To prepare for Homer, Virgil, Beowulf, the Eddas, and Dante—The Heights begins with Tolkien.
In a talk from 2016, former middle school core teacher and current upper school classics teacher Tom Cox defends the place of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in the epic tradition. He then explains why Middle Earth is so uniquely suited to the middle school, using Samwise the Stouthearted as our guide to the heart of a middle school boy.
Chapters:
2:46 Rethinking “the middle”
4:01 How LotR prepares boys for upper school
7:57 How LotR meets boys in middle school
12:47 Contrasted with other epics
14:41 Samwise as a middle school model
24:47 Tolkien’s lessons for teachers and parents
26:07 Samwise the Stouthearted: earning his epic epithet
31:18 “Bear one another’s burdens, fulfill the law of Christ”
Links:
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Iliad by Homer, prose translation by A. S. Kline
Plutarch Podcast by Tom Cox
Becoming Greece, textbook by Bill Dardis and Tom Cox
Becoming Rome, textbook by Bill Dardis and Tom Cox
Also on the Forum:
The Forum Faculty Podcast hosted by Tom Cox
The Hope of Hobbits and the Despair of Denethor by Tom Cox
Featured Opportunities:
The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (January 7-9, 2026 / May 6-8, 2026)