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Christopher Tolkien Dies at 95


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Sad. But 95 is a great, long life.

 

 

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Christopher Tolkien, Keeper of His Father’s Legacy, Dies at 95

 

Christopher Tolkien, the son of the writer J.R.R. Tolkien, who guarded his legacy and brought forth monumental posthumous works, like “The Silmarillion,” based on his father’s writings, died on Wednesday in Provence, France. He was 95.

 

His death was confirmed by Daniel Klass, his brother-in-law.

 

For nearly 50 years after his father died in 1973, Mr. Tolkien worked to keep alive the world he had created in “The Hobbit” (1937) and “The Lord of the Rings” (1949) — the spiders of Mirkwood, the Eye of Mordor, the elves of Rivendell and thousands of pages’ worth of other characters, places and plot twists. In all, he edited or oversaw the publication of two dozen editions of his father’s works, many of which became international best sellers.

 

Mr. Tolkien was his father’s literary executor but played a far more expansive role than that title usually implies. While the elder Tolkien was writing “The Lord of the Rings,” he was also creating a vast world of legends and mythologies that he hoped would accompany the book. But he was a notorious perfectionist and was never able to put this work in publishable form before he died.

 

His son spent four years organizing and compiling those myths and legends, publishing them in 1977 as “The Silmarillion.”

 

“This opened up a wealth and depth of Tolkien’s imaginative world that was breathtaking,” Corey Olsen, a Tolkien expert, said in an interview.

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

Just watched the movie Tolkien a couple days ago. I found it very interesting even though I'm not a huge fan. I had to read The Hobbit many many years ago in school. IIRC it was not the easiest read.

I've actually tried to start reading it a couple times and just never could get into it.

 

 I also never have been able to get into the Lord of the Rings movies.  

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47 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

I've actually tried to start reading it a couple times and just never could get into it.

 

 I also never have been able to get into the Lord of the Rings movies.  

Pretty much the same with me. But It did find the movie about his life interesting. At least it gives you a glimpse of how and why he created the fantasy world that he did. Plus I thought they did a really good job with the time period involved.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'll probably finish The Two Towers within the next couple days.  I read the series in high school but as you all well know my reading comprehension sucks.

 

I started it a few years back, but a about halfway through The Fellowship I stopped for whatever reason.  Picked it back up last summer, then for whatever reason stopped again.  Picked it back up again a couple days before Christopher died, coincidentally.

 

I have probably read The Hobbit five times, counting the times I read it to my kids.  I always get super nostalgic reading it.

 

The Silmarillion was beyond me when I tried, but I am interested in trying again when I finish LOTR.  If I remember right it seemed like a lot of lists of a lot of names I couldn't pronounce.

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46 minutes ago, The Dude said:

The Silmarillian was beyond me when I tried, but I am interested in trying again when I finish LOTR.  If I remember right it seemed like a lot of lists of a lot of names I couldn't pronounce.

 

It is a LOT of narrative. I tried reading it as a teenager after The Hobbit & LOTR, but it was not for me back then. It got easier to read as an adult.

 

The stuff about Numenor is really good. Some dragon stuff that's really good. The story about Gondolin is pretty good. But the whole thing is pretty dark.

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On 1/29/2020 at 7:15 PM, knapplc said:

 

It is a LOT of narrative. I tried reading it as a teenager after The Hobbit & LOTR, but it was not for me back then. It got easier to read as an adult.

 

The stuff about Numenor is really good. Some dragon stuff that's really good. The story about Gondolin is pretty good. But the whole thing is pretty dark.

 

I got about 4 chapters left of LOTR, then hopefully I can find my copy of The Silmarillion.  I am interested in trying it again now.  Haven't been able to put down The Return of the King.

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I realized reading through LOTR again that there was a lot I forgot about from when I read it in high school, but I had no recollection of The Scouring of the Shire at all.  I wonder if I just got bored and skipped it before.  That chapter was so surreal and kind of seemed out of place for some reason.  I guess it was just a shock to the system to picture the Shire like that.  But it did bring closure to Sam's vision and box of soil from Lothlórien.  It's truly amazing how Tolkien was able to tie everything together. 

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3 hours ago, The Dude said:

I realized reading through LOTR again that there was a lot I forgot about from when I read it in high school, but I had no recollection of The Scouring of the Shire at all.  I wonder if I just got bored and skipped it before.  That chapter was so surreal and kind of seemed out of place for some reason.  I guess it was just a shock to the system to picture the Shire like that.  But it did bring closure to Sam's vision and box of soil from Lothlórien.  It's truly amazing how Tolkien was able to tie everything together. 

 

I read somewhere that there was a thought of leaving the Scouring of the Shire out because it was so different than the rest of the story. The Hobbits had changed so much they were fish out of water back home. Same with the Tom Bombadil chapter.

 

One chapter that was left out but is in Unfinished Tales is The Battle of the Fords of Isen, all about how Theoden's son Theodred dies. It's pretty good, and very reminiscent of the battles in The Silmarillion.

 

If you're interested in more of those kinds of stories, I'm pretty sure you could find Unfinished Tales in a used bookstore online.

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1 hour ago, knapplc said:

 

I read somewhere that there was a thought of leaving the Scouring of the Shire out because it was so different than the rest of the story. The Hobbits had changed so much they were fish out of water back home. Same with the Tom Bombadil chapter.

 

 

One chapter that was left out but is in Unfinished Tales is The Battle of the Fords of Isen, all about how Theoden's son Theodred dies. It's pretty good, and very reminiscent of the battles in The Silmarillion.

 

If you're interested in more of those kinds of stories, I'm pretty sure you could find Unfinished Tales in a used bookstore online.

 

Cool, thanks!

 

I thought the Tob Bombadil stuff fit the lighter tone of the early chapters well enough.  I suppose you could say you don't really get any payoff from that story though.  He remains an enigma.  I also do wonder about Gandalf's meeting with him at the end.

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