Liam Neill English 1103 Ms.

Caruso October 22, 2012 Inquiry Paper Once in a blue moon, a story is written with the power to change the way people think about the world. The Lord of the Rings is one such story. Since its inception, it has been influencing people the world over. The books stunning success and critical reception allowed the novel to spread to the far corners of the earth to affect millions of eager minds. The values and ideas expressed within the story are universal ideas of good vs. evil that create an enticing read for a diverse group of readers. How has this book in particular risen above the sea of books written in a similar vein? To understand, one must look to before the book was even written. I J.R.R. Tolkien Early Life Time spent in WWI-Battle of Somme Survived one of the bloodiest battles of WWI

Time as a professor of Anglo-Saxon in oxford

http://lordfingulfin.webs.com/earlieikrlanguages.htm

Tolkiens hobby of creating new languages started when he was still very young. At the age of 13 he had already started to develop his first invented language, which he called Naffarin. By mixing grammar rules from languages like German and Spanish, he was able to create a system that would allow him to figure out his own language, rather than simply making it up. This hobby of his would obviously go on to serve him well in later life, as a professor of Anglo Saxon at Oxford University. He used his talent to create over a dozen separate working languages to be used in his fantasy world of middle earth. His skill in creating a working language and a complete backstory to support it is unmatched. Created his own languages, elvish language used in LotR based on Finnish In the forward of Lord of the Rings, Tolkien claims that he did not write the book; he says he found the original copy written by Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, and translated it from their language to English. The language he supposedly translated it from, Westron, is a language that he invented. Had he wished, he could have literally translated all of his work into Westron and back to English. To some fans, the lines between Tolkiens reality and our own begin to blur due to its immense history and culture. Throughout his life, Tolkien worked on chronicling the world of his imagination into the Red Book of Westmarch, which he claimed was written by the Hobbits in his tales. The Red Book is ultimately Tolkiens bible; it holds the creation myth of his world. While the cultural impact of the Red Book at present is small (very few people would actually believe that Tolkien found a book written by a hobbit) there are a few websites dedicated to Aridian Tolkienism, a religion that believes that a woman in 14th Italy prophesized JRR Tolkiens coming, and that his books are based on lost history.
http://lordfingulfin.webs.com/westronlanguage.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/tolkienism/faq.html

WWII Correlation of major figures in history to those of the history of Middle Earth It has long been considered that the good v. evil struggle in Middle Earth is directly related to that of our own history in WWII. Tolkiens denial of correlation and personal views What the book meant to Tolkien and colleagues

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How the book was received after publication 1955- Vietnam Hippie Cultures integration of the novel When one thinks of the Hippie culture, they might not necessarily associate it with The

Lord of the Rings. In fact, the Lord of the Rings is tied in to the culture almost as tight as tie dye. In the 1960s, after a pirated version of The Lord of the Rings was released, the book was much more available to people in America, for cheap. As a result, it was picked up by groups of teenagers and passed around to everyone, including hippies. In the novel, they saw ideas that coincided with their own belief systems; they saw much of themselves in the nature loving race of hobbits. A hobbits favorite pastime is sitting outside in nice weather enjoying a long pipe, not being bothered by anyone. It is easy to see how hippies could identify with their peaceful culture. Use as LSD Trip guide

As much as hippies loved the Lord of the Rings, they loved LSD more. Combined, they were a gold mine for hippy thought and exploration. While it may seem strange to everyone else, many hippies enjoyed taking acid and reading passages from the book. Tolkiens masterful writing style and vast wisdom create a breeding ground for expansive thought, and some hippies believed that by reading certain parts of the book, they could reach a state of spiritual enlightenment. At this time, the book became a popular trip guide for hippies nationwide, and a head shop of that era would not be complete without at least one corner of the store decked out in merchandise from middle-earth. Explosion in pop culture, pirated book Attitude of non-hippies

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Current popularity How the films affected New Zealand vs The rest of the world Sindarin and Quenya languages from the movies Learned by many fans- effects Specific demographics- modern hippies/ everyone else

Do these topics vary too much?

If so, what specific area should I focus on more? Should I give my own opinions on the book or keep myself out of it?