Resources for Students

We think Tolkien is a great author, and you can learn a lot about the craft of writing, the English language (and maths and science and citizenship and lots more) by reading his works. If you have chosen to work on Tolkien for a paper, project or thesis, we are delighted.

If you have come here because you want us to do your homework for you, we are far from delighted.

Short of time?

Write a 'compare and contrast' between a book by Tolkien (choose one of the shorter ones) and a book you have already read. Teachers are more likely to be impressed if it's something you haven't already written about. If you are looking for something short, why not choose a fairy tale? Some critics say that Tolkien 'writes for children' or 'writes fairy tales' - so you could write a comparison asking how far that was true.

Or you could pick your favourite scene in the film, and compare it with the scene in the original text. Hints: look at how atmosphere is created, the use of dialogue and how it relates to the previous and following scenes, as well as to the book and film as a whole.

Where can I study Tolkien?

There is a list of courses offered by a variety of institutions both on and offline on our Courses Page

Please let us know of any courses which we should list here.

Stuck for ideas?

A good place to start is to write down what you liked best about reading the book (or liked least). Think about why that is.

To get to grips with the current critical arguments, read books by Tom Shippey, Verlyn Flieger and Patrick Curry.

If you are interested in the religious aspects of Tolkien's work, andhave a month or so, I suggest that you read The Silmarillion (can be quite hard going - you just need the music and the descriptions of the Valar and Noldor and their doings), and think about how it relates, as a text, to the first books of the Bible. Also read 'On Fairy Stories'. If shorter of time, then perhaps just 'On Fairy Stories', and think about what he says about writing fantasy - the idea of subcreation. This could be related back to the whole idea of creation (in Catholic orthodoxy).

What did 'religion' mean in the 20th century - could lead to questions about what a Christian hero (as opposed to just any old hero) would be, what underlying moralities and beliefs are involved?

Compare and contrast exercises I always find easier than anything else in the world - you could compare The Hobbit as a Catholic book with one of Peter Beagle's as a Jewish book (A Fine and Private Place, especially). I always found 'compare and contrast' topics fruitful ... at a micro level, looking at, say, Sam and Galadriel, and what they do, or do not do.

Or do it at a macro level, looking at LotR and other works iconical in the 60's, or drawing on 'the North', or published in the 1950's, or other 'war stories'.

Or think about a question which I'd like to get some research time on: why is reading Tolkien thought to be something for young people/immature/popular (rather than 'high') culture, etc. etc.

Other popular topics are gender issues (where are all the women?) political models (kingship, democracy, etc.), or following through a line of imagery (pick any image you find striking and work out how it fits into a long line of images through the book - e.g. images of water or fire or horses or home).

What should I read?

Please visit the reading list page . In most parts of the world, these books are all available through your public library.

Help! The book I need is out of print or not available from my library

If the book or paper is in the Tolkien Society archives, it may be possible to lend in photocopied form. For copyright reasons, this can only be to an institutional library. Please ask your institutional library to make an inter-library loan request to the archivist.

My teacher won't let me write about The Lord of the Rings! Help!

The first thing to do is to find out why your teacher won't let you study your favourite book in class.

Some school systems have lists of set books, and if The Lord of the Rings isn't on it, you can't study it. What you can do: ask your teacher which of the set books she thinks you will enjoy most. If there is anything on the reading list to do with myths and legends, the Bible as literature, or traditional/oral stories, you might find that good. Ask your teacher if you can write a letter to whoever sets the list of set books. In your letter, compare The Lord of the Rings to the set book you are actually working on.

Some teachers think that Tolkien isn't worth reading or worth studying. What you can do: ask your teacher if you can do a comparative study with something that they do think is worthwhile.

Some teachers think that Tolkien is very long, and worried that you won't have time to do all the reading. What you can do: ask if you can work on one of the shorter works, such as Farmer Giles of Ham or Leaf by Niggle.

Some teachers think that you are just going to write about the film, and they want you to actually read something. What you can do: write the title of your paper so that it is clear that you are going to be working with the text, as well as the film, or only with the text (e.g. 'A comparison of the character of Aragorn in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson's film adaptation' or 'The use of alliteration and assonance in scenery descriptions in The Lord of the Rings').

Some teachers love Tolkien, but have read an awful lot of essays about him in the last year. They just want to scream when students mention Gandalf. What you can do: ask if you can write about a different book by Tolkien (probably not The Hobbit!), or ask a question that no-one else has asked (I bet no-one in your school has written about the BBC adaptation, for example).

Learning elvish

There is some information on the FAQ page.

