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Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 01 Jun 2017, 08:51
by Courtenay
Here's some news that caught my eye this morning: JRR Tolkien book Beren and Lúthien published after 100 years
A new book by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien is going on sale - 100 years after it was first conceived.

Beren and Lúthien has been described as a "very personal story" that the Oxford professor thought up after returning from the Battle of the Somme.

It was edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and contains versions of a tale that became part of The Silmarillion.
So it's not a "new" story, but for those who've read it as published in The Silmarillion (I must admit I've never got around to that!!), it'd be interesting to see the original version and how it evolved as Tolkien's fantasy world and its history developed and grew. It's not clear from the article, but it does sound like this must have been one of the first pieces he wrote about what would become Middle-earth.

I thought these comments from a Tolkien expert were especially moving:
Tolkien specialist John Garth, who wrote Tolkien And The Great War, said the Hobbit author used his writing like an "exorcism" of the horrors he witnessed in World War One.

He said: "When he came back from the trenches, with trench fever, he spent the winter [of 1916-1917] convalescing.

"He'd lost two of his dearest friends on the Somme and you can imagine he must have been inside as much of a wreck as he was physically."

Mr Garth said on a walk in an East Yorkshire wood Tolkien's wife Edith danced in a glade filled with white flowers, which became the key scene in Beren and Lúthien.

He said: "Mr Tolkien felt the kind of joy he must have felt at times he would never feel again."

The names Beren and Lúthien are carved on the gravestone Tolkien and his wife share in Wolvercote cemetery in Oxford.

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 01 Jun 2017, 19:49
by floragord
I didn't know until this week that JRRT's nostalgic depiction of The Shire was largely inspired by rural Wales. He named the hobbit settlement of Crickhollow after Crickhowell, and likewise the Buckland colony of hobbits was named after the Buckland Estate on the River Usk. Or that the Mabinogion, a collection of ancient Celtic myths, were woven into his work, learn something new every day!

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 01 Jun 2017, 19:53
by Katharine
I saw some illustrations for the new book and thought they were lovely.

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 01 Jun 2017, 21:33
by Courtenay
floragord wrote:I didn't know until this week that JRRT's nostalgic depiction of The Shire was largely inspired by rural Wales. He named the hobbit settlement of Crickhollow after Crickhowell, and likewise the Buckland colony of hobbits was named after the Buckland Estate on the River Usk. Or that the Mabinogion, a collection of ancient Celtic myths, were woven into his work, learn something new every day!
Oh, how about that! :D I always just assumed Tolkien was mainly inspired by Oxfordshire, where he lived most of his life. I had no idea he was into Celtic mythology as well! Must look into that.

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 02 Jun 2017, 17:37
by KEVP
There are a LOT of influences on the Shire, but it is mostly the rural counties of England. A major inspiration is the village of Sarehole, which is now a suburb of Birmingham, and where Tolkien lived as a child. But people have found that Tolkien was influenced by many other places, including Kentucky in the USA.

And of course, Tolkien drew from lots of different European myths and legends, including the Mabinogion.

I suspect that floragord has been hearing from folks who are trying to emphasize Tolkien's connections with Wales, maybe to promote Welsh tourism?

I think the most important link between Tolkien and Wales is the fact that one of his Elvish languages, Sindarin, was inspired by Welsh (Not "based on" Welsh, but "inspired by")

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 02 Jun 2017, 18:07
by Courtenay
Oh no, he was really inspired by New Zealand. I mean, just look at the Shire and all the rest of Middle-earth as portrayed in the films... :mrgreen: :wink:

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 08 Sep 2017, 13:02
by Rob Houghton
Talking of Sarehole, this weekend is the annual 'Middle Earth festival' at Sarehole Mill (which appears in the books) - entrance to the mill (usually paid-for) is free throughout the weekend, and there are also 'Origins of Middle Earth' Tours around the local area and Moseley bog, showing the areas which inspired locations in the stories.

People dress up as their favourite characters from Tolkien's books and its a fun weekend, by all accounts. :-D

Sarehole Mill, Cole Bank Road, Moseley, Birmingham from 11am - 5pm Saturday and Sunday. :-)

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Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 11 Sep 2017, 17:01
by Lucky Star
Looks great Rob. If I lived nearer and had known about it I would have attended. Though probably not in fancy dress. :lol:

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 14 Oct 2018, 18:08
by Courtenay
I'm planning a trip to Oxford next weekend and am looking forward very much to seeing this exhibition at the Bodleian Library — Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth :D I'm not as huge a fan of The Lord of the Rings etc. nowadays as I was in my childhood and teens (I was a bit addicted for a while there :wink: ), but I do still love and admire Tolkien's works — I'm especially looking forward to seeing more of his illustrations, his writings for his own children, and the specially commissioned 3D map of Middle-earth! The book of the exhibition sounds excellent too and I'll most likely buy it.

On a side note, I remember how delighted I was when I first learned (while I was at school and really getting into their books) that two of my favourite authors, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, were in fact good friends and the main instigators of a group of Oxford scholars, the Inklings, who met up every week in the 1930s and '40s to read and discuss their current works in progress. I've visited Oxford a number of times since I moved to England and have sometimes enjoyed a meal in the Inklings' favourite pub, the Eagle and Child, and rather wished I could have been a fly on the wall listening in to their readings and conversations! :D

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 15 Oct 2018, 10:32
by timv
Same here! I used to work just along the road from the 'Eagle and Child' when I was based at Oxford University Press and dropped into the pub occasionally, and I used to think about the Inklings meetings there and what parts of Narnia and the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings might have been read out there. (The main readings were apparently done at CSL's rooms at Magdalen College). I also liked walking past JRRT's house in Northmoor Road in Summertown and taking a look at the garage where he had his study - but CSL's house at The Kilns was a bit far for a regular walk .

