“Any riddle that’s been solved afterward seems astonishingly easy.” — Gandalf, “The Lord of the Rings”
In 1937, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien permanently entered fantasy history with the book “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again,” originally written for his own children. A versatile author—at once a professor at Oxford University, a philologist, and a poet—continued writing. His most famous works: “The Lord of the Rings” (1954–1955) and “The Silmarillion.”
A lover of mythology and languages, including the ones he created himself, Tolkien left behind an entire legendarium: an imagined world so rich, constructed, and developed that it fully corresponds to the well-known idea—studying science should be enjoyable.
In this edition, different scholars—from astrophysicists to doctors, from botanists to volcanologists—analyze Tolkien’s novels, poems, and letters to reveal them from a new, previously unknown side.
You will learn:
• What is the hidden meaning of the corruption of the Ring?
• Why do hobbits have big, hairy feet?
• What does the Elvish language have to do with Old English?
• What is the geology of Middle-earth?
• How does Smaug’s dragon fly?
This captivating work will delight both Tolkien fans and science lovers alike, and will inspire you to look at Middle-earth with fresh eyes.