Help! I have a Tolkien assignment due in tomorrow

Don't panic! (as another great writer once said).

Have you read the book yet? If you have, then you are streets ahead. Visit the resources for students page for ideas of what to write about.

If you have to read the Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, then the best thing to do is to sit down and start reading, and ask your teacher for an extension tomorrow.

If you have a choice about what to read, then you have time to read one of the shorter works (such as Farmer Giles of Ham): go to the resources for students page for ideas of what to write about.

I have to write a letter ...

We love to hear from people who have, like us, enjoyed reading about Tolkien. But we all have day jobs, and have to do Tolkien stuff in the evenings and weekends, not to mention wanting to spend some time reading, so we can't always write back quickly. Teachers give letter-writing assignments because it's a very useful skill; it is good practice to make sure that the information you are asking for is not already available - on these web pages, for example.

Any questions?

You might find what you seek in the FAQ. We often get requests which say things like 'I'm interested in X, please can you tell me about it?'. We can write much more helpful replies if we know what you have already read (even if you have not found what you want there). If you have not read anything yet, please go to the reading list.

If you still have a question, please contact us.

Ideas for essays, dissertations and theses

• Many of the ideas suggested here can be researched and written up at any level depending on the age of the writer, the length required, and the time allowed for completion.
• All the ideas may be freely adapted or used simply as inspiration.
• Teachers may select from the following suggestions without adaptation to create their own shorter essay lists.
• Where two or more books are suggested in the title of a topic, one or more may be left out for shorter essays.
• If you are writing for an academic purpose and a short deadline, it is wise to choose a topic that you already know something about.
• Some bibliographical information (a book list) is available on this site. Check also the British Library online catalogue http://catalogue.bl.ukand the Library on Congress online catalogue http://catalog.loc.gov
• The more difficult topics are placed towards the end of the list.
• For further details and help please email education@tolkiensociety.org

Ideas for younger students

• The importance of food in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about eating and feasting of all kinds in the story. Who does it? Where is it done? What do you think is important about it? Don't forget trolls, orcs, wolves and the things they eat.
• Clothes in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this, Note down and think about all the kinds of clothes, all the colours, and especially the words Tolkien uses to name and describe the clothes worn by his characters. How do you think clothes, their colours and the words used help us to 'see' the characters and their world? Do the clothes they wear have a special shape, are they used for special purposes, do they tell us something extra about the character?
• Homes, dwellings, and homelessness in The Hobbit, Roverandom, or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about all the different kinds of places in which characters live. Do they seem strange, and if they do, why do you think this is? How do all the different homes make you feel about the characters and the story? How do you feel about characters who do not have homes? How do characters feel when they have to leave their homes?
• Family life in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about the way Tolkien writes about families. Does everyone in the story have a family? Are there any unusual families? Are the families happy or sad? What are the parents like? How do the children behave?
• Strange places in The Hobbit, Roverandom, or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about all the strange places. What makes them seem strange? Does anyone live in or near them? Are they like anything in our world? How do they add to the 'feeling' or atmosphere of the story?
• Animals in The Hobbit, Roverandom, or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about all the different kinds of animals Tolkien writes about. Are they friendly to the characters, or dangerous? Are they like the animals in our world, if not, how are they different?
• Monsters and evil things in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about all creatures that are 'nassty precious'! What is it that makes them scary? Does the place where they live make them more scary? What is the best defence against them? Is there any?
• Warriors and heroes in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about the way Tolkien creates his warriors and heroes? Are they always the same characters - are heroes always armed with swords? Does heroism always take place during battles, or does it happen in othe ways? How does Tolkien describe his warriors - are they always and at all times tough fighting men, or are they sometimes less war-like? Can a warrior also be a gentle character, and if so, how is this shown in the story? Are all warriors men in Tolkien's story, and are all men warriors?
• Swords and other weapons in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about the many weapons that are used in the story. Why do characters use weapons in the story? Do the weapons have names? If so, why do you think this is? Does the naming of swords remind you of any other stories where swords are named? What other kinds of weapons are there. How are they described? How are they used?
• Landscapes and geography in The Hobbit, Roverandom or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about all the different kinds of landscapes in the story. Are there mountains, rivers, forests, or any other special kinds of landscape? How do they fit into the story? What effect do they have on the characters? Are they dangerous, and if so why?
• Journeys in The Hobbit, Roverandom or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about how journeys start, and how they end. What makes them start? Is there anything special about the journey as it happens? Does it end in a special way? Is it a journey in which everyone returns home? If not, what happens and why? Is transport used, if so what is it like? If it is not, how does this affect the characters. Are there any strange forms of transport? Do all the characters in the story like the journey? Does it do them good, or harm them?
• The place of children, young people and/or small people in The Hobbit, Roverandom or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about how children and young people shown in the story. Are they the same as small people? Do they all behave in the same way? If not, how do they behave differently? Are they treated differently? Is there any confusion? Is it nice to be a child or young person in the story you have chosen to read? Do they have adventures? Is it nice to be a small person? Do other people treat them differently?
• History in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about all the things we are told about by the characters in the story that happened long before. What effect do these stories have on the the characters telling them, on their audiences and on you? Why do you think Tolkien creates a 'history' for his characters and their world?
• Poems in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about all the poems, rhymes and rhyming riddles in the story. Do they have a special effect on the part of the story in which they are spoken? Do the poems spoken by a character seem to fit in with what we know about him? What form do the poems take? Are they complicated or do they seem simple? Do they use easy language or difficult language? Do they all rhyme? What are they about? Are any of the amusing? Or sad?
• Unusual languages in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is famous for, among other things, having created special languages for his Elves and for other kinds of characters. He also uses runes adapted from the real runic language used in northern Europe in the early Middle Ages. Carefully read the book you want to work from if you have not already done this. Note down and think about the way Tolkien uses these made-up languages in the story. What effect do they have? How do they fit in with the ordinary English used to tell the story? If you are writing on The Lord of the Rings you may like to know that a few words from the old language of England, the language of the Anglo-Saxons known as Old English, can be found in the chapters that tell the story of Rohan and its people. If you are interested in finding out more about this see the Anglo-Saxon study pack on this site or email education@tolkiensociety.org

