The Lord of the Rings and the Ekphrastic Tradition

Both Tolkien Studies as well as criticism and theory anchored in ekphrastic literature have ignored J. R. R. Tolkien???s use of ekphrasis in The Lord of the Rings. Drawing on theory and criticism which posits the significance of ekphrasis in the classical epics of Homer, Virgil, and Dante, this thesis argues that Tolkien???s ekphrastic sketches have a functional importance to the larger epic which they ornament: not only do their locations emphasize important turning points in the trilogy, but the graphics which they describe provide Frodo as well as readers with insight into the history of Middle Earth. Furthermore, it argues that Tolkien???s ekphrases invite readers to actively participate in the creative process while compelling them to negotiate the multiple layers of representation evident in ekphrastic literature.\ud \ud By foregrounding The Lord of the Rings??? participation in and contribution to the corpus of twentieth-century ekphrastic literature, this project also revises ekphrastic criticism which limits the scope of modern ekphrasis to self-contained poems referencing or evoking actual works of art.Literature and Writing Studie