Title: The Comedy of Enchantment in <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>
Abstract: In this article, J. R. R. Tolkien's conception of the “enchantment” of fantasy as articulated in his essay “On Fairy-Stories” is initially discussed in relation to the Catholic imagination and its inclination toward inspiring a comedic narrative. In The Lord of the Rings, among others, it is incorporated through the enchanted hierarchical structure of Middle-earth that inspires some of its benign inhabitants, especially the hobbits, to “rightly order their lives” in terms of community and their attitude toward death, and likewise creates a universe “hospitable to the humane.” Tolkien's comedic narrative also awakens readers from the complacency that typically accompanies the contemporary spirit of disenchantment and helps readers in seeing their world anew.
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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