Dictionnaire
Tolkien. Ed. Vincent Ferré. Paris: CNRS
Éditions, 2012.
Reviewed by Anna Smol
(anna.smol@msvu.ca)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s fiction is read around
the world, having been translated into dozens of languages, from Vietnamese and
Korean to Slovak and Catalan to French, German, and Italian.1 Critics have commented on Tolkien’s work
throughout the late twentieth century, but the last fifteen years have seen a surge
in the scholarly attention paid to it. Anglophone scholars have organized numerous
academic conferences, produced a steady stream of new books and articles by
university presses or specialist publishers such as Walking Tree, and established
peer-reviewed journals such as Tolkien
Studies and, most recently, The Journal of
Tolkien Research. The francophone
world has also witnessed an increase in activity since the turn of this century,
with print and online sources being produced and conferences and conventions
organized to discuss Tolkien’s work. The Dictionnaire
Tolkien makes a significant contribution to this growing body of scholarship,
providing French general readers, students, and academics information about
Tolkien’s œuvre as well as summarizing current research and laying a foundation
for further investigations.
The editor of the Dictionnaire, Vincent Ferré, is a leading French Tolkien scholar who
works in the field of medievalism and twentieth-century literature. He has
assembled over sixty contributors from diverse fields such as comparative
literature, history, medieval literature, philosophy, English literature, film studies,
including independent scholars as well. Although you will find a few from places
such as Québec, Germany, and Spain, most are from France; all represent a
healthy cadre of scholars engaged in Tolkien studies in French.
Of course, the reception of Tolkien’s
work in French has been affected by the pace and availability of translations. The Hobbit, published in English in
1937, was translated into French in 1969. The
Lord of the Rings, published in English in 1954-55, was first translated into
French in the year of Tolkien’s death (1972-73) but the Appendices, which
contain a wealth of background information, were only translated in 1986.2 Various translations of Tolkien’s other
works have followed, such as Tolkien’s letters in 2005 and in 2006 the
important essays in Les Monstres et les
critiques et autres essais (The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays).
Most recently, the lag time between first publication and translation has
narrowed considerably with Les Enfants de
Húrin (The Children of Húrin) in
2008 and La Légende de Sigurd et Gudrún
(The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún) in
2010, both appearing in French only one year after their first English
publication. The most recent posthumous publication, La Chute d’Arthur (The Fall of Arthur) appeared in translation only
a few months after the English version in 2013.3 Certain texts,
however, are still unavailable in French, such as the last seven volumes of The History of Middle-earth, a
twelve-volume series published in 1983-96 by Tolkien’s son Christopher, who
compiled this record of his father’s early stories, manuscript drafts, and
previously unpublished essays. In this context, the Dictionnaire comes at a particularly important time for an
expanding French readership who want to know more and for researchers who are
looking for useful references, whether in French or English, to guide them in
their work.
The Dictionnaire
includes concise entries covering elements of Tolkien’s fiction, his work as a
professional medievalist, his life and family, the reception and adaptation of
his work, and critical approaches to and areas of investigation into his work. I
was especially interested in seeing what might be the distinctive emphases and/or
strengths in a book representing a French perspective on Tolkien.
An excellent section of the book for students
and researchers, whether working in English or French, is the series on various
“Lectures” (readings) of Tolkien’s work, presenting an overview of different
scholarly approaches with references to major critical texts. The series begins
with a survey of approaches to The Lord
of the Rings from 1954-1974, touching on major English critics and early
allegorical, psychoanalytical, political, and literary readings. Following this
introduction to early Tolkien studies, the series continues with Christian,
eco-critical, feminist and gender studies, political, and psychoanalytical
readings. Each entry offers a concise and balanced overview of major scholarly
works exemplifying its particular approach.
In “Lectures chrétiennes de l’œuvre” (Christian
readings of the work) you will find French critics considered together with
English ones, so that, for example, Grégory Solari and Joseph Pearce are
discussed alongside each other in their views on how Tolkien’s faith renders The Lord of the Rings a thoroughly moral
and religious text for Christian readers, while Michaël Devaux and Verlyn Flieger
represent critics with literary concerns who refer to Christian tradition as a
way of illuminating some aspects of the text. In various spots throughout the
“Lectures” section of the Dictionnaire,
we are also introduced to other French critics, and the list only grows as you
dip into the book elsewhere or check out the bibliography at the back: you
might find, for example, Isabelle Pantin, Vincent Ferré, Didier Rance, Charles
Ridoux, Anne Besson, Annie Birks. In the
essay on Celtic legends (“Celtiques, légendes”), I was introduced to the
expertise of Aurélie Brémont whose doctoral thesis on the Celts in Middle-earth
at the University of Paris - Sorbonne is, I presume, the foundation for this entry
which distinguishes between what is likely and not so likely in Celtic legends
to have influenced Tolkien’s conception of the Elvish world. Brémont argues
that in elements such as Elvish languages, the marriage of a magical being with
a mortal (as in Lúthien and Beren), and other mythological and literary
traditions all represent a pervasive Celtic influence.
The presence of French critics in the
entry on Christian readings is perhaps one indication of a focus on
philosophical and theological issues in French Tolkien studies, and further
examination suggests a political emphasis as well. As someone who works in
English, I inevitably have a similar reference book, the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment4
in the back of my mind as a point of comparison, and I find it notable
that the Encyclopedia does not have
similar essays as the Dictionnaire on,
for example, “Grâce” (grace), “Don” (gift), “Échec” (failure/ defeat), “Le Sacré
dans Le Seigneur des Anneaux” (the
sacred in The Lord of the Rings) “Économie en Terre du Milieu” (economics/the
economy in Middle-earth),“Conservatisme: Tolkien était-il conservateur?” (conservatism:
was Tolkien a conservative?), and “Amour” (love). Of course, such topics can enter
into discussions of Tolkien’s work in any language, but their appearance as
separate essays in the Dictionnaire
lends them prominence in the context of French studies of Tolkien.
