Papers by Will Sherwood
Will Sherwood, 2020
This article situates J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium as a literary descendent of the antiquarian pr... more This article situates J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium as a literary descendent of the antiquarian projects from the 'Age of Forgery' in the 1760s. It argues that Tolkien's motivation to create a national mythology echoed those of James Macpherson and Thomas Chatterton. Drawing on previously unpublished folios from Tolkien's undergraduate notebooks, it showcases his familiarity with the two forgers, their feigned literary heritages, and British antiquarian practices in the eighteenth century. It further argues that Tolkien improved on Macpherson's and Chatterton's antiquarian methodologies by marrying the oral tradition with the written word in The Book of Lost Tales, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.
Book Reviews by Will Sherwood
Journal of Tolkien Research, Feb 24, 2020
Sherwood, Will (2019) "'Music in Tolkien's Works and Beyond' (2019), edited by Julian Eilmann and... more Sherwood, Will (2019) "'Music in Tolkien's Works and Beyond' (2019), edited by Julian Eilmann and Friedhelm Schneidewind" Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 8 : Iss. 1, Article 8.
Journal of Tolkien Research, Jan 1, 2020
Sherwood, Will (2019) ""Something Has Gone Crack": New Perspectives on J.R.R. Tolkien and the Gre... more Sherwood, Will (2019) ""Something Has Gone Crack": New Perspectives on J.R.R. Tolkien and the Great War (2019), edited by Janet Brennan Croft and Annika Röttinger," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 8 : Iss. 1, Article 5.
Thesis Chapters by Will Sherwood
University of Exeter ORE, 2020
The scope of this thesis covers the influence of John Keats’s work on J. R. R. Tolkien’s tale of ... more The scope of this thesis covers the influence of John Keats’s work on J. R. R. Tolkien’s tale of Beren and Lúthien, The Book of Lost Tales and The Lord of the Rings. It draws on Tolkien’s academic works: ‘Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics’, On Fairy-stories and brings to light unpublished manuscripts from Tolkien’s undergraduate notebooks and 1930s lecture notes held at the Bodleian Library in the University of Oxford. Collectively they evidence his awareness and adoption of material by Keats and the forgers James Macpherson and Thomas Chatterton. The thesis builds on what little scholarship exists on Tolkien, Keats, Chatterton and Macpherson by offering primary evidence and fresh insights into their shared interests into national history.
The thesis argues that Keats and Tolkien share a conception of Faërie as the national heritage of England and Britain, as well as a debt to Macpherson and Chatterton, the early Romantic writers of the ‘Age of Forgery’ in the 1760s. Keats captured history and Faërie in a tapestry of pictures that afterwards inspired William Morris and the other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Morris subsequently influenced Tolkien’s work and the thesis will argue that the ‘perilous’, folkloric Faërie that Tolkien examined in On Fairy-stories is distilled to him through Keats and Morris in a chain of influence. It will argue that Tolkien initially adopted literary techniques and poetic diction from Keats in his first draft of his mythology in the 1910s. With the second draft in the 1920s, the thesis will argue that Tolkien’s maturity led him to critically rework Keats’s poems in ‘The Lay of Leithian’. The works of Macpherson, Chatterton, Keats and Tolkien reacted against the prevailing taste of their respective times by resurrecting a pre-imperial period of their nation’s past; they sought to engender a sense of nostalgia in their contemporaries and prompt a revived interest in what had been lost. It will identify that Tolkien and Keats inherited two prime methods for authenticating or feigning history: the oral tradition and the written word.
The thesis can be found on the University of Exeter ORE: https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/40585
Conference Presentations by Will Sherwood
The paper argues that mountaineering in Tolkien’s legendarium (and Jackson’s adaptions) are predo... more The paper argues that mountaineering in Tolkien’s legendarium (and Jackson’s adaptions) are predominantly Romantic. Tolkien may have been unconscious of this, but mountaineering’s importance to his writing process and narratives suggests a reliance on it, much like the Romantics. However, he differs dramatically by casting his mountainscapes as alien worlds that lie beyond his character’s comprehension of Middle-earth.
This conference paper presented the introduction to the co-edited book 'The Romantic Spirit in th... more This conference paper presented the introduction to the co-edited book 'The Romantic Spirit in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien'.
Presented at ‘Distance 2020’, an online PGR conference.
Paper presented at Tolkien 2019 Conference.
Books by Will Sherwood
This volume of proceedings contains papers from the Tolkien Society Autumn Seminar 2021. J.R.R. T... more This volume of proceedings contains papers from the Tolkien Society Autumn Seminar 2021. J.R.R. Tolkien’s works have gained global appeal, leading to translations in over thirty languages and a host of stylistically unique illustrations. As a translator and illustrator himself, Tolkien was acutely aware of the challenges and benefits that both bring to a written text. Translating and Illustrating Tolkien explores what these processes add to, emit from, or compliment Tolkien’s original text.
