Children’s Beowulfs for the New Tolkien Generation

J.R.R. Tolkien is sometimes referred to as the Father of Modern Fantasy (or High Fantasy, or Epic Fantasy).² While some would not grant him such pre-eminence,³ few doubt that The Lord of the Rings was an important driver of the twentieth-century development of fantasy literature, or that Tolkien’s fiction boosted the genre’s popularity a second time through the success of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy (2001–3). That second wave of influence can be seen in the success of George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series and the resultant HBO Game of Thrones adaptation, as well as a renewed