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Tree and Leaf: Includes Mythopoeia and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth

j.r.r. tolkien

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This volume is a provocative and entertaining collection of works which reveals the diversity of J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination and the breadth of his talent as a creator of fantastic fiction.

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1964

This edition

Format
150 pages, Paperback
Published
February 5, 2001 by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
ISBN
9780007105045
ASIN
B0092G9VNA
Language
English

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About the author

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j.r.r. tolkien

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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.

Tolkien's most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.

Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.

Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.

Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium' that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children's stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.

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kilimonian
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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It was a great joy to re-read Tree and Life by J.R R. Tolkien. I remember purchasing this book on a cold December day in Oxford last year when I was with a friend at Blackwell's.

My favorite piece from the book is the "Mythopoeia" poem. The poem is a moving read about how although we are fallen human beings, we are still co-creators with God in our artistic endeavors, and that myth is something which reflects divine truth. Tolkien elaborates on this truth brilliantly in his his wonderful essay On Fairy Stories about the dying and rising god story coming true in the story of Christ.

The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth is fascinating, and Leaf by Niggle is a poignant story about the painter Niggle who experiences many trials, struggles, and calls for help while trying to finish his visual art project. In the end Niggle does finish despite interruptions and rejoices. The story is a beautiful allegory of Tolkien's life. He must have experienced that same joy as Niggle did when he finally finished The Lord of the Rings.

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emiliaisbetter
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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“On Fairy Stories”, Tolkien’s famous essay and the reason I purchased this small collection, is a beautiful frame for seeing exactly why his famous trilogy is such a moving and (if your experience was anything like mine) personally Joy-bringing experience. Years ago, The Fellowship of the Ring was resurrection to me in the worst period of my life so far. This essay showed my why.

*I nearly left it at the cliched “required reading for X” but I think Tolkien would frown upon such boring praise.
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Concomitant
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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وای وای وای وای! چی می‌تونم بگم؟!! :)))

حالا پس یه‌کم خاطره بگم دل‌تون بسوزه؛ من این کتابو با مطهره‌جان خریدم! بله بله همین مطهره گودریدزمون! یاح یاح یاح!*خنده‌ی-شیطانی* راه رفتیم حرف زدیم و حس کردم خدایا من چرا باید اینقد دیر باهاش آشنا بشم. رفتیم کتابفروشیا بعد رفتیم کافه نقاشی کردیم باقلوا خوردیم و حرفای بسیار بسیار شیطانی زدیم. *نیشخند-خبیثانه* و خلاصه تو یکی از کتابفروشیا درخت و برگ رو دیدم و گفتم چطوره؟ برام گفت و از وصفش خوشم اومد و الانم دارم از ذوق منفجر می‌شم. مشخصه. :))

