A Book Review of John Garth's 'The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien'

 The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places That Inspired Middle-earth, by John Garth.

A Review

The landscapes and world of Tolkien’s legendarium, so brilliantly conceived and illuminated by the author’s words, inspire extensive commentary. John Garth’s new book The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien offers this and more, as it provides – along with an extensive collection of beautiful imagery including artwork from J.R.R. Tolkien himself - thoroughly researched insights into Tolkien’s life and experiences, and their inspirational power in shaping Tolkien’s fictional worlds. The beautifully constructed and informative final product is one that should be of interest to both casual fans of Tolkien’s work as well as Tolkien scholars, providing a background on Tolkien’s life and his development of his legendarium which should contain at least some new insights for any reader, whether they’ve read all Tolkien’s writings or only his most iconic. I would echo Garth’s own sentiment in his Introduction on what his inquiries can offer those with any interest in Tolkien’s works:

Properly conducted, the search for inspiration can enrich our appreciation of Tolkien’s extraordinary creative powers. The investigation helps us understand the world he knew – now rapidly receding into a lost past. It reveals his writings as a reflection of passionately held views and ideas about that world. It also uncovers the many and various means by which he transformed reality for his creative ends. (6)

            Indeed, after reading The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien I have gained a better understanding of how Tolkien saw the world, how his writings reflected passionate views about that world, and how he turned real places and experiences into the landscapes of Middle-earth. Middle-earth, in Tolkien’s own words, is based on his “wonder and delight in the earth as it is, particularly the natural earth” (12), but it contained and was inspired by places that were not only natural but also sometimes touched by and other times devastated by the influence of man. And indeed, John Garth examines not only the extensive influence of the natural world in chapters such as The Shore and the Sea, Roots of the Mountains, and Tree-woven Lands, but also the influence of real-world cultures in Four Winds, of the natural world touched by man in Ancient Imprints and Watch and Ward, and of the natural world dominated and desolated by man in Places of War and Craft and Industry.  

            From Tolkien’s idyllic upbringing in the British countryside and construction of the Shire as a reflection of his childhood home of Sarehole, to his goal and work to create a mythology for England as a blessed land of Elves, to his 1911 trek through the Swiss alps with his brother and aunt which laid foundation for almost every depiction of mountains Tolkien conjured, to academic interests in folklore and languages which heavily informed his writings, to the horrors of the Great War and the fields of the Somme which left a lasting impression on Tolkien and how he would visualize and describe war-ravaged landscapes, to the industrialization of Birmingham and eventual consumption of Tolkien’s Sarehole childhood home by urban sprawl which colors his view of axe and furnace, John Garth brings the reader along an extensive review of Tolkien’s life and experiences and explores how these shaped his crafted worlds loved by so many. 

            This is not a book to be missed by those with an interest in Tolkien, be it simply casual fandom or academic scholarship. It is an aesthetically pleasing book which allows productive browsing of beautiful photographs and illustrations as well as interspersed panels offering tangential illuminations regarding the subject of the current chapter. Whether for a diligent read and place in one’s extensive library of Tolkien related works, or a place on one’s coffee table for casual browsing and admiration, John Garth’s The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien is a worthy addition to any Tolkienite’s collection.