The Cherwell river at The Parks has a distinct feel of the Withywindle in the Old Forest in LoR. The name and appearance of Brill in Buckinghamshire were apparently the inspiration for the village of Bree, Otmoor for the 'Midgewater Marshes' between Bree and Weathertop, and the Berkshire Downs near Wayland's Smithy for the Barrow-Downs. For those who've read Antonia Forest's books, there are Oxford sites to spot from 'The Ready-Made Family'; and for Dorothy L Sayers fans there are sites from 'Gaudy Night', one of my favourite detective thrillers.

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 15 Oct 2018, 17:16
by Anita Bensoussane
I hope you enjoy the Tolkien Exhibition, Courtenay. I saw posters advertising the exhibition when I was in Oxford for the day recently with my son and daughter, and I would have liked to go if we hadn't already made other plans. The Tolkien and C. S. Lewis connections interest me and I'll have to refresh my memory regarding the various locations and see if I can work them into a future trip.

I'd forgotten about there being Oxford locations in The Ready-Made Family, Timv, but I love Antonia Forest's books and it might be interesting to check those out too. Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' series also contains a fantasy version of Oxford, of course, with Jordan College being based on Exeter College (although Christ Church College was used for Jordan College in the film The Golden Compass).

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 15 Oct 2018, 17:28
by Courtenay
timv wrote: The Cherwell river at The Parks has a distinct feel of the Withywindle in the Old Forest in LoR.
Well, if I ever go walking there, I'd better remember not to fall asleep under any willow trees... :shock: :wink:
Anita Bensoussane wrote:I hope you enjoy the Tolkien Exhibition, Courtenay. I saw posters advertising the exhibition when I was in Oxford for the day recently with my son and daughter, and I would have liked to go if we hadn't already made other plans. The Tolkien and C. S. Lewis connections interest me and I'll have to refresh my memory regarding the various locations and see if I can work them into a future trip.
Thanks, Anita. I'll let you know what I think of it! :D I've had a guided tour of The Kilns as well, a couple of years ago (which I posted about on the C.S. Lewis thread), and it's definitely worthwhile.

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 21 Oct 2018, 08:30
by Courtenay
The Tolkien exhibition was BRILLIANT!! :D Lots to see in a relatively small exhibition space, which was the only drawback — it was pretty crowded in there most of the time. I can see why entry was by timed tickets, or otherwise it'd have been even harder to move around in there. I didn't find out that much about Tolkien that I didn't know already (I've read a few books about him), but it was really fascinating and quite special to see some of his manuscripts and "working" maps of Middle-earth — he planned out all the locations and the various characters' journeys very carefully and kept clear notes on who was where and when, for example in the middle volume of The Lord of the Rings when the narrative alternates between three different groups of characters.

I also learned a bit more about the development of his Elvish languages — I hadn't fully realised that Tolkien started inventing languages first, as a hobby (he humorously called it "a secret vice", which was the title of a lecture he once gave on the subject), and then wrote his stories and sagas as an outlet for the invented languages, not the other way around! There was an audio station where you could hear him reciting a couple of his poems in Quenya and Sindarin and even singing one of them!

It was also really wonderful to see so much of Tolkien's artistic output — he was an accomplished amateur artist, not particularly good at drawing figures (and he knew that), but with a very good eye for form and design and colour. I'd seen a fair few of his illustrations reproduced in books, but to see the actual artworks themselves was a thrill. The whole exhibition really brought out how involved he was in creating this whole world throughout almost the whole of his life — as one of the quotes from him says (it's on the back of the book of the exhibition): "It is written in my life-blood, such as that is, thick or thin; and I can no other."

If any of you can manage to get there in the last week that it's on (turn up early for tickets at the desk), it's well worth it!!

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 21 Oct 2018, 09:31
by Anita Bensoussane
Thanks for the write-up, Courtenay! When I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings I was unaware of the background and of how Tolkien had completely immersed himself in his imaginary world, but I was fascinated when I learnt about that some years later. I once saw some of his manuscripts and artwork at an exhibition at the British Library.

Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Posted: 21 Oct 2018, 18:42
by Courtenay
I wasn't aware of all that either when I first read the books — I was still in primary school and absolutely loved the adventures and characters, but all the background and history and the fine details of the languages went rather over my very youthful head! I've since come to appreciate the sheer scope of Tolkien's creation much better. I have seen more recent fantasy authors disparage him on the grounds of being too old-fashioned and not having enough female characters (or, by implication, racy scenes :roll: ) in his work, but very, very, very few other writers have even come close to what he achieved — and I reckon fantasy wouldn't be half as popular a genre as it is today if Tolkien hadn't done what he did, so there. 8)

Meanwhile, on YouTube I've found the recording that moved me the most — Tolkien himself singing "Namárië" (Galadriel's farewell to the Fellowship as they leave Lothlórien in The Fellowship of the Ring). If, like me, you don't have a copy of the book on hand and can't remember what all the words mean, here's the translation into English (and the Elvish script too, as a bonus). :D