Tag Archives: Exeter College

In search of T.W. Earp and the origin of ‘twerp’

Posted on 27 November 2022 by Peter Gilliver

In a guest post, Oxford English Dictionary historian and lexicographer Peter Gilliver sheds new light on one of the most curious characters to cross the young J.R.R. Tolkien’s path The classical scholar E.R. Dodds, who matriculated at Oxford a year … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest post, Research tangents | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Tolkien’s last friend in Oxford when the world went to war

Posted on 29 July 2019 by John Garth

‘Not a single man I know is up except Cullis,’ Tolkien lamented at the start of his final year as an Oxford student. It was 1914, war had just broken out, and their friends had left in droves to enlist … Continue reading →

Posted in 100 years of Middle-earth, Research tangents, Tolkien in the First World War | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Tolkien at Exeter College: Birth of a legend

Posted on 14 April 2017 by John Garth

In which I blow my own trumpet… When you picture J.R.R. Tolkien, it’s probably as a member of Oxford’s Inklings, writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the 1930s and ’40s, or in old age when fame … Continue reading →

Posted in 100 years of Middle-earth, Book news and reviews, John Garth’s writing, Tolkien in the First World War, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

100 years of Middle-earth

Posted on 25 January 2014 by John Garth

Tolkien’s Middle-earth began in 1914. That may come as a surprise, considering The Lord of the Rings was published in 1954–5 and even The Hobbit appeared no further back than 1937. But the fact is that before and beneath those … Continue reading →

Posted in 100 years of Middle-earth | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments