Studia Filologiczne UJK

Streszczenie

The Lord of the Rings (abbreviated as LOTR) by J. R, R. Tolkien is a cult work whose cultural status seems unquestionable. Surprisingly, it is also a source of many literary controversies and a long-lasting debate among scholars and critics. This debate appears doubly axiological. First, the literary merit of the work is discussed, questioned, rejected or affirmed; at this occasion LOTR’s case forces us to (re)consider the ways we (scholars and critics) read and evaluate literary works, as well as the criteria according to which we include books in literary canons or in academic syllabuses. Second, the axiology presented in and by the book is also put to scrutiny.
The objective of this particular paper is to review the part of the debate, related directly to axiology presented by LOTR.