The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

[Rían]

Hello, fellow Mooters!

Something came up last week that made me want to check something in "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien", and I ended up reading it for well over an hour. I hadn't read it for a long time, and I was struck anew at just how lovely they are - interesting, funny, moving, loving, and very personal.

I got the idea to start a thread on Letters - I don't think there ever was one, although individual letters have been discussed. I thought it might be cool to start on the date of the first letter, and flipped hopefully to the front, and ... the first letter was in October! (no day given) of 1914.

So here we are, 96 (!) years later, in October of 2010, and I would love to have a leisurely discussion, letter by letter, of this very interesting book, with my fellow Mooters There are 354 letters here, so sit back, get comfortable, pour a cup of tea (or whatever) and let's enjoy this wonderful man's letters together.

[Rían]

I woke up in the middle of the night with a thought - it might be fun to put a placeholder post here, and keep references to bits and pieces that we want to be able to find again - like do elves have pointy ears? or Balrogs wings?

(and did you know that Pippin's sister was suspected of ... murder?! )

So i'll put notes here by popular demand

[Rían]

Letter #1

I'm glad the first letter is to Edith Bratt, his lifelong love. It's a nice way to start off the Letters. He was 22 at the time, and after a long wait, was finally engaged to Edith.

He gives very decided opinions upon many people in his letters to close friends and family, and I get a kick out of his describing the Rector's wife as "really appalling!"

His love of reading shows up in this first letter, too, and this is certainly a common trait among many Mooters. I wish I could see the dusty college libraries of Oxford ... has anyone here seen them? Has anyone been to Exeter College?

And also here in this first letter is his love of writing, and his continual frustration with not having enough time to devote to this passion of his!

And finally, we see two more major themes of his life mentioned - friends and faith. Oh, to be a fly on the wall on those Inkling meetings! And what a devout man he was - he has so many - I don't know, I guess heartfelt thoughts on this subject.

Anyway, just a quick, simple little letter, but a nice one to start with.

[Valandil]

Rian - great idea! Let's see how this goes. I suspect we'll fly through some of the letters, and that others will practically need their own threads (which we can do ), and people will want to keep going back and commenting on them some more.

[Rían]

yes, good idea! Some letters are just 3 or 4 lines, while others are pages and pages.

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

(and did you know that Pippin's sister was suspected of ... murder?! )

Since she is unavailable to defend herself, I am compelled to speak in defense of Pearl Took, Pippin’s older sister, described in Letter 214 as Lalia (née Clayhanger) Took’s “clumsy attendant [who] let the heavy [wheel]chair run over the threshold and tipped Lalia down the flight of steps...” This happened when Pearl was about 27 years old, the year after Bilbo’s [in]famous birthday party, which Lalia “was prevented from attending ... by her great size and immobility”. Known alternately as “Lalia the Great” or less charitably as “Lalia the Fat”, she was so obese, she had to be wheeled about; and Pearl seems rather to have lost control of the wheelchair rather than to have been suspected of foul play. Upon her demise, Lalia’s son Ferumbras, second cousin to Pearl’s and Pippin’s father, became Thain, and “the displeasure … of the family was formally expressed by the exclusion of Pearl from the ceremony and feast;” but later, he gave her a pearl necklace: no doubt to indicate that he understood it was an accident (and not murder), but possibly because he lived to old bachelorhood because he could not “find anyone willing to occupy apartments in the Great Smials, under the rule of Lalia.”

This offstage event comes into play in LotR. Since Ferumbras was unable to find a wife because of his mother’s (apparently) odious disposition, when he died three years later he was without issue, and Pearl’s and Pippin’s father became Thain, giving Pippin considerable authority (as future Thain) when he rode off to the Tooklands to raise archers for the confrontation with Saruman’s ruffians.

(Just passing through…)

[EllethValatari]

Rian, what a great idea! I am just now re-reading through the letters-I make my weekly trip to a nearby coffee shop to sit and read along for about an hour or so-but taking notes this time around!

Letter 1-I am so amused by his different British idioms! What a sweet man to tell Edith, "I am such a pig to you." The words that made me smile the most in this letter were "I have to go...get filthy amongst dusty books." For the the rest of you book-lovers, does that not perfectly hint at what you love about reading?

[Rían]

Letter #2

Another short, sweet little letter to Edith -

AND -

The first mention of a Middle Earth name!

Originally Posted by JRRT

...and I read 'Earendel' which was well criticised.

Obviously his hearers had excellent taste

Apparently he first came across the word "Earendel" (note the different spelling to his later Eärniel - oops, I mean Eärendil ) during his language studies - it was in an Anglo-Saxon religious poem. He wrote about those lines:

Originally Posted by JRRT

I felt a curious thrill, as if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep. There was something very remote and strange and beautiful behind those words, if I could grasp it, far beyond ancient English.

