Jyrki Korpua

Tolkien and the Kalevala

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

This book explores J. R. R. Tolkien's unique and warm relationship to the Kalevala, a poem usually hailed as the Finnish and Karelian national epic, compiled, edited and partly revisioned from older folk poetry by Finnish scholar Elias Lönnrot in the 19th century. J. R. R. Tolkien, an Oxford academic and the greatest author of the 20th-century fantasy, creator of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was fascinated from early on by the Kalevala. Tolkien himself described the Kalevala as "a germ" of his fantasy fiction.

Produktdetails

• Routledge Focus on Literature
• Verlag: Routledge / Taylor & Francis
• Seitenzahl: 108
• Erscheinungstermin: 19. August 2024
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 217mm x 141mm x 12mm
• Gewicht: 245g
• ISBN-13: 9781032852270
• ISBN-10: 1032852275
• Artikelnr.: 70601756

Autorenporträt

Jyrki Korpua, PhD, is a researcher of literature at the University of Oulu. His books include Alussa oli Sana - Raamattu ja kirjallisuus ("The Bible and Literature", 2016, in Finnish), New Perspectives to Dystopian Fiction (2020, edited with Saija Isomaa & Jouni Teittinen) and The Mythopoeic Code of Tolkien: A Christian Platonic Reading of the Legendarium (2021). His research interests include theological literary history, utopian and dystopian studies, Tolkien studies and mythopoetic game studies.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

2. From folk tradition to fantasy

On J. R. R. Tolkien

On role models, ancient heroes

The Kalevalas of Lönnrot

The Kalevala Tolkien knew

Tolkien's works

What did Tolkien think of the Kalevala?

The merging of Finnish language and the Kalevala in Tolkien

3. The story of the Kalevala and Tolkien's fantasy world

World creation and world order

Song battles and quests before marriage

The Sampo and the Silmarils

Interludes

The end of the tale

4 The Kalevalaic parts of Tolkien's world

The might of singing, music and words

Nature and the elements

On Väinämöinen

On Louhi

On Ilmarinen

On Kullervo

5. Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Rezensionen

"Jyrki Korpua brings new depth to Tolkien's world-building with his delightful introduction to the song-built world of the Kalevala, which both inspired Tolkien's earliest stories and resonates throughout his legendarium from the music of Creation to the songs of Tom Bombadil."

Rachel Fulton Brown, Associate Professor of Medieval History, Fundamentals, and the College, The University of Chicago, USA