In this eight-chapter monograph on the subject of the book's title, Marjorie Burns illuminates the presence of both Norse and Celtic cultural elements in Tolkien's singular creation, middle-earth. An academic, Burns' new book adds to a diverse bibliography that includes a business text and a book about geographical features in the Pacific Northwest. In Perilous Realms she addresses topics ranging from the underlying nature of the Norse and Celtic peoples to the "shadow side" of Gandalf and Galadriel.

(Source: University of Toronto Press)