The Mirror Crack'd: Fear and Horror in JRR Tolkien's Major Works

THE MIRROR CRACK'D: FEAR AND HORROR IN JRR TOLKIEN'S MAJOR WORKS. Ed. Lynn Forest-Hill. [Newcastle upon Tyne]: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. 246 pp. US$52.99 ISBN 13: 9781847186348. (Orders www.c-s-p.org). THIS COLLECTION OF TEN ESSAYS (designated as "chapters") is more narrowly focused than its rather general title might suggest. As the introduction clarifies, the core of the collection consists of expanded versions of the three papers presented at the 2006 Leeds International Medieval Congress, with additional contributions by "established scholars and researchers." Therefore, although all the authors address fear and horror in the works of Tolkien, they do so primarily (though not exclusively) in terms of his medieval sources. Maria Raffaella Benvenuto's brief contribution "From Beowulf to the Balrogs: The Roots of Fantastic Horror in The Lord of the Rings" asserts that Tolkien scholars have rather neglected the horror/Gothic aspects of his work, which she sees as his "personal reinterpretation" (6) of various motifs owing much to both medieval roots and nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature. In only a few pages she discusses the theme of Middle-earth as a world besieged, followed by the Balrog, Gollum, Shelob, the Ringwraiths and Sauron. The amount of space devoted to each is frustratingly brief, from the admirably succinct to the near-superficial. However, the range of topics covered makes the paper function reasonably well as an introduction. Many of the essays focus on specific characters or character types usually described as "monstrous." Reno E. Lauro and Rainer Nagel both tackle Shelob (who appears as a supporting player in a number of other papers as well). Lauro's "Of Spiders and (the Medieval Aesthetics of) Light: Hope and Action in the Horrors of Shelob's Lair" discusses the perceived influence of the medieval philosophy and aesthetics of light (with a nod to Barfield's theories of "ancient semantic unity") on Tolkien in general and his depiction of Shelob in particular. Even this mildly philosophy-phobic reviewer found it compelling. Nagel ("Shelob and her Kin: The Evolution of Tolkien's Spiders") argues convincingly that Tolkien's spiders are consciously constructed symbols of "religious danger"--based on the evidence of etymology and the characteristics associated with spiders in medieval bestiaries (90). Romauld Ian Lakowski ("Horror and Anguish: the Slaying of Glaurung and Medieval Dragon Lore") carefully traces the development of the Glaurung/Turin confrontation through its various and often contradictory versions, noting both the clear debt to medieval sources and the occasional departures from that tradition. Julie Pridmore ("Evil Reputations: Images of Wolves in Tolkien's Fiction") looks at the influence of medieval literature and Northern European mythology on Tolkien's depictions of wolves, wargs and werewolves. She notes that unlike other appearances of wolfish creatures in Tolkien's oeuvre, the mutual destruction of Huan and Carcaroth in The Silmarillion fits the traditional medieval model of the wolfhound as the wolf's primary enemy. Amy Amendt-Raduege ("Barrows, Wights and Ordinary People: The Unquiet Dead in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings") presents a discussion of barrows, mounds and their various inhabitants in Middle-earth. Her satisfyingly detailed evidence for Tolkien's sources includes Icelandic legends, Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon traditions, and medieval ghostlore. Providing a transition from these papers on specific characters or types to those dealing with broader themes is Jessica Burke's "Fear and Horror: Monsters in Tolkien and Beowulf." This is the longest paper in the collection, beginning with an attempt to define the concepts of fear, horror and monstrosity. …