Ideas for pre-university students

In all instances you should carefully read the book from which you intend to work if you have not already done this. For help getting started with your essay see the help-questions that follow the topics listed above for younger students. For more help email education@tolkiensociety.org

Essay topics:

• Clothing and its significance in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
• The importance of food in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring
• 'Home is behind': the significance of homes, dwellings, and homelessness in Tolkien's works
• 'Home is behind': the process of leaving safe places in The Hobbit, Roverandom and The Lord of the Rings
• The naming and inheritance of weapons in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - a matter of scale?
• Gentle men, scholars and heroes in the works of JRR Tolkien (look for warrior-poets, linguists, lore-masters, pupils, and unlikely candidates. What does this suggest about the world Tolkien is creating?)
• Strong females in the works of JRR Tolkien (don't ignore Lobelia and Shelob, don't forget The Silmarillion)
• The roles of women in The Shire and beyond (A chance to look at all the women who appear or are just mentioned. What roles do all these women play? Don't forget all the absent mothers, what does their absence suggest, imply or contribute to the story?)
• Melian and Galadriel: the defensive females of Middle-earth (could be adapted to include Lobelia and Shelob)
• Social structures in Middle-earth (it would be helpful, but not essential to know something about medieval English and northern European history for this.)
• The Flora of Middle-earth and its functions
• The fauna of Middle-earth and its impact there (The Hobbit and/or Roverandom could usefully be included in a comparative essay)
• Memory and its significance in Middle-earth (including poems, backstories, and Rhymes of Lore)
• The power of the supernatural - Valar, wraiths, wights - and others in Middle-earth
• The next generation: the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and the works of J.K. Rowling - comparisons and contrasts
• Morality and monstrosity in the works of JRR Tolkien (medieval and renaissance Europe linked physical monstrosity with evil and moral corruption. To what extent does Tolkien continue this archaic convention?)
• Monsters and their meaning in The Lord of the Rings
• Spirituality in Middle-earth (the influence of Christianity has often been noted but there are other indications of the spiritual life of Middle-earth, and connections with Islam have been noted)
• Prejudice in Middle-earth (how many kinds of prejudice are there among Elves and Men and others, what forms do they take, and how do they arise? Is Tolkien making a wider observation?)
• The forms and function of choice in the works of JRR Tolkien (might include reference to free will)
• The Lord of the Rings: Verse forms, their diversity and significance
• The function of poetry in the works of JRR Tolkien (there are many verse forms, for many different occasions, and many different speakers in his stories. Why does Tolkien use so much poetry and what does it contribute? Consider also his collection of poems The Adventures of Tom Bombadil)
• Forms and varieties of language and their function in The Lord of the Rings (besides two forms of Elvish, a few words of Anglo-Saxon, and Dwarvish, there are other forms of language. How do they function in the story individually and how does the creation of so many languages affect the reader's perception of Middle-earth?
• Seeing stones, scrying, and 'information technology' in Middle-earth
• Transport and its problems in Middle-earth (could be extended to cover all Tolkien's works including Roverandom, The Silmarillion, Leaf by Niggle)
• The Road goes ever on: the significance of fords, bridges and causeways in Tolkien's works
• The place of music in Tolkien's works
• 'Unnumbered tears': grief and pathos in The Silmarillion
• Creation myths and The Silmarillion
• Being overlooked: the roles of servants, squires, heralds and pages in Tolkien's works. (don't forget the ostlers in Bree and Beorn's 'servants' in The Hobbit!)
• Horror in Middle-earth
• Historical social structures - moots, shirrifs, hue and cry etc. in the works of JRR Tolkien
• Allegory and its discontents - a comparative study of Tolkien's short stories (Tolkien wrote at least one allegorical short story)
• Faerie and its forerunners: the Victorians and Romantics
• Old warriors and last battles: Theoden, Byrhtnoth, Hrothgar and Beowulf (you will also need to read carefully a good translation in modern English of the Old English poem Beowulf in order to tackle this essay. Don't rely on film versions)
• Beneficial fantasy in The Lord of the Rings (a chance to think about all that is good in the story, and why fantasy goodness may be beneficial)
• Stereotyping and creativity in the works of JRR Tolkien (Tolkien uses character types in his works, so can you find out where they come from? How are they used, and why? Does he alter them? What is the effect?)
• Emblems and symbolism in the works of JRR Tolkien (what is the point of Elfstones, eagles, anvils and hammers, white trees, and all the other emblems? How many others can you discover and what do they contribute to the story?)
• Fantasy horror, archetypes, and bad dreams

