Perilous Realms

C. W. Sullivan III, reviewing Perilous Realms for the Journal of Folklore Research, found it both praiseworthy and problematic. He liked Burns's discussion of the English prejudice against the Celts, and of Tolkien's dislike of frivolous post-Shakespeare fairies. He noted that many of the chapters were published as separate papers, so there was some repetition. He commented that she had failed to note the Celtic origin of Sir Gawain: the Irish Bricriu's Feast describes a beheading challenge much like that of Sir Gawain. He wondered, too, why the chapter on eating and devouring barely mentioned Celtic or Norse, when there were "certainly important scenes of feasting and devouring, selfishness and selflessness" in those traditions' stories. "But she had written a "valuable window into Tolkien's sources" and the way he blended "Celtic enchantment and Norse vitality", and the book was accessible to scholars and the public alike.^[4]

Kathryn Stelmach, reviewing the book for Comitatus, found Burns's exploration of Norse "more compelling" than her "overly simplified" approach to the "Celtic" identity and the use of unreliable sources. Stelmach writes that both "Celtic" and "Norse" have a "complicated and shifting nexus ... of identity", and that Burns's introductory chapter gives the reader an impression of the two identities based more on language than on culture. Stelmach is happier with the "Norse" discussion, such as of Gandalf's Norse counterpart, Odin, as it is based on Tom Shippey's "solid grounding", while the analysis of the influence of the Icelandic Journals of William Morris on The Hobbit offers "rare insights".^[5]

The folklorist Dimitra Fimi, in Tolkien Studies, writes that the book is mainly a collection of revised papers, with two new chapters, and that the focus is on Tolkien's created characters rather than the source analysis that its title might suggest. She finds Burns's introductory account of history "sometimes simplified" but a useful overview of the contested terms "Celtic" and "Teutonic" at Tolkien's time. She finds convincing Burns's argument that the "water barriers, the timelessness and the underground connotations of many Elvish realms in Middle-earth, such as Rivendell, Mirkwood and Lothlórien, come from ideas of the Celtic otherworld." She praises, too, the linking of William Morris to The Hobbit, writing that this "gave it much of its 'Northern' atmosphere." The two additional chapters, on male/female balance and on food, she finds somewhat out of place in the book, not least because they don't mention "Celtic or Norse sources or parallels". In sum, Fimi finds the book "thought-provoking and well researched", adding a "Celtic" balance to the mainly Norse emphasis of earlier scholars. She praises the analysis of Tolkien's characters and the book's freedom from "'defending' Tolkien". Fimi suggests that Burns had intended the book for the public rather than scholars as she uses "accessible language" and avoids the scholarly debate over "Celticity", preferring to use the terms of Tolkien's time.^[6]

Faye Ringel, reviewing the book in Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, calls it "a valuable, beautifully crafted addition to the study of Tolkien's sources and influences", with the proviso that people suspicious of any appearance of ideology in high fantasy may not agree with her discussion of gender and race. She comments that Burns responds indirectly to such critics by providing evidence in favour of Tolkien's approach, such as by presenting his own "complexity through double attitudes".^[7] She suggests that the book may serve as a "counterweight" to the popular and "nonce" books that appeared alongside Peter Jackson's films.^[7]

• Burns, Marjorie (2005). Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth. Toronto [Ontario]: Toronto University Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-2725-3. OCLC 903968395.