A Question of Time (book)

A Question of Time: J.R.R. Tolkien's Road to Faërie is a 1997 book of literary analysis by Verlyn Flieger of J. R. R. Tolkien's explorations of the nature of time in his Middle-earth writings, interpreted in the light of J. W. Dunne's 1927 theory of time, and Dunne's view that dreams gave access to all dimensions of time. Tolkien read Dunne's book carefully and annotated his copy with his views of the theory. A Question of Time examines in particular Tolkien's two unfinished time-travel novels, The Lost Road and The Notion Club Papers, and the time-travel aspects of The Lord of the Rings. These encompass Frodo's dreams and the land of the Elves, Lothlórien.

Other scholars have admired the book, commenting that Tolkien's writings both explore time and stand outside it. They state that he explored the contradictions in having time passing at different rates, such as in the Elvish land of Lothlórien, and that he used time and travel to provide escape, as fairy tales do. Flieger won the 1998 Mythopoeic Award for Inklings studies for the book.