The World Honors Tolkien

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This thread is intended to house general articles about Tolkien, especially articles which detail honors bestowed upon him by "the outside world." For openers:

Lord of Valley Drive!

JRR TOLKIEN was honoured this week with the official unveiling of a commemorative plaque at 95 Valley Drive, acknowledging the time he spent at that address in Harrogate.

Tolkien, creator of the Lord of the Rings, recuperated in the town after contracting Trench Fever in 1917 following his participation in The Great War.

This plaque is to be the first of many following a partnership between the Harrogate Civic Society and the local council to reinstate a scheme to install informative plaques on buildings of particular historical interest in Harrogate.

Society chairman, Lilian Mina, said: "It is now over 20 years since the last batch of plaques was installed on prominent buildings in our town by the council and the Harrogate Society – forerunner of the present Harrogate Civic Society.

"Both we and the council are keen to extend the scheme, and so we have jointly selected a number of buildings whose importance we would like to explain by means of a commemorative plaque.

"The plaques will be paid for by a combination of the building owners, the Civic Society and a grant from the council's conservation department.
"We are sure this scheme will help to engender pride and interest in our town on the part of residents and visitors alike."

The first plaque, bearing the town crest and the subscription "Harrogate Civic Society", was unveiled at 95 Valley Drive by the Mayor of Harrogate, Coun Margaret-Ann de Courcey-Bayley, on Tuesday.

Also present at the ceremony were representatives from the developer, Fountainhead Ventures; Harrogate Borough Council and the Harrogate Civic Society.

Agreement has been reached for three further plaques at the Winter Garden in the Royal Baths; Grants Hotel and at the site of the original "Cold Bath".

Negotiations are well advanced for additional plaques to be installed at a number of other important locations in the town.

Source: http://www.harrogatetoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=17&ArticleID=887301

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Tuesday, November 23, 2004 Posted: 1503 GMT (2303 HKT)

The house is said to be "largely unaltered since Tolkien's time."

OXFORD, England (AP) -- The house where J.R.R. Tolkien wrote "The Hobbit" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is to be placed on a national list of historically significant buildings, city officials said Tuesday.

Full story at: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/11/23/tolkein.house.ap/

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24 November 2004

The house where JRR Tolkien wrote 'The Hobbit' and part of 'The Lord of the Rings' is to become a listed building.

The house, where Tolkien and his family lived from 1930 to 1947, is situated at 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford and was built in 1924.

Tolkien did his writing in the drawing room of the house.

The UK's Heritage Minister, Andrew McIntosh, said the decision was made on the basis of Tolkien's importance.

"Buildings are usually listed because of their fine architecture or unique design. But we can also give protection to buildings that have historical association with nationally important people or events. Professor Tolkien's house in Oxford is a fine example of this," McIntosh said.

The decision means that the building's preservation must be taken into account in the event of any redevelopment and any alteration to the house must preserve its character.


RELATED STORIES
Tolkien estate puts block on author, 08 February 2002
Tolkien archive to be auctioned, 16 November 2001

See article at: http://www.rte.ie/arts/2004/1124/tolkienjrr.html

Barley

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Dec 8 2004

David Williamson, Western Mail

A GREEK scholar is about to lead a fellowship of JRR Tolkien fans on a quest for the secrets of Middle Earth - in Cardiff.

Members of the public are invited to join a journey through the mythology, language and ideas at the heart of one of the most popular works in the English language.

The Cardiff University tutor, Dimitra Fimi, from Athens, is in the final stages of completing a doctorate on the author and will lead the course.

The explosion of interest in Tolkien's universe is forcing professors to acknowledge the storytelling power and the creative complexity of his works.

Dimitra said, "There was a lot of snobbery among academics. They would read it and like it but they wouldn't regard it as literature."
Times have changed, and authors such as JK Rowling are now accorded critical analysis.

She said, "With Harry Potter, the novels are not even finished but there are conferences about them in the States. This idea that whatever sells is not worth studying is being reversed."

Tracing the influences on Tolkien also involves studying the evolution of the novel.

"When he started he had no plan," she said. "The Lord of the Rings was an accident. It wasn't supposed to be written at all."

Tolkien's passion was the creation of a national mythology for England, not stories of diminutive adventurers with hairy feet. It was years before he appreciated the centrality of the hobbits to the saga.

She said, "Finally, he realises, 'You know what? Hobbits do have a place on Middle Earth after all. They are the little people who will save the world.' When he realises that the story just flows."

Complete article at http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=14954797&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=now-you-too-can-go-on-a--journey-to-middle-earth--starting-in-cardiff-name_page.html

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By Simon Evans, PA

A confidential letter written by Lord of the Rings creator JRR Tolkien telling of his “removal from Oxford” by press and fan attention sold today for nearly £1,200.

The author opened his heart in the letter penned on December 8, 1971, to a Miss Morley who had written to his new London address asking for work as a secretary.

