Last week looked at Domestic and Adventure stories. This week we are looking more directly at the fantastical. We’ll look at a couple of chapters of books as well as some critical writing.
When thinking about fantasy, we have a few milestones. The first is J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. Tolkien is most famous for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and its precursor written for children, The Hobbit.
Tolkien is credited with creating what we sometimes call “High Fantasy” or “Epic Fantasy” – stories that center on a true battle between good and evil. When you think of many of the tropes of fantasy literature, many find their roots in Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings had a profound impact on the shape of fantasy literature.
Tolkien’s work was inspired by the fairy and folk tales that fascinated him as a child. He was educated at Oxford and was part of a literary circle called the Inklings, in which C.S. Lewis was also a member. Tolkien served in the British army during Worl War I which shaped some of the themes of his writing. Tolkien was a philologist, and with his fascination with languages and their development he created a number of different languages for his fantasy world.
Please read this first chapter from The Hobbit published in 1937.
Tolkien began sketches of the first books of The Lord of the Rings around the same time but continued to work on them intermittently for the next decade. They were not published until 1954. In creating Middle-Earth, the fantasy world in which the books take place, Tolkien wrote an immense amount of material, some of which would later be published as The Silmarillion by his son.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie of a trilogy based on the trio of The Lord of the Rings books.
The Hobbit is a much simpler story, but due, in part to the success of the first films, was turned into its own trio of films.
Throughout, the main star was probably the country of New Zealand where the movies were all filmed.
RESPONSE – Have you encountered Tolkien’s work before? What strikes you about the excerpt or the film trailers? What kinds of things do you expect to see in a fantasy story?
8 thoughts on “Fantasy and Children’s Literature”
I have read “The Hobbit” once before and was exposed to “Lord of the Rings” through video games and from my family even though I didn’t read or watch it. What I still remember was the very detailed world that Tolkien created for this story. It was very fantastical yet was grounded in reality.
I have heard of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of The Rings” but never knew more than their names. I have seen memes of Gollum. What strikes me about The Hobbit is how the characters and the story line reminds me of Snow White (dwarfs). That most fantasy books have some sort of elf like and wizard like creature. Dragons seem like a must in fantasy stories.
Yes, I have heard of “The Lord of The Rings” before. I do not think that I have heard of “The Hobbit” but I could be wrong. Though, I have never read or watched either, prior to this week’s excerpt we read. Considering that the trailer was produced in 2001, I was actually surprised with the quality and production/style of it. Seems like the type of trailer I would watch before a movie in a theater between the years of 2010-present day, not so much early 2000s. I would expect to see a lot of mysterious animals, action, deep/low-tone voices and possibly British accents. Just an association that I have.
Yes, I have read both the lord of the rings and the hobbit during high school. What I enjoyed about the trailer is the sense of adventure that seems to be a central part of the film. Adventure and exploration is something that I think of when thinking about fantasy.
I’m not very familiar with Tolkien’s work. I’ve only barely been exposed to the very famous movie series like Lord of the Rings, and I’ve never been interested in that kind of style. They feel very surreal and “super natural”, I do like the sense of adventure and excitement they portray however I always preferred more realistic genres, these movies are very fantasy themed.
I have never encounters Tolkien’s work before. What I realized, there is a lot of elements of magic and imagination. Also, there is somewhat of a quest that the main character must face because that are destined to succeed.
I don’t believe I have encountered Tolkien’s work before. I think that his work seems to be very adventurous, and an enjoyable read. It sort of made me think of Harry potter when I watched the trailers. The action, suspense, and thrill of it made me think it was very interesting to watch.
I have heard of both “Lord of The Rings” and “The Hobbit” before, never read the books or seen the movies. But I love fantasy shows and books because of all the creativity that can be put into the story. The different monsters, heroes, powers, lands, evils, etc. Tolkien’s work kind of reminds me of Game of Thrones a little bit, with the midivil time frames and the knights and wars between lands.