Introduction to the Special Issue on "J.R.R. Tolkien and Medieval Poets"

This is an “Introduction” by Dr. Jane Beal to the Special Issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research on the theme of “J.R.R. Tolkien and Medieval Poets” in honor of Richard C. West. It begins with an overview of previous scholarly work on the intersections of medieval poetry with Tolkien’s literary corpus. It explains the process of creating this special issue, which is a festschrift in West’s honor, and it gives an overview of the contents of each of the seven academic articles included in it by contributors Dr. Anna Smol, Dr. Christopher Vaccaro, Dr. Kristine Larsen, Dr. Deidre Dawson, Dr. Michael Elam, Dr. Jane Beal, and Dr. Sara Brown. There follows a section memorializing West’s life and scholarly contributions to Tolkien studies. The author of the “Introduction” includes “A Personal Remembrance” of giving a readers’ theatre performance of Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf with West at the 2015 International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS). The introduction concludes with an invitation to readers to enjoy the essays in the special issue both now and in the future. The “Introduction” includes two photographs of West, one by Carl Hostetter (portrait) and the other by Kris Swank (in a group setting), both used with the permission of the photographers. Appended is a selected bibliography of publications on J.R.R. Tolkien by West, sub-divided by genre (e.g., books, edited journal issues, chapters and articles, reviews, and related literary criticism), and a list of references about West, which are primarily previously published memorials in his honor. There is also a final list of general references cited in the “Introduction.” The essay ends with an “About the Contributors” section.