Christopher Snyder - The Making of Middle-Earth

Frontispiece: A ca. 1890 photochrom of Magdalen College, Oxford, where J. R. R. Tolkien and his fellow Inklings would meet on Thursday evenings.

THE
MAKING OF

Middle-earth

A NEW LOOK INSIDE THE WORLD OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN

CHRISTOPHER SNYDER

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2013 by Christopher Snyder For photographic copyright information, please see picture credits at the end of the book.

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ISBN 978-1-4027-9222-9

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Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company:

Excerpts from THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright 1937 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd. Copyright 1966 by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright Renewed 1994 by Christopher R. Tolkien, John F.R. Tolkien and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien. Copyright Restored 1996 by the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien, assigned 1997 to the J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust.

Excerpts from THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright 1954, 1955, 1965, 1966 by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright Renewed 1982, 1983 by Christopher R. Tolkien, Michael H.R. Tolkien, John F.R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien. Copyright Renewed 1993, 1994 by Christopher R. Tolkien, Michael H.R. Tolkien, John F.R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien.

Excerpts from THE SILMARILLION, Second Edition by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Copyright 1977 by The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and Christopher Reuel Tolkien. Copyright 1981 by The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust. Copyright 1999 by Christopher Reuel Tolkien.

Excerpts from On Fairy-Stories from TREE AND LEAF by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright 1964 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd. Copyright Renewed 1992 by John F.R. Tolkien, Christopher R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien. Copyright 1988 by The Tolkien Trust.

Excerpts from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, from SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT, PEARL AND SIR ORFEO, translated by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright 1975 by The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust. Copyright 1975 by Christopher Reuel Tolkien,

Excerpts from English and Welsh and Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics from THE MONSTERS AND THE CRITICS AND OTHER ESSAYS by J.R.R. Tolkien. Copyright 1983 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executors of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Excerpts from THE CHILDREN OF HURIN by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Copyright 2007 by the J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and Christopher Reuel Tolkien

Excerpts from THE LETTERS OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN, edited by Humphrey Carpenter with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien. Copyright 1981 by George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd.

All rights reserved

J.R.R. Tolkien excerpts reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers (UK) The Trustees of The J.R.R. Tolkien 1967 Settlement 1954, 1955, 1966

C.S. Lewis: The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature; An Experiment in Criticism; and Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature Cambridge University Press 1964; 1961; and 1966 and 1998 respectively.

Quotes by C.S. Lewis in Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, Copyright 1977, 1978, 1987 by George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd.

C.S. Lewis excerpts reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (US) and HarperCollins Publishers (US and UK). All rights reserved: All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C.S. Lewis 19221927, Copyright 1991 C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd.; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Copyright 1952 by C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd, renewed 1980; Surprised by Joy, Copyright 1955 by C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd; The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, vol II, ed. by Walter Hooper, Copyright 2004 C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd; The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics, Copyright 2002 C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd; Letters of C.S. Lewis, revised ed., ed. by Walter Hooper, Copyright 1966 by W.H. Lewis; Copyright 1966, 1988 by C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd.

The making of things is in my heart from my own making by Thee.1

J. R. R. TOLKIEN, THE SILMARILLION, OF AUL AND YAVANNA, 1977

Unlike most medievalists I have met, I did not have an appreciation for Tolkien as a young reader. I fell in love with the Arthurian legends as a teenager, became a professional historian, and only discovered the genius of Tolkien later in life. I owe a debt to all the Tolkien enthusiasts I have met during these years; to Peter Jackson, for kindling the flames; and to my Oxford Honors students for helping me focus my thoughts for this book. Special thanks are due to the staff of the Bodleian Library, the University of Oxford; the Emerson G. Reinsch Library, Marymount University; the Mitchell Memorial Library, Mississippi State University; and to Tom Shippey and Walter Hooper, for their help and encouragement.

This book in its final form would not have been a reality without the efforts of Joelle Delbourgo, my agent; Barbara Berger, my diligent and enthusiastic editor at Sterling Publishing; and the Tolkien Estate and publishers, with special thanks to Cathleen Blackburn and Stuart Patterson. Illustrated books like this one are a team effort, and the bulk of the work in this area was done by Sterlings Michael Fragnito, Editorial Director; Elizabeth Mihaltse, Art Director, Trade Covers; Chris Thompson, Art Director; Rodman Neumann, Managing Editor; and Elana Mitchel, Manager, Digital Asset Services; with assistance from packager Laurie Dolphin at Authorscape, interior designer Amy Wahlfield, and cover designer the BookDesigners.

Lastly, I thank my daughter Carys for reading Tolkien (and watching the films) with me, and give my love to my wife Rene for never complaining about this newest obsession. And Professor Tolkien, in caelum observans, I beg your forgiveness for all errors herein.

The world has changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.2

GALADRIEL [CATE BLANCHETT] IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE MOVIE, 2001

MANY WHO HAVE READ the fictional works of J. R. R. Tolkien, or who have seen the trilogy of films made by Peter Jackson, would agree with the above sentiment of Galadriel. After our first encounter with Middleearth, our world does not quite feel the same. We cannot look at gently rolling hills without thinking of the Shire, cannot watch autumn leaves turning gold without recalling Lothlorien, while the call of seagulls over the waves carries our spirits into the West. Indeed, how many of us have looked hard into a mighty tree hoping to find the eyes of Treebeard peering out at us.