Sub-creating Arda: World-building in J.R.R. Tolkien's Work its Precursors and its Legacies: 40 (Cormarë)

J.R.R. Tolkiens literary cosmos may not be the most elaborate of the imaginary worlds in existence it is certainly the most influential. The posthumous editorial work of Tolkiens son Christopher has also shown that Arda remains unrivalled in its consistency and complexity. Additionally the re-publication of Tolkiens Andrew Lang lecture On Fairy-stories (originally delivered 1939) and its interpretation within the discourse of literary fantasy has further strengthened his position as one of the foremost proponents of literary world-building or as he himself preferred to call it (literary) subcreation.The contributions to this volume by Tom Shippey John Garth Mark J.P. Wolf Kristine Larsen Andrew Higgins Allan Turner Gergely Nagy Renée Vink and a dozen other scholars discuss not only Tolkiens theoretical concepts as well as his literary work but also explore the relationship between Tolkiens approach with that of other literary world-builders whose imaginary worlds have attracted readers and scholars alike.