Ideas for undergraduates and post-graduate dissertations and theses

• Many of the topics suggested in the Pre-university List given above are suitable for research at undergraduate and post-graduate level.
• If you are writing a thesis or dissertation see the Bibliographies on this site, and the List of Theses and Dissertations as an initial check to see what has already been done. You should then check Dissertation Abstracts International in hard copy or online, as well as YES (Year's Work in English Studies), and other listings. The British Library online catalogue and the Library of Congress online catalog linked above will provide further valuable information.
• If you are working to a short deadline, or under pressure, choose a topic that fits in with other areas of study.
• To state the obvious - in all instances you need to carefully read the books from which you intend to work if you have not already done this. For more help email education@tolkiensociety.org

Topics:

• Forms of love in Tolkien's works, including the incest motif in The Silmarillion (Tolkien presents many forms of love in his works, not simply the heterosexual form. Incest has a particular significance in Germanic mythology)
• Maternal love and its absence in Tolkien's works (Marion Zimmer Bradley has noted 'Goldberry and Galadriel's maternal love' in her article 'Men, Halflings and Hero-Worship' in Isaacs and Zimbardo, eds, Tolkien and the Critics: Essays on JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Notre Dame 1968. Other instances of maternal presence and absence are mentioned in LotR and in The Silmarillion but what do these presences and absences contribute to the stories in which they occur?)
• Eco-criticism and The Lord of the Rings
• Feminism and the works of JRR Tolkien (a chance to explore (or explode?) Germaine Greer's attack on Tolkien's work)
• Marxist theory and The Lord of the Rings (work, labour, and the provision of goods takes place in particular and apparently limited ways and places, but the division of labour is not so clear as it seems and owes a good deal to medieval social practices, and interesting comparison with Marxist alienation is thus possible)
• Freud, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings (a chance to go theoretically into all the dark places - literal and figurative)
• The Lord of the Rings: Colonial and post-colonial perspectives
• Structuralism/post-structuralism and The Lord of the Rings
• Tolkien's challenge to Saussurean Linguistics
• Subversion of the patriarchy in Tolkien's works
• Festivity in Tolkien's works (feasts great and small are important, but what is the scale of festivity as a release of social tensions? What are your conclusions about this? Do Bakhtin and James C. Scott have any relevance here?)
• Political correctness and a better understanding of Tolkien world (when Tolkien was writing the notion of political correctness had not been invented. His sources and his stated purpose for writing further distance his work from the application of anachronistic theories and attitudes, but can political correctness offer new insights into his work for a twenty-first century readership?)
• Tolkien and European history: the 'presence' of Romans, Normans, Merovingians, and others in his works
• The conjunction of fantasy and reality - real places and fantastic adventures in medieval romances and Tolkien's works (many medieval romances are set in real locations although the stories themselves are fantasies. Tolkien is linked to many real places, and some of them seem to influence his creation of the imaginary geography of Middle-earth. The Book of Lost Tales and Roverandom offer some insights.)
• Film adaptations and The Lord of the Rings
• Dragons, Demons and Dark Lords: Tolkien's influence in representing culturally significant forms of evil in text and/or film
• Warrior women in Tolkien and his sources
• The constant hero: Tolkien's reflection of the theme common to different cultures (heroes are a feature of stories in many cultures ancient and modern. Does this common theme suggest there are greater similarities than differences between cultures?)
• Multi-cultural Tolkien (Tolkien's works are very popular among readers worldwide. What is it about them that appeals to readers of both genders and of so many nations, races, religions, political persuasions and locations?)
