(by guest blogger Elizabeth Eckhart)
The Lord of the Rings,
The Hobbit and J.R.R. Tolkien are
all phrases considered synonymous with high fantasy. Since The Hobbit’s publication
seventy-five years ago, the consensus among fans and critics is that J.R.R.
Tolkien was one of the most, if not the most, ingenious fantasy writers
to have ever existed. Even the less-than-habitual reader recognizes Tolkien’s
legacy, and rightfully credits him with the onslaught of fantasy novels we
enjoy today. Tolkien did more than bring back the the fantastical elements
children and adults had been missing since the era of the Brothers Grimm -- he
also thoroughly altered them. Because of Tolkien, we began to see tall,
beautiful elves instead of tiny, mischievous creatures; the beginning of an
elves vs. dwarves racism that carries into hundreds of subsequent fantasy
novels; and even larger tropes such as the necessity for a world other than
ours, war on an epic scale, an almost undefeatable enemy and, of course, a
small band of heroes. Tolkien is credited with the popularity of the reluctant,
anti-hero (think Bilbo and Frodo in comparison to Beowulf) who defeats the
enemy in some way other than hand-to-hand combat. The list, of course, goes on.