E. L. Risden

E. L. Risden, '''Ph. D. (born Edward Risden, and pen-named Edward S. Louis'''), is an American scholar, linguist, poet and writer.

Having taught English and medieval and Renaissance literature at St. Norbert College, Wisconsin for 29 years, he is an expert in academic pursuits similar to J.R.R. Tolkien's: he has written three works concerning Beowulf and one on "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", and researches early languages. He earned his doctorate at Purdue University in Indiana.

Risden has given lectures on Tolkien's world, and in 2015 finished his first book concerning it, Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape, which is dedicated to Tom Shippey and Verlyn Flieger. He has also contributed articles to scholarly collections.

Articles

 * 2011 - "Source Criticism: Background and Applications" in Jason Fisher's Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays
 * 2011 - "Tolkien's Resistance to Linearity: Narrating The Lord of the Rings in Fiction and Film" in Janice M. Bogstad and Philip Kaveny's Picturing Tolkien
 * 2014 - "Middle-earth and the Waste Land: Greenwood, Apocalypse, and ­Post-War Resolution" in John Wm. Houghton and Janet Brennan Croft's Tolkien in the New Century: Essays in Honor of Tom Shippey