Great Works of English Literature: The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Welche Bücher haben die englischsprachige Literatur geprägt? Die Rubrik „Great Works of English Literature“ stellt einige der bekanntesten Werke vor. In der aktuellen Ausgabe der Read On begeben wir uns ins Reich der High Fantasy und widmen uns J. R. R. Tolkiens epischer Trilogie Der Herr der Ringe. Lesen Sie hier einen Auszug aus dem Artikel.
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
An epic tale told over three books: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.
By Franziska Lange
1 Much of what we find in the fantasy section of our local bookshop would perhaps not be there if it hadn’t been for an Oxford professor who wrote fantasy books in his spare time.
2 Using his knowledge of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Germanic, and Celtic mythologies as well as fairy tales and myths from several cultures, JRR Tolkien (1892–1973) spent 13 years writing The Lord of the Rings, which was published in three books between July 1954 and October 1955.
3 The fantasy story, which is set in a land called Middle-earth, is full of invented languages, songs, historical details and myths. There’s an epic battle between good and evil, and the books are about timeless themes like friendship, corruption through power, and the importance of hope in dark times.
4 The first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, starts in the Shire, where the hobbits – who are friendly little creatures – live. A hobbit called Bilbo Baggins gives a ring to his cousin Frodo (he thinks of him as his nephew, however). The ring is very special: it makes the one who wears it invisible.
5 Years later, the wise wizard Gandalf tells Frodo that the ring is far more special than they thought and is, in fact, dangerous: it’s the One Ring, made by the evil Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, to rule all of Middle-earth.
6 Whoever wears it has great power, but the ring also corrupts its wearer. Gandalf thinks it should be destroyed. The only way to do so, however, is by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom, where it was made – which is in Sauron’s realm.
…
Den vollständigen Artikel lesen Sie in der aktuellen Ausgabe der Read On.
Vocabulary
0–1 The Lord of the Rings dt. Titel: Der Herr der Ringe — epic tale Epos (t. Geschichte) — The Fellowship of the Ring dt. Titel: Die Gefährten — The Two Towers dt. Titel: Die zwei Türme — The Return of the King dt. Titel: Die Wiederkehr des Königs
2 Anglo-Saxon angelsächsisch — Norse nordisch — fairy tale Märchen — myth Mythos
3–4 Middle-earth Mittelerde — epic episch — evil das Böse; böse — corruption Korrumpierung — Shire dt. Übertragung: Auenland — creature Wesen — invisible unsichtbar
5–6 wizard Zauberer — to rule s.th. etw. beherrschen — to corrupt s.o. jdn. korrumpieren — Mount Doom dt. Übertragung: Schicksalsberg (d. Verderben) — realm Reich
Foto: Pixabay/Alan_Frijns