Although the author turned down her speculative offer, he took pains to tell her about the less desirable aspects of his celebrity status.

“Since my removal from Oxford I have been provided with a secretary, at the above address, who deals with all my correspondence and business, and consults me by phone,” writes Tolkien in an apologetic refusal of Miss Morley’s services.

The letter, bought today by an American collector at Dominic Winter auction house in Swindon for £1,176, including buyer’s premium, then questions how the applicant obtained his new address: c/o George Allen & Unwin Ltd, Ruskin House, 40 Museum Street, London, WC1A 1LU.

Tolkien writes: “It was in order to have a private one (address) that I with regret left Oxford, to escape from intolerable persecution and invasion of my time and privacy (even at night.)”

He states that he “would be grateful if you treat your knowledge as confidential and if possible ask your informant to do so in future.”

Tolkien, who also notes his advancing years and his wife’s failing health, then explains: “This may seem absurd, but no-one who has experienced the ruthlessness of the press and certain kinds of fan would think so.”

Source: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3891541

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Fears grow for future of land on 'magical' Shropshire hill linked with Tolkien as seller refuses to lower price to suit wildlife trust's budget

Steven Morris
Thursday December 30, 2004
The Guardian

For generations, hikers have torn themselves away from their festive firesides at this time of year and tramped up through the beech and oak woods which flank the Wrekin hill to be rewarded by the wonderful views from its summit.

The Shropshire hill has some of the oldest rocks in the Midlands, and legends swirl around it as thickly as the mist that often cloaks its peak. Its ancient nature lulled many into the sense that it was the sort of place where things could never change.

Not so. The future of the hill, cited by some as an inspiration for Tolkien's Middle Earth, is uncertain after an area considered by many to be its prettiest part was divided into chunks and offered up for sale.

Complete article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1380703,00.html

Barley

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today, January 3rd, 2004, is The Great Man's 113th birthday! Raise a tankard of 1420! :D

Barley

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1:57pm (UK)

By Alex Thompson, PA

Fans of JRR Tolkien today welcomed the renaming of a city nature reserve used by the author as inspiration for his Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Millstream Project in Birmingham was renamed The Shire Country Park at an official ceremony held this morning in the same week Tolkien would have celebrated his 113th birthday.

Richard Crawshaw, a trustee of the Tolkien Society, said he hoped renaming the park was the first step towards creating a centre dedicated to the author.

The local community and key groups in the Hall Green area have lobbied long and hard for formal recognition for Tolkien and his association with the district.

Mr Crawshaw said: “This is a significant milestone.

“We have been wanting to have a Tolkien centre for many, many years as a physical base and a way of promoting our work of promoting Tolkien.

“The Shire Country Park is basically the first step along that route.”

He added: “Tolkien is one of the most significant authors certainly of the 20th Century and interest in Tolkien is still riding high.

“Being able to boast that sort of author as a one time resident of the city can only be good for Birmingham.”

The park, which links a four-mile, wooded walk along the River Cole and the Chinn Brook, includes Moseley Bog, now a site of special scientific interest, which was one of the author’s favourite childhood haunts.

In Tolkien’s books, The Shires are the Middle Earth home of the Bilbo Baggins and his fellow hobbits.

Tolkien, who was born in South Africa on January 3 1892, but who moved to Birmingham at the age of three, is credited with using actual places for his fictional locations.

Moseley Bog, dating from the Bronze Age, is thought to have inspired the “Old Forest” in the Lord of the Rings – the last of the primeval woods in which Tom Bombardil lived.

Sarehole Mill, near the former family home on Wake Green Road and now a museum, is viewed as being the “great mill” of The Shires.

The 96ft-high Perrot’s Folly and the nearby Waterworks Tower, in Edgbaston, are seen by many as the real-life counterparts of the Twin Towers of Gondor.

Source: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3964444

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Jan 7 2005

By Neil Connor, Birmingham Post


Campaigners are celebrating after securing funding to renovate an iconic Birmingham building which was the inspiration for JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

More than £70,000 will be spent on emergency repairs at Perrott's Folly on Waterworks Road following fears that the structure could topple over.

Campaigners set up the Perrott's Folly Company two years ago after the building was closed following safety concerns, but they are now aiming to open it as a tourist attraction.

Full story at http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=15050421&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=funding-secured-for-tolkien-s-inspiration-name_page.html

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Fantasy Writers attendingStan Nicholls, Mark Chadbourn, Sarah Ash, Chaz Brenchley, Juliet McKenna, and Jessica Rydill appear in Birmingham Submitted by: Sandy Auden
On: 09.03.2005

The sixth Tolkien Weekend will take place at Sarehole Mill, Birmingham, on Saturday and Sunday May 14 – 15 2005. It will be open from 11am to 5pm each day.

"The connection of Tolkien to the Sarehole Mill area," said Festival organiser Phil Benjamin-Coker, "is that he moved to the Gracewell Cottages (adjacent to the Mill) in 1896. Tolkien lived there for four years from age four to age eight and he said of his time there: 'Four years but the longest-seeming and most formative part of my life.'

