Author:
Atherton, Mark.
Imprint:London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, 2012.
Descriptionxiii, 306 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Note:'We must away ere break of day' -- Fairy-stories and animal fables -- 'A green great dragon' -- 'The heart of the mountain' -- Return to bag end -- The English country house and its myths -- William Guest -- 'The lonely sea and the sky' -- 'Far over the misty mountains cold' -- Goblin wars -- Literary myth and the Great War -- Visions of peace -- Early lessons in philology -- Tolkien as word-collector -- Rhymes and riddles -- Dialect matters -- Appendixes: 1. A selection of poems from Geoffrey Bache Smith, A spring harvest (London: Erskine Macdonald, 1918) -- 2. A selection of poems from A northern venture: verses by members of the Leeds University English School Association (Leeds: Swan Press, 1923).
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographies (p. 283-296) and index.
Note:Mark Atherton here explores the chief influences on Tolkien's work: his boyhood in the West Midlands; the landscapes and seascapes which shaped his mythologies; his experiences in World War I; his interest in Scandinavian myth; his friendships, especially with the other Oxford-based Inklings; and the relevance of his themes, especially ecological themes, to the present-day. "There and Back Again" offers a unique guide to the varied inspirations behind Tolkien's life and work, and sheds new light on how a legend is born.
