ABSTRACT
This chapter juxtaposes Tolkien to three major German-speaking Romance-language philologists: Erich Auerbach, E. R. Curtius, and Leo Spitzer. Tolkien mentioned Auerbach and responded to some of his views on medieval epic and romance, in his reflections of W. H. Auden’s review of The Return of the King in the New York Times in 1956. The chapter examines the use of the word “philology” by Edward W. Said, who wrote extensively on Auerbach. Said at times condemns philology as a tool of European imperialism. But at other times he extols the insight and textual contact that philology can provide. The chapter ends with a consideration of the spoofs on philology in Tolkien’s work, such as the pedantic depiction of the herb-master in Minas Tirith.
