Myth in fantasy: An analysis of Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Return of the King” using archetypal criticism

Abdul Rafee Idris, Jaafar Azzuddin (2025) Myth in fantasy: An analysis of Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Return of the King” using archetypal criticism. Final Year Project, UTAR.

Preview

PDF Download (833Kb) | Preview

Abstract

Mythology within English literature and fiction is a norm, as the centrifugal thematic settings, motifs and even symbols of most modern works resemble a myth in some way. This is seen in Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring trilogy where different myths are compounded and turned into characters and different narrative elements. As such, the purpose of this study is to uncover the specific Arthurian myths and archetypes that reside within Tolkien’s trilogy; specifically, within the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring and the last, The Return of the King. Using Archetypal Criticism, this study surmises that Tolkien’s world is filled with different Arthurian archetypes that reside in its characters, symbolic objects and thematic settings. Furthermore, a textual analysis is conducted to analyse and interpret specific characters and symbols from the two books and comparing them with their Arthurian counterparts. Through this analysis, this study concludes that a resemblance between Arthurian myth and The Lord of the Rings trilogy is found at the forefront of Tolkien’s work, thereby agreeing with past scholars’ implications that Tolkien created the trilogy as a way to supplement Arthurian myth which he found was missing certain elements.

Actions (login required)