Three Sundays: April 7, 14, 21 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET Online
Lecture and Discussion. This live class will be recorded and available for later viewing.
It has been called a fairy tale, an epic, a romance, and a tragedy. Join Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger in a discussion to explore J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as all of the above—a complex fabric whose narrative threads run over, under, around and through each other as they weave the story. We’ll follow the threads one by one as they lead Sam through a fairy tale, Merry and Pippin to a romance, Aragorn to an epic, and Frodo to the tragedy that both climaxes in and foreshadows the end of his story.
Reading and Discussion Schedule:
Three Sundays: April 7, 14, 21 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET Online
April 7: Sam: “Is everything sad going to come untrue?”
From The Green Dragon to Rosie Cotton Sam moves through a fairy tale world of wonder, enchantment, and the Happy Ending.
April 14: Merry and Pippin, Aragorn
Like Yvain and Gawain and Perceval, knights of Arthurian romance, Merry and Pippin, knights of Rohan and Gondor, encounter a supernatural world of giants, ogres and nature spirits.
As much like the Lone Ranger as Achilles or Aeneas, the man in the shadows known as Strider emerges to take his place as the returning king.
April 21: Frodo
From Bag End to Mount Doom and beyond, Frodo’s journey follows the trajectory of a tragic hero whose inevitable fall is foretold from, the beginning.
Reading Reference:
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien (HMH) 50th anniversary edition--all three books in one volume: (9780544273443)
Verlyn Flieger is Professor Emerita in the Department of English at the University of Maryland, where for 36 years she taught courses in Tolkien, Medieval Literature, and Comparative Mythology. She is the author of five critical books on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, Splintered Light, A Question of Time, Interrupted Music, Green Suns and Faërie: Essays on J.R.R. Tolkien, and There Would Always Be A Fairy Tale: More Essays on Tolkien. She edited the Extended edition of Tolkien's Smith of Wootton Major. With Carl Hostetter she edited Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth, and with Douglas A. Anderson she edited the Expanded Edition of Tolkien On Fairy-Stories. With Michael Drout and David Bratman she is a co-editor of the yearly journal Tolkien Studies. She has also published two fantasy novels, Pig Tale and The Inn at Corbies’ Caww, an Arthurian novella, Avilion, and the short stories "Green Hill Country" and "Igraine at Tintagel."
REFUND POLICY: Please note that we can issue class refunds up until seven (7) days before the first class session.
