How did audiences across the world respond to the films of The Lord of the Rings? This book presents findings from the largest film audience project ever undertaken, drawing from 25,000 questionnaire responses and a wide array of other materials. Contributors use these materials to explore a series of widely speculated questions: why is film fantasy important to different kinds of viewers? Through marketing, previews and reviews, debates and cultural chatter, how are audiences prepared for a film like this? How did fans of the book respond to its adaptation on screen? How do people choose their favorite characters? How was the films' reception shaped by different national and cultural contexts? The answers to these questions shed fresh light on the extraordinary popularity of The Lord of the Rings and provide important new insights into the global reception of cinema in the twenty-first century.
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• Chronology: J.R.R. Tolkien's life and works
• Introduction: a voice for the dispossessed
• "Queer" hobbits: the problem of difference in the shire
• The Political hobbit: the fellowship of the ring
• Knowledge, language, and power: the two towers
• Power and the community: the return of the king
• Conclusion: heroic narraive and the power of structure.

An epic in league with those of Spenser and Malory, J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, begun during Hitler's rise to power, celebrates the insignificant individual as hero in the modern world. Jane Chance's critical appraisal of Tolkien's heroic masterwork explores its "mythology of power" - that is, how power, politics and language interact. Chance looks beyond the fantastic, self-contained world of Middle-earth to the 20th-century parallels presented in the trilogy.
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The comprehensive step-by-step guide to The Lord of the Rings in all mediums. Originally just a small part of the life's work of the distinguished Oxford University lecturer and philologist JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings achieved a huge cult following around the world -over 50 million copies of the books and have been sold in 25 languages. It was voted the British public's favourite book of the twentieth century and more recently its favourite book of all time when it triumphed in the BBC's 'Big Read' competition. The phenomenally successful release of New Zealand-based director Peter Jackson's 2001-03 film trilogy brought Tolkien's work new prominence but The Lord of the Rings, and other works by the author, had also previously been adapted by other film makers with varying degrees of commercial and critical success. This guide takes a detailed look at both Jackson's films and some of the previous adaptation attempts - both on screen and on radio - and provides detailed commentary on the particular difficulties of adapting this epic book for the screen.The differing visual approaches of Jackson and his predecessors, such as Fritz The Cat's' Ralph Bakshi and cartoon legend Arthur Rankin, are also discussed, as are the roles played by actors and special effects in trasferring Tolkien's world-building exercise into a performed medium. A detailed examination of the difficulties, decisions, triuphs and mistakes made when moving something beloved from one medium to another, The Lord of the Rings: The Films, The Books, The Radio Series offers new perspectives on theese enormously popular works.
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• Criticism - Michael D. C. Drout, Wheaton College, Norton, MA-- 2. Time and Narrative Space - Barry Langford, Royal Holloway, University of London-- 3. Modernity - Michael Moses, Duke University-- 4. Gothic Echoes - Sue Zlosnik, Manchester Metropolitan University-- 5. Religion - Adam Roberts, Royal Holloway, University of London-- Part II: Space, Place and Communities-- 6. Invisibility and Community - Robert Eaglestone, Royal Holloway, University of London-- 7. Dark Globalisation - Olivia Jennings, Royal Holloway, University of London-- 8. Home - Simon Malpas, Manchester Metropolitan University-- Part III: Gender, Sexuality and Class-- 9. Anglo-Saxon Women, Tolkien's Women - Jennifer Neville, Royal Holloway, University of London-- 10. Masculinity - Holly A Crocker, University of Cincinnati-- 11. Homoeroticism - Dan Griffiths and Esther Saxey, both at University of Sussex-- 12. Service - Scott Kleinman, California State University, Northridge-- Tolkein's Futures-- 13. Games - Barry Atkins, Manchester Metropolitan University-- 14. After Tolkien - Roz Kaveney.