• Fantasising the Middle Ages in Tolkien and his literary predecessors (a chance to explore the creation of fantasy in different ages, its significance in its original social milieu, and its link with Tolkien)
• Tolkien and Sir Walter Scott
• Tolkien and H. Rider Haggard
• Tolkien and John Buchan
• Tolkien and Wagner
• Tolkien and Bram Stoker - the fascinating undead (Tolkien does not seem to have read Dracula, but both he and Stoker create monstrous undead characters - why? and to what effect?)
• Rewriting The Faerie Queene? Tolkien's challenge to Spenser
• Tolkien and Shakespeare (Tolkien said he disliked the Bard because he did not do justice to the great ideas he came up with. A good knowledge of the plays is essential)
• The next generation: A comparative study of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and the works of J.K. Rowling (while Tolkien works out of the medieval tradition of grounding his work on earlier authority, Rowling's work could be seen as post-modern pastiche)
• The Cottage of Lost Play: Re-enactment, creative anachronism and costuming (Tolkien was interested in 'play'. His fans are famous for dressing up as characters from the books. Has he taught adults to enjoy play, or is this a cultural phenomenon akin to the 'Trekkies', the Dragons and Dungeons gamers, or does it belong with the serious re-creationists such as Angelcynn and the 'Roman legions'?
• Tolkien's minor works: the development of his prose and poetry
• Cartography: Tolkien's mapmaking and the sense of epic distance in his works
• Archaeological sources as an influence in The Lord of the Rings
• Tolkien and Celtic fantasy - the influence of Welsh, Irish and Manx myths and legends, including The Mabinogion
• Attolite portas - the opening of doors and their consequences in Tolkien's works.
• Hortus conclusus - gardens and their significance in The Lord of the Rings (both these topic titles have Christian significance but this may be omitted from the title and the topic dealt with on its own merits)
• Tolkien's linguistic sources and his assertion of translation (it has long been known that Tolkien drew on Celtic and Finnish languages as well as Anglo-Saxon but in his Appendices to The Lord of the Rings he asserts that this is only a superficial situation arising as he has 'translated' the work from the original languages of Rohirric, Quenya, Sindarin and Westron. Why this 'multi-layering' and what is its effect? The glossaries and Indices in the Books of Lost Tales and Unfinished Tales are important for this topic)
• 'A past recoverable through grammar' and linguistic form in the works of JRR Tolkien (may extend to consider the creation of Elvish and other languages, and Tolkien's use of Welsh, Irish, etc.)
• Against all odds: confrontations with fear in Old English poetry and Tolkien's works (Beowulf predominantly, but attitudes to fear in The Battle of Maldon may also be instructive)
• The Lord of the Rings and Medieval Romances
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Orfeo: fantasy and nature in medieval romance, Tolkien's editions and his works
• Reality and the need for fantasy (it has been suggested that people need fantasy. Why should this be the case, and what does fantasy contribute to the human condition and human existence?)
• Fantasies of detachment in The Lord of the Rings and/or The Silmarillion (some characters in Tolkien's works remain detached from events and people around them. What do these examples of detachment contribute to the story, how do they affect other characters? What effect does such detachment have on the reader, and can detachment be justified?

• The 'other' in medieval and modern fantasy including Tolkiens's works. (this might include subtopics such as Saracens in medieval romances and giants as figures of fantasy.
• Tolkien and The Matter of England
• Tolkien and The Kalevala
• The music of the spheres: the reflection of medieval concepts of harmony, order and chaos in Tolkien's works
• The Literary - canon and Tolkien's mythology for England

Proud of your work?

Young people's essays and artwork is published in News From Fangorn. Why not become a member, and share your work. Follow this link to find out more about becoming an Enting.

The Tolkien Society always welcomes submissions of academic papers for its journal, Mallorn. Follow this link to find out more about membership.

We republish selected work from Mallorn on our essays page.