"The Tolkien Weekend will feature poetry," said Benjamin-Coker, describing some of the events at the Festival. "We have poetry reading because Tolkien's Middle-earth, the whole concept, was born out of poetry. In 1914 Tolkien came across a group of Anglo-Saxon poems — the Crist of Cynewulf and the couplet:

Eala Earendel engla beorhtast
Ofer middangeard monnum sendad
(Hail Earendel brightest of angels / Above the middle-earth sent unto men).

"The name Earendel stuck in his mind and eventually led to him writing the poem The Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star. In 1917, while convalescing from Trench Fever, Tolkien started writing the Book of Lost Tales inspired by this earlier poem; from this came the entire idea of the Silmarillion, Middle-earth and ultimately the Lord of the Rings.

"Poets featured at the Festival this year will include the current Birmingham poet laureate, Don Barnard, and past laureates Brian Lewis, Roshan Doug, Roi Kwabena, Julie Boden and Simon Pitt. Other poets include Chris Morgan, Matt Nunn and Joel Lane and there will be readings from LOTR and either Sir Gawain or Beowulf.

"This year will feature science fiction and fantasy writers for the first time. The Write Fantastic authors appearing on the Saturday will be Sarah Ash, Stan Nicholls, Chaz Brenchley, Mark Chadbourn, Jessica Rydill and Juliet McKenna. They will talk about their work and its links to Tolkien. Stan Nicholls will appear on both days. Stan's Orc series has obvious associations with Tolkien's orcs and dwarves, and should prove very interesting to Tolkien fans.

"Other attractions include the working watermill with a miller…the Tolkien Society archives and display…Hall Green Library books and display plus Local Studies photos and local history information…bus tours from the Mill to the Two Towers at Edgbaston via Moseley, the Oratory and other Tolkien related sites…Waterstones bookshop…Games Workshop…Viking and mediaeval re-enactment groups…Shire Production's dramatisations from LOTR…Farmer's Market…craft stalls…archery…woodland craft demos…children's activities…miniature railway…craft workshops…henna rune tattooing…guided walks to Moseley Bog, the Cole Valley and Moseley School (Tolkien's brother Hilary was a pupil there)…Sindarin workshops…Wythall Radio (CB) talk worldwide to other Tolkien fans…storytelling sessions…etc. etc. etc."

Why have they included guided walks around the area? "We are exploring the area because of Tolkien's adventures here," said Benjamin-Coker. "The miller used to chase the children away from the Mill. He was known as the white ogre because he was covered in bone meal and he became the model for Ted Sandyman the miller in Lord of the Rings. Also, a local farmer chastised Tolkien and his playmates for stealing his mushrooms and was known as the black ogre - hence Frodo's fear of Farmer Maggot in LOTR chapter 'Short Cut To Mushrooms'.

"Close to the Mill is Moseley Bog (nature reserve) and this is probably the model for the Old Forest in LOTR; it was here that Tolkien began his love of trees. Then there's Sam Gamgee, who also owes his origins to this period of Tolkien's life; a local term for a particular type of cotton wool being gamgee, which was derived from Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee (a local doctor) who invented it. Tolkien then moved briefly to Kings Heath, which is close by; his home backed on to the railway where coal trucks trundled past on their way to the South Wales coalfields with their Welsh names; this was the start of Tolkien's love of Welsh on which he later based his elven language, Sindarin."

So for a weekend steeped in all things Orc, Elf and Tolkien, visit the sixth Tolkien Weekend at Sarehole Mill - situated in Hall Green near to the main A34 Stratford Road. Hall Green railway station is a 10 minute walk away.

For further information, checkout the Tolkien Society website or the Birmingham Local Authority pages .

Source: http://www.thealienonline.net/ao_030.asp?tid=1&scid=11&iid=2786

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Tosaanne writes that Josef Madlener's hitherto lost original painting that was the inspiration for Tolkien's Gandalf has been rediscovered. It will be auctioned by Sotheby's in London on 12 July 2005. You can check out the item, here.

Dr. Philip W. Errington, Department of Printed Books and Manuscripts, Sotheby's, wrote the following backgrounder on the item.

In his 1977 biography, Humphrey Carpenter recorded details of Tolkien's 1911 holiday in Switzerland:

"Before setting off on the return journey to England, Tolkien bought some picture postcards. Among them was a reproduction of a painting by a German artist, J. Madelener [sic]. It is called Der Berggeist, the mountain spirit, and it shows an old man sitting on a rock under a pine tree. He has a white beard and wears a wide-brimmed round hat and a long cloak. He is talking to a white fawn that is nuzzling his upturned hands, and he has a humorous but compassionate expression; there is a glimpse of rocky mountains in the distance. Tolkien preserved this postcard carefully, and long afterwards he wrote on the paper cover in which he kept it: 'Origin of Gandalf'."

Complete story at http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1119619683

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