J. R. R. Tolkien before The Hobbit

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00453
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02030:English literature and literature in the English language-related
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: HEMMI Yoko 慶應義塾大学, 文学部(日吉), 教授 (40245428)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: J. R. R. トールキン / 未刊草稿調査

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Tolkien manuscripts examined during this research at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, date from his early academic career, before the publication of The Hobbit (1937), which brought him into the limelight as a fantasy writer.
The principal manuscripts studied during this project concerned Tolkien's public lecture titled "Celts and the Teutons in the Early World" (1929) from his time at Leeds University. The examination revealed Tolkien's fundamental view on the relationship between the Germanic languages and the Celtic languages, which was further explored in his later lecture, "English and Welsh." Other manuscripts examined during this project include those concerning his article, "The Name Nodens" (1932). The correspondence between Tolkien and Mortimer Wheeler, who presided over the archaeological survey at Lydney Park, and that between Tolkien and Allen Mawer, the authority of Place name studies, are also studied.

Free Research Field

J. R. R. トールキン

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

"Celts and the Teutons in the Early World" (1929)の手稿原稿に関する研究はトールキン研究において、全く未踏のものであり、トールキンの「ケルト」の概念の根幹、および後の“English and Welsh”への発展過程が明らかに出来たのは大きな成果である。
また、“The Name Nodens” (1932)の手稿原稿およびこの考古学調査を行ったMortimer Wheelerとの書簡のやりとり、またこの原稿の準備段階で地名研究の権威Allen Mawerと交わした書簡の調査も、今まで全く行われておらず、トールキン研究に大きく貢献できるものである。