Latest publications

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Tolkien's Poetry

2nd April 2013: New publication – Tolkien's Poetry

J.R.R. Tolkien is best known for his prose work, especially his novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Although there are many poems included in his novels that add depth to the narrative, Tolkien's talent as a writer of poetry has scarcely been appreciated and in-depth studies of Tolkien's verses are rare. This collection edited by Julian Eilmann and Allan Turner presents ten papers and an introduction by Michael Drout that deal with specific aspects of Tolkien's poetry. Some papers focus on one particular poem, while others examine a group of poems with a specific thematic approach [read more]

Tolkien's Poetry will be presented at the upcoming DTG conference (26-28 April, Aachen, Germany), but is already available from our booksellers.

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=83 )

Sub-creating Middle-earth – Constructions of Authorship and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien

20th November 2012: New publication – Sub-creating Middle-earth

Authorship in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien is a subject of many facets. Within the mythology and history of Middle-earth, many story-tellers, bards, annalists and poets contribute to the weaving of an enormous tapestry of tales. Sub-creation, as Tolkien practiced it, involves an abundance of traditions, including different modes of authorship and literary creation – and some depart strikingly from the common modern notions. Instead of proposing a unified perception, the six articles in this collection therefore examine the web of authorial presence and authorship concepts in Tolkien's works from diverse angles, to trace a polyphonous dialogue between the writer of the texts and the many voices within that shape Middle-earth in concert. [read more]

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=75 )

Wagner and Tolkien: Mythmakers

20th June 2012: New publication – Wagner and Tolkien, Mythmakers

"Both Rings were round and there the resemblance ceases", wrote J.R.R. Tolkien about the rings in his epic The Lord of the Rings and Richard Wagner's opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung. Or did he? The answer is not as straightforward as many Tolkien fans believe, whether they agree with the statement or consider it misguided. Nor is the statement itself as transparently defensive as some Wagner buffs suggest.

Much has been said and written about Wagner and Tolkien, a subject that tends to generate a certain amount of heat, mostly due to the former's controversial status as Hitler's favourite composer. But until now the various, often contradictory opinions and the facts and perceptions on which they are based were rarely discussed at length or analysed in depth. [read more]

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=69 )

This book is the second of a pair that explores the Tolkien and Wagner topic.

The Broken Scythe: Death and Immortality in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien

9th June 2012: New publication – The Broken Scythe

The Broken Scythe: Death and Immortality in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien
Roberto Arduini and Claudio A. Testi (editors)
With a preface by Verlyn Flieger

What is the central theme of The Lord of the Rings? J.R.R. Tolkien's answer to this apparently simple question may surprise some readers: "I do not think that even Power or Domination is the real centre of my story [...] The real theme for me is about something much more permanent and difficult: Death and Immortality" (Letters no. 186). Despite this very clear statement, only a small number of published studies have focused on these two themes. [read more]

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=68 )

Tolkien and Wagner: The Ring and Der Ring

25th February 2012: Tolkien and Wagner now available

Walking Tree Publishers are pleased to announce the publication of Tolkien and Wagner: The Ring and Der Ring by Christopher MacLachlan.

Tolkien famously rejected comparison of his Ring with Wagner's, though there is good evidence that Tolkien knew much more about Der Ring des Nibelungen than he let on after the publication of The Lord of the Rings. Analysis of that work from a Wagnerian point of view enables consideration of it in a new way. (read more)

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=63 )

This book is the first of a pair that explores the Tolkien and Wagner topic.

Hobbit Place-names, A Linguistic Excursion through the Shire

11th February 2012: Hobbit Place-names now available

Walking Tree Publishers are pleased to announce the publication of Hobbit Place-names, A Linguistic Excursion through the Shire by Rainer Nagel.

J.R.R. Tolkien's giving of names has garnered considerable attention in the linguistic analysis of Tolkien's works. Usually, however, the focus has been on singling out particular names of important individuals and places. Thorough analyses of names (place-names or personal ones) are usually reserved for Elvish names only. (read more)

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=62 )

Inside Language, Second edition

19th December 2011: Second edition of Inside Language

Walking Tree Publishers are pleased to anounce the publication of a second edition of Inside Language, Linguistic and Aesthetic Theory in Tolkien by Ross Smith.

The entire text has been thoroughly revised and a detailed index has been added. In addition, new material has been incorporated and a number of passages have been reworked in search of greater consistency. The result is a second edition which builds on the strengths of the first to achieve a more robust and coherent work. (read more)

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=60 )

Tolkien in Translation and Translating Tolkien: Text and Film, Second editions

20th November 2011: Second edition of translation volumes

In 2003, Walking Tree Publishers released, Tolkien in Translation. The volume looked at different challenges facing Tolkien translators and discussed the translations of Tolkien into a variety of languages. The following year, the book was joined by a second volume, Translating Tolkien: Text and Film, expanding on the subject whilst also looking at a different form of translation: the adaption of Tolkien's works for the cinema – a very topical matter in view of the (then) recent release of Peter Jackson's movie.

Translating Tolkien: Text and Film has been out of print for some time now, and stocks of Tolkien in Translation have also been running low. Walking Tree Publishers are pleased to announce that both volumes have now been reprinted. Their reprinting also marks the completion of an eight-year transition to the print-on-demand format for the Cormarë Series, meaning they will not run out of print again so easily. The format also facilitates availability and distribution through the use of local printing in different locations across the globe.

The opportunity has been taken to make various smaller corrections to the texts while transferring them to our new layout. Cover illustrations were provided by Anke Eißmann.

Information on these volumes is presented on the pages below:

• Tolkien in Tranlsation, Thomas Honegger (editor), Cormarë Series 4, Walking Tree Publishers 2003, Second edition 2011.

• Translating Tolkien: Text and Film, Thomas Honegger (editor), Cormarë Series 6, Walking Tree Publishers 2004, Second edition 2011.

The picture below shows the old and new editions of both books.

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=56 )

The Loss and the Silence: Aspects of Modernism in the Works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien & Charles Williams

2nd November 2011: The Loss and the Silence now available.

Walking Tree Publishers are pleased to announce the release of our latest publication: The Loss and the Silence: Aspects of Modernism in the Works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien & Charles Williams by Margaret Hiley.

Traditionally, the "Inklings" C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams have been seen as separate from the literature of their time: as innovative in an idiosyncratic way at best, and as reactionary and in deliberate opposition to contemporary progressive writing at worst. Recent years have seen a gradual change in this view, but few studies to date have attempted to read Lewis, Tolkien and ... (read more)

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=55 )

The Ecological Augury in the Works of JRR Tolkien

3rd August 2011: The Ecological Augury in the Works of JRR Tolkien now available.

Walking Tree Publishers are pleased to announce a new publication: The Ecological Augury in the Works of JRR Tolkien by Liam Campbell.

A new death for the old world, winds of industrial change that gust across green hills and dales, machines and callous hearts that dig deep into the ecosystems of Earth as trees crash upon the shrinking forest floors and ecological devastation is visited upon the land. This is the darkest hour of Middle-earth as presented in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings ž how curiously all of this resembles our reality, and the environmental crisis that threatens the modern world... (read more)

(to link to this announcement: http://www.walking-tree.org/news_archive.php?item=53 )

Visit the latest news page or the news archive for all news.