The Keys of Middle-earth (PDF)

Dr Stuart Lee is a member of the English Faculty at Oxford University, UK, where he teaches Old English, the poetry of World War one, and the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien. He is also a member of Merton College. He has published articles on Tolkien and edited A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien (2014).

Dr Elizabeth Solopova is Research Fellow at the English Faculty, Oxford University, UK, where she teaches Old and Middle English literature. She has published articles and books on Tolkien, medieval literature, manuscripts and the history of the English language.

Praise for the previous edition:

"[The Keys of Middle-earth] provides a wide range of texts with insightful introductions and commentary on each of the texts that have been chosen for elucidation." Professor Shaun F.D. Hughes, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of English, Purdue University, USA

"The Keys of Middle-earth is a much-needed book... The texts, in Old English, Old Norse, and Middle English, are faithfully presented... textual notes are remarkably thorough." John R. Holmes, Notes and Queries Summary

"Either as a student's text or as an instructor's resource, The Keys of Middle-earth provides an excellent introduction to a number of important medieval texts complete with a judicious, but not overwhelming, awareness of recent scholarship within a compelling context of a modern literary phenomenon - the imaginative world of J. R. R. Tolkien." Miranda Wilcox, The Medieval Review

"'As an anthology of medieval texts it is first rate. The texts, in Old English, Old Norse, and Middle English, are faithfully presented and despite the authors' modest disclaimer that their book cannot accommodate a "full discussion of textual issues" (55), textual notes are remarkably thorough. With equal modesty they call their textual notes "highly selective," but their selection is impeccable. Commentary is just as painstaking: major critical controversies are fully represented. And as an encouragement to further study in three medieval languages, which the authors identify as its main purpose (19), the book is eminently successful." John R Holmes, Tolkien Studies