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J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy have become among of the most popular books of the twentieth century while the recent film adaptations have made box office records. This book provides a comprehensive, informed, critical and theoretical analysis of both the book and film trilogies. The book is organised in four thematic sections. Beginning with an analysis of the critical history of Tolkien, the first section, 'Context and Criticism', examines and contrasts the historical and intellectual context of the books, films and their criticism. The second, 'Space, Place and Communities', turns to the philosophical and post-colonial concerns which structure contemporary understandings of the book and film. The third section, 'Gender, Sexuality and Class', shows how these issues are depicted in the novels and films. The final section, 'Tolkien's Futures', looks at the continuing influence of his work in both more traditional literary forms and in contemporary game and electronic narratives.
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• The Rings of Tolkien and Plato - Lessons in Power, Choice and Morality-- the Cracks of Doom - Threat of emerging technologies and Tolkien's Rings of Power-- "My Precious"-- Tolkien's Fetishized Ring-- Tolkien's Secrets of happiness-- the Quests of Sam and Gollum for the Happy Life-- "Farewell to Lorien" - the Boumded Joy of Existentialists and Elves-- Uberhobbits - Tolkien, Nietzsche and the Will to Power-- Tolkien and the Nature of Evil-- Virtue and Vice in "The Lord of the Rings"-- Choosing to Die - The Gift of Mortality in Middle-Earth-- the Quest Starts with the Past- Tolkien, Modernism and the Importance of Tradition-- Tolkien's green Time - Environmental Themes in "The Lord of the Rings"-- Providence and the Dramatic Unity of "The Lord of the Rings"-- Talking Trees and Walking Mountains - Buddhist and Taoist Themes in "The Lord of the Rings"-- Sam and Frodo's Excellent Adventure - Tolkien's Journey Motif-- "The Lord of the Rings" as an Epic Fairy Tale - Tolkien's Eucatastrophe.
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"The Lord of the Rings" is intended to be applicable to the real world of relationships, religion, pleasure, pain and politics. Tolkien himself said that his grand tale of wizards, orcs, hobbits and elves was aimed at truth and good morals in the actual world. Analysis of the popular appeal of "The Lord of the Rings" shows that Tolkien fans are hungry for discussion of the urgent moral and cosmological issues arising out of this epic story. Can political power be wielded for good, or must it always corrupt? Does technology destroy the truly human? Is it morally wrong to give up hope? Can we find meaning in chance events? In this volume, 17 young philosophy professors all of then ardent Tolkien fans address some of the issues and show how clues to their solutions may be found in the imaginary world of Middle-earth. The book is divided into five sections, concerned with: the power and the Ring, the quest for happiness, good and evil in Middle Earth, time and mortality and philosophical questions and fairytale endings.
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• Foreword-- Introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien's and Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Trilogies-- Literary and Cinematic Heroes-- Merry as a Knowledgeable Hero-- Pippin as an Impulsive, Youthful Hero-- Eowyn as an Action Hero-- Galadriel and Arwen as Inspirational Heroes-- Legolas and Gimli as Intercultural Heroes-- The Changing Social Definitions of Heroes-- Bibliography-- Online Resources for Tolkien Studies-- Index.
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Most writing about The Lord of the Rings trilogy emphasizes the most likely heroes in the tales: Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf, and even Sam. From popular to scholarly literature, the women and "smaller" characters often go overlooked. But sometimes the most unlikely people can come to embody all that we look up to and admire in a person. Here, Lynnette Porter examines what we mean when we talk about heroes, and for the first time illustrates the heroic qualities that can be found in the women and other beloved, though less celebrated, characters in the Lord of the Rings books and movies. She takes a critical look at the importance of literary and cinematic heroes in general, emphasizing the roles of Merry, Pippin, Galadriel, Eowyn, Arwen, Legolas, and Gimli, who can all be considered heroes despite their relatively smaller roles. She shows, ultimately, that our attraction to and celebration of heroes does not have to be limited to the "leading man, " but rather that women and youth often display essential characteristics of true heroes. Bringing together a discussion of both the books and the movies, Porter redirects the spotlight on these characters to show us how the roles they play, the actions they take, and the behaviours they display are worthy of our praise and admiration. This unique and refreshing perspective adds dimension to our understanding of The Lord of the Rings phenomenon.
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