The concept of “love” in J. R. R. Tolkien's epic novel The lord of the rings

The article presents the main approaches to the definition of a concept as the central term of the conceptual apparatus of cognitive linguistics. The authors adhere to the understanding of a concept as a carrier of cultural meaning, a unit of the writer’s consciousness, verbalized in the text. J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic novel The Lord of the Rings was used as the research material. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that it presents the first-of-its-kind analysis of the concept of “love” in the individual picture of the world of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. The study showed that the concept of “love” in the epic novel The Lord of the Rings turns out to be culturally marked, since the author belonged to the English linguistic culture. It is established that in the text space of the epic novel love appears in various manifestations: in the form of romantic, patriotic, comradely or intra-family Christian love. The conceptual component of the “love” concept is considered from the etymological perspective: from the original nomination to the modern one based on the data of authoritative English dictionaries. The figurative component of the “love” concept is explicated in the descriptions of the love feelings experienced by the characters, as well as their subjective ideas about the object of their love. The value component of the “love” concept is found in the oppositions “love - hate”, “love - money”, “love - despair”, etc. presented in the novel. It is revealed that the concept of “love” is also closely related to the concepts of hope, honor and beauty. The article presents a rich illustrative material representing the national and cultural specifics of the studied concept.