The arthurian world of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings": a reassessment

• Autores: Laura Gálvez Gómez
• Directores de la Tesis: Cristina Mourón Figueroa (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universidade de Santiago de Compostela ( España ) en 2017
• Idioma: inglés
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: José Miguel Santamaría López (presid.), Luis Iglesias Rábade (secret.), María José Gómez Calderón (voc.)
• Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Estudios Ingleses Avanzados: Lingüística, Literatura y Cultura por la Universidad de A Coruña; la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela y la Universidad de Vigo
• Materias:
  • Ciencias de las artes y las letras
    • Teoría análisis y critica literarias
      • Análisis literario
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: MINERVA
• Resumen

  • This PhD thesis intends to explore the possible influences and rewritings of Arthurian legends in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's work seems to be strongly influenced by Arthurian literature. The themes of Quest for the Ring and the Fellowship of the Ring echo the Grail Quest and the Order of the Round Table. The Ring as the centre of the plot in The Lord of the Rings is a clear allusion to the Grail legend while the Arthurian myth of the Wasteland is represented in Rohan, whose ruler resembles the Fisher King, and in Gondor, which echoes the Arthurian idea of a ruler and his land as one. The tragic love between Aragorn and Arwen has some parallelisms with Tristan and Isolde's fatal love while Frodo and Bilbo's uncle-nephew relationship reminds us of King Arthur and Gawain. Also, Galadriel, Arwen or Éowyn share many resemblances with some Arthurian heroines such has Morgan Le Fay, the Lady of the Lake or Guenevere, among others. Similarly, landscapes and objects from The Lord of the Rings have Arthurian resonances. Indeed, the term 'Middle-earth' appears in medieval literature, including Arthurian texts, while Aragorn's sword clearly resembles King Arthur's legendary blade, Excalibur.