One Ring to Bind Them All: Tolkien's Mythology

By Anne C. Petty

Book Overview

In" One Ring to Bind Them All," Anne Petty shows that when viewed through the combined methodologies of Joseph Campbell, Vladimir Propp, and Claude Levi-Strauss a folkloristic/mythic structure is seen to underlie Tolkien's epic work. "The Lord of the Rings" is 20th-century mythology manifested in the familiar pattern of the three-stage hero quest made popular by Campbell--departure, initiation, and return--and in the elemental motifs of folktales, as discovered by Propp and expanded upon by Levi-Strauss. This cross-disciplinary analysis shows that Tolkien presented to modern readers and other writers a rich array of reinvented mythic archetypes and icons.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0817373284
• ISBN13: 9780817373283
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Univ of Alabama Pr
• Length: 122 Pages
• Weight: 1.74 lbs.