Game author, Tolkien scholar
John D. Rateliff (born 9 December 1958[ 1] ) 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,[ 2] and wrote and edited the 2007 book The History of the Hobbit .
Early life
John D. Rateliff was raised in Magnolia, Arkansas .[ 3] He moved to Wisconsin in 1981 to study Tolkien's manuscripts at Marquette University .[ 4] Rateliff is an expert in Tolkien studies ,[ 5] and he earned a Ph.D in 20th-century British literature from Marquette.[ 6] [ 7]
Career
Rateliff has helped organize several major conferences on Tolkien.[ 8] 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.[ 8] Having written his dissertation on Lord Dunsany , Rateliff likes to describe his degree as "a Ph.D in fantasy."[ 8]
He worked for the game companies TSR , Wizards of the Coast , and Hasbro , contributing to a large number of products in the Dungeons & Dragons line.[ 9] [ 10] In addition he worked as a freelancer for companies including Decipher Inc. , Green Ronin , White Wolf , Guardians of Order , and Chaosium .[ 3]
Rateliff was the co-editor of the third edition D&D Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide (the original d20 System game rules), and worked on such titles as Mark of Amber , Night Below , Return to the Tomb of Horrors , the Eberron core rulebook , and Decipher 's Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game .[ 8] He is the author of the adventures The Standing Stone and Return to the Keep on the Borderlands , and co-editor of and contributor to d20 Cthulhu .[ 8]
Publications
Children's books
Egypt (Children of the World) (with Valerie Weber and Julie Brown; Gareth Stevens Publishing) (1992)
Roleplaying
Studies of works by the Inklings
References
^ Rateliff, John D. (1990). " 'Beyond the fields we know': the short stories of Lord Dunsany" . PhD thesis, Marquette University : 5 (Biographical Information).
^ McManus, Kelly (November 24, 2007). "Getting to the Bottom of the Hobbit's Tale". The Globe and Mail . p. D25.
^ a b Rateliff, John D. "John D. Rateliff's Bio in Brief" . Sacnoth's Scriptorium . Retrieved 5 December 2022 .
^ Gillespie, Mike (July 29, 2007). "Hot Type: The History of The Hobbit by John D. Rateliff". Ottawa Citizen . p. C3.
^ Anderson, Douglas A. (2009). "John D. Rateliff: A Checklist". Tolkien Studies . 6 : 22–26. doi :10.1353/tks.0.0061 . S2CID 170130503 .
^ "Rings treasures in US library". The Evening Post . January 26, 2002. p. 9.
^ Antlfinger, Carrie (January 27, 2002). "Marquette University Has Tolkien Collection: The University Bought Manuscripts from the British Author". Wisconsin State Journal . p. C6.
^ a b c d e Rateliff, John D. (2007). "Mythos (about the Mythos card game )". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best . Green Ronin Publishing . pp. 209–212. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0 .
^ "Books by John Rateliff" . Alibris .
^ "John D. Rateliff" . Pen & Paper . Archived from the original on 4 October 2007.
^ Owchar, Nick (30 December 2007). "Middle-earth evolution". Los Angeles Times . p. R9.
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