This volume of proceedings contains papers from the Tolkien Society 2021 Summer Seminar. It asked... more This volume of proceedings contains papers from the Tolkien Society 2021 Summer Seminar. It asked scholars to consider the role that diversity plays in Middle-earth’s linguistic and literary make-up: how does Tolkien explore race, gender, sexuality, disability, class, religion and faith, and age? How do different fandoms receive his works? How can varying perspectives enrich our understanding of Arda? Tolkien and Diversity also marks a new direction for the Seminar proceedings. Authors are now invited to publish their paper in English and their first language.
This volume of proceedings contains papers from the Tolkien Society 2021 Winter Seminar. It sough... more This volume of proceedings contains papers from the Tolkien Society 2021 Winter Seminar. It sought to explore how twenty-first century publications of Tolkien’s work, adaptions, and new philosophies/critical theories can provide us with fresh readings of Tolkien’s world.
This volume of proceedings contains papers from the largest Tolkien Society seminar that almost m... more This volume of proceedings contains papers from the largest Tolkien Society seminar that almost marked the seminar’s move to a free online event. The 2020 seminar sought to explore how J.R.R. Tolkien’s legacy partly relies on the continued adaptation of his works, characters, and languages. It offered insights into a range of artistic adaptations and evaluated how the tangible result expands the Tolkien fanbase and readership while cultivating a love and appreciation of Tolkien through the adaptor’s creative vision. It further examined the ways in which Tolkien’s creations have been interwoven into the very fabric of our primary world.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Arda illustrates how he incorporated and built on aesthetics, ideals, and philos... more J.R.R. Tolkien’s Arda illustrates how he incorporated and built on aesthetics, ideals, and philosophies that were, during his lifetime, associated with the Romantics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Romantic Spirit in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien is a celebration of Romanticism’s multiplicity, offering fresh perspectives on Tolkien’s relationship with English, Scottish, German, transatlantic, musical and artistic Romanticisms, working in concert to open up our discussions of Tolkien’s Romantic Spirit. By embracing this approach, the volume avoids generalisations or vague definitions of Romanticism and the Romantic, paving the way for future scholarship that seeks to understand Tolkien’s stylistic and thematic connections with Romanticism. The contributions to this volume by Elliott Greene, Valentina P. Aparicio, Lynn-Forest Hill, Sharin Schroeder, Mariana Rios Maldonado, Verlyn Flieger, Chiara Bertioglo, Annise Rogers, David Smith, Kacie Wills, Christopher Hagen, Adam Neikirk, John R. Holmes, Austin Freeman, Brandon Wernette, Eva Lippold and Nick Groom by no means exhaust the discussion on Tolkien’s Romanticism. Rather, they aim to ignite further exploration by embracing Romanticism’s ever-growing cast of voices and spirits.
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Papers by Will Sherwood
Book Reviews by Will Sherwood
Thesis Chapters by Will Sherwood
The thesis argues that Keats and Tolkien share a conception of Faërie as the national heritage of England and Britain, as well as a debt to Macpherson and Chatterton, the early Romantic writers of the ‘Age of Forgery’ in the 1760s. Keats captured history and Faërie in a tapestry of pictures that afterwards inspired William Morris and the other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Morris subsequently influenced Tolkien’s work and the thesis will argue that the ‘perilous’, folkloric Faërie that Tolkien examined in On Fairy-stories is distilled to him through Keats and Morris in a chain of influence. It will argue that Tolkien initially adopted literary techniques and poetic diction from Keats in his first draft of his mythology in the 1910s. With the second draft in the 1920s, the thesis will argue that Tolkien’s maturity led him to critically rework Keats’s poems in ‘The Lay of Leithian’. The works of Macpherson, Chatterton, Keats and Tolkien reacted against the prevailing taste of their respective times by resurrecting a pre-imperial period of their nation’s past; they sought to engender a sense of nostalgia in their contemporaries and prompt a revived interest in what had been lost. It will identify that Tolkien and Keats inherited two prime methods for authenticating or feigning history: the oral tradition and the written word.
The thesis can be found on the University of Exeter ORE: https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/40585
Conference Presentations by Will Sherwood
Books by Will Sherwood
The thesis argues that Keats and Tolkien share a conception of Faërie as the national heritage of England and Britain, as well as a debt to Macpherson and Chatterton, the early Romantic writers of the ‘Age of Forgery’ in the 1760s. Keats captured history and Faërie in a tapestry of pictures that afterwards inspired William Morris and the other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Morris subsequently influenced Tolkien’s work and the thesis will argue that the ‘perilous’, folkloric Faërie that Tolkien examined in On Fairy-stories is distilled to him through Keats and Morris in a chain of influence. It will argue that Tolkien initially adopted literary techniques and poetic diction from Keats in his first draft of his mythology in the 1910s. With the second draft in the 1920s, the thesis will argue that Tolkien’s maturity led him to critically rework Keats’s poems in ‘The Lay of Leithian’. The works of Macpherson, Chatterton, Keats and Tolkien reacted against the prevailing taste of their respective times by resurrecting a pre-imperial period of their nation’s past; they sought to engender a sense of nostalgia in their contemporaries and prompt a revived interest in what had been lost. It will identify that Tolkien and Keats inherited two prime methods for authenticating or feigning history: the oral tradition and the written word.
The thesis can be found on the University of Exeter ORE: https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/40585