J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard and the Birth of Modern Fantasy CRITICALEXPLORATIONSINSCIENCEFICTIONANDFANTASY (aseries edited by Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III) 1Worlds Apart? Dualism and Transgression in Contemporary Female Dystopias(Dunja M. Mohr, 2005) 2Tolkien and Shakespeare: Essays on Shared Themes and Language(ed. Janet Brennan Croft, 2007) 3Culture, Identities and Technology in the Star WarsFilms: Essays on the Two Trilogies(ed. Carl Silvio, Tony M. Vinci, 2007) 4The Influence of Star Trekon Television, Film and Culture(ed. Lincoln Geraghty, 2008) 5Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction(Gary Westfahl, 2007) 6One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L’Engle and Orson Scott Card(Marek Oziewicz, 2008) 7The Evolution of Tolkien’s Mythology: A Study of the History of Middle-earth(Elizabeth A. Whittingham, 2008) 8H. Beam Piper: A Biography(John F. Carr, 2008) 9Dreams and Nightmares: Science and Technology in Myth and Fiction(Mordecai Roshwald, 2008) 10Lilithin a New Light: Essays on the George MacDonald Fantasy Novel(ed. Lucas H. Harriman, 2008) 11Feminist Narrative and the Supernatural: The Function of Fantastic Devices in Seven Recent Novels(Katherine J. Weese, 2008) 12The Science of Fiction and the Fiction of Science: Collected Essays on SF Storytelling and the Gnostic Imagination(Frank McConnell, ed. Gary Westfahl, 2009) 13Kim Stanley Robinson Maps the Unimaginable: Critical Essays(ed. William J. Burling, 2009) 14The Inter-Galactic Playground: A Critical Study of Children’s and Teens’ Science Fiction(Farah Mendlesohn, 2009) 15Science Fiction from Québec: A Postcolonial Study(Amy J. Ransom, 2009) 16Science Fiction and the Two Cultures: Essays on Bridging the Gap Between the Sciences and the Humanities(ed. Gary Westfahl, George Slusser, 2009) 17Stephen R. Donaldson and the Modern Epic Vision: A Critical Study of the “Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” Novels(Christine Barkley, 2009) 18Ursula K. Le Guin’s Journey to Post-Feminism (Amy M. Clarke, 2010) 19Portals of Power: Magical Agency and Transformation in Literary Fantasy(Lori M. Campbell, 2010) 20The Animal Fable in Science Fiction and Fantasy(Bruce Shaw, 2010) 21Illuminating Torchwood: Essays on Narrative, Character and Sexuality in the BBC Series(ed. Andrew Ireland, 2010) 22Comics as a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media, Disciplines and International Perspectives (ed. Mark Berninger, Jochen Ecke, Gideon Haberkorn, 2010) 23The Anatomy of Utopia: Narration, Estrangement and Ambiguity in More, Wells, Huxley and Clarke(Károly Pintér, 2010) 24The Anticipation Novelists of 1950s French Science Fiction: Stepchildren of Voltaire(Bradford Lyau, 2010) 25The TwilightMystique: Critical Essays on the Novels and Films(ed. Amy M. Clarke, Marijane Osborn, 2010) 26The Mythic Fantasy of Robert Holdstock: Critical Essays on the Fiction(ed. Donald E. Morse, Kálmán Matolcsy, 2011) 27Science Fiction and the Prediction of the Future: Essays on Foresight and Fallacy(ed. Gary Westfahl, Wong Kin Yuen, Amy Kit-sze Chan, 2011) 28Apocalypse in Australian Fiction and Film: A Critical Study(Roslyn Weaver, 2011) 29British Science Fiction Film and Television: Critical Essays (ed. Tobias Hochscherf, James Leggott, 2011) 30Cult Telefantasy Series: A Critical Analysis of The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Heroes, Doctor Whoand Star Trek (Sue Short, 2011) 31The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics and Science Fiction (ed. Masood Ashraf Raja, Jason W. Ellis and Swaralipi Nandi, 2011) 32Heinlein’s Juvenile Novels: A Cultural Dictionary(C.W. Sullivan III, 2011) 33Welsh Mythology and Folklore in Popular Culture: Essays on Adaptations in Literature, Film, Television and Digital Media(ed. Audrey L. Becker and Kristin Noone, 2011) 34I See You: The Shifting Paradigms of James Cameron’s Avatar (Ellen Grabiner, 2012) 35Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy(ed. Mary F. Pharr and Leisa A. Clark, 2012) 36The Sex Is Out of This World: Essays on the Carnal Side of Science Fiction(ed. Sherry Ginn and Michael G. Cornelius, 2012) 37Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy(ed. Janet Brennan Croft, 2013) 38Girls Transforming: Invisibility and Age-Shifting in Children’s Fantasy Fiction Since