Background  Tolkien had a desire to fill the void created in world literature by the Norman Conquest  suppressed English storytelling traditions.  The Norman conquest of England was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, and French soldiers led by Duke William II of Normandy, later William the Conqueror.

Background  Wanted to answer: What might the lost tales and poems of the English peoples — the Saxons and other tribes — have been like?  Might it be possible to weave these hypothetical narratives into an ambitious work of fantasy?

Background  It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949, much of it during World War II. Copyrighted  It is the second best-selling novel ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.  (Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is first.)

Effects in Modern Culture  Tolkienesque tropes in the popular culture  Fantasy role-playing games  best-selling "epic fantasy" novels  movie heroes wielding light sabers against dark lords  these phenomena owe a huge debt to Middle-earth.

Philology  Tolkien imagined what elven tongues — Quenya and Sindarin — he fashioned them in full.  A brilliant philologist, Tolkien had a gift for devising syllables and syntaxes no one had ever heard before.  The author’s primary motive in creating Middle-earth was to give his invented languages a home.

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Allegory and Expectations Your Theme Your Motif Your Symbol They must all tie into your ALLEGORY

Allegory and Expectations Allegory: a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Create your own allegory for LOTR. Tie in your theme, motif, and symbol. Be prepared to defend it with quotes, of course.