Ruskin and The Hobbit : Two Golden Treasures

Abstract: John Ruskin, one of the most influential figures of nineteenth-century England, has received almost no attention from Tolkien studies. What makes this lack of scholarly focus most surprising is Ruskin’s strong interest in fairy tales and the immense popularity of his 1851 fairy story, The King of the Golden Rive r, a tale that remained highly popular long past Tolkien’s youth. Parallels between Ruskin’s story and Tolkien’s The Hobbit are numerous and striking, as are parallels between Ruskin’s 1868 essay on fairy literature and Tolkien’s “On Fairy-stories.”