Elizabeth Solopova, Lecturer in English Literature, Christ Church, Oxford. Tolkien wrote that he was 'fascinated' with the 'beautiful' Gothic language that he started to study at school, and his literary works attest to this interest. The talk explores the influence of the history of the Goths and Gothic written tradition on Tolkien as a writer and scholar. This is the third talk in the Tolkien: The Maker of Middle Earth lecture series. This lecture focuses on Tolkien and gothic.

This series, convened by Dr Stuart Lee, presents five Oxford academics who examine the medieval languages that J.R.R. Tolkien studied and taught. Each lecture will present a short introduction to a language and its literature. The lectures will show how Tolkien's linguistic and philological scholarship inspired him to create names for characters and places in his literary works, and to invent the languages of Middle-earth.