![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() He couldn’t just write, he actually invented languages and an entirely new world, Arda, and then, just to show off, he bunged in Middle Earth. In addition to his formidable teaching credentials, he was a world-class philologist. Tolkien wasn’t just any old author he was the Rawlinson and Bosworth professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, going on to become the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 until he retired in 1959. ![]() Sure, there’s action and bloodletting, but ultimately, it’s a story about a little guy from an obscure village who despite being a bit of a hustler, stands up for what is great and good in humanity without being overtly macho. Let’s not forget the three award-winning movies with Peter Jackson. Christopher Tolkien made Paris Hilton seem empathetic by comparison, often contradicting his dad about the colour of Bilbo’s waistcoat or which branch of the family had stolen his silver spoons.Īlso read: The art of Tolkien: Exploring the visual world of Middle-earthīut what exactly is the Hobbit’s mojo, what secret sauce did Tolkien use to create this fantasy world? The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy have stood the test of time: 86 years after it was first published, Tolkien is one of the highest selling authors of all time with over 600 million copies sold. Let’s face it, Steve Jobs probably had it easier, and he wasn’t a particularly good father, by all accounts. Every night he would have to come up with continuity, sub-plots and narrative to satisfy not just demanding kidults with a vivid imagination but also sticklers for detail who grew up without iPhones. Tolkien, as you may have figured out, created the Hobbit in response to constant badgering from his own children for a cracking bedtime yarn. At the time, I remember being blown away by Tolkien’s richly imagined story of Bilbo Baggins and his adventures through Middle Earth. I last read the book when it was thrust on me by my increasingly desperate mother after bedtime story requests were met with, “No, I don’t want any more golliwog stories, I hate Enid Blyton and you’ve told me those a hundred times.” What can I say, I was prematurely “woke” at the age of 8. Tolkien first published his iconic novel, The Hobbit, back in 1937. ![]()
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