Verlyn Flieger


Verlyn Flieger is an author, editor, and professor in the Department of English at the University of Maryland at College Park. She teaches courses in comparative mythology, medieval literature and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. She has written numerous books and papers on Tolkien and is well known as a Tolkien scholar.

Biography

Flieger holds a master's degree and doctorate from The Catholic University of America, and has been associated with the University of Maryland since 1976. In 2012, retiring from teaching at Maryland, Flieger began teaching Arthurian studies online at Signum University.
Her best-known books are Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World, which argues that light is a central theme of Tolkien's mythology; A Question of Time: J. R. R. Tolkien's Road to Faerie, which won the 1998 Mythopoeic Award for Inklings studies; and Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology.
She won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies a second time in 2002 for Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth, which she co-edited with Carl Hostetter.
She won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies a third time in 2013 for Green Suns and Faërie: Essays on J.R.R. Tolkien.
She won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies a fourth time in 2019 for There Would Always Be a Fairy Tale: More Essays on Tolkien.
Flieger has also written a young adult fantasy, Pig Tale, and short stories. With David Bratman and Michael D. C. Drout, she is co-editor of Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review.

Books

Scholarly

Scholarly books written or edited by Verlyn Fleger include: