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{{book
{{book
|title=The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays
|title=The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays
|image=[[Image:The Monsters and the Critics.jpg|225px]]
|image=[[Image:The Monsters and the Critics.jpg|225px]]
|author=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], Christopher Tolkien (editor)
|author=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], Christopher Tolkien (editor)
|publisher=
|publisher=[[Allen and Unwin|George Allen and Unwin]] (UK)<br/>[[Houghton Mifflin]] (US)
|date=[[1983]] (1st edition)
|date=[[3 March]] [[1983]] (UK)<br/>[[1 April]] [[1984]] (US)
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'''''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays''''' is a collection of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s scholarly linguistic essays and lectures. The book was published posthumously in [[1983]], edited by [[Christopher Tolkien]].  
'''''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays''''' is a collection of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s scholarly linguistic essays and lectures. The book was published posthumously in [[1983]], edited by [[Christopher Tolkien]].  


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Some of the essays included in ''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays'' had been published before, while some appeared for the first time in print.
Some of the essays included in ''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays'' had been published before, while some appeared for the first time in print.


*Previuosly published:
*Previously published:
**"[[Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics]]" (lecture delivered in 1936 and published in ''[[Proceedings of the British Academy, volume XXII]]'' in the same year)
**"[[Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics]]" (lecture delivered in [[1936]]; published separately in [[1937]])
**"[[On Translating Beowulf]]" (published in 1940 as "[[Prefatory Remarks on Prose Translation of "Beowulf"|Prefatory Remarks on Prose Translation of 'Beowulf']]")
**"[[On Translating Beowulf]]" (published in [[1940]] as "[[Prefatory Remarks on Prose Translation of "Beowulf"|Prefatory Remarks on Prose Translation of 'Beowulf']]")
**"[[English and Welsh]]" (lecture delivered in 1955 and published in ''[[Angles and Britons: O'Donnell Lectures]]'' in 1963)
**"[[English and Welsh]]" (lecture delivered in [[1955]] and published in ''[[Angles and Britons: O'Donnell Lectures]]'' in [[1963]])
**"[[On Fairy-Stories]]" (lecture delivered in 1939 and published in ''[[Essays Presented to Charles Williams]]'' in 1947)
**"[[On Fairy-Stories]]" (lecture delivered in [[1939]] and published in ''[[Essays Presented to Charles Williams]]'' in [[1947]])
*Previuosly unpublished:
*Previously unpublished:
**"[[A Secret Vice]]"
**"[[A Secret Vice]]" (lecture delivered in [[1931]])
**"[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]"
**"[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]" ([[W.P. Ker Lecture|lecture]] delivered in [[1953]])
**"[[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford|Valedictory Address]]"
**"[[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford|Valedictory Address]]" (lecture delivered in [[1959]]; edited from a different manuscript than that published in ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: Scholar and Storyteller]]'' in [[1979]]<ref>[[Wayne G. Hammond]] and [[Christina Scull]], ''[[The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide]]: Chronology'', p.817.</ref>)


The book also contains a foreword by Christopher Tolkien.
The book also contains a foreword by [[Christopher Tolkien]].
 
==Relation to the Legendarium==
 
As these essays are of a scholarly nature, there are scarcely any direct references to the [[legendarium]] of Tolkien. However, the essay "A Secret Vice" contains a final section of ''Notes'' by Christopher Tolkien, where he points to references to ''[[The Book of Lost Tales Part Two|The Book of Lost Tales]]'' and also reprints  a later version of one of the Elvish poems, being "one of the major pieces of [[Quenya]]"<ref>Chistopher Tolkien, "Foreword", p.4.</ref>.


==Editions, selection==
==Editions, selection==


*[[1983]]: ''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays''. London: George Allen & Unwin.
*[[1983]]: ''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays''. London: George Allen & Unwin. ([[3 March|March 3]], [[1983]])
*[[1984]]: ''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
*[[1984]]: ''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
*[[1997]]: ''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays''. [[HarperCollins]]. ISBN: 026110263X. Paperback, 256 pages.
*[[1997]]: ''The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays''. [[HarperCollins]]. ISBN: 026110263X. Paperback, 256 pages.


[[Category:Books by J.R.R. Tolkien|Monsters and the Critics]]
==From the cover/back==
[[Category:Books by Christopher Tolkien|Monsters and the Critics]]
 
The seven 'essays' by J.R.R. Tolkien assembled in this new paperback edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien's work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with ''Beowulf'', including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', given in the University of Glasgow in 1953.
 
Also included in this volume is the lecture ''English and Welsh''; the ''Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford'' in 1959; and a paper on Invented Languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is ''On Fairy-Stories'', a discussion of the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien's approach to the whole genre.
 
The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of ''The Hobbit'', with a unique 'academic' lecture on his invention (calling it ''A Secret Vice'') and concluding with his farewell to professorship, five years after the publication of ''The Lord of the Rings''.
 
==See also==
 
*''[[Om Beowulfsagan]]'' ("''On the Tale of Beowulf''"; the 1975 Swedish "edition")
 
{{references}}
{{title|italics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monsters and the Critics}}
[[Category:Linguistic books]]
[[Category:Books by J.R.R. Tolkien]]
[[Category:Books by Christopher Tolkien]]
[[Category:Publications by title]]
[[de:Die Ungeheuer und ihre Kritiker]]
[[fr:tolkien/biblio/mc]]
[[fi:The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays]]

Revision as of 20:18, 27 August 2013

The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays
File:The Monsters and the Critics.jpg
AuthorJ.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (editor)
PublisherGeorge Allen and Unwin (UK)
Houghton Mifflin (US)
Released3 March 1983 (UK)
1 April 1984 (US)

The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays is a collection of J.R.R. Tolkien's scholarly linguistic essays and lectures. The book was published posthumously in 1983, edited by Christopher Tolkien.

Content

Some of the essays included in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays had been published before, while some appeared for the first time in print.

The book also contains a foreword by Christopher Tolkien.

Relation to the Legendarium

As these essays are of a scholarly nature, there are scarcely any direct references to the legendarium of Tolkien. However, the essay "A Secret Vice" contains a final section of Notes by Christopher Tolkien, where he points to references to The Book of Lost Tales and also reprints a later version of one of the Elvish poems, being "one of the major pieces of Quenya"[2].

Editions, selection

  • 1983: The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. London: George Allen & Unwin. (March 3, 1983)
  • 1984: The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  • 1997: The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. HarperCollins. ISBN: 026110263X. Paperback, 256 pages.

From the cover/back

The seven 'essays' by J.R.R. Tolkien assembled in this new paperback edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien's work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, given in the University of Glasgow in 1953.

Also included in this volume is the lecture English and Welsh; the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford in 1959; and a paper on Invented Languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is On Fairy-Stories, a discussion of the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien's approach to the whole genre.

The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of The Hobbit, with a unique 'academic' lecture on his invention (calling it A Secret Vice) and concluding with his farewell to professorship, five years after the publication of The Lord of the Rings.

See also

References

  1. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: Chronology, p.817.
  2. Chistopher Tolkien, "Foreword", p.4.