The Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's Legacy

60 years since the publication of the series' final volume, a
distinguished panel explore Tolkien's literary legacy To celebrate
the 60th anniversary of the publication of the final volume of
Tolkien’s fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings, the Bodleian
Libraries and TORCH hosted a panel discussion on reactions to
Tolkien’s work, then and now. The discussion was introduced by
Elleke Boehmer (Acting TORCH Director and Professor of World
Literature, University of Oxford), and chaired by Stuart Lee
(Lecturer in English Literature, University of Oxford). In a series
of three short talks, scholars considered Tolkien's legacy from a
range of perspectives. Patrick Curry (Honorary Research Fellow at
the University of Wales, Lampeter) addressed the question: “Is the
Lord of the Rings a good book?”, describing Tolkien as a
counter-culturalist who focused on the “primacy of storytelling”.
Dimitra Fimi (Lecturer in English, Cardiff Metropolitan University)
discussed the challenges and opportunities of teaching Tolkien's
work, and examined why his work is rarely a compulsory part of the
university curriculum in the UK. Andy Orchard (Rawlinson and
Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon, University of Oxford), who holds
the same chair at the University of Oxford that Tolkien held from
1925 – 1945, explored Tolkien's contribution to academia, which he
suggested rivals his contribution to fiction. The panel also
discussed a range of topics, including uptake of Old Norse, the
literary canon and Tolkien's work with DPhil students, in response
to audience questions. Please visit www.torch.ox.ac.uk/tolkien for
more information, or www.torch.ox.ac.uk/tolkien-review for a review
of the discussion.