And I feel that thrill, many years later, in many passages of his writing, as do many others here. What are some passages that move you the most? For me, the charge of Rohan always, ALWAYS brings me to tears. When I was reading LOTR to the kids, I had to stop there and hand the book to my husband - I simply could not read it aloud. Unfortunately, their age made the sight of Mommy crying more interesting than the passage, but still, they are all LOTR fans, and I hope will read it again and again in their adult years.

[EllethValatari]

I don't know that I have a favorite passage-there are so many precious, amazing moments it's hard to pick one out. I love all of his works.

I went to my book to look up this letter, and I didn't have any of it highlighted. Nothing in this one stirred my love for Tolkien. I guess I'll have to wait for Letter 3!

[Gwaimir Windgem]

My copy of the Letters are tucked away God-only-knows-where, so I probably won't be able to post much, but I'll certainly be keeping an eye on this.

[Rían]

Go ahead and start a post for letter 3 if you'd like, Elleth, or I'll do it in a day or two

Hope you find your book, Gwai!

[EllethValatari]

Letter 3

Another letter to Edith, and a very personal, descriptive one. It's very interesting to me the detail that goes into these letters to her; compared to the way others are written. She was truly dear to him.

The first thing that caught my eye in this letter was his mention of his poem 'Kortirion' (Kortirion Among the Trees). This is my all-time favorite Tolkien poem, and you should all read it. It is beautiful.

Tolkien is sending the poem to the Tea Club, Barrovian society. If you do not already know, this was a group of Tolkien and his friends at King Edward's School that met regularly at the Barrow stores - from which the group got its name.

Being the thoughtful British man he is, Tolkien first says that he owes the T.C.B.S. all long letters, and then apologizes to Edith for sending the poem to them first. Of course, he then goes on to say that hers is being sent later because hers is a careful ink copy. He addresses Edith as "little you."

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Oh, wow, the Tea Club is such a blast from the past, from when I was reading the Letters aeons ago. Yay!

[EllethValatari]

(this thread is lonely )

Letter 4

Another letter to his dear Edith. T says that he has been reading over his military lecture notes-I had no idea they gave lectures in the army! Typical Tolkien though; he's diligent enough to read over them! I love this letter because he again refers to his hobby in a smart, perfectly-phrased British way.
In letter 2, he described his actions as "getting filthy amongst books." Here, he says that he has done some touches to his "nonsense fairy language." Two words: humility and humor.

He goes on,

"I often long to work at it and don't let myself 'cause though I love it so it does seem such a mad hobby!"

Thank God he did let himself work at it every once in a while.

[Rían]

Thanks for your help keeping it up, Elleth I'm continuing with some medical issues that limit my time a lot ...

I completely agree with your assessment of the letter - humility and honor. And just that inner creativity bursting out of him.

[EllethValatari]

I'll try to keep it up each day At least until your time is less limited!

And I agree-that inner creativity that I lack completely!

[Rían]

oh, I don't know - you may not have it in the same form as JRRT did, but usually his fans are creative in their own ways.

[EllethValatari]

(I think I will post a letter every day, assuming I have time )

Letter 5

The first letter not addressed to Edith! His first 4 letters contain some of my favorite passages, but it's nice to see something new. This one is to G.B. Smith, one of the T.C.B.S members. Most of them are in the army now, and T has just received a letter informing his that Rob Gilson, one of the members, has been killed in action.

The letter mainly deals with Tolkien's affections for Gilson and appreciation for the T.C.B.S.

A very insightful sentence, T is writing about G's greatness:

"The greatness I meant was that of a great instrument in God's hands - a mover, a doer, even an achiever of great things, a beginner at the very least of large things."

When looked at more closely, "mover" fits strangely with "doers of great things" and "achievers of great things." A mover of great things? Is he making a reference to Aristotle's Metaphysics, where an "unmoved mover" is theorized?

T feels that the T.C.B.S. is ending-they are all going their separate ways. You can tell by the tone of his writing that he is very sad; not only about Gilson's death but their separation. He says that the council has provided a tremendous opening up of things for him:

"I have always laid that to the credit of the inspiration that even a few hours with the four always brought to us."

At the end of the letter, Tolkien says that he has told G. "drily just what I think." I'll add another H-word to the list:

Humor
Humility
Honesty

He literally put his mind on the paper, and gave a solemn account of their [the T.C.B.S] friendship. Without this friendship, Tolkien might not have discovered Middle Earth.

He ends the letter,

"Write to me when you get the ghost of a chance."

[EllethValatari]

Letter 6

This letter is addressed to Mrs. E.M. Wright, whose husband studied philology with Tolkien at Oxford. He had sent her his edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to edit.

T thanks her for the editing, and describes his "disastrous" Christmas. His wife, the maid, John and Michael all got the measles over Christmas, their vacation was ruined and T was the only one well enough to take care of them. In his own words, "[he] escaped." Tolkien ends the letter with greetings from his wife, but notes after his signature:

"Philology is making headway here. The proportion of 'language' students is very high. JRRT."


It's interesting how indifferent he seems in this last comment. We all know he was overjoyed by the increase in philologists.