Why read Tales Before Tolkien?

Book cover of Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy

Book description

Terry Brooks. David Eddings. George R. R. Martin. Robin Hobb. The top names in modern fantasy all acknowledge J. R. R. Tolkien as their role model, the author whose work inspired them to create their own epics. But what writers influenced Tolkien himself? Here, internationally recognized Tolkien expert Douglas A.…

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Topics

The Middle Ages

Genres

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Why read it?

1 author picked Tales Before Tolkien as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A.H. Anderson

Author

Tales Before Tolkien is a collection of stories that give readers a glimpse of the modern fantasy genre’s historical roots. It is edited by Douglas A. Anderson, who provides helpful commentary on the stories and their historical context.

Many of the stories are set in the medieval period, and Anderson does an excellent job of contextualizing the stories within their historical background. He looks at how such stories reflect the values and beliefs of the medieval period, and how they often diverge from how we tend to perceive the medieval era today.

This book served as a personal reference for…

From A.H.'s list on medieval fantasy that do their research.