A new path for exploring the culture and values of Tolkien’s Middle-earth. “Rather than inventing an alien world into which human and familiar characters are introduced, as in science fiction, Tolkien created a natural environment that is also home to `supernatural’ beings and elements, as in medieval works like Beowulf. The Shire is always the touchstone to which the hobbits return mentally and against which they (and we) measure the rest of Middle-earth. By creating a sense of familiarity and belonging early and then in each of the cultures encountered, we can meet `others’ without feeling estranged.” —from the Introduction Beautifully illustrated with dozens of original full-color and black-and-white drawings, The Plants of Middle-earth connects readers visually to the world of Middle-earth, its cultures and characters and the scenes of their adventures. Tolkien’s use of flowers, herbs, trees, and other flora creates verisimilitude in Middle-earth, with the flora serving important narrative functions. This botanical tour through Middle-earth increases appreciation of Tolkien’s contribution as preserver and transmitter of English cultural expression, provides a refreshing and enlivening perspective for approaching and experiencing Tolkien’s text, and allows readers to observe his artistry as sub-creator and his imaginative life as medievalist, philologist, scholar, and gardener. The Plants of Middle-earth draws on biography, literary sources, and cultural history and is unique in using botany as the focal point for examining the complex network of elements that comprise Tolkien’s creation. Each chapter includes the plants’ description, uses, history, and lore, which frequently lead to their thematic and interpretive implications. The book will appeal to general readers, students, and teachers of Tolkien as well as to those with an interest in plant lore and botanical illustration.

Studies of major Arthurian works and authors in Old French, Middle High German, Middle English, and of one important novel by C. S. Lewis. Arthurian Literature continues the policy of alternating themed issues and miscellanies. This varied collection includes studies of major Arthurian works and authors in Old French, Middle High German, Middle English, and ofone important novel by C.S. Lewis. A controversial textual crux in Chretien's Yvain, debated vigorously by scholars in the late 1980s, is revisited, while the narrative function of clothing in Chretien's romances comes under review. An enigmatic and linguistically difficult passage from Der jungere Titurel is translated and discussed, and an article on Der arme Heinrich studies this pious tale in the context of its generic affiliations: while not strictly speaking an Arthurian romance, it deserves consideration here as a work of one of medieval Germany's most significant writers of Arthurian romance. There is discussion of Thomas Chestre's adoption of the lai as a vehicle for social criticism in his Middle English adaptation of Marie de France's Lanval; the evolution of Arthurian romance in medieval England is also the primary concern in a study of The Awntyrs off Arthure. The figure of Arthur himself is central to an examination of the Middle English Prose Brut, and the delicate political implications of Malory's Morte Darthur are explored. Finally, C.S. Lewis's transformation and use ofthe figures of Uther Pendragon and Merlin in That Hideous Strength is explored. Contributors: RICHARD BARBER, JANE DEWHURST, TAMAR DRUKKER, CYRIL EDWARDS, DINA HAZELL, DONALD KENNEDY, GERALD SEAMAN, KRISTA SUE-LO-TWU, JANINA P. TRAXLER, MONICA L. WRIGHT.