I am working on an academic project at the moment: a paper which I hope to present at my school’s academic fora in the late Summer of 26.
Ever since I was 12, I have been fascinated by the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien, and a quick perusal of this blog will bear that out with allusions and posts about his works and derivations thereof. I even have two tattoos that are Tolkien related. It should, therefore, come as little surprise that my academic paper is about Tolkien’s first major work, The Hobbit.
What may be surprising is the fact that I am writing this paper for no credit whatsoever. While I may pursue publication at a later date, for now this is my own personal exploration. I would take classes related to Tolkien for credit, but at the university for which I work, and where I will be presenting, there is a dearth of literature courses, and as far as I can find, there is a wider dearth of Tolkien studies in academia in the States. It is treated as one-off subject matter on the Inklings, the famous writer’s group that contained Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, among others, or for a curiosity. Serious scholarship on Tolkien I haven’t been able to find outside of one unaccredited college. I may have to dig deeper, and if you know of any degrees centered on Tolkien, please, let me know. I would love to study formally.
In the meantime, I am taking what research and writing skills I have at about what is equivalent to a beginning Master’s level education in the US, and apply it to my own reading of Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
This first paper (yes, there are more planned!) will focus on the songs in The Hobbit. When I first read The Hobbit, my only exposure to songs in stories was through the few songs in Frank Herbert’s Dune, a specialty of character Gurney Halleck, or the songs in Brian Jacques’ Redwall series. Songs and music simply wasn’t a frequent thing in the literature I encountered. Therefore, it was somewhat surprising to me. Why would an author include music, or songs, in a medium that cannot convey sound? What do they add to the narrative? Why have so many of them? These are all questions I hope to answer in my research paper on The Hobbit.
So far, I haven’t actually written a word of my paper, though I am thinking quite a bit about it. I am also reading a wide variety of books, articles, and thought that I have found, little though there is, on songs and music in literature in general and Tolkien’s work specifically. I have quite a few ideas, and even a direction in which to go.
In all, I am excited to be on this unexpected journey with Bilbo Baggins, Tolkien, and to be exploring the world of music both inhabit. More to come, and I may even post excerpts (or the whole paper?) here as I go. Stay tuned!
a simple man 