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J.R.R. Tolkien’s
The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again (1937) marks the next 
highlight after Milne. Standing at the beginning of the Oxford professor’s literary career 
outside university, the children’s novel lays the foundations for an entire fantastic universe to 
be developed over several decades and volumes.
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It is no exaggeration to say that, with his 
works, Tolkien set a high standard for fantasy. Through his creation of an entire secondary 
world complete with its own distinctive geography, mythology, history and languages, 
meticulously planned and designed down to the last detail, Tolkien shaped modern high 
fantasy’s form and content. The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), undisputedly the author’s 
flagship,
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can be called a genuine watershed of the genre. Due to its formative influence it 
allows works to be classed as pre- or post-Tolkienian. The author’s approach of creating a 
scrupulously coherent and consistent new world, unprecedented in this form, proved an 
almost indispensable model for fantasists to come. However, only a few have managed to 
equal his achievements to this extent. 
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Compare Kümmerling-Meibauer, Klassiker der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, p. 728. 
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Compare Clute; Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, p. 647. 
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Such as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Book of Lost Tales and The Silmarillion. 
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Compare William H. Green. The Hobbit: A Journey into Maturity. New York et al.: Twayne, 1995, p. 8. 

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Nowadays often smiled at condescendingly, sometimes “degraded” as the children’s 
prequel to Tolkien’s epoch-making epic of the Ring, The Hobbit has been eclipsed by the 
fame and cult of its adult sequel. Originally, The Lord of the Rings modestly set out as a 
second book about hobbits. However, it soon “grew magnificently out of control”,
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transferring and developing The Hobbit’s world and its conflicts on a larger scale into a 
complex, global war between good and evil. The Hobbit introduces us to the now legendary 
Middle-earth, the fictitious geographical setting of both works, and tells the story of the 
eponymous hero, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. In many ways he resembles a child, for instance 
in statue, in material and emotional needs and inexperience. Once he sets out on the quest 
with his mentor Gandalf and the dwarves, every step further away from home brings him a 
step closer to experience and maturity. The Hobbit is therefore a bildungsroman of Bilbo, 
which takes him “there and back again”, i.e. into the wide world and back home. The journey 
takes the form of a rite of passage. In several stages, Bilbo gradually grows into an 
independent adult. Responsibility, decision-making, personal bravery, loyalty and knowledge 
are only a few of his new assets. So on his return, the hobbit has learned his lesson in life, 
developed his character, widened his horizon and become susceptible for and tolerant towards 
others. The Hobbit made an important contribution to modern fantasy by reviving heroic 
fantasy for children. In his essay “On Fairy-Stories” (1938) Tolkien provides the theoretical 
background to his literate defence of fairy tales and fantasy, rehabilitating the genre. Like a 
manifesto, it assembles and lays down a set of “successful” conventions for later authors. 
Thus, traditional fairy tale, myth and folklore components such as the journey, the 
companions, magical artefacts, fantastic beings and the central conflict between good and evil 
are today almost indispensable for any fantasy for the young. In contrast to static fairy tale or 
mythical heroes, the young and unmoulded hero has potential to develop his character. 
Character studies give us insight into the protagonists’ inner conflicts and allow a more 
challenging discussion of key questions, for example psychological, ethical and moral issues. 
Another element which distinguishes Tolkien’s fantasy novel is the fact that “The Hobbit 
carries great conviction”.
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The feeling of honesty and, strange as it may sound, vivid reality 
create the magic of The Hobbit, to be surpassed in this form only by The Lord of the Rings. 
Even after so many years, the topicality of Tolkien’s concern, openness towards otherness, 
has not yet worn off. 
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Green, The Hobbit, p. 8. 
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Crouch, Treasure Seekers, p. 67. 

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1938 saw the publication of T.H. White’s (1906-1964) reworking of the Arthurian 
matter, The Sword in the Stone. Shrouded in mystery, the legendary king
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has always 
inspired and challenged writers. This elusiveness proves advantageous, as sparse historical 
evidence opens the way for creative interpretation and imagination. Such a versatility makes 
Arthur one of the most interesting figures in literature. The Sword in the Stone is the first 
novel in a series of four, assembled in The Once and Future King,
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and intended as a kind of 
prequel to Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur (1485). Perhaps comparable to the missing 
years in Jesus’ life between his appearance in the Temple and his preaching as an adult, the 
curriculum vitae of the mythical king Arthur shows an important gap, which inspired White to 
write an introduction to the Arthurian matter. By focussing on Arthur’s early years, the author 
reassesses the formative influence of childhood and youth on later life. Still, The Sword in the 
Stone
cannot simply be said to be an adaptation of the epic tailored to children.
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As we have 
already seen with other classics, this novel is another example of double address. Whereas 
intertextuality and theoretical excurses aim at older readers, children delight in the funny 
adventures and witty humour.
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White shows us that even the venerable mythical king must 
have started off small. When the wise but scatter-brained wizard Merlyn takes Arthur on as a 
pupil, magical lessons help the page boy to see the world with different eyes. Merlyn, “who 
lives backwards in time”,
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is an endearing yet tragic figure because he is the only one who 
knows about Arthur’s fate. This knowledge of Arthur’s further development looms over 
carefree and playful episodes of White’s novel and, for the mature reader, dampens the joy 
over the boy’s achievements. 
With his witty and sometimes very ironic historic fantasy The Sword in the Stone, 
White criticises society itself. In this parodistic “tradition”, a speciality of the late 20
th
century,
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established epic conventions such as codes of knightly behaviour, heroism and the 
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Classed as a “Traumfigur aus Historie, Sage und Wunschvorstellung“ in: Heinz Ohff. Artus: Eine Biographie. 
München; Zürich: Piper, 1993, p. 10. 
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The latter refers to the Glastonbury inscription “Hic iacet Arturus rex quondam rexque futurus”. Compare Fran 
Doel; Geoff Doel; Terry Lloyd. König Artus und seine Welt: Ein Streifzug durch Geschichte, Mythologie und