Other entries that you will find in the
Dictionnaire but not in its English
counterpart include “Amour courtois, courtoisie” (courtly love, courtesy). Given
the origins of the concept of fin’ amors
in French literature, it is perhaps to be expected that surveys of Tolkien’s
medieval influences would include such an entry, which provides a brief history
of the concept and suggests a few ways in which it is applicable to Tolkien’s
work.
Also, it should not be surprising to
find among the biographical entries one for Adam Tolkien, Tolkien’s grandson
and son of Christopher, who moved his family to France in the 1970s. Adam is the translator of the two volumes of The Book of Lost Tales (Le Livre
des contes perdus) as well as Pictures
by J.R.R. Tolkien, translated as Peintures
et aquarelles de J.R.R. Tolkien (paintings and watercolours by J.R.R.
Tolkien). He works actively with his father Christopher for the Tolkien Estate,
encouraging the publication of further translations.
Sometimes, though, a unique topic may
surprise and delight, such as the entry on “Vȇtements” (clothing), which considers the significance of
characters both clothed and naked; for example, the decision of the Valar to
clothe themselves in human forms, the naked women who run through Túrin’s
story, the dwarf hoods in The Hobbit,
Tom Bombadil’s distinct look, and many other examples, including the cloak
Faramir offers to Éowyn. In other words,
when seen in aggregate, these examples appear far more significant and
plentiful than one might have at first assumed. The entry is a reminder of the
strength of French independent scholars such as the writer of this entry,
Tolkien book collector Yvan Strelzyk, whose website http://elrondslibrary.fr/ is one of several informative French websites and
discussion forums dedicated to Tolkien. Just as in the anglophone world,
Tolkien study in French, it appears, is not the sole domain of professional
scholars.
It is impossible in the confines of a
short review to cover every entry or to comment on every contributor in the Dictionnaire, and readers will most
likely find their way to articles that have a specific interest for them. For
example, in reading “Parodies,” I discovered not only that the English classic Bored of the Rings has been translated
into French as Lord of the ringards,
but also that other parodies probably unknown to English audiences also exist
online. I was also eager to read the entry on “Fans” and was happy to find an
account not only of Tolkien’s interactions with fans in his letters but also a
brief history of fandom, especially the establishment of societies and fanzines
in the United States and then elsewhere. What disappointed me with this entry,
however, was the lack of a bibliography – somewhat surprising given that so
many other pieces had a list of sources for further reading. The essay on feminist and gender studies
readings did refer to a complementary online bibliography at www.pourtolkien.fr, but that site’s “Bibliographie sur Tolkien and la fantasy”
(bibliography on Tolkien and fantasy) was unavailable at the time I was writing
this review – which is unfortunate, as I was curious about whether it would
include any references to work on masculinity or queer sexuality, a topic that
is not dealt with under the gender studies entry, which otherwise did provide a
concise outline of important essays on women, feminism, and female characters in
Tolkien’s work. However, a general
bibliography of primary and secondary sources is included at the back of the
book, so the references are not limited to an online source or to those listed
at the end of many entries.
The Dictionnaire
Tolkien is handsomely produced by CNRS Éditions. The headings and
subheadings make it easy to search, as do the separate indexes of Secondary
World names, characters, objects, and things and Primary World names and
titles. The list of contributors and list of topics along with a bibliography
and a biographical outline further render the content easily accessible to
readers. And there are also a few helpful visual guides, such as the family
tree of languages in “Elfiques, Langues” (Elvish, languages), or the table in “Les
Aventures de Tom Bombadil” (The
Adventures of Tom Bombadil) which outlines the complicated history of
publications and revisions of the poems in that volume.
The Dictionnaire
Tolkien is a crucial publication for francophone readers and scholars,
providing reliable information about Tolkien’s works, surveying current
scholarship, and suggesting approaches for future research. The study of
Tolkien in French appears to be growing rapidly. Perhaps we shall soon see the
tide shift, and instead of English works being translated into French, the work
of our francophone colleagues will be translated into English so that a broader
audience can participate in the worldwide interest in Tolkien studies.
Anna Smol
Mount Saint Vincent University
Mount Saint Vincent University
Endnotes
1 A
chronology of translations of The Hobbit
and The Lord of the Rings can be
found on elrondslibrary.fr at http://www.elrondslibrary.fr/Chrono_GB.html.
2
Ferré, Vincent. “La réception de J.R.R. Tolkien en France,
1973-2003: quelques repères.” Tolkien: Trente ans après. Ed. V.
Ferré. Paris: Christian Bourgois, 2004.
17-35. Available from http://vincentferre.org/?q=node/7.
3 A
list of these and other translations can be found on the website of Tolkien’s
French publisher, Christian Bourgois Éditeur, at http://www.christianbourgois-editeur.com/tolkien.php. The Dictionnaire
also includes a bibliography of Tolkien’s works.
4
Michael D.C. Drout’s edition of the J.R.R.
Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, published by
Routledge in 2007, is probably the closest publication in English to the Dictionnaire Tolkien, providing brief entries arranged alphabetically on many
topics relating to Tolkien’s life and work. Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull’s
two-volume reference work, The J.R.R.
Tolkien Companion and Guide, published by Houghton Mifflin in 2006, is a
valuable encyclopedic work, but its entries consist of much longer essays, with
an emphasis on biographical and bibliographical matters.
