Enta geweorc, the work of the giants: Tolkien, The Ruin, and ruins from early Medieval England
— Gesner Las Casas Brito Filho, LABORA — USP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
Paper given 7 July 2021 at IMC 2021 paper session № 1302
J.R.R. Tolkien is known today as one of the most celebrated author of a genre called medieval fantasy. His books, as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are influential in all spheres of pop culture. However, in addition, Tolkien had a successful career as an academic, philologist, and Anglo-Saxonist. The aim of this work is to analyse how the ruins (ancient Roman constructions) and ruin (the idea of a civilisation decaying), elements present in the art and literature of Anglo-Saxon England, were interpreted and remodelled by Tolkien in his fantasy writing and in his work as an academic.
❧