Tolkienists.org

In his introduction to this satisfyingly weighty volume, editor Hamish Williams (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena) assumes a rather defensive position; rather than casting a wide net of invitation for the reader to discover for themselves the importance of myriad Classical influences upon Tolkien and his works (defined in a rather narrow Western sense), the truth of those influences is taken as a monolithic given. The blame for our apparent ignorance is squarely laid at the feet of both the modern world’s embrace of ​“The Sciences” (xvi) – ominously capitalized as in the case of Tolkien’s use of ​“Power” in a letter concerning modern science (L 246) – and a presumed basic lack of Classical knowledge among those ​“educated in ​‘postmodernity’”. (xvi) Both assumptions are equal parts unfortunate and unproductive in the mind of this reviewer, a scientist who greatly appreciates (and utilizes) the study of the ​“Classical world” included in her own postmodern undergraduate education. More importantly, Tolkien himself noted in his famous essay ​“On Fairy-stories” that as a young child he enjoyed ​“history, astronomy, botany, grammar, and etymology” (TOFS 56), while in a 1964 letter Tolkien explained ​“I am primarily a scientific philologist. My interests were, and remain, largely scientific”. (L 345)