The Reader's Impact: Notes from the Foreword to the Second Edition of The Lord of the Rings

Who has more power to impact change: the reader or the writer? And a pop culture reference--because of course!

Hi, all! I hope everyone had a great week and took time to relax and unwind. If your last week was anything like mine, I would love to talk about the horribleness that is wisdom teeth removal surgery. We can discuss that at a later date. Lol, but not actually lol.

During my rest this last week, I had a lot of time to think and read. One of the things that I read and kept coming back to think about was the foreword to the second edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 50th Anniversary One-Volume Edition of The Lord of the Rings.

This foreword raised a lot of interesting questions for me. The one that I cannot stop thinking about is where the power of change in literature arises. The foreword mentions this idea briefly by including:

The Lord of the Rings is now issued in a new edition, and the opportunity has been taken of revising it. A number of errors and inconsistencies that still remained in the text have been corrected, and an attempt has been made to provide information on a few points which attentive readers have raised. pg. xxv

My questions only grew deeper as I began to think about the implications of readership on critically acclaimed texts. Presently, my knowledge of The Lord of the Rings is almost entirely limited to the movies, but I look forward to reading Tolkien’s text to get a better understanding of the plots, characters, and actions of the work.

I never gave much thought to readership impact, but the foreword left me no choice but to ponder the implications of reader vs. writer in previously published and later revised works.

Just now as I am typing this, I’m noticing if I incorrectly type Tolkien the name is underlined in red, obviously signifying a misspelling of a name common enough to be included in auto correct. Tolkien is praised and included in many critical texts and discussions, and it is becoming obvious through my classwork in medieval literature that his opinion carries much weight.

This all being said, I find it incredibly interesting that someone as praised and heavily cited as Tolkien would be interested in readers’ questions about his text, let alone have enough interest to take into consideration the questions raised for revisions of the text years after its original publication.

I haven’t read much medieval literature other than what has been assigned through coursework, but the small portion I have read suggests that the fanbase for the genre is as vast and all-consuming as the storylines found on the pages. The only fanbase I can think of that comes close to having the same amount of vigor and engagement with a writer and their work is Taylor Swift’s, but their discussions are primarily found on social media pages and not regularly discussed in academic settings. Sorry, Swifties! (I love Taylor Swift too, please don’t come for me!)

Reverting back to the comparison of Taylor Swift, she has recently been rereleasing her entire discography under her own label and is in the process of debuting an entirely new album. I don’t think it’s a stretch to imagine that Taylor doesn’t take input from her fans as she rerecords her albums. Tolkien, however, does.

Tolkien’s fanbase had a huge impact on the revisions found in this edition, cited from his own foreword. My question now becomes: if writers heavily take into consideration feedback from their readers in subsequent editions of the text, does the writer still have the power of the text, or does the reader? I don’t think this question has an easy answer, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions on this!

With love,

Mariah