Tolkien's Legendarium and Medieval Cosmology

Sponsoring Organization(s)

History Dept., Texas A&M Univ.-Commerce

Organizer Name

Judy Ann Ford

Organizer Affiliation

Texas A&M Univ.-Commerce

Presider Name

Judy Ann Ford

Paper Title 1

"It Lies Behind the Stars": Situating Tolkien's Work within the Aesthetics of Medieval Cosmology

Presenter 1 Name

Connie Tate

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Texas A&M Univ.-Commerce

Paper Title 2

Cynewulf, Copernicus, and Conjunctions: The Problem of Cytherean Motions in Tolkien's Medieval Cosmology

Presenter 2 Name

Kristine Larsen

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Central Connecticut State Univ.

Paper Title 3

Binding Faerie with the Chains of Time: Tolkien's Failure to Finish The Silmarillion

Presenter 3 Name

John D. Rateliff

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Independent Scholar

Start Date

11-5-2019 3:30 PM

Session Location

Bernhard Brown & Gold Room

Description

The assumption that science largely ceased to be an area of human endeavor between the Hellenistic period and the age of Galileo has given way to an increasing awareness of the continuity of scientific thinking throughout the medieval period, especially as regards cosmology and astronomy. The notion of a more scientifically aware Middle Ages may seem at odds with the boundaries of medieval thought presented in the paradigms of western Medievalism created by authors C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. But the popular image of the Middle Ages they created may be less incompatible with recent work on medieval science than might initially be supposed. The papers in this session explore ways in which Tolkien’s fictional universe may have reflected medieval cosmological thought. Judy A. Ford