Elémire Zolla - On The Lord of the Rings

Elémire Zolla's 1970 foreword to the first translation of the Lord of the Rings into Italian

Note: In the first part of his foreword, Zolla heaps praise on Tolkien, discussing his work with reference to religious traditions, as well as comparing him favourably to other writers of “fairy stories” — what we now generally know as the fantasy genre. He also addresses some of the criticisms raised against Tolkien’s work, e.g. its black-and-white mor…