680 likes | 929 Views
Tolkien. Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de. http:// www. db-thueringen.de/ content/top/ index.xml. J.R.R. Tolkien . John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Tolkien the Philologist/Medievalist Tolkien the Catholic Tolkien the Poet and Storyteller Tolkien the Artist and Illustrator
E N D
Tolkien Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien • Tolkien the Philologist/Medievalist • Tolkien the Catholic • Tolkien the Poet and Storyteller • Tolkien the Artist and Illustrator • Tolkien the Family Man • Tolkien the Soldier • Tolkien the Icon of Popular Culture • etc.
Why a biographical approach? • the traditional literary critical tool-kit seems inadequate for dealing with Tolkien’s work • Tolkien’s literary works are ‘by-products’ of his passion for languages • Tolkien did not see himself as an author of fiction • Tolkien’s primary motivation for writing was personal pleasure (and that of his children and friends)
Main Works of Fiction • The Hobbit (1937) • The Lord of the Rings (1954-55) • The Silmarillion (1977)
Main Works of Tolkien Criticism • J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter (1977) • The Road to Middle-earth by Tom A. Shippey (1992, 3rd edition 2003)
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien • Born 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein (Orange Free State, South Africa) • Dies 2 September 1973 in Bournmouth (GB)
Tolkien’s Childhood • born 1892 in Bloemfontein • return to England in Spring 1895; father Arthur remains in South Africa • 1896 Arthur Tolkien dies • 1896-1900: Sarehole Mill (Birmingham)
Early Influences • being bitten by a tarantula in SA • Mabel Tolkien (neé Suffield) knows Latin, French, German and could paint, draw, and play the piano. • gamgee-tissue = a surgical tissue made from cotton wool (ater Dr Gamgee) • reads Andrew Lang’s Fairy TaleBooks:story of Sigurd who slew the dragon Fafnir
Early Influences 2 • being chased by a farmer for picking mushrooms • Atlantis dream: a great wave towering up and advancing ineluctably over the trees and green fields => drowning of Númenor • the unspoilt and pre-industrial landscape of Sarehole Mill => partial inspiration for The Shire
Early Influences 3 • 1900 Mabel Tolkien is received into the Catholic Church. • Moving house to Moseley, a Birmingham suburb. • Ronald begins to attend King Edward’s School • 1901 Move to King’s Heath. Names on coal-trucks: Natyglo, Senghenydd, Blaen-Rhondda => Ronald discovers Welsh
Early Influences 4 • 1902 Move to Edgbaston • St. Philip’s Grammar School • Birmingham Oratory; friendship with Father Francis Xavier Morgan • 1903 Ronald back to King Edward’s School => Greek, Shakespeare (Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill), Chaucer (Middle English)
Early Influences 5 • 1904 Mabel Tolkien is discovered to have diabetes; dies aged 34 => Ronald and Hilary left full orphans • 1905 the boys move to their Aunt Beatrice’s house. Father Francis Morgan is their guardian. • teachers: Robert Cary Gilson & medievalist Brewerton
Early Influences 6 • Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and Old Norse • Gothic
Gothic • BAGME BLOMA • Brunaim bairiπ Bairka bogumlaubans liubans liudanei,gilwagroni, glitmunjandei,fagrafahsa, liπulinπi,fraujinodei fairguni.
Gothic • FLOWER OF THE TREES • The birch bears fine leaves on shining boughs, it grows pale green and glittering, the flower of the trees in bloom, fair-haired and supple-limbed, the ruler of the mountain.
Early Influences 7 • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and other Middle English poems
Early Influences 8 • 1908 Tolkien brothers move to Mrs Faulkner’s house. Ronald meets Edith Bratt.
Influences 9 • 1909 Ronald and Edith decided that they were in love. • Autumn 1909: romance discovered by Father Francis Morgan. Further contact forbidden. They continue to see each other in secret. • Ronald fails to attain a scholarship for Oxford
Influences 10 • 1910 Ronald and Hilary move to new lodgings. Secret meetings discovered. Ban on all contact. • Edith Bratt moves to Cheltenham. • December: Ronald wins scholarship at Exeter College, Oxford.
Ronald and Edith • 1910 - 3 January 1913: Tolkien respects Father Francis ban on all communication with Edith. • 3 January 1913: Ronald writes to Edith and asks her to marry him. • 1914 Ronald and Edith engaged. • 1916 22 March Ronald and Edith are married.
age-difference (Ronald 16, Edith 19)difference in religiondifference in social background father figure (Father Francis) opposed to union separation ‘task’ to achieve age/racial difference (Beren mortal human, Luthien immortal elf) father (Thingol) opposed to union separation task to achieve Ronald & Edith / Beren & Luthien (Silmarillion)
Influences 11 • 1911 T.C.B.S. (Tea Club Barrovian Society < friends who meet at Barrow’s Stores) • Visit to Switzerland => Redhorn Pass
Tolkien at Oxford 1 • Autumn 1911-Summer 1915 • reads Classics, later switches to Germanic languages (Honours School of English Language and Literature) • extensive ‘club’ life • The Battle of the Eastern Field • Summer 1912: trains with a cavalry regiment => Tolkien was a good horseman