Wagner and Tolkien

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Wagner and Tolkien: Mythmakers
Wagner and Tolkien.png
AuthorRenée Vink
PublisherWalking Tree Publishers
Released20 June 2012
FormatPaperback
Pages300
ISBN978-3-905703-25-2
SeriesCormarë Series
Preceded byTolkien and Wagner: The Ring and Der Ring
Followed byThe Broken Scythe: Death and Immortality in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien

Wagner and Tolkien: Mythmakers investigates the relationship between the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Richard Wagner. It was published as No. 25 in the Cormarë Series.

From the publisher[edit | edit source]

"Both Rings were round and there the resemblance ceases", wrote J.R.R. Tolkien about the rings in his epic The Lord of the Rings and Richard Wagner's opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung. Or did he? The answer is not as straightforward as many Tolkien fans believe, whether they agree with the statement or consider it misguided. Nor is the statement itself as transparently defensive as some Wagner buffs suggest.Much has been said and written about Wagner and Tolkien, a subject that tends to generate a certain amount of heat, mostly due to the former's controversial status as Hitler's favourite composer. But until now the various, often contradictory opinions and the facts and perceptions on which they are based were rarely discussed at length or analysed in depth. The publication in 2009 of Tolkien's The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún with its partly Wagnerian content reinforced the need for a systematic treatment of the subject. This book offers one.There is more to both Rings than their common roundness, and the resemblance between Tolkien and Wagner goes beyond a Ring of Power and some narrative elements: they shared a number of preoccupations and interests – Nature, nation, the North, death and immortality, language and above all, myth. This is a book about the two great mythmakers of their times, and about what they have in common despite everything that separates them.

Contents[edit | edit source]

  • Introduction: The Master and the Professor - Wagner and Tolkien
  • Part One, Two Round Rings
    • Chapter 1, A Conspiracy Unmasked?
      • 1.1. A Ring of Power
      • 1.2. Two round rings
      • 1.3. How well did Tolkien know Wagner?
    • Chapter 2, Searching for Sources
      • 2.1. A list of similarities
      • 2.2. 'Faint and disparate echoes'
      • 2.3. Common sources
    • Chapter 3, What has it got in its pocketses?
      • 3.1. No, Birzer / Bratman / Spear / Müller / Scott Rohan / Ridpath
      • 3.2. Yes, Hillard / Shippey / Haymes / Bayreuth and sundry / Ross, Kasper, and sex / The racism card, Schwartz & Arvidsson / Hate-speak
      • 3.3. Deliberately, Hall / O'Donoghue / Spengler / 'Thief Tolkien'
    • Chapter 4, Other Approaches
      • 4.1. The evils of power Werner / Luke, and Ross again / What power? / Views of evil / Fear of the end
      • 4.2. A poisoned imagination? Chism and the poisoned sources / From myth to history
    • Chapter 5, Conclusion
  • Part Two, Myths, Fairy Tales and Endings
    • Chapter 6, Romanticism and Mythmaking
      • 6.1. Introduction
      • 6.2. National myths Tolkien in England / Wagner in Germany
      • 6.3. Modern myth
    • Chapter 7, Nature and its Defilement
    • Chapter 8, A World too Much? Fantasy versus (Stage) Drama
      • 8.1. Myth and drama, Dramatic narrative / Faërian drama / Visual representation
      • 8.2. Fantasy drama
      • 8.3. Music, words and the invisible stage
    • Chapter 9, Tragedy, Elegy, Eucatastrophe
      • 9.1. Tragedy versus comedy
      • 9.2. Revolution versus restoration
      • 9.3. The end of myth
      • 9.4. The end of the world?
    • Chapter 10, Conclusion
  • Part Three, The Amateur and the Professional
    • Chapter 11, Sources and Resources
      • 11.1. Pure and adulterated northernness
      • 11.2. Sigurd versus Siegfried
    • Chapter 12, Language
      • 12.1. Words, grammar and syntax, Tolkien's archaisms / Attack and defence / Wagner's archaisms / Wordplay / Philological jests / Kennings
      • 12.2. Alliterations, Stave rhyme rediscovered / Some technicalities / Wagner's verse / Tolkien's development / Rhythm and patterns
      • 12.3. Proverbiality
    • Chapter 13, Narrative Elements
      • 13.1. The Ring and the Legend – correspondences, Introduction / From the beginning to Ragnarök / Baldr / The solar hero and the Saviour / Odin and Wotan
      • 13.2. The Ring and the Legend – differences, Assorted differences / Characteristic choices / Half-brother and full brothers
      • 13.3. Solving a conundrum: The ring at the core, The sources / The botched tradition / The ring of fire / Did they do it?
    • Chapter 14, Conclusion
  • Afterword

External links[edit | edit source]


Cormarë Series volumes
1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32 · 33 · 34 · 35 · 36 · 37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41 · 42 · 43 · 44 · 45 · 46 · 47