Tag Archives: J.R.R. Tolkien

Ursula Le Guin, the language of Earthsea, and Tolkien

Posted on 22 January 2021 by John Garth

A tribute embedded in A Wizard of Earthsea?   I used this question to introduce a social media post yesterday. Is should have waited until today, because this turns out to be the anniversary of Ursula Le Guin’s passing, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Research tangents | Tagged , , , | 28 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

The perils of enchantment: Tolkien’s Lay of Aotrou and Itroun

Posted on 1 June 2019 by John Garth

The encounter between mortal man and immortal enchantress is always fateful in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. In The Lord of the Rings, for instance, Boromir fears the Elf-queen Galadriel and ignores her wisdom, then dies for his sins. The Lay of Aotrou … Continue reading →

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Win over £1,000/$1,000 worth of Tolkien books and help Oxford University preserve First World War history

Posted on 16 June 2017 by John Garth

I’ve donated five signed copies of Tolkien and the Great War to help raise money for this appeal. There are some substantially more valuable prizes too. It is only thanks to the personal letters and photographs preserved by various Great … Continue reading →

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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

Unseen Tolkien: sex, infertility, adultery and the birth of Galadriel

Posted on 16 November 2016 by John Garth

The encounter between mortal man and immortal enchantress is always fateful in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. In The Lord of the Rings, for instance, Boromir fears the Elf-queen Galadriel and ignores her wisdom, then dies for his sins. The Lay of Aotrou … Continue reading →

Posted in Book news and reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Teaching Tolkien in Las Vegas

Posted on 7 October 2016 by John Garth

Vegas brought out my worst vices. Handed carte blanche to indulge recklessly and obscenely for twelve months, I borrowed books from the university library in such numbers that when it came to returning them, I had to use a suitcase. I even … Continue reading →

Posted in Book news and reviews, John Garth’s writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bottling the essence of languages: Tolkien’s ‘A Secret Vice’

Posted on 15 April 2016 by John Garth

From sound aesthetic to Finnegans Wake, a new book explores Tolkien’s relationship to language. Here’s my review for the New Statesman. A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages Ed. Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins HarperCollins (223pp, £16.99) Horsemen, barbaric yet noble, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book news and reviews, Tolkien’s creative spirit | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

A turbulent darkness: Tolkien’s first story

Posted on 30 March 2016 by John Garth

Here’s a short review of Tolkien’s The Story of Kullervo that I wrote for the Mail On Sunday when the book came out in September 2015. I reproduce it here, with permission, as the book becomes available in the USA, … Continue reading →

Posted in 100 years of Middle-earth, Book news and reviews | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

A friend of Tolkien’s TCBS tells a neglected truth of war

Posted on 25 May 2015 by John Garth

The official death figures for the First World War, though incomprehensibly vast in themselves, fall well short of the full tally of fatalities, and give the barest indication of the suffering of soldiers and their loved ones. Today that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Research tangents | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments