A Sense of Tales Untold : Exploring the Edges of Tolkien's Literary Canvas / Peter Grybauskas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grybauskas, Peter, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fantasy literature, English.

Frame-stories.

Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973--Criticism and interpretation.

Tolkien, J. R. R.

Genre:

Literary criticism.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (178 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, [2021]

Summary:

Exploring the uncanny perception of depth in Tolkien's writing and world-building A Sense of Tales Untoldexamines the margins of J. R. R. Tolkien's work: the frames, edges, allusions, and borders between story and un-story and the spaces between vast ages and miniscule time periods. The untold tales that are simply implied or referenced in the text are essential to Tolkien's achievement in world-building, Peter Grybauskas argues, and counter the common but largely spurious image of Tolkien as a writer of bloated prose. Instead, A Sense of Tales Untold highlights Tolkien's restraint--his ability to check the pen to great effect. The book begins by identifying some of Tolkien's principal sources of inspiration and his contemporaries, then summarizes theories and practices of the literary impression of depth. The following chapters offer close readings of key untold tales in context, ranging from the shadowy legends at the margins of The Lord of the Rings to the nexus of tales concerning Túrin Turambar, the great tragic hero of the Elder Days. In his frequent retellings of the Túrin legend, Tolkien found a lifelong playground for experimentation with untold stories. "A story must be told or there'll be no story, yet it is the untold stories that are most moving," wrote Tolkien to his son during the composition of The Lord of the Rings,cutting straight to the heart of the tension between storytelling and world-building that animates his work. From the most straightforward form of an untold tale--an omission--to vast and tangled webs of allusions, Grybauskas highlights this tension. A Sense of Tales Untold engages with urgent questions about interpretation, adaptation, and authorial control, giving both general readers and specialists alike a fresh look at the source material of the ongoing "Tolkien phenomenon."

Contents:

Cover

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments and Permissions

Abbreviations for Works by Tolkien

Introduction

Chapter One: Tolkien and the "Fundamental Literary Dilemma

Chapter Two: Great Matters Grown Dim: The Allusive Web of the Last Alliance

Chapter Three: "Strange Lumber": Faded Tradition in the Túrin Saga

Chapter Four: A Portrait of the Poet as a Young Man: Omission in The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth

Chapter Five: Destroying Magic, Kindling Fire: Untold Tales and Tolkien's Legacy

Epilogue

Notes

Works Cited

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781631014666

1631014668

OCLC:

1281960717