“We Could Do with a Bit More Queerness in These Parts”: An Analysis of the Queer against the Peculiar, the Odd, and the Strange in The Lord of the Rings

As developed in The Lord of the Rings, “queer” is a special term, one uniquely associated with the Hobbits, and Tolkien crafts a very specific set of resonances that embed it in provincial mistrust, a sense of real outside threat, and places within the ancient natural world that appear foundationally opposed to the ordinary realm of civilization. While Tolkien cannot be said to use the word “queer” in its more modern sense of “homosexual” or nonnormative sexual and/or gender identity, he included an owning and even embracing of the term that follows a similar pattern

Totemic Reflexes in Tolkien\u27s Middle-earth

A close look at Tolkien’s incorporation of traces of shamanism and totemism in his depiction of Gandalf and other characters; yet another indication of how Tolkien created historical depth in his tales by reproducing the way traces of early mythic and religious themes survive in later tales and folklore

Reviews

The Collected Poems of C.S. Lewis: A Critical Edition. Edited by Don W. King. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher. Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North. G. Ronald Murphy. Reviewed by Jon Garrad. Anglo-Saxon Community in J.R.R. Tolkien\u27s The Lord of the Rings. Deborah A. Higgins. Reviewed by Yvette Kisor. Surprised by the Feminine: A Rereading of C.S. Lewis and Gender. Monika B. Hilder. Reviewed by Laura Lee Smith. Arda Inhabited: Environmental Relationships in The Lord of The Rings. Susan Jeffers. Reviewed by Jeremy Larson. Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis. Abigail Santamaria. Reviewed by Crystal Hurd. A Naked Tree: Love Sonnets to C.S. Lewis and Other Poems. Joy Davidman. Ed. Don W. King. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher. The Hero Enkidu. Lewis Turco. Reviewed by Nicholas Birns. Encyclopedia of Goddesses & Heroines. Patricia Monaghan. Reviewed by Cait Coker. The Oxford Inklings. Colin Duriez. Reviewed by Crystal Hurd. The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings. Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski. Reviewed by Crystal Hurd. The Pilgrim\u27s Regress: Wade Annotated Edition. C.S. Lewis. Edited and introduced by David C. Downing. Reviewed by Mike Foster. North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald Studies. Editors John Pennington and Fernando Soto. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Supernatural Studies. Special Issue: Television and the Supernatural. Editor Leah Richards; Guest editor Marisa C. Hayes. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Journal of Inklings Studies: Theology, Philosophy, Literature. Special Issue: Inklings and the Bible. Executive editor Judith Wolfe. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft

Reviews

The Collected Poems of C.S. Lewis: A Critical Edition. Edited by Don W. King. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher. Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North. G. Ronald Murphy. Reviewed by Jon Garrad. Anglo-Saxon Community in J.R.R. Tolkien\u27s The Lord of the Rings. Deborah A. Higgins. Reviewed by Yvette Kisor. Surprised by the Feminine: A Rereading of C.S. Lewis and Gender. Monika B. Hilder. Reviewed by Laura Lee Smith. Arda Inhabited: Environmental Relationships in The Lord of The Rings. Susan Jeffers. Reviewed by Jeremy Larson. Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis. Abigail Santamaria. Reviewed by Crystal Hurd. A Naked Tree: Love Sonnets to C.S. Lewis and Other Poems. Joy Davidman. Ed. Don W. King. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher. The Hero Enkidu. Lewis Turco. Reviewed by Nicholas Birns. Encyclopedia of Goddesses & Heroines. Patricia Monaghan. Reviewed by Cait Coker. The Oxford Inklings. Colin Duriez. Reviewed by Crystal Hurd. The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings. Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski. Reviewed by Crystal Hurd. The Pilgrim\u27s Regress: Wade Annotated Edition. C.S. Lewis. Edited and introduced by David C. Downing. Reviewed by Mike Foster. North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald Studies. Editors John Pennington and Fernando Soto. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Supernatural Studies. Special Issue: Television and the Supernatural. Editor Leah Richards; Guest editor Marisa C. Hayes. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Journal of Inklings Studies: Theology, Philosophy, Literature. Special Issue: Inklings and the Bible. Executive editor Judith Wolfe. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft