Tolkien, fairy tale and place

Thursday, 17 August at 6.30pm

£7.50 per person. 

Doors open at 5pm, with the opportunity to visit The Magic of Middle-earth exhibition before the talk begins (inlcuded in ticket) 

Book Tolkien, fairy tale and place (opens new window)

A talk by Dr Paul Quinn, Chichester University

J.R.R Tolkien's 1939 Andrew Lang lecture (published in 1947) was an important early academic analysis of the fairy tale.  In the lecture Tolkien challenges many of the assumptions about the fairy tale which have developed during the latter part of the 19^th century and in the early 20^th century.  At points, Tolkien seems to move from a discussion of the fairy tale as understood by the majority of his readers to something that seems to be much closer to a description of his own non-academic work, and the type of high fantasy that developed in response to the publication ofThe Lord of the Rings.  A key feature of high fantasy, fairy and folk tale, and of Tolkien's work is place.  This talk will address Tolkien's ideas of the fairy tale and the relationship between Tolkien's use of place and how locations function in fairy tales.