Available again after being long out of print this is the pre-eminent critical study & exploration of how myth & legend played such a significant role in the works of JRR Tolkien The Song of Middle-earth takes a fresh look at The Lord of the Rings digging deep into the foundations of Tolkien's world to reveal the complex tapestry of history & mythology that lies behind his stories The charge that Tolkien's work was merely derivative
- that he extracted elements from other mythologies & incorporated them into his own fiction
- is dismissed in favour of a fascinating examination of the rich historical background to Middle-earth From the mythic tradition of the Tales told in The Book of Lost Tales I to the significance of oral storytelling throughout the history of Middle-earth this book examines the common themes of mythology found within Tolkien's work In doing so The Song of Middle-earth demonstrates how Tolkien's desire to create a new mythology for England is not only apparent in his writing but also realised

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Charles the king our emperor great Has been a full seven years in Spain As far as the sea he conquered this haughty land Not a single castle remains standing in his path Charlemagne (768-814) was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 & presided over a huge empire He frequently appears in literature as a great warlord & pious crusading figure In 778 the rearguard of Charlemagne's retreating army was ambushed & defeated at the battle of Roncevaux This became the inspiration for songs & poems celebrating deeds of valour in the face of overwhelming odds through the character of Charlemagne's nephew (the imaginary) Roland The Song of Roland is the most stirring & moving epic poem of the European Middle Ages offering a particularly heady mixture of history legend & poetry Presented here in a lively & idiomatic new translation the Song of Roland offers fascinating insights into medieval ideas about heroism manhood religion race & nationhood which were foundational for modern European culture The Song of Roland is accompanied here by two other medieval French epics about Charlemagne both of which show him to be a far more equivocal figure than that portrayed by the Roland the Occitan Daurel & Beton in which he is a corrupt & avaricious monarch; & the Journey of Charlemagne to Jerusalem & Constantinople which gives the heroes of the Roland a comic makeover ...

A beautiful flapped paperback edition of this st&-alone adventure by the author of The Letter for the King Deep in the woods a young boy is kept prisoner by his uncle He cannot meet other children or have any friends He holds the key to a secret Meanwhile in a quiet village Frans the schoolteacher invents stories of perilous deeds shipwrecks desert islands & haunted castles to entertain his pupils Then one stormy evening a letter blows onto his doormat summoning him to a meeting Suddenly Frans is on a real-life mission one in which he will encounter magicians secret passages conspiracies hidden treasure & a sealed parchment which predicts the future He will learn the secret of the Seven Ways He will find seven allies And he will make a fearsome enemy The adventure has begun ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Marlene Dietrich stars as a country girl who climbs the social ladder in this romantic drama directed by Rouben Mamoulian Visiting her aunt in decadent Berlin naive Lily (Dietrich) soon falls for the charms of sculptor Richard Waldow (Brian Aherne) who lives across the street After convincing her to model nude for him the pair become lovers Soon however Lily&s ambitions lead her into the arms of the wealthy Baron von Merzbach (Lionel Atwill) who introduces her to the delights of the high life before Lily branches out on her own installing herself as a cabaret singer at a local club As her life threatens to take a downward spiral & realising the mistakes she&s made Lily runs into Richard by chance & the pair finally reconcile their differences ...

With Ruthers dead & the Library Accord signed by Recoletta its neighbours & its farming communes Inspector Malone & laundress Jane Lin are in limbo as the city leaders around them vie for power A desperate attempt to save Arnault from execution leads to Malone's arrest & Jane's escape They must pursue each other across the sea to discover a civilization that has held together over the centuries There they will finally learn the truths about the Catastrophe that drove their own civilization underground File Under Fantasy Day of Execution Sky High We are the Dead Nature of the Catastrophe ...

A rebel who becomes a queen The hotly anticipated third book in the bestselling Bone Season series
- a ground-breaking dystopian
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Can new hopes bloom when summer begins again? When Mattie invites her old friend Tim to stay in one of her family cottages on the edge of Dartmoor she senses there is something he is not telling her But as he gets to know the rest of the warm jumble of family by the moor Tim begins to relax again & he discovers that everyone there has their own secrets There is Kat a retired ballet dancer who longs for the stage again; Charlotte a young navy wife struggling to bring up her son while her husband is at sea; William who guards a dark past he cannot share with the others; & Mattie who has loved Tim in silence for years As Tim begins to open up Mattie falls deeper in love & as summer warms the wild Dartmoor landscape new hopes begin to bloom If you like books by Lucy Diamond Trisha Ashley & Carole Matthews you'll love Marcia Willett's gloriously warm novels set in the West Country ...

From the ashes of war rose a song of hope A warm-hearted nostalgic & uplifting saga The Songbirds of Colliers Row by Jennifer Hart is perfect for fans of Call the Midwife Donna Douglas Kate Thompson's Secrets of the Singer Girls & for anyone with a song in their heart A village without a voice That's what the locals are saying about Llandegwen deep in the Welsh valleys The village choir once a source of pride for the small mining community has been forced to disband; the elderly choirmaster heartbroken by the empty seats belonging to those who'll never return from the battlefields The arrival of a young war widow from the East End with her little boy sets tongues wagging not least when rumours abound that she's looking to revive the choir Can the community set aside their grief & lift their voices & the village's hopes once more? ...

The songlines are the invisible pathways that criss-cross Australia ancient tracks connecting communities & following ancient boundaries Along these lines Aboriginals passed the songs which revealed the creation of the land & the secrets of its past In this magical account Chatwin recalls his travels across the length & breadth of Australia seeking to find the truth about the songs & unravel the mysteries of their stories ...

A heartbreaking but uplifting story of love loss & what it means to be a family for fans of Jojo Moyes 432 pages Cooper Emma ...