Abby Epplett, Historian

I have almost arrived at the dialogue portion of the books, but before I launch into the story, I will review the epigraph. The infamous poem, which begins with the line “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky”, technically appears opposite the copyright page for each physical book in a three book set of The Lord of the Rings , after the Introduction by Peter S. Beagle but before the Forward by J.R.R. Tolkien . I don’t know why the book was set this way, as I would have placed the epigraph after the Prologue, but since the edition of the book I use was released the same year my parents were born, I was not around to set the publisher straight.

After many weeks of anticipation, the next song in the animated musical is ready to debut. “The Want Song” is possibly the biggest musical number in the production in terms of length and number of singers. It functions as a foil to “The Introduction Song”, a literary device typically meaning a character who contrasts another character, but in this case, I used it to describe a song that contrasts another song. I have a degree in the field, so I can change words like that. While “The Introduction” juxtaposed a wordy solo by Frodo describing Middle-earth with the ‘rustic’ hobbits talking about their local community, “The Want Song” features solos by all of the major characters appearing in the scene along with a closing section from the wealthy hobbits talking about their desires. These two songs cover the complete range of attitudes about the Shire and its people. Going forward, most songs will be short solos or small groups, although several larger group numbers are slated for ...

During this week and next week, I am taking a brief break from the appendixes to create more illustrations for the people of Middle-earth. I will focus on Maiar, a Race of angel-like or god-like beings who traveled as invisible spirits or took a wide range of physical forms. While this term did not appear in The Lord of the Rings , many Maiar appeared in the text, and explanations of Maiar and their powers were given in The Silmarillion . Wizards and balrogs will appear this week, while Maiar symbolizing the environment and crafts will appear next week.

After weeks of anticipation, we finally arrive at everyone’s favorite section, “Appendix A, II Durin’s Folk”, where readers receive a taste of Dwarf history and culture. While many readers gravitate towards Elves or Hobbits when choosing their favorite fantasy Race of Middle-earth, I have always preferred the Dwarves. What was not to love about the murder munchkins, who were as prepared to make jewelry or go spelunking as hack up their enemies with an ax? More Dwarf stories are found in The Silmarillion , as alluded to in the opening paragraph of this section, but here the reader finds context for the events in The Hobbit along with stories from the Line of Durin, or Dwarves descended from the first Dwarf awakened, and accordingly considered the most politically powerful group. Dwarves in European literature have not always taken on the sometimes delightful, sometimes tragic tone of Dwarves in Tolkien’s books. Historically, their stories have contained antisemitic underton...

Continuing my essay series on The Lord of the Rings , I will discuss the fourth section of the Prologue appearing in Part One The Fellowship of the Ring : “4 Of the Finding of the Ring”. This section reviewed events from The Hobbit , especially “Chapter V Riddles in the Dark”. For the first time, the narrator provided a year for the event: Shire-Reckoning (S.R.) 1341, which is Third Age (T.A.) 2941. The home of the dwarves, called Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit , now has an elvish or Sindarin name, Erebor. The narrator recalled Thorin’s death after the Battle of the Five Arms, and the description of Gollum was somewhat clearer than in The Hobbit : he is “little”, has “large flat feet”, “pale luminous eyes” (13) that turn green when searching for the ring, and ate both raw fish and orcs, originally called goblins, which he killed by strangulation. The narrator reviewed the ring itself: “a ring of gold that made its wearer invisible” (13) and the only thing loved by Gollum, which ...

“The Road Goes Ever On” and its variations appear throughout the dialogue portion of the text, from the first song sung by Bilbo during Book I, Chapter 1 “The Long-Expected Party” in The Fellowship of the Ring to the last song sung by Frodo during Book VI, Chapter 12 “The Grey Havens” in The Return of the King . This song expresses the spirit of adventure experienced by multiple characters along with the desire to return home in the end. The love of travel and love of home are nearly universal concepts but rarely expressed as creatively as in “The Road Theme”. Ancient and medieval people told the same stories in their oral histories and during pilgrimages, while modern musicians express their love of the road and homesickness through country and rock hits. I considered all these factors while composing this theme, which I will present at the end of this essay.

After much research and debate, I am debuting the first creative project to appear on Abby Epplett, Historian . While my regular posts on museums, webinars, and reviews will continue to appear on the blog, I’ll be adding new materials that tap into my other interests — art, music, literature, film — while keeping history at the forefront. Posts will orbit around a hypothetical television series tentatively called Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical . I decided to base the project on the publications of linguistics professor J.R.R. Tolkien  because of its unusual duality of the original books being considered of high academic merit versus its continued popularity as lucrative intellectual property (IP) in popular culture. A Note on IP, Copyright, and Fair Use While I am not a lawyer, I have a significant amount of knowledge regarding copyright law, fair use, and the public domain particularly relating to museums, historical artifacts, and digital reproduction. If...

For the 1965/1966 edition of The Lord of the Rings released in the United States by Ballantine Books , J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a five-page foreword giving context to his writing process, explaining inspirations behind the story, and rebuking his critics. While Tolkien insisted in this essay, just as he did in letters to fans and during interviews, that little in the book was based on reality, the influence of industrialization and the World Wars, trends in music and art, and historical discoveries affected his ideology presented in the novels. I will use the literary criticism theory of cultural studies to examine this foreword by describing important events that occurred concurrently with the many drafts of the manuscript. Future posts will demonstrate how these events influenced the text itself and my hypothetical animated musical. Near the beginning of the letter, Tolkien explained that one of his primary interests was writing “the mythology and legends of the Eldar Days” ...