Tolkien
About the author
Raymond Edwards is a freelance writer. He worked for some years for the Oxford English Dictionary whilst completing doctoral research into medieval manuscripts. Before this he followed the Oxford undergraduate course originally devised by Tolkien. He has written for, amongst others, The Tablet and The Times Literary Supplement. He translated Henry Harclay’s Ordinary Questions, and has written short books on various religious and historical subjects. He lives in north London with his wife, children and an improbable number of books.
Tolkien
RAYMOND
EDWARDS
First published in 2014 by
Robert Hale, an imprint of
The Crowood Press Ltd,
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR
www.crowood.com
This e-book first published in 2020
Paperback edition 2020
© Raymond Edwards 2014
All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 0 71983 105 8
The right of Raymond Edwards to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
To Allison
with love
Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I – The Making of a Philologist
Chapter 1 – Early Years
Chapter 2 – University and Edith
Chapter 3 – War
Chapter 4 – The Young Scholar
Part II – Philology in Practice
Chapter 5 – Oxford and Storytelling
Chapter 6 – Delays and Frustrations
Chapter 7 – A Wilderness of Dragons: Beowulf and The Hobbit
Part III – Achievement
Chapter 8 – In the Background, War
Chapter 9 – Peace, Not Rest
Chapter 10 – Hyde and Jekyll
Chapter 11 – Finished, at Last
Chapter 12 – Philology at Bay
Chapter 13 – ‘My heart, to be shot at’
Part IV – Last Years
Chapter 14 – Silmarillion and Scholarship?
Chapter 15 – Unfinished Tales
Part V – Niggle’s Parish
Chapter 16 – Posthumous Publications
Chapter 17 – A Cinematic Afterlife
Epilogue
Appendix – Tolkien the Catholic
References
Further Reading and Bibliography
Index
Plates I – VIII
Acknowledgements
In one sense, no one writes a book like this alone; in another, of course, it is an intensely solitary activity, and arguably a selfish one. I am grateful to Stratford Caldecott and to Alexander Stilwell for, in different ways, prompting me to write it, and for their advice and practical help; and to Glynn MacNiven-Johnston for her care and attention to my prose style, and for tireless encouragement. Lucy Lethbridge and Brendan Walsh have indulged my preoccupation with Tolkien and his circle for years; they have my hearty thanks. My parents encouraged and enabled my first interest in Tolkien, after a sensible schoolmaster made me and my ten-year-old classmates read The Hobbit. They, and he, have my gratitude.
An early version of some parts of this book appeared in a short introduction to Tolkien published by the Catholic Truth Society; I am grateful for their permission to re-use this material.
I also thank HarperCollins, and the copyright holders listed below, for allowing me to reproduce passages from Tolkien’s work.
Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust 1981
Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust 1983
Mythopoeia © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust 1988
Smith of Wootton Major © The Tolkien Trust 1967
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil © The J.R.R. Tolkien Estate Limited 1961
The Lord of the Rings © Fourth Age Limited 1954, 1955, 1966
The Book of the Lost Tales, Part One © The J.R.R. Tolkien Estate Limited and C.R. Tolkien 1983
The Book of the Lost Tales, Part Two © The J.R.R. Tolkien Estate Limited and C.R. Tolkien 1984
The Lost Road and Other Writings © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and C.R. Tolkien 1987
Sauron Defeated © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and C.R. Tolkien 1992
Morgoth’s Ring © The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and C.R. Tolkien 1993
In the US, the following Tolkien extracts are reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Excerpts from Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien. © 1964 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd. © Renewed 1992 by John F.R. Tolkien, Christopher R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien. © 1988 by The Tolkien Trust.
Excerpts from The Monsters and the Critics by J.R.R. Tolkien. © 1983 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executors of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Excerpts from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J.R.R. Tolkien. © 1962 by Unwin Hyman Ltd. © renewed 1990 by Christopher R. Tolkien, John F.R. Tolkien and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien.
Excerpts from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. © 1954, 1955, 1965, 1966 by J.R.R. Tolkien. © renewed 1982, 1983 by Christopher R. Tolkien, Michael H.R. Tolkien, John F.R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien. © renewed 1993, 1994 by Christopher R. Tolkien, John F.R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien.
