J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular works of imaginative literature of the twentieth century. This course seeks to understand its appeal by situating Tolkien's creation within the context of Tolkien’s own work as both artist and scholar and alongside its medieval sources and modern parallels. Themes to be addressed include the problem of genre and the uses of tradition, the nature of history and its relationship to place, the activity of creation and its relationship to language, beauty, evil and power, the role of monsters in imagination and criticism, the twinned challenges of death and immortality, fate and free will, and the interaction between the world of "faerie" and religious belief.