By Jana Wiersema, Features Editor
“Lord of the Rings” fans show their appreciation for J. R. R. Tolkien’s work in a lot of different ways. Some rewatch the extended cuts of the trilogy on a yearly basis. Some craft in-depth cosplays and learn Elvish. Some take classes with Dr. Devin Brown or even dare to read “The Silmarillion.”
In the case of Kayla Beebout, an English major from the Visionary class, some Tolkien fans write articles that make it into peer-reviewed online journals.
Beebout’s article, “‘Few Have Gained Such a Victory’: A Defense of Boromir in ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” was published in volume 6, issue 2 of the “Journal of Tolkien Research” in January and can be downloaded here.
“Boromir has been my favorite character,” Beebout told the Collegian, “because he always struck me as real and relatable. He struggles and complains, but in the end, he does his best to help others and is redeemed from his brief fall. However, I noticed that many fellow fans put more of their attention on his fall than his redemption.”
The article was originally written in April of 2018 as an essay for Dr. Brown’s C. S. Lewis and the Oxford Circle course. Beebout said that Dr. Brown encouraged her to revise and submit the essay to “The Journal of Tolkien Research.”
“He knows my dream of becoming a Tolkien scholar,” she said, “and he has been finding opportunities for me to start that journey.” She added that her revisions included adding more secondary sources, explaining her points more effectively and changing the formatting of the article to meet the journal’s requirements.
Beebout said that it feels both surreal and exciting to see her work published in a peer-reviewed journal and called the experience “the first step in achieving [her] dream.”
“I would just like to say thank you to everyone at Asbury and at home,” she added. “Everyone has been so encouraging through this process, and I probably would not have done this if it were not for the support I’ve received from everyone around me.”