the 1970s(Sanna Lehtonen, 2013) 39Doctor Who in Time and Space: Essays on Themes, Characters, History and Fandom, 1963–2012(ed. Gillian I. Leitch, 2013) 40The Worlds ofFarscape: Essays on the Groundbreaking Television Series(ed. Sherry Ginn, 2013) 41Orbiting Ray Bradbury’s Mars: Biographical, Anthropological, Literary, Scientific and Other Perspectives(ed. Gloria McMillan, 2013) 42The Heritage of Heinlein: A Critical Reading of the Fiction Television Series(Thomas D. Clareson and Joe Sanders, 2014) 43The Past That Might Have Been, the Future That May Come: Women Writing Fantastic Fiction, 1960s to the Present (Lauren J. Lacey, 2014) 44Environments in Science Fiction: Essays on Alternative Spaces (ed. Susan M. Bernardo, 2014) 45Discworld and the Disciplines: Critical Approaches to the Terry Pratchett Works (ed. Anne Hiebert Alton and William C. Spruiell, 2014) 46 Nature and the Numinous in Mythopoeic Fantasy Literature (Christopher Straw Brawley, 2014) 47 J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard and the Birth of Modern Fantasy (Deke Parsons, 2014) 48 The Monomyth in American Science Fiction Films: 28 Visions of the Hero’s Journey (Donald E. Palumbo, 2014) 49 The Fantastic in Holocaust Literature and Film: Critical Perspectives (ed. Judith B. Kerman and John Edgar Browninged,2014) J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard and the Birth of Modern Fantasy Deke Parsons CRITICALEXPLORATIONSIN SCIENCEFICTIONANDFANTASY, 47 Series EditorsDonald E. Palumbo andC.W. Sullivan III McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA Parsons, Deke, 1971– J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard and the birth of modern fantasy / Deke Parsons. p. cm. — (Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy ; 47) [Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III, series editors] Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7864-9537-5 (softcover : acid free paper) ♾ ISBN 978-1-4766-1749-7 (ebook) 1. Tolkien, J.R.R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892–1973— Criticism and interpretation. 2. Howard, Robert E. (Robert Ervin), 1906–1936—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Fantasy fiction, English—History and criticism. 4. Fantasy fiction, American—History and criticism. 5. Fantasy films—History and criticism. I. Title. PR6039.O32Z78755 2015 823'.912—dc23 2014039516 BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE © 2015 Deke Parsons. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Front cover image: Enchanted nature series—The golden tree © 2015 Shutterstock Printed in the United States of America McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com For Juliette Acknowledgments Thanks to: Professor John Halperin F.R.S.L. for being the bedrock of my Ph.D. program, and for editing the dissertation which became this book on a subject far from Jane Austen. Professor Donald Palumbo, East Carolina University, for making this book possible. Professor Robert Dawidoff, Claremont Graduate Uni- versity, for introducing me to many great films, and for work- ing with me on my qualifying examination and the dissertation that led to this book. Professor Mark Eaton, Azusa Pacific University, for his generous support of my academic career and the dissertation that led to this book. Kathleen and Wayne Parsons, for many pounds of paperbacks and comic books. The late Pat Allen, George Clements, the late Lou Fer- nandez, Zach Munzenrider, and Bob Newbury, for discus- sions of comics, fantasy novels, and films. Barb Syvertson and the Murray Library of Messiah Col- lege, the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library of the Uni- versity of Southern California, Penn State Harrisburg Library, the Honold/Mudd Library of the Claremont University Con- sortium, the Ella Strong Dennison Library of Scripps College, the Dauphin County and Cumberland County library sys- tems in Pennsylvania, the Hershey Library, the Middletown Library, and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. viii Table of Contents Acknowledgments viii Introduction 1 I. J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) 3 II. The Lord of the Rings 35 III. Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) 58 IV. Conan 97 V. Superman 132 VI. The Inheritors 162 Conclusion 169 Chapter Notes 171 Works Cited 175 Index 185 ix