Vincent Ferré is a French scholar of comparative literature, a medievalist, and aTolkien scholar, known especially for his book onThe Lord of the Rings,Tolkien: sur les rivages de la Terre du Milieu, and for his encyclopedicDictionnaire Tolkien.
Vincent Ferré was born inMayenne, France in 1974. He gained his Baccalaureat from theLycée Lavoisier, Mayenne in 1992, and then spent two years studying literature at theLycée Fénelon, Paris. He gained his master's degree in 1996 in comparative literature at theUniversité Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. He spent four years at theÉcole normale supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud. He then gained a Diplôme d'études approfondies (an additional year of study) at the Sorbonne. He completed his PhD with a thesis onProust,Broch, andDon Passos in 2003. He has two children.[1][2]
He worked in the faculty of humanities in theUniversity of Paris 13-Paris Nord from 2004, completing his postdoctoral researchHabilitation in 2011. In 2012 he became professor of comparative literature at theParis-East Créteil University. Since 2022 he has been at theSorbonne Nouvelle University, also in Paris.[1][2]
Ferré has become known for his work onJ. R. R. Tolkien's writings on the fantasy world ofMiddle-earth. He has supervised thetranslation of many of Tolkien's books.[3]
Thomas Barège, reviewingDictionnaire Tolkien inActa Fabula, calls it a fine tool, both synthetic and complete, providing thorough guidance for the reader. He notes thatThe J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia is in places more detailed, and is less concerned with a fan audience; the two works are in his view largely complementary.[4]
Thomas Fornet-Ponse, reviewingTolkien: Sur les rivages de la terre du milieu forHither Shore, writes that Ferré offers a readable and informative introduction toThe Lord of the Rings, with material of interest also to experts. Among the topics covered are Tolkien's admitted focus ondeath and immortality in the novel.[5]
