Tales Before Tolkien

February 1, 2004
Adult/High School-This anthology pulls together 21 short stories and one short play to explore the wide variety of influences on the writer who has long been regarded as the father of modern fantasy. Authors range from the iconic (L. Frank Baum) to the virtually unknown (Clemence Housman). Anderson includes commentary for each piece, highlighting possible connections with Tolkien's work. His comments are not scholarly or overly critical; instead they serve as effective introductions for a general audience at least somewhat familiar with Tolkien's fiction. Some of the associations are quite direct and compelling. John Buchan's "The Far Islands," for example, uses vivid descriptions of landscapes strikingly similar to that of Middle Earth. The book is arranged chronologically, and it's not surprising that the earliest pieces are the least gripping. Works like Ludwig Tieck's "The Elves" are little more than plotless retellings of fairy tales. But patient readers (or impatient ones willing to skip ahead) will find other selections that are well worth the time. Particularly memorable are stories by L. Frank Baum, H. Rider Haggard, and Arthur Machen, all of which are sure to keep fans of fantasy, new and old alike, reading.-Matthew L. Moffett, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2003
The 21 stories and one verse play that editor Anderson presents are fantasies that influenced, or may have influenced, J. R. R. Tolkien, or that demonstrate Tolkienesque characteristics contemporary with his development of them. Definitely influential is George Macdonald's "The Golden Key" (1867), which Tolkien admired and from which, along with other Macdonald stories, he learned to make fantasy "a vehicle of Mystery" (that by " mystery" Tolkien meant Christian truth Anderson doesn't say). Possibly influential is Kenneth Morris' 1915 treatment of Viking religion, "The Regent of the North" (although Tolkien seems not to have known of Morris). Showing parallel development is "The Story of Alwina," a mock-historical chronicling, a la Tolkien's " Silmarillion,"" "of a nonexistent land that Austin Tappan Wright (1883-1931) left to be published as late as 1981 (in 1957 Tolkien said he had never heard of Wright). Besides Macdonald, the better-known writers represented include E. Nesbit, H. Rider Haggard, L. Frank Baum, and John Buchan. In all, a very good gathering of early, distinctively modern fantasy fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)

August 25, 2003
For those interested in J.R.R. Tolkien's sources comes Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy, edited by Douglas A. Anderson (The Annotated Hobbit), which collects 22 classic stories by such masters as George Macdonald, Andrew Lang, Lord Dunsany and James Branch Cabell. Arthur Machen aficionados will especially appreciate "The Coming of the Terror" (an abridgement of his short novel The Terror), hitherto unreprinted since its initial magazine appearance in 1917.