Excerpts from Book of Lost Tales, Part I, by J.R.R. Tolkien. © 1983 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executors of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Excerpts from Book of Lost Tales, Part II, by J.R.R. Tolkien. © 1984 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executors of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Excerpts from The Lost Road and Other Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien. © 1987 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executors of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Excerpts from Morgoth’s Ring: The Later Simarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. © 1993 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executors of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Excerpts from Sauron Defeated by J.R.R. Tolkien. © 1992 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executors of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Most of all my wife Allison has been unfailingly supportive of my curious obsessions, endless piles of books, and patient of my persistent distraction: this is her book as much as mine. The publisher and author wish to thank copyright holders for permission to reproduce images. Images for the plates were sourced as detailed below:
Plate I (top), Oosoom (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KES_Free_Grammar_School_Charles_Barry.jpg)
Plate I (bottom), Gavin Warrins (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ User:GavinWarrins#mediaviewer/File:BirminghamOratoryDome.jpg)
Plate II (top), James Bradley (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
Plate II (bottom), Oosoom (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
Plate III (top), chensiyua
n (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ legalcode)
Plate III (bottom), Simon Q (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode)
Plate IV (top), mcselede (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode)
Plate IV (bottom), (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacob_Grimm.jpg)
Plate V (top), (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont-Hamel#mediaviewer/ File:Beaumont-Hamel_-_General_view_of_the_battlefield.jpg)
Plate V (bottom), Gavin Warrins (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User: GavinWarrins#mediaviewer/File:BirminghamUniversityChancellors Court.jpg
Plate VI (top), JREL (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode)
Plate VI (bottom), Michael Pätzgold (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/legalcode)
Plate VII (top), © Toby Ord (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oxford_Botanic_Garden_in_Autumn_2004.jpg)
Plate VII (bottom), ©Ozeye (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merton_College_as_viewed_from_due_south_over_the_Meadows.jpg)
Plate VIII (top), Twooars (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tolkien%27s_grave,_Wolvercote_Cemetery.jpg)
Plate VIII (bottom): © Julian Nitzsche (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode)
Abbreviations
ATB J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and other verses from The Red Book. London, George Allen & Unwin, 1962
Carpenter, Biography Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography. London, George Allen & Unwin, 1977
Carpenter, Inklings Humphrey Carpenter, The Inklings. London, George Allen & Unwin, 1978
Duriez and Porter, Handbook Colin Duriez and David Porter, The Inklings Handbook. London, Azure, 2001
EETS Early English Text Society
Garth John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War. London, HarperCollins, 2003
GCCS Government Code and Cipher School
H&S Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, vol. 1: Chronology [H&S 1]; vol. 2, Reader’s Guide [H&S 2]. London, HarperCollins, 2006
HME J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien, The History of Middle Earth, 12 vols. London, George Allen & Unwin/ HarperCollins, 1983–96. References to individual volumes are in the form HME 1.123, referring to volume 1, page 123
Interpreters Interpreters of Early Medieval Britain, ed. Michael Lapidge. Oxford, OUP for the British Academy, 2002
Letters The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien. London, George Allen & Unwin, 1981; frequently reprinted
LOTR J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
M&C J.R.R. Tolkien, The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. London, George Allen & Unwin, 1983; frequently reprinted
OED Oxford English Dictionary
OFS J.R.R. Tolkien, Tolkien On Fairy-Stories, ed. Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson. London, HarperCollins, 2008
OHEL Oxford History of English Literature
OTC Officer Training Corps
OUP Oxford University Press
Shippey, Author Tom Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. London, HarperCollins, 2000
Shippey, Road Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth (3rd edition). London, HarperCollins, 2005
SWM J.R.R. Tolkien, Smith of Wootton Major. London, George Allen & Unwin, 1967
TEnc J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, ed. Michael D.C. Drout. New York and London, Routledge, 2007
TL J.R.R. Tolkien, Tree and Leaf. London, George Allen & Unwin, 1964; frequently reprinted
TLeg Tolkien’s Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth, ed. Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter. Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 2000
TLS Times Literary Supplement
TMed Tolkien the Medievalist, ed. Jane Chance. New York and London, Routledge, 2003
UCL University College, London
UT Unfinished Tales. London, George Allen & Unwin, 1980
Introduction
It is late in the year; under the vast domed Great Hall of the new university of Birmingham, rows of temporary beds are set up, filled with sick men, most newly back from France. One of them is writing in a small school exercise book.
The year is 1916, and he has been some months with his battalion on the Somme. Already many of his school and university friends have been killed. Compared with them, he is lucky; he has been struck down by a debilitating persistent fever, spread through the trenches by the ubiquitous lice. He is getting better, now, although still weak and exhausted and unfit to return to his unit. Soon, he will be discharged, and able to go to a Staffordshire village to stay with the wife he married only eight months ago, two months before he was sent to France. Meanwhile, he is writing: stories of an age of myth, of elves and dragons and love and despair and hope lost and renewed. His name is Ronald Tolkien.