درخت و برگ افزون بر سه داستان پریانش، یه مقدمه داره و یه مقاله تهش که اونا هم خیلی عالی بودن. درخت و برگ رو دوست دارم هی بخونم، خیلی از همه نظر برام کامل بود. طنز تالکین اینجا محشره، اینطوری نیست که حسابی بخندی ولی خیلی طنز لطیف و قشنگیه. داستان‌ها هم چیزهای جدیدی نیستن، فکر نکنین اوووف الان با یه چیز خیلی جدید و نو روبه‌رو می‌شین که به فکر فرو برین. نه، داستان‌ها خیلی روون و خیال‌انگیز و کودکانه‌ن. یه جور کودکانه‌ای که زمخت‌ترین آدمم می‌تونه ازشون لذت ببره. درخت و برگ شده جزو اون کتابایی که با حالتِ سنجابِ عصریخبندان، به خودم می‌فشرم. دلم می‌خواست بیشتر درباره داستانا بگم تا حسم. ولی اینقد خوشم اومده که باید یه دور دیگه بخونم تا بتونم نظر یا تحلیلی چیزی بنویسم، هرچند وقتی لذتِ آدم از یه حدی بیشتر می‌شه بهتره قید این چیزا رو بزنه به نظرم.
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mobrine
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This little collection is so delightful! Each addition so different, all engaging and just further evidence of the amazing mind and creativity of Tolkien.
The cover of this edition is an illustration he drew of the Tree of Amalion, which he created and reproduced over and again, but which was never figured in any story.
The contents include 'On Fairy-Stories', an eighty page scholarly treatise/apologetic, complete with references and footnotes, and examples from writers such as the brothers Grimm and Lewis Carroll, analyzed to defend his concept of what does and does not qualify as a fairy tale. Requires some degree of concentration and focus to stay with him.
Next is his delightful poem, Mythopoeia, again defending the worth of 'myth' as a written form, written by a lover of myth to a hater of the form.
Then my favorite, 'Leaf by Niggle', a semi-biographical short story illustrating the eventual creative triumph of a little protagonist, after wading through trial and prejudice.
Last in this collection is Tolkien's translation, and reworking of an actual historical poem from the Old English, describing the aftermath of a disastrous battle fought in the year AD 991 where an English King was defeated by Viking forces. This is important because it demonstrate's Tolkien's mastery of the language from which he created the languages of 'Middle-Earth'.
The whole volume is a treasure, which I heartily recommend to all!
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amanoh
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Great little book about Faërie and the process behind Tolkien's world-building stories. A little dense at times but some very good points made; namely that faerie stories are not supposed to replace reality but to build on and recover it. Reality should act as a basis for more fantastical and imaginative ideas.

I found the concept of "Eucatastophe" very interesting; his point being that there should be a redemptive arc to all faerie stories, as a symbol of hope rather than defeat. Pain and suffering should not be hidden away from these stories, but it need not end in this way. They are written for children and adults alike, but mainly for adults, who will appreciate the full spectrum of concepts expressed. This form of escapism warrants a joyful payoff.
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RicchJaden
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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In a small amount of time, the voice of Tolkien became soothing as I read this. I have often felt as if Tolkien was kin to my own soul; brave in his sentimentality and bold in his desire to create. Here in this book I found that each part or sub-book within met me with profound thoughts and emotions, each dear to myself. In “On Fairy Stories” I was found thinking and escaping; in “Mythopoeia” I was found smiling; in “Leaf by Niggle” I was longing and crying (in the warmest of ways); in “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth” I was shivering, reciting, dreaming, and dreading. I am better now to have read each part of this book.
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VampiresAndJunk
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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مقدمه و مؤخره‌های کتاب به همراه نمونه‌های داستانی تالکین، مجموعه‌ای عالی برای درک ادبیات تخیلی مدرن می‌سازند. از نظر تالکین، «داستان‌های پریان به مثابه‌ی یک کل دارای سه چهره‌اند؛ چهره‌ی عرفانی که رو به امر مافوق طبیعی دارد، چهره‌ی جادویی که معطوف به طبیعت است و چهره‌ی آینه‌ای یا آینه‌ی سرزنش و دلسوزی که رو به انسان دارد.»
برگ اثر نیگل، مانیفستی است برای خود داستان پریان. جایی که ساحت خیالات شخصی است که مرزهای واقعیت را مشخص می‌کند. و چگونه می‌توان خیال را گسترش داد؟ با تماس با واقعیت: همراهی با چوپانِ راهنما برای کشفِ آن سوی کوهستان، مشورت با باغبان برای کامل کردن برگ‌ها و درخت‌ها، با طی کردن دوره‌ی برزخ‌مانندِ کار کردنِ بی‌معنا و معنادار کردنِ آن.
در داستان دوم، می‌بینیم که داستان پریان واقعا چیست. جایی که خود سحر و جادو جای شک ندارد - یعنی قانونِ پذیرفته‌شده‌ای است که نیازی به توجیه ندارد. اثرات جادوی پریان در زندگی انسان‌ها مشهود است، حتا بر آنان که به جادو اعتقادی ندارند. پریان خودِ طبیعت‌اند و این انسان است که فراطبیعی است.
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