Medieval Organicism or Modern Feminist Science? Bombadil, Elves, and Mother Nature

Abstract

In her introduction to Tolkien the Medievalist, Jane Chance explains that Tolkien “responded to his modern contexts by retelling his medieval sources and adapting his medieval scholarship to his own voice. Tolkien was, over time, influenced by his own personal medievalism.” Indeed, a leisurely perusal of Tolkien scholarship in general (e.g., as cataloged by West and Johnson, and recounted in Jane Chance’s edited volumes) leaves no doubt as to the indelible mark Tolkien’s training, teaching, and scholarship in medieval literature, language, culture, and mythology left on his subcreation.It is also well-known among Tolkien scholars that Tolkien utilized a tremendous amount of the scientific understanding of his day in fleshing out the details of the cosmology, geology, paleontology, botany, and other aspects of Middle-earth. It is therefore clear that Tolkien was not anti-science; he did, however, make a clear distinction between science and pseudoscience, e.g., between astronomy and astrology, and was a vehement critic of the misuse and overuse of technology that he saw as the corrupt legacy of the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions.