Books of Interest: Tolkien and –related items

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*COVER IMAGE*	*TITLE*	*SYNOPIS OR REVIEW*
	The Road to Middle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology By Tom Shippey 0261102753	The Road to Middle-Earth is a fascinating and accessible exploration of J.R.R. Tolkien’s creativity and the sources of his inspiration. Tom 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. He discusses the contribution of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales to Tolkien’s great myth cycle, showing how Tolkien’s more ‘difficult’ works can be read enjoyably and seriously by readers of his earlier books, and goes on to examine the remarkable 12- volume History of Middle Earth by Tolkien’s son and literary heir Christopher Tolkien, which traces the creative and technical processes through which Middle Earth evolved.
	********	remarkable 12- volume History of Middle Earth by Tolkien’s son and literary heir Christopher Tolkien, which
	The Inklings: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Their Friends By Humphrey Carpenter 0261103474	C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and their friends were a regular feature of the Oxford scenery in the years during and after the Second World War. They drank beer on Tuesdays at the Bird and Baby, and on Thursday nights they met in Lewiss Magdalen College rooms to read aloud from the books they were writing; jokingly they called themselves The Inklings. C.S.Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien first introduced The Screwtape Letters and The Lord of the Rings to an audience in this company and Charles Williams, poet and writer of supernatural thrillers, was another prominent member of the group.
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	Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien, Myth and Modernity By Patrick Curry 0261103717	In a spirited defence of Tolkien's mythological creation, this new study holds that far from being reactionary and 'escapist', The Lord of the Rings addresses the most important conflict of our time – the struggle of community, nature and spirit against the modern union of state-power, capital and technology. Quoting extensively from Tolkien's works, Patrick Curry argues that Tolkien addresses hard global realities and widely justified fears. In this way, his story has transcended its English roots to achieve universal relevance, and his imaginary world gives people everywhere hope for the future of the real world.




	Tree and Leaf: Including "Mythopoeia" and "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth" J.R.R. Tolkien 0007105045	Fairy-stories are not just for children, as anyone who has read Tolkien will know. In his essay On Fairy-Stories, Tolkien discusses the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy and rescues the genre from those who would relegate it to juvenilia. This is aptly and elegantly illustrated in the haunting short story, Leaf by Niggle, which recounts the story of the artist, Niggle, who has 'a long journey to make' and is seen as an allegory of Tolkien's life. Written in the same period when The Lord of the Rings was beginning to take shape, these two works show Tolkien's mastery and understanding of the art of subcreation, the power to give fantasy 'the inner conscience of reality'. This edition also contains an introduction by Christopher Tolkien together with the poem Mythopoeia which relates an argument between two unforgettable characters as they discuss the making of myths.
	Tolkien: an audio portrait [audiobook] Brian Sibley 0563536918	Sibley - one of the dramatists of the bbc radio 4 production of "the lord of the rings" - presents interviews featuring Tolkien himself, as well as his three children, his publisher Rayner Unwin, biographer Humphrey Carpenter, and many others who knew and worked with him.
	Sir Gawain- Pearl- Sir Orfeo translated by JRR Tolkien 0261102591 Pearl and Sir Orfeo as an audiobook (UK) Terry Jones (Narrator) 0001053744 Gawain as audiobook UK Terry Jones (Narrator) 0001053736	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl are two poems by an unknown author written in about 1400. Sir Gawain is a romance, a fairy-tale for adults, full of life and colour; but it is also much more than this, being at the same time a powerful moral tale which examines religious and social values. Pearl is apparently an elegy on the death of a child, a poem pervaded with a sense of great personal loss: but, like Gawain it is also a sophisticated and moving debate on much less tangible matters. Sir Orfeo is a slighter romance, belonging to an earlier and different tradition. It was a special favourite of Tolkien's. The three translations represent the complete rhyme and alliterative schemes of the originals.
	The Monsters and the Critics: The Essays of J.R.R. Tolkien 026110263X	The seven ‘essays’ by J.R.R. Tolkien assembled in this new paperback edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien’s work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, given in the University of Glasgow in 1953. Also included in this volume is the lecture English and Welsh; the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford in 1959; and a paper on Invented Languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is On Fairy-Stories, a discussion of the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien’s approach to the whole genre.The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of The Hobbit, with a unique ‘academic’ lecture on his invention (calling it A Secret Vice) and concluding with his farewell to professorship, five years after the publication of The Lord of the Rings.
	Tolkien: a biography By Humphrey Carpenter 0261102451	Born in Bloemfontein in 1892, Tolkien was orphaned in childhood, brought up in near poverty and almost thwarted in adolescent romance. He served in the first world war, surviving the battle of the Somme, where he lost some of his closest friends, and returned to the academic life, eventually becoming Merton professor of English at Oxford. Then suddenly his life changed dramatically. One day while marking essay papers he found himself writing 'in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit' – and worldwide renown awaited him.
