I am embarrassed to admit that I backed into the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. It all started with a midnight premiere of Peter Jackson's "The Two Towers." Up to that point, my exposure to Tolkien had been limited to the Ralph Bashki animated adaptation of "The Hobbit," and my recollection of that was extremely fuzzy. In other words, I was going into part two of the Ring saga completely blind. But my friends seemed very excited about it, so I tagged along.
From the opening scene, where Gandalf and the Balrog hurtle down a subterrainean chute locked in battle, I was transfixed. As the story played out, I was stunned by the depth of Middle-earth's cultures, the winsome characters and the gravity of the story. This, of course, sent me into the books, where an exponentially deeper experience awaited. While far from an expert on Tolkien, I would now consider myself a devotee of the good Professor and his work, and I am especially gratified that "The Hobbit" is one of my son's favorite novels.
Tom Shippey's "J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century," which I read last month for the first time, is an indispensable resource for readers who have had the pleasure of exploring Middle-earth. What immediately separates Shippey's work from other overviews is his concentration on Tolkien as a philologist. He repeatedly demonstrates how Tolkien's command of linguistics, history, and ancient literature informed his subcreation of Middle-earth. He applies this approach to "The Hobbit," "The Lord of the Rings," and "The Silmarillion," and the results are astounding. The inescapable conclusion one reaches is that Tolkien's world sprang from language; not only old northern European languages that he loved, but the languages he ingeniously invented. It sounds hyperbolic, not to mention clichéd, but it is nevertheless true that after reading "Author of the Century" you will never see Middle-earth the same way again.
A great deal has been written about Tolkien's Christian faith and the effect it had on his writing. Tolkien is known to have resisted allegorical interpretations of his work, preferring the more carefully chosen term "applicability." Shippey presents the most even-handed 'theology' of Tolkien that I have ever seen, drawing his conclusions from the texts themselves and Tolkien's personal commentaries on them, and the results are fascinating. Readers who expect "Lord of the Rings" to be nothing more than a simplistic "Dungeons and Dragons" legend will be shocked to discover that it presents a highly nuanced view of the nature of evil, as well as the role of "fate" in life, and suggests what the proper response to both might be.
That leads me to this caveat: do not back into this book like I did the cinematic "Two Towers." It would be the wrong place to start. I would strongly suggest you read (or re-read) "The Hobbit" or "Lord of the Rings" before picking up "Author of the Century." In this case, you must enter the literary world of Middle-earth and experience its wonder and be carried along The Road first. Then, when the philological underpinnings are opened up later, you will be able to more fully appreciate the depth that you sensed was there. Tom Shippey makes those connections leap to life.
