by Stephen Zaborowski, Special for the Sooner Catholic
“Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages” by Holly Ordway, is the first book published by Word on Fire Academic. The new arm of Word on Fire ministries (well-known from its association with Bishop Robert Barron) aims to publish books that raise the level of discussion within the New Evangelization to provide an outlet for scholars. This first book does not disappoint.
Tolkien’s “Modern Reading” appeals to a wide swath of readers – armchair “Tolkienologists,” fans of literature and historians. The immense popularity of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” featured in the top book charts of the 20th century and at the box office allows Ordway to present her thesis that J.R.R. Tolkien was not only interested in the ancient, but kept up with modernity in literature.
For those who absolutely love Tolkien, Ordway’s book presents a new, more robust view of the great author. The general premise of her argument is that the supposed common knowledge that Tolkien was disinterested in anything modern was an exaggeration that needs to be put into its proper light. Throughout the course of this intelligent, but highly readable work, Ordway works through the library of books that Tolkien definitely read and relates specific evidence of their influences on the universe of “middle-earth.”
The academically minded reader will be impressed that this book is presented with the rigor of a dissertation and brings a treasure-trove of citations, figures and appendices. Ordway is able to deftly choose information that is good for footnotes – sometimes of popular interest, sometimes personally revealing, and at others a key piece of academic work that needs to be spelled out more clearly.
The hierarchy of footnotes, endnotes and figures allows the reader to move through the book leisurely or with a minute attention to detail as they see fit. This layout should be welcomed by readers of a wide diversity of interest.
At first, this book may appear to have a niche market, but Ordway turns her work into a tour de force as a gateway to a world of literature that has fallen away from general popularity today. By clearly presenting the work of several dozen authors, and their effect on Tolkien’s works, Ordway is able to open the literary world of English-speaking culture to a new generation.
Whether the topic is fairy stories, adventures or mythology and history, the reader walks away with a new breadth of cultural knowledge from the later half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As a final reflection on this book, I believe that one of the most important contributions that Ordway has made could be to parents who seek to introduce a world of thought and imagination to their children.
The chapters of this book that deal specifically with the children’s literature in which Tolkien was immersed, both as a child himself and as a parent and grandparent, have inspired me on a personal level to encourage my children as they grow older to read, read, read.