OF MYTH A RE A D E R was world born out of languge,tobe experienced,not excavated"la cightcen new and classic essays,Jane Chance ad established and cmerging Tolkicn schobars cxplore the profond influence of late classical and medieval mythologies-ancient Greek. classical and medieval Latin.Old Norse,Old English,and Finnish.Tolkien used writingx such as these as he shaped his own mythology in Theo and the litcrary masterpicce ord of the题 Exploring the arigins of Tolkien's mythological influcnces,these csuys illuminate the crucial episodes characters,syic,langgc,and concepts central to Tolkien's complex worids.The OLKIEN authors probe how such transformations of languge and mythology take place in thematic THE and symbolic form in the novel They then relate thesc cpisodes to Tolkien's understanding of socicty culrure,history heritage,tradition. nature,beroism,and love. NVENTION Among the cootributors are well-known schol- ars Marjorie J Bums,Michael DC Drout, Verhyn Flieger,David Lyle Jeffreg Tom Shippex and Richard C.West,whose essays cxamine Tolkien's literary aesthetic in folllore,his love OF人个TH of philology (his own and medieval),and the philosophical and religious underpinnings of his narratives.The four sections of the book inves- tigate his adaptation of lte cassical and medicval legends and histories as well as north- ern European mythological sources. 积滋部