Tolkien drew heavily on Norse mythology and Old English literature when writing The Hobbit, borrowing names, creatures, and narrative structures from sources like the Poetic Edda and Beowulf. This gives English and history or classics departments a genuine opportunity to collaborate on cross-curricular writing assignments that deepen understanding in both subjects simultaneously.

A cross-curricular essay might ask students to research the mythological origins of dwarf names in The Hobbit, many of which come directly from the Old Norse Dvergatal, and analyze how Tolkien adapted or transformed these source materials for his own narrative purposes.

This kind of assignment requires genuine research skills alongside literary analysis, making it a strong candidate for a collaborative grading approach where an English teacher assesses the literary analysis component while a history or classics teacher evaluates the research and historical accuracy component.

Coordinating this kind of assignment requires more upfront planning than a typical single-subject essay, since both departments need to align on rubric criteria and timeline before the assignment is given to students, but the payoff is a richer, more interdisciplinary learning experience.

Structuring a Dual-Subject Rubric

A cross-curricular rubric needs clear boundaries around which department is responsible for which criteria, avoiding the confusion that arises when two teachers grade the same paper without a shared understanding of who owns which part of the evaluation.

• Clarify which department evaluates which specific rubric criteria
• Require accurate sourcing for any historical or mythological claims
• Reward genuine analysis of adaptation, not just identification of a source
• Set a shared timeline and rubric review meeting before assigning the essay
• Give students a single, unified rubric rather than two separate documents

Sourcing Reliable Mythological Background Material

Because this assignment asks students to research real mythological and historical sources, providing a curated list of reliable, age-appropriate references at the outset prevents students from relying on unreliable or oversimplified sources found through a general internet search.

A short in-class introduction to the specific mythological sources Tolkien drew from, delivered collaboratively by both the English and history or classics teacher if possible, sets students up with the background knowledge needed to conduct meaningful independent research afterward.

Grading Collaboration in Practice

In practice, collaborative grading works best when both teachers review a small sample of essays together before dividing the full stack, ensuring they are calibrated on what constitutes strong work in each of their respective criteria before grading independently.

Combining the two separate scores into a single final grade, with clear weighting agreed upon in advance, gives students a transparent understanding of how their interdisciplinary work was evaluated across both subject areas.

Scaling This Approach for a Single Classroom

Not every school has the scheduling flexibility for true cross-department collaboration, but a single English teacher can still incorporate a scaled-down version of this assignment, providing curated background material on Tolkien's mythological sources directly rather than relying on a history department partnership.

Even without formal cross-department coordination, framing the essay explicitly around the connection between literature and its historical or mythological roots gives students valuable practice thinking across disciplinary boundaries, a skill that serves them well beyond any single assignment.