Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss

John Rosegrant is a practicing psychoanalyst who has published numerous papers on topics including play therapy, dreams, fairytales, Harry Potter, the World of Warcraft computer game, and Ursula Le Guin, and is also the author of The Gates of Inland Young Adult Fantasy series. His work on J. R. R. Tolkien has appeared in Tolkien Studies, Mythlore, and American Imago.

"This thought-provoking study brims with far-ranging psychological insights. In Rosegrant's care, foundational developments in Tolkien's mythology-the Music of the Ainur, the drowning of Numenor, even the blank exam page that birthed The Hobbit-take on new dimensions." -Peter Grybauskas, author of A Sense of Tales Untold: Exploring the Edges of Tolkien's Literary Canvas "This is a unique perspective on the interrelationship between Tolkien's life and art, well argued, convincing, and beautifully written. Many scholars in the field will welcome this work." -Janet Brennan Croft, editor of Mythlore "Dr. John Rosegrant, a practicing psychoanalyst, offers a view of Tolkien and his writings through the frame of psychology....[and] provides readers with rich new insights into the familiar themes of enchantment and loss which shape Tolkien's life and permeate the legendarium." -Journal of Tolkien Research "Rosegrant is an accomplished writer and story teller, and the narrative flows smoothly. He presents his attractive thesis as the intertwining of loss and enchantment/ creativity." -Beyond Bree "Poignant readings of Tolkien's fiction, life, and letters are found in this book: Rosegrant rightly identifies loss as a characteristic theme of Tolkien's and demonstrates powerfully how Tolkien's fiction tempers success and fulfillment with the knowledge that, someday, they will fade. Rosegrant's prose is lucid and accessible and his command of Tolkien's oeuvre enviable." -CHOICE