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Tag Archives: Tolkien’s writing
‘He lets us walk the road as JRRT walked it’: Neil Gaiman’s tribute to Christopher Tolkien
Today Christopher Tolkien, who died in January after a short illness, would have been 96. He is sorely missed, though it is a delight and consolation to know that at least one further volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, sanctioned by … Continue reading
Tolkien’s last friend in Oxford when the world went to war
‘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
The perils of enchantment: Tolkien’s Lay of Aotrou and Itroun
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 Uncategorized
Tagged J.R.R. Tolkien, Reviews, The shore and the sea, Tolkien's landscapes, Tolkien's writing
2 Comments
Tolkien at Exeter College: Birth of a legend
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 Beowulf, Biography, Exeter College, First World War, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle-earth, Oxford, Silmarillion, Tolkien's college friends, Tolkien's life, Tolkien's writing
26 Comments
When Tolkien reinvented Atlantis and Lewis went to Mars
Discovering the dates of The Fall of Númenor and Out of the Silent Planet A few months ago I revealed what I think is an exciting new find about the origins of J R R Tolkien’s Atlantis story, The Fall of Númenor, the … Continue reading
Unseen Tolkien: sex, infertility, adultery and the birth of Galadriel
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
Beren and Lúthien, a centenary publication
Note, 2 June 2017: Since writing this, Tolkien’s Beren and Lúthien has been published, so the speculations below regarding its content are out of date. My New Statesman review of the book as published can be read here. In … Continue reading
Bottling the essence of languages: Tolkien’s ‘A Secret Vice’
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
A turbulent darkness: Tolkien’s first story
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
Dragon scale: Why it’s impossible to size up Tolkien’s Middle-earth
A piece of fan art illustrating the relative size of Tolkien’s dragons raises a far more interesting issue than how big was Smaug or Glaurung or Ancalagon the Black. It’s an issue that should give pause for thought in any … Continue reading
Posted in Tolkien’s creative spirit
Tagged Art, Dragons, J.R.R. Tolkien, Pauline Baynes, Peter Jackson movies, Realism, Tolkien's writing
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John Garth 