Tolkien passed 46 years ago, on 2 September 1973, but there is still a chance to build a collection of items connected with his long life. I’m going to tell you about mine.
Guest post /// Tolkien Memorabilia by Constantin Pirozhkov.
What’s in the spelling?
As the manuscripts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings made their ways to the publishers in their respective time, Tolkien faced an unexpected problem. All of the instances of Dwarves or dwarvish and elvish or elven were corrected to Dwarfs, dwarfish, elfish and elfin to coincide with the standard dictionary spelling. Tolkien had a lot of issues with those corrections, and in the present reflection I am going to look into the example of Dwarves.
Mirror, mirror on the wall. On Sauron’s appearance.
Sauron should be thought of as very terrible. The form that he took was
that of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic.
In his earlier incarnation he was able to veil his power
(as Gandalf did) and could appear as a commanding
figure of great strength of body and supremely
royal demeanour and countenance.
(Letters, № 246)
Readers of The Lord of the Rings are well aware of Sauron’s being the chief menace of the Second and Third Ages after the capture of Morgoth and the War of Wrath. What is rather obscure, though, is what the great Middle-earth adversary looked like. In his writings and letters Tolkien gave a few clues concerning the looks of Sauron, leaving all the rest to his readers’ imagination.
Hoard the accursed.
During the course of his life J. R. R. Tolkien composed a lot of poems. He tried his hand at various styles, applying them successfully to show where the poem belonged, what inspired it or which culture it could be related to. One of the most interesting examples of Tolkien’s verse is The Hoard.
Reading Smith of Wootton Major /// Part V.
Following the meeting with the Queen of Faery, Smith is walking back home to Wootton Major. It is his last walk ever from Faery, and it has a lot of revelations in store for him.
Reading Smith of Wootton Major /// Part IV.
As Smith becomes bolder during his visits to Faery, he sees more things, both dangerous and beautiful, and experiences more. He does err from time to time, but out of curiosity, not out of malice or arrogance. However, everything good comes to an end sooner or later.
Reading Smith of Wootton Major /// Part III.
The Twenty-four Feast takes place in Wootton Major, and it seems to be a moderate success: everyone is well-fed and happy. This Feast, however, marks the beginning of something truly special for one of the boys present at the celebration.
Reading Smith of Wootton Major /// Part II.
The appointment of Nokes for the important public post of Master Cook highlights the problem that Wootton Major is facing: most villagers have no more taste for wonder. Nokes is the embodiment, albeit an extreme one, of the disease affecting the village.
Reading Smith of Wootton Major /// Part I.
Smith of Wootton Major is a short tale, but despite being so it is filled up to the brim with ideas, beliefs and concepts that J. R. R. Tolkien held on the realm of Faery and fairy-stories. Read more
