Role of insert texts in J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel “The Lord of the Rings”

Abstract

This paper examines one of the literary techniques in J. R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings that creates “the depth effect”: texts’ insertion. The article’s author analyzes an insert text from the second part of the prologue (“The Herblore of the Shire”) and its integration in the main plot of the novel, and also looks into interchanges between the main text and insert ones, and Meriadoc’s role as one of the secondary narrators. The Lord of the Rings is full of insert texts of various genres and “The Herblore of the Shire” is merely one of them, but it shows that such texts are not isolated and not
limited to single occasions. Throughout the novel they serve as quotations that link different plot episodes and organize them around the image of the secondary narrator. According to Tolkien’s creative position that he repeatedly stated in his letters, we can say that he carefully contemplated the ways of involving his reader in his fantastic world; that is why it is important to describe narrative and compositional techniques of the novel that served the author’s purpose.

Keywords: Tolkien, «The Lord of the Rings», composition, inset text, the impression of depth, allusion, secondary narrator