John D. Rateliff

John D. Rateliff (born December 9, 1958 ) is an American independent scholar of fantasy literature and author of roleplaying games. He specializes in the study of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, particularly his Middle-earth writings, and wrote and edited the 2007 book The History of the Hobbit.

Early life

John D. Rateliff was raised in Magnolia, Arkansas. He moved to Wisconsin in 1981 to study Tolkien's manuscripts at Marquette University. Rateliff is an expert in Tolkien studies, and he earned a Ph.D in 20th-century British literature from Marquette.

Career

Rateliff has helped organize several major conferences on Tolkien. He contributed essays to Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth (2000) and to a volume marking the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings, and edited The History of The Hobbit, containing drafts of Tolkien's The Hobbit with extensive commentary. In addition he worked as a freelancer for companies including Decipher Inc., Green Ronin, White Wolf, Guardians of Order, and Chaosium.

Studies of works by the Inklings

"Early Versions of Farmer Giles of Ham" in Leaves from the Tree: J. R. R. Tolkien's Shorter Fiction, The Tolkien Society (1991) "Rhetorical Strategies in Charles William's Prose Play" in The Rhetoric of Vision: Essays on Charles Williams edited by Charles A. Huttar and Peter J. Schakel (1996) "'The Lost Road', 'The Dark Tower', and 'The Notion Club Papers': Tolkien and Lewis's Time Travel Triad" in Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter (2000) The History of The Hobbit (2007) Introduction to Eager Spring by Owen Barfield (2008)