The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom That Tolkien Got, and the West Forgot
Anyone who has read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings can gather that their author hated tyranny, but few know that the novelist who once described himself as a hobbit “in all but size” was—even by hobbit standards—a zealous proponent of economic freedom and small government. There is a growing concern among many that the West is sliding into political, economic, and moral bankruptcy. In his beloved novels of Middle-Earth, J.R.R. Tolkien has drawn us a map to freedom.

Scholar Joseph Pearce, who himself has written articles and chapters on the political significance of Tolkien’s work, testified in his book Literary Giants, Literary Catholics, “If much has been written on the religious significance of The Lord of the Rings, less has been written on its political significance—and the little that has been written is often erroneous in its conclusions and ignorant of Tolkien’s intentions…. Much more work is needed in this area, not least because Tolkien stated, implicitly at least, that the political significance of the work was second only to the religious in its importance.”

Several books ably explore how Tolkien’s Catholic faith informed his fiction. None until now have centered on how his passion for liberty and limited government also shaped his work, or how this passion grew directly from his theological vision of man and creation. The Hobbit Party fills this void.

The few existing pieces that do focus on the subject are mostly written by scholars with little or no formal training in literary analysis, and even less training in political economy. Witt and Richards bring to The Hobbit Party a combined expertise in literary studies, political theory, economics, philosophy, and theology.

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The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom That Tolkien Got, and the West Forgot
Anyone who has read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings can gather that their author hated tyranny, but few know that the novelist who once described himself as a hobbit “in all but size” was—even by hobbit standards—a zealous proponent of economic freedom and small government. There is a growing concern among many that the West is sliding into political, economic, and moral bankruptcy. In his beloved novels of Middle-Earth, J.R.R. Tolkien has drawn us a map to freedom.

Scholar Joseph Pearce, who himself has written articles and chapters on the political significance of Tolkien’s work, testified in his book Literary Giants, Literary Catholics, “If much has been written on the religious significance of The Lord of the Rings, less has been written on its political significance—and the little that has been written is often erroneous in its conclusions and ignorant of Tolkien’s intentions…. Much more work is needed in this area, not least because Tolkien stated, implicitly at least, that the political significance of the work was second only to the religious in its importance.”

Several books ably explore how Tolkien’s Catholic faith informed his fiction. None until now have centered on how his passion for liberty and limited government also shaped his work, or how this passion grew directly from his theological vision of man and creation. The Hobbit Party fills this void.

The few existing pieces that do focus on the subject are mostly written by scholars with little or no formal training in literary analysis, and even less training in political economy. Witt and Richards bring to The Hobbit Party a combined expertise in literary studies, political theory, economics, philosophy, and theology.

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The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom That Tolkien Got, and the West Forgot

The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom That Tolkien Got, and the West Forgot

The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom That Tolkien Got, and the West Forgot

The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom That Tolkien Got, and the West Forgot

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Overview

Anyone who has read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings can gather that their author hated tyranny, but few know that the novelist who once described himself as a hobbit “in all but size” was—even by hobbit standards—a zealous proponent of economic freedom and small government. There is a growing concern among many that the West is sliding into political, economic, and moral bankruptcy. In his beloved novels of Middle-Earth, J.R.R. Tolkien has drawn us a map to freedom.

Scholar Joseph Pearce, who himself has written articles and chapters on the political significance of Tolkien’s work, testified in his book Literary Giants, Literary Catholics, “If much has been written on the religious significance of The Lord of the Rings, less has been written on its political significance—and the little that has been written is often erroneous in its conclusions and ignorant of Tolkien’s intentions…. Much more work is needed in this area, not least because Tolkien stated, implicitly at least, that the political significance of the work was second only to the religious in its importance.”

Several books ably explore how Tolkien’s Catholic faith informed his fiction. None until now have centered on how his passion for liberty and limited government also shaped his work, or how this passion grew directly from his theological vision of man and creation. The Hobbit Party fills this void.

The few existing pieces that do focus on the subject are mostly written by scholars with little or no formal training in literary analysis, and even less training in political economy. Witt and Richards bring to The Hobbit Party a combined expertise in literary studies, political theory, economics, philosophy, and theology.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781586178239
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Publication date: 09/17/2014
Pages: 232
Product dimensions: 6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Witt, Ph.D., is a former English professor, a Research and Media Fellow at the Acton Institute, and Managing Editor of The Stream. He has written many popular and academic articles, scripted three documentaries that have appeared on PBS, and is the co-author of A Meaningful World. He also served as the lead writer for the PovertyCure Series and the award-winning film Poverty, Inc.

Table of Contents

Foreword James V. Schall, S.J. 7

Acknowledgments 13

Chapter 1 In a Hole in the Ground There Lived an Enemy of Big Government 15

Chapter 2 Adventure, Inc. 32

Chapter 3 The Lonely Mountain versus the Market 52

Chapter 4 The Ring of Power Corrupts Absolutely 69

Chapter 5 The Free Peoples and the Master of Middle-Earth 84

Chapter 6 The Just War of the Ring 106

Chapter 7 The Scouring of the Shire 124

Chapter 8 The Fellowship of the Localists 146

Chapter 9 Love and Death in Middle-Earth 168

Epilogue: Frodo Is with Us 185

Endnotes 191

Index 217

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