Tom Shippey: Difference between revisions
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* [[1991]]: ''[[Leaves from the Tree: J.R.R. Tolkien's Shorter Fiction]]'' | * [[1991]]: ''[[Leaves from the Tree: J.R.R. Tolkien's Shorter Fiction]]'' | ||
** "Tolkien and ''The Homecoming of Beohrtnoth''" | ** "Tolkien and ''The Homecoming of Beohrtnoth''" | ||
* [[1991]]: ''[[Unquendor|Lembas Extra]]'' | |||
** "Heroes and Heroism: Tolkien’s Problems, Tolkien’s Solutions" | |||
* [[1992]]: ''Arda'' 1987 | * [[1992]]: ''Arda'' 1987 | ||
** "Long Evolution: ''The History of Middle-earth'' and Its Merits" | ** "Long Evolution: ''The History of Middle-earth'' and Its Merits" | ||
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* [[1995]]: ''[[Unquendor|Lembas Extra]]'' | * [[1995]]: ''[[Unquendor|Lembas Extra]]'' | ||
** "Tolkien and the West Midlands: The Roots of Romance"' | ** "Tolkien and the West Midlands: The Roots of Romance"' | ||
* [[1997]]: ''[[The Ways of Creative Mythologies: Imagined Worlds and their Makers]]'' | |||
** "Grimm, Grundtwig, Tolkien: Nationalisms and the Invention of Mythologies" | |||
* [[2000]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances]]'' | * [[2000]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances]]'' | ||
** "Orcs, Wraiths, Wights: Tolkien's Images of Evil" | ** "Orcs, Wraiths, Wights: Tolkien's Images of Evil" | ||
* [[2000]]: ''Literary Appropriations of the Anglo-Saxons from the Thirteenth to the Twentieth Century'' | * [[2000]]: ''Literary Appropriations of the Anglo-Saxons from the Thirteenth to the Twentieth Century'' | ||
** "The Undeveloped Image: Anglo-Saxon in Popular Consciousness from Turner to Tolkien" | ** "The Undeveloped Image: Anglo-Saxon in Popular Consciousness from Turner to Tolkien" | ||
* [[2000]]: "[[J.R.R. Tolkien. Modern Critical Views]]" | |||
** "Lit. and Lang" | |||
* [[2001]]: ''Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts'' 12/2 | * [[2001]]: ''Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts'' 12/2 | ||
** "Allegory versus Bounce: Tolkien's ''Smith of Wootton Major''" (with [[Verlyn Flieger]]) | ** "Allegory versus Bounce: Tolkien's ''Smith of Wootton Major''" (with [[Verlyn Flieger]]) | ||
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* [[2003]]: ''[[The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien]]'' | * [[2003]]: ''[[The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien]]'' | ||
** Foreword | ** Foreword | ||
* [[2004]]: ''[[Tolkien and the Invention of Myth]]'' | * [[2004]]: ''[[Unquendor|Lembas Extra]]'' | ||
** "Indexing and Poetry in The Lord of the Rings" | |||
* [[2004]]: ''[[Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader]]'' | |||
** "Tolkien and the Appeal of the Pagan: ''Edda'' and ''Kalevala''" | ** "Tolkien and the Appeal of the Pagan: ''Edda'' and ''Kalevala''" | ||
* [[2004]]: ''[[Tolkien Studies: Volume 1]]'' | * [[2004]]: ''[[Tolkien Studies: Volume 1]]'' | ||
Revision as of 20:11, 20 February 2009
 | |
| Tom Shippey | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Born | September 9th, 1943 |
| Education | Oxford University |
| Occupation | Author |
Thomas Alan Shippey (1943) is one of the most well known scholars on J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as fantasy and science fiction in general. He describes himself as a "Tolkien polemic".[1]
Life
Youth
Many commenters have noticed the parallels between his life and Tolkien's: born in a colony, moved to Birmingham at a young age, followed by an academic career in Oxford and Leeds.
Shippey was born in India, where his father worked as a bridge builder. He spent the first several years of his life there.[2] His father then sent him to a strict boarding school in England, and when his father came back, Shippey was transfered to King Edward's School in Birmingham, where he studied from 1954 to 1960.[3]
Here he was introduced to science fiction, and The Hobbit, which was lent to him when he was 14 years old.[4] Shippey quickly developed an affinity for Old English, Old Norse, German and Latin (like Tolkien) and playing rugby (like Tolkien), and he was able to afford The Lord of the Rings when he won a school contest.[2]
Academic career
Shippey did not immediately pursue an academic career after graduation, as the British economy in the early 1960's did not offer much work. Not until the mid-sixties did he enroll in Cambridge.[4] His first academic work on Tolkien was from late 1969 or early 1970. Shippey, a junior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, was asked to speak at a Tolkien day organised by a student association. That lecture, "Tolkien as philologist", would form Shippey's view of Tolkien - a philologist - for years to come. Unbeknownst to him, Joy Hill, the private secretary of Tolkien, was in the audience. After the lecture, she asked him for the script, for Tolkien to read. Tolkien wrote to Shippey on April 13, 1970, with what first seemed like a formal reply. [3]
The first meeting between Shippey and Tolkien took place in 1972. Norman Davis, successor of Tolkien at the Merton Chair of English Language, invited Shippey over for diner. Shippey, then a Fellow of St. John's College, taught Old and Middle English with Tolkien's syllabus, and his meeting with Tolkien at the diner left him full of professional piety.[3]
After Tolkien's death, Shippey's admiration only grew. His first printed essay, "Creation from Philology in The Lord of the Rings", was much of an elaboration of his 1970 lecture. In 1979, he was elected to the Chair of English Language and Medieval English Literature at the University of Leeds, a former position of Tolkien. He published his first book, the famed The Road to Middle-earth, in 1982. At this time, Shippey shifted from the view of Tolkien as a philologist to a view of a post-war writer, or what he called "traumatised authors", like Vonnegut and Golding.[3]
After 14 years at Leeds, Shippey moved to the Saint Louis University, where he was elected to the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities. Here, he could focus in teaching, research and publishing, rather than administrative work. He currently still holds this chair.[2]
Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings
Being considered the foremost expert on Tolkien, Shippey appeared in several documentaries surrounding Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. He also assisted the dialect coaches[4] and is personally thanked in the closing credits.[5]
Bibliography
The below list is extensive, but not complete. Scroll down for more.
Books
Articles
Lectures
Reviews
Documentaries
|
Awards
- 1984 - Mythopoeic Award, Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies, The Road to Middle-earth
- 2001 - Mythopoeic Award, Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century
- 2001 - World Fantasy Award, Special Award Professional, J.R.R. Tolkien:Author of the Century
- 2004 - TORn Award, Best Tolkien based Lecture presented at an Academic Function, History in Words, Tolkien's Ruling Passion
- 2006 - TORn Award, Best Lecture/Paper
References
- ↑ "Tehanu", "DragonCon 2002 - Sunday", at TheOneRing.net (September 2, 2002)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Paul Hanley, Let us introduce you to ... Thomas Shippey, Ph.D.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-earth, Preface to the Third Edition
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Claire E. White, Talking Tolkien With Thomas Shippey
- ↑ Tom Shippey at IMDb
