Tolkien's Oxford Map

[Eledhwen]

This (http://users.ox.ac.uk/~tolksoc/TolkiensOxford/map.html) is a really useful link (if it works!) to a clickable map of Tolkien's Oxford.

[Starflower]

I have been lucky enough to actually visit Oxford, and there are plenty of information avaialble if you knwo where to ask. Of course there was the famous pub where the Inklings met, the colleges... it's a beautiful place and somehow fitting that Tolkien envisioned M-E while there.

[Neneithel]

I used to work in Oxford. A beautiful city! It was a lovely feeling to walk where he walked and think about what may have inspired him.

Neneithel

[Eledhwen]

I was in the Lamb and Flag yesterday (across the road from the Eagle and Child). I had read good reviews of it on the internet, but I am afraid I have to dispell those; maybe it's under new management. There is no cider from the wood (I had to drink Strongbow); the pub seems to major on Guinness. The top bar is newly light oak panelled with university plaques displayed. The food was pizzas and a range of easily microwaved dishes. A large Chestnut tree of several hundred years used to stand outside but has now been hewn down in a corporate panic attack. Apparently a tree fell down somewhere and killed someone, so tree surgeons have been sent round the city to certify the soundness of ancient trees, and because of our new American style 'sue them if they get it wrong' culture, many ancient but sound trees were also felled.

I finally forked out the poorly octopus required (six quid) to get into The Oxford Story. Very interesting facts and stories about famous Oxford people (as you trundle through on one of those sit-on rides); from the earliest days of the Uni, through executed archbishops, Bible translators, Nobel Prizewinners and literary giants; but GUESS WHO THEY MISSED OUT????! I couldn't believe it. No Tolkien! Not even CS Lewis. Only Alice got into the exhibition, falling down the rabbit hole (good news for Matrix fans, I suppose). I complained on the way out and by the weary reply, it seems like I wasn't the first. (the gift shop did have a Tolkien chess set and posters of the original Hobbit book cover, to give them their due). So be warned! If you are looking for Tolkien in Oxford, he is not in The Oxford Story.

[GuardianRanger]

Thanks all for the links.

I'm just about done with Carpenter's biography, and I wish I had these links before I started. It's great to see the locations discussed in the book.

Some day, I'll actually make it over there and check them out for myself.