Course Schedule and Catalog

Department: Medieval Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: J.R.R. TOLKIEN ***** J.R.R. Tolkien, an Oxford professor and eminent medievalist now recognized as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century for his masterpiece, Lord of the Rings (written ca. 1930s-early 1950s), wrote out of what he knew about Old English, Old Norse, and Middle English literature. This course will trace the tension between the exile (wraecca) and the community; otherness and heroism; identity and marginalization; and revenge and forgiveness. To locate Lord of the rings within a broader historical and literary context, we will read the Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and Tolkiens works on fantasy and mythmaking, "Mythopoiea," "Leaf by Niggle," and "On Fairy-Stories." Refer to course web site at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~jchance. ***** Also offered as ENGL 318.