The stories he wrote at this time were not published for another seventy years; but the themes and characters he described in them gradually found shape and led directly to his famous books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Here, whilst first recovering in hospital, then on a series of home service postings, began his life’s work: a corpus of imaginative writing whose overmastering theme, he declared late in life, was Death.
Tolkien is now best known as an author – his published writings run to twenty or so thick volumes – but he was many other things beside: husband, father to four children, professor of ancient language at Oxford, devout Catholic. How did he combine all of these things? How did his writing connect with the rest of his life, and his work? What sort of man was he, who arguably changed forever the sort of books that are written, and read? It is probably impossible to answer all of these questions; but I hope to make some suggestions.
I assume that anyone reading this book has read, or at least seen the film versions of, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Accordingly I presume some knowledge of what happens in the books, and have not given extensive discussions of them. There are plenty of good books that already do this; some are listed in the section on ‘Further reading’.
My fundamental aim in writing this book is to look at Tolkien’s life in the round: to try to understand how his academic interests (which are also to some extent my own) informed his imaginative work, and to give as best I can a clear and full account of the various stages in his life and writing. It is not that the one defines or determines the other; but it may give us a new respect for the man who wrote The Lord of the Rings to learn something of the circumstances under which he wrote it, and the real and protracted difficulties against which he constantly fought. He was a remarkable man, and what interested and moved him is likely to be worth looking at, independent of its influence on his fiction; so I make no apology for discussing intellectual interests that some, who have never tried to share them, may suppose are forbiddingly dry or technical. They are not. All that is needed is an open mind, and a readiness to work or think a little harder than usual. It is worth it. If at times, as I suspect, I have fallen into what Tolkien’s sometime tutor, Kenneth Sisam, condemned as ‘an inclination to follow interest beyond the limits of relevance’, I can offer only apology and the hope that, for some readers at least, interest cancels irrelevance.
There are no scandals here, no secrets (at least none that I have found), no obvious interventions in public life; but, amidst an outwardly ordinary life, or as ordinary a life as an Oxford don might have, an imaginative achievement which can hardly be paralleled, and has (I would say) made an incalculable alteration in the nature and scope of literary endeavour. An ordinary life, then: nothing, in fact, like the archetypal ‘writer’s life’ as popularly conceived, all garrets, or villas in the sun. Perhaps there are some men (they would need to be men, I think) who live like this and still manage to write books (Somerset Maugham at one end of the spectrum, or Joseph Roth at another, might be instances), but they cannot be usual. The normal companions of literary achievement would appear to be the bourgeois virtues, and t
heir concomitant worries – houses, children, money, sexual fidelity, ‘being settled’. Literary composition usually needs routine, and some measure of peace and quiet; most who live the ‘Bohemian’ life never manage to publish a word. But hope and exaltation and misery and despair are found as richly and as varied in middle-class life as on the Left Bank (or wherever), although not, maybe, so highly coloured.
In one sense, Tolkien is one of the purest cases of literary vocation that one can imagine: his was a life where, despite a busy job, the responsibility of four children to raise and a difficult wife, plus indifferent health, chronic despondency, and the myriad interruptions of mid-twentieth-century life, he persevered, wrote, and continued to write despite strong (and reasonable) fears that none of it would ever be published, or publishable. Of itself, certainly, persistence is not an index of literary virtue; no one who has ever seen, much less read, the typical contents of a publisher’s pile of unsolicited manuscripts could ever be under that illusion. But it is, without doubt, a necessary companion to literary achievement. Another is the courage to risk, and to show what has been written with (it may be) difficulty and stolen effort, knowing it may be rejected, even with derision; and to endure such rejection, and not give up. All of these are moral qualities as much as they are literary; and Tolkien had them.
Incidentally, it might be argued that the very things – marriage, children, domesticity – that according to some pundits (Cyril Connolly, for example) are notorious barriers to literary creativity, were in Tolkien’s case the very key that unlocked his imaginative writing to the public.
Tolkien’s gift was to recover imaginatively the great literary monuments of the unrecorded heroic past, and create in modern English a world-story that allowed him to share his delight in this recovered legendry: to write tales that when read convey the precise joy and yearning that he, and some few like him, could find in bare word-forms and tables of sound-changes, but for most would remain otherwise opaque, closed, a cipher. He gives us access to a world we might otherwise never know existed, although it is there, in unread volumes by Grimm and Chambers and Ker and dozens of others even less known: the key, in fact, to faërie, at least for a while.
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