Leaves of a Mallorn

LEAVES OF A MALLORN is a collection of essays concerning the world of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. In this new book I'm happy to share some of my thoughts about J. R. R. Tolkien's work. These essays have interested readers in a course I taught online, and I've reworked them to smooth off rough edges and add some insights. For a taste of what's here, the following is a list of the essay titles, divided into the sections in the book. I hope you'll find exploring these reflections both enjoyable and provocative in your own paths through Middle-earth.

Tolkien’s Works on Middle-earth
Tolkien: What to Read and When
Ways We Read The Lord of the Rings
The Films and the Books
Being a Hobbit
For Total Immersion in Middle-earth
What Are the Themes of a Book?
The Appendices in The Lord of the Rings: ‘Truth’ for Readers?
Why We Read Tolkien
Book Pages and Web Pages


Pop-Up Dwarves and the Rule of Seven
The Fox’s Puzzlement
The Bombadil Business
Emergent Events at Bombadil's
Bilbo and Gollum, Frodo and Gollum: The Ring
Barrow-downs and Barrow-wights: Wealth of the Story of Middle-earth
Frodo, Wraiths, and Living Death
Names, Names, Names
Samwise the Strong
Frodo Leaves Middle-earth
Aragorn and Arwen


The Question of a Guiding Hand
Good and Evil, Myth and Humanity
Religion and The Lord of the Rings
Heroes and Broken Spirits
In Your Seeing-Stone
Gandalf, Death, Life, and Suspense
The Evolution of Strider
The Free Peoples of Middle-earth
The Universality of The Lord of the Rings
Tolkien’s Unique Place


Enumeration and Memory
Tolkien’s Cosmogony
Playing in Muddle-earth
Tolkien and Race
The Fantastic, Tom Shippey, and Tolkien’s Work


Learning to Write
Writing Big
Writing Fractal Layers
Writing Hot
Writing About Good, Evil, Faith, and Unbelief
Further Tolkien Reading