Tolkien’s Middle-Earth Stories: Things form the Past for a Present-Day Audience?

Practically all of Tolkien’s non-academic writings are in many ways “things of the past”: They are set in a chronotope reminiscent of the middle ages; they reflect images of an idealized past that have roots in Romantic and late-nineteenth-century thought and literature; and they were conceived and developed during the first half of the last century. Nevertheless, they have remained immensely popular, over a period of more than sixty years that has seen enormous changes in technology, ideology, and lifestyle. This paper will attempt a short overview of the ways Tolkien’s writings do reflect certain views typical of their own times – including attitudes towards class, race, and political systems that some critics of Tolkien have regarded as rather reprehensible. In addition it will address the question why Tolkien’s stories have remained highly popular in spite of their apparent ‘outmodedness’. In doing so, it will look briefly at the ways they have been transformed by present-day media like film and internet.