mythos for all those who would wish to preserve the land, and a certain sort of basic humanity, from the depredations of modernity at its most corrosive.

Show Less

LibraryThing member JBD1

A nicely illustrated and mostly well explained exploration of place in Tolkien's works, and how his ideas were inspired by places he might have known or known of.

Fewer