During the course of his life J. R. R. Tolkien composed a lot of poems. He tried his hand at various styles, applying them successfully to show where the poem belonged, what inspired it or which culture it could be related to. One of the most interesting examples of Tolkien’s verse is The Hoard.
Following the meeting with the Queen of Faery, Smith is walking back home to Wootton Major. It is his last walk ever from Faery, and it has a lot of revelations in store for him.
As Smith becomes bolder during his visits to Faery, he sees more things, both dangerous and beautiful, and experiences more. He does err from time to time, but out of curiosity, not out of malice or arrogance. However, everything good comes to an end sooner or later.
The Twenty-four Feast takes place in Wootton Major, and it seems to be a moderate success: everyone is well-fed and happy. This Feast, however, marks the beginning of something truly special for one of the boys present at the celebration.
The appointment of Nokes for the important public post of Master Cook highlights the problem that Wootton Major is facing: most villagers have no more taste for wonder. Nokes is the embodiment, albeit an extreme one, of the disease affecting the village.
Smith of Wootton Major is a short tale, but despite being so it is filled up to the brim with ideas, beliefs and concepts that J. R. R. Tolkien held on the realm of Faery and fairy-stories. Read more
Creative processes can often be unpredictable and uncontrollable. It is especially true when applied to writing. Planning to create a piece, a writer might end up somewhere totally different from his initial intention, but by doing so to open a new door offering a fascinating path to take. It is very likely that when J. R. R. Tolkien put pen to paper following a request to write an introduction to George MacDonald’s Golden Key, little did he know where it would take him. Read more
Professor Tolkien was a great lover of nature: he was keenly aware of the flora around him, loved trees profoundly and respected them. Thus, trees and various plants appear in his books extensively, and are far from being in the background of events.
In Tolkien’s universe various notions can have special significance, which sometimes shows in small details and aspects. The concepts of light and darkness are deep and far-reaching: sometimes they are not a mere background for a story, but a very important player in the events of Middle-earth. In the present reflection I am going to look into the matter of sunlight and its influence on the dark powers of Middle-earth.
