Vastly popular, immensely learned, and profoundly spiritual, J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings has outgrown its 1970s cult status. Today, Tolkien’s fiction is considered not only a literary classic, but also instrumental to the development of the genre of modern fantasy. Yet, few of the millions of readers who have enjoyed and treasured the books or the film versions of The Lord of the Rings, and its precursor The Hobbit, have studied seriously the myth, meaning, historical sources, and literary background to Tolkien’s work. Students in this course will have the opportunity to explore Tolkien’s works and sources with the objective of understanding the mythic constructs and literary/philosophical perspectives that make his work meaningful to so many modern readers.

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