Lord of the Rings: How To Read J.R.R. Tolkien

Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Michael D. C. Drout returned to campus for a talk on "How To Read J.R.R. Tolkien."

Drout, a professor of English and director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass, believes that Tolkien's immense and lasting popularity can be explained by a "perfect storm hypothesis."

[scottperry]

When you are young, you read Tolkien with a sense of wonder, at the complexity of the world he created and its discovery. When you are older you read Tolkien with the sense of understanding, marvel at the complexity of the world mirroring this one and how it follows familiar and comfortable and uncomfortable paths.

[Saph]

I clicked the play button, expecting to simply watch a minute or two just to see what this was about but was wholly unaware of how profusely I would be drawn into this video. If you are a fan of Tolkien's works I greatly suggest watching the entire thing. It was, to say in the very least, quite interesting

[PathikritGhosh]

Quite possibly one of the best lectures on Tolkien I've ever had the fortune of listening.

[DrCorndog]

I strongly believe that Sam's simple line "Well, I'm back" fully encapsulates everything that is great about LotR, and here's Dr. Drout giving an hour-long presentation to make that point.

[mgtogno]

Worth every second. Reading Tolkien transformed my life in a way that nothing ever did. Because, as he said, it is not a simple fairy tale, its an experience. And Tolkien for sure poured himself into his work, a part of his soul, and his suffering and the hope and nostalgia, the innocence preserved in the hearts of the unknowing (the hobbits) by sacrifice of those 5 hobbits, the goodness people are still capable of, even after so much pain and heartache. Selflessness, duty, honour. And he put in a happy ending, which we all know thats the real escapist part of it, in real life, this happy ending hardly ever come.

[keyboarddancers]

What a thoroughly enjoyable lecture. Being a reader of Tolkien since 1974 and having also read a few very interesting and engaging critiques of his work, it was really refreshing to hear a truly expansive and focused academic appraisal of Tolkien which brought a hitherto unknown perspective to my understanding of this tremendous mythology.

[stvbrsn]

"...they need a building code more than they need a White Council."
Uber-nerd humor at its best!

Furthermore, it's nice that Jackson and his production design crew took the fact of numerous ruins in middle earth to heart. The movies (especially the extended cuts) are replete with beautiful, evocative ruins.

[ouatedephoque]

I must of read Lord of the Rings 20 times. Silmarillion even more than that. And the funny thing is, my English teacher in 9th grade suggested that I might like The Hobbit it from a poem I wrote at the time for her class. And from there I was hooked.
She was a most amazing teacher. When we were studying Macbeth, she read each line and explained them in their context and then she did the whole play in a one woman show. Just brilliant of her the way she embodied each character and changed her voice and mannerisms accordingly.

[tombombadil]

very easy. Tolkien was motivated by love. not money or fame or pursuit of intellectual or artistic excellence. his work has a soul and reader with a soul can feel it.

[notme]

Table of Content
>Learning by Knowledge Construction (LKC) [12:19]
>>Zusammenhang of pseudo references/broken reference[25:14]
>Philologists are the tribologists of text [42:22]
>>Transcendental references[46:23]
>Summary[53:04]

[AshThunor]

His analysis is spot on, but his understanding of the true theme is impeccable: nostalgia.

[craigmanning]

My sister, gave me the Hobbit when I was 7. When I was 8 I picked up LOTR. Took me a year to read. Then I read it every year until I had children. 17 times.

[suba]

Never had a lecture make me tear up before. That ending. Wow.

[GreatGreebo]

Wow…I clicked in here wanting to hear a few LOTR names being pronounced; I was IMMEDIATELY sucked in and learned so much more! This is brilliant.

[Richard_Ashton]

Wonderful. Enjoyed everything even tearing up at Sam's last words.

[DelireWeb]

I was studying computer science in University of Montréal (& Operational Research), filled with D&D culture around the 1990's. That's when I've discovered Tolkien's work and learned English by reading all his books (some more than once i.e. the Silmarillion), along a dictionary.

[dabbler]

The prof’s conclusion is why I majored in English in early 60’s. I’ve had to justify my degree for years saying Lit used to be taught without a party line. I’m glad such professors as he continue to explain the way of the human heart.

[christophedmarchal]

That was incredible, beautiful even. The last ten minutes of the lecture really put a frame around what I've never been able to articulate, on why the books have impacted me and so much of my decision making, outlook, and the beauty of sadness, these past 40 years. From hiking the AT to see my own mountains and elves (naming myself ïrandir on the trail), to being an Old English Literature major and tasting what that was about. Good morning indeed! 🙂 Going to pick up his book on ruins.

[suburbanbanshee]

Drout is a great scholar as well as a darned good Tolkien scholar, and I've never read anything by him that I didn't profit by. (Even when I disagree with him, I learn something.)

That said, Tolkien is something you read primarily to be entertained. The proper way to approach him is, "Tell me a story, please." All of the great authors and epic poets are master storytellers first and foremost, and you won't get anything else out of them if you think you're too good to get absorbed into a story.

I first read LOTR when I was in elementary school, and I get something new out of it every time I read. But mostly, I get drawn farther into the story.

If you've never read Tolkien before, please let go of your preconceptions and just read. Allow yourself to be surprised, and to wonder what the heck is going on. Don't be too awed to enjoy, and don't be put off by the oddities of the book. Just take it in, and make a judgment later.

Don't freak out because The Hobbit is so different from Lord of the Rings, but do read The Hobbit first, if you can.

And if thick books intimidate you, just listen to an unabridged audiobook in chunks.

[alexanderdean]

I'm not a philologist, but even I know that Tolkien was the person that put the words precisely where they should be because languages were his speciality, and he was truly thorough when creating his world and its history - peoples, languages etc. This is what happens to people when no one reads them fairy tales of different peoples and cultures when they are kids, and they don't read books of different writers from different nations and historical backgrounds - they get narrow-minded and don't understand the usage of old fashioned words, archaisms and characteristics of protagonists and antagonists of the stories. It was nice listening to this lecture, but I don't need explanations of Tolkien's motivation or anything like that to enjoy his works... Nostalgia - yeah, may not be popular, but anyone who has felt deep nostalgia and longing for what has been and is gone, for the passing of time and seeing birds leave to go to the south in autumn - anyone will understand the feeling Tolkien has weaved into his writings...