On the 7th June 1966 during a speech in Cape Town, Robert F Kennedy said “There is a Chinese curse which says, ‘May he live in interesting times’.” It’s doubtful that this ever really was a Chinese curse but what is of no doubt whatsoever is that we all live in interesting times. So here is a little bit of a life hack…
The first thirty minutes or so of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring – The War of the Last Alliance flashback aside – is perhaps the most pleasing, relaxing, chicken soup for the soul half hour of film you’re ever going to watch. Everything up to Frodo putting on the ring and ruining everything by bringing plot into the movie is a cosy blanket of reassurance and comfort. It’s little wonder that in these continuing interesting times that the soon to be released life-sim Tales of the Shire, where players will get to take on the role of hobbits who engage in absolutely no adventures whatsoever, is eagerly anticipated by many. Who doesn’t want a bit more hobbit in their lives?
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Perhaps hoping to tap into that same vein is publisher Frances Lincoln’s The Hobbit Encyclopedia. Originally published in French under the title La grande encylopédie du Hobbits, this is the English translation of the 2022 edition. The writers – Damien Bador, Vivien Stocker, Coralie Potot, and Dominique Vigot – are all well known in the world of Tolkien fandom, and it’s lovely to see their work able to reach a wider audience with this release.
An encyclopaedia of Tolkien’s work is hardly anything new, but with the quest for cosiness driving many these days, readers might have hoped that the title would mean this is an encyclopaedia that hobbits would use. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Given that the original French publication in 2013 coincided with Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, it’s clear that the title has far more to do with piggy-backing a trend than the actual style. Those of us hoping to browse through an actual Hobbit encyclopaedia – perhaps contrasting the merits of Old Toby with Southern Star, both of which are of course better than Southlinch, or having a quarter of the entire book dedicated to the best places to find wild mushrooms around the Shire and Buckland – remain sadly disappointed. This is simply another encyclopaedia of Tolkien’s work.
That is not to say that it is without merit. The content is accessible and surprisingly thorough. The word ‘surprisingly’ is appropriate as, due to the design of this book, at first glance it feels that this book might very well be all about style over substance. It is beautiful, with illustrations and art by Xavier Sanchez, Sandrine Gestin, and Leslie Boulay, and every page is full colour, glossy, and genuinely beguiling.
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This is a good thing as, although the content may be reasonably thorough, to anyone serious about finding out more on a specific Tolkien topic the depth of information is cursory at best. Nothing goes into particular detail and, for anyone hoping to use it as a springboard for further reading there is a disturbing lack of referencing, with only a selective bibliography at the back and no footnotes or intext citation outside or referencing the cute quote at the beginning of ever page.
Yet this is still an attractive and charming book. Though it lacks the level of detail of some of the more scholarly encyclopaedias, there are few that can match it on looks alone. So while hardcore fans might want to steer clear, this is an ideal buy for someone who is beginning to enjoy the wonderful richness of Middle Earth and is looking for a book that can help them start to join together a few of the dots.
The Hobbit Encyclopedia is out on 5th September from Frances Lincoln Publishing.
