Abstract
In this presentation we explore the world of the late Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter’s unpublished novel The Giant’s Harp. We will bring some of the tools we use in fantasy literature criticism and Tolkien studies to bear on this intriguing but sometimes problematic work. First, we want to look at the deep world-building behind the novel and related song cycles: does it create what in fantasy studies we call a legendarium, like the world J.R.R. Tolkien built? Second, how does it stack up as a mythology? What do we see when looking at it through the lenses of some of the classic works on comparative mythology—Eliade’s myth of the eternal return, Campbell’s hero’s journey—and other tools, like theories of the effect of alphabetic writing on brain development? Third, is the standalone story of The Giant’s Harp mythopoeic? Is it a tragedy with a satisfying catharsis? Is it a fairy tale with a satisfying eucatastrophe, as Tolkien defines in his essay “On Fairy-Stories”? Is there enough of the numinous about it to raise it to the level of high mythopoeic fantasy? We will close with some considerations of Hunter as a writer, what flaws and gems we saw in the tale, and why we think Hunter’s work would fascinate readers interested in mythopoeic literature. This paper was presented at Mythcon 52, Albuquerque, NM, July 2022. A previous version was presented at the Southwest Popular and American Culture Annual Conference, Albuquerque NM, February 2020.
Recommended Citation
Croft, Janet Brennan and Emerson, David L.
(2025)
"“Some Rise, Some Fall, Some Climb”: Three Ways of Looking at Robert Hunter’s The Giant’s Harp,"
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 23:
Iss.
2, Article 7.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol23/iss2/7