Tolkien Exhibit

Originally published on September 21st, 1937 the Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins as he is unwittingly (and unwillingly) joins a company of dwarves on a quest to retake the mountain home and treasure from the evil dragon Smaug.  The story became quite popular for its simple, yet elegant language that made it both easy and engaging to read without being too simple.  In addition, the characters and world of Middle-Earth captivated readers, as a story of this nature had never been seen before.  The image featured in this exhibit is the original cover of the book.

The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy of books and Tolkien's most famous works.  The first book The Fellowship of the Ring was published on July 29th, 1954, the second book The Two Towers was published on November 11th, 1954, and the final book The Return of the King was published on October 20th, 1955.  The books became overwhelmingly popular for their intruiging story, believable and likeable characters, and the epic battle between good and evil presented by the trilogy.  The trilogy follows the adventures of Frodo…

The Silmarillion is a collection of stories and myths about Middle-Earth written by Tolkien.  In the book it covers the history of Middle-Earth from its creation up to the war for the One Ring that takes place before the story of The Hobbit.  The book was written by Tolkien but published posthumously by his son on September 15th, 1977.  While it's not as popular as Tolkien's other books centered around Middle-Earth, the book is a mainstay in the collections of most fans of The Lord of the Rings for the amount of history it provides about…

Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics is a lecture given by Tolkien in 1936.  It was published later that same year and has since had many reprints.  The topic of the lecture was addressing the criticism aimed at the titular epic poem, specifically those that said the poem was meant to be read as an epic narrative or other more traditional story.  As part of Tolkien's lecture he insists that the poem should be read as poetry.  While this may seem an odd entry into this exhibit, Tolkien's lecture actually had a significant impact on the way Beowful…

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of 16 poems written by Tolkien and published in 1962.  The poems range from poems about various creatures of Middle-Earth, fairy tails, and two poems about the character Tom Bombadil, who appeared in The Fellowship of the Ring and who the books was named for.  While not as well known as some of his other works, it was still well recieved by the public.