I was recently asked by lotrplaza.com to contribute an article to their new Scholars Forum on a Tolkien-related topic. My recently published book Tolkien, and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits includes an important part on Tolkien’s knowledge of folklore as an academic discipline, and his use of folklore material, especially in relation to fairylore. However, in the last few years I had accumulated interesting examples and ideas on the folklore of the hobbits that did not quite make it into my book. The invitation from lotrplaza.com provided a great opportunity to communicate this material. My article, entitled: “Hobbit Songs and Rhymes: The Folklore of Middle-earth” was published a few days ago on the lotrplaza.com Scholars Forum. It was a real joy to write and share!