	J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century By Tom Shippey 0261104012	The definitive critical study of Tolkien’s greatest works by the respected and world renowned Tolkien scholar Professor T.A. Shippey. Following the unprecedented and universal acclaim for The Lord of the Rings, the respected academic and world-renowned Tolkien scholar, Professor Tom Shippey, presents us with a fascinating and informed companion to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, in particular focusing on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.
	The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Humphrey Carpenter (Editor), Christopher Tolkien (Editor) 0261102656	J.R.R.Tolkien was one of the most prolific letter writers of this century. Over the years he wrote to his publishers, his family, to friends (including C.S.Lewis, W.H.Auden and Naomi Mitchison) and to fans of his books. The letters present a fascinating and highly detailed portrait of the man in many of his aspects: as storyteller, scholar, Catholic, parent and observer of the world around him. They also shed much light on his creative genius and grand design for the creation of a whole new world – Middle-earth. In addition, the book will entertain anyone who appreciates the art of letter writing, of which Tolkien was a master.
	Roverandom J.R.R. Tolkien 0261103539 Uk audiobook	While on holiday in 1925 young Michael Tolkien lost his beloved toy dog on the beach. To console him, his father, J.R.R. Tolkien, invented a story about a real dog who is turned into a toy by a wizard and sent by a ‘sand sorcerer’ to the moon and under the sea. More than 70 years later, the adventures of the dog Rover, also known as ‘Roverandom’, are now published for the first time. They have been edited from the original typescript by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, who relate the story to sources ranging from the Norse sagas to E. Nesbit, and link it also to Tolkien’s other fiction, including The Hobbit , the ‘Father Christmas’ letters, and ‘The Silmarillion’. The book also includes five illustrations by Tolkien himself.
	The road goes ever on By JRR Tolkien and Donald Swann 0007136552	Available for the first time in 25 years, this book of songs and sheet music, a collaboration between j. R. R. Tolkien and the composer Donald Swann, will delight Tolkien fans everywhere as the book to stand beside their copies of lord of the rings, the essays, poems and calendars. In this song book the composer Donald Swann gives Tolkien characters tunes for their ballads of the road. Professor tolkien approved of this and added a tune of his own, decorated the book in his own hand and added a glossary of elvish terms and lore that appears nowhere else.
	Need link to book Xmas audiobook uk narrated by Derek Jacobi 0001055356	This tape was inspired by the Novelty title of the same name, published Christmas 1995. This tape comprises a festive reading of letters written by Tolkien to his children, in the guise of Father Christmas, over a period of twenty years. The letters tell the adventures -- and misadventures! -- of Father Christmas's life at the North Pole, and of his helpers -- the mischievous North Polar Bear and sensible Ilbereth the Elf. The letters are perfect for reading aloud, with plenty of humour. They also interspersed with carols and Christmassy music to give a real seasonal feel.
	Unfinished tales 0261103628	Tolkien's unfinished tales is a collection ranging from the time of the silmarillion – the elder days of middle-earth – to the end of the war of the ring in the lord of the rings. Its many treasures include Gandalf's lively account of how he came to send the dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag-end, the emergence of the sea-god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor on the coast of Beleriand, and a description of the military organisation of the riders of Rohan. Lovers of Tolkien's mythology will be fascinated to read the only story from the long ages of Numenor before its downfall, and all that is known of such matters as the five wizzards, the Palantiri, and the legend of Amroth
	Farmer Giles of Ham J.R.R. Tolkien, Christina Scull (Editor), Wayne Hammond (Editor), Pauline Baynes (Illustrator) 0261103776 Audiobook uk Derek jacobi 0001056107	This amusing tale is set in the Thames valley of England in a distant and marvellous past, when giants and dragons still lived. Its hero, Farmer Giles, is actually quite unheroic, but through good luck and the help of his dog Garm, his grey mare, and the magic sword Caudimordax (or Tailbiter), he tames the wily dragon Chrysophylax and wins great wealth. Like The Hobbit and Roverandom, Farmer Giles of Ham was invented by J.R.R. Tolkien at first to entertain his children, then grew and became more elaborate. Its final version is for readers of all ages who enjoy a good story told with imagination and wit.
	TALES FROM THE PERILOUS REALM 0261103431	The definitive collection of J.R.R. Tolkien's four acclaimed modern classic fairy tales, finally together in a volume which reaffirms his place as a master storyteller for readers young and old. The fat and unheroic Farmer Giles of Ham is called upon to do battle with the dragon Chrysophylax; Niggle the painter sets out to paint the perfect tree in Leaf by Niggle; hobbits, princesses, dwarves and trolls partake in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil; and Smith of Wootten Major journeys to the Land of Faery via the magical ingredients of a giant cake.