Which two women were responsible for getting Tolkien to finish writing The Hobbit in order to have it published?

Was it Mrs. Tolkien and Mrs. Unwin? :confused: Oh, I dunno :rolleyes:

Nice guess, Lindir, but it doesn't appear that those two ladies had that profound an effect on their respective husbands! :D I'm sorry, but finding this answer will take some researching in the biography.

Prosaic muses of the Shire
 

Elaine Griffiths, a friend and former pupil of Tolkien's and Susan Dagnall from the staff of George Allen and Unwin.

Right, Squatter, and we should be very thankful that they were friends, had the right connections, and were interested in Tolkien's story!

The Professorial Iconoclast
 

Which item of statuary did Tolkien often employ as a hat stand?

Fedoras by Michelangelo
 

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that Professor Tolkien was wont to hang his cap on a replica of the Statue of David.

Nice thought, but no
 

Good guess, but you want someone less biblical. The statue's in a place where Tolkien often had business.

I remember reading this tidbit, but haven't located it in the chapters of the biography that I've paged through. It seems to me that it was in a library, at one of the colleges. Can you give a clue that will help narrow down the search a bit?

A clue
 

This concerns the placement of Tolkien's own bust.

Ah, I finally found it, in Letter 288 - JRRT hung his hat on the Tsar of Russia's bust! I wonder if his own, in the Oxford English Faculty Library, is used similarly today?!

That's the one
 

Hardly anyone wears hats any more, so probably not. Maybe one day I'll do it, in revenge for the Czar's dignity.

Your turn, Estelyn.

In which seaside town did the Tolkien family spend a holiday that inspired one of his children's stories?

I'm guessing ...
 

... but was it the charming resort of Sidmouth?

Nice guess, Saucy, but unfortunately not the correct answer...

Was it the seaside town of Filey then?

That's the one, Mariska! Family events there prompted him to invent the story of Roverandom.

Edith had to sacrifice a lot to be Tolkien's wife, and life wasn't always that easy for her.
What did Tolkien call her, and how was she called by the wives of other Oxford professors?

Ronald Tolkien called Edith "little one". I could not find a particular nickname that the Oxford wives gave her, though Carpenter's biography does mention that they said that "Mr Tolkien's wife did not call". That refers to the custom of calling = visiting each other, with the leaving of cards in expectation of a return visit.

That was exactly what I was thinking of. Your turn, Estelyn! :)

Next question
 

Which of Tolkien's children was born while he was away during WWI?

That would be Tolkien's eldest child, John, born November 1917 and who now rests in the Wolvercote cemetary near JRR and Edith, if I am remembering correctly Squatter's Easter report of his second visit to the cemetary.

Correct, Bêthberry! Next one's yours...

Charge of the fright brigade
 

*catches the ball and throws it out again*

We are all aware of how much Tolkien loved language. Names were particularly important to him, not only their derivation but the giving of names as well.

What name did Tolkien give to his first car? And how did he drive it?

Bob?

While wearing a false moustache?

(I don't think I'm going to be very good at this game. . .)

"Bob" is a very fine name, Fordim, one that I particuarly like, but unfortunately--or fortunately, as the case may be--Tolkien did not share my enthusiasm for Bob.

And, no, Tolkien was not given to imitating Hercule Poirot.

Nevertheless, welcome to the thread, Fordim!

*throws the ball out again.*

Tolkien named the car "Jo", because of the first two signs on the license plate.
But how did he drove it??? Maybe with great care? Wearing a Panama hat? While smoking his pipe? I'm clueless on that one... :rolleyes:

Yes indeed the ignoble beast was named 'Jo.' And that being the main question, why, I shall answer the rest myself, seeing as Squatter is not here to fulminate upon vehicles of the combustible engine kind.

Carpenter claimed that 'Jo' knocked down part of a dry-stone wall on a trip to visit Hilary Tolkien. Edith apparently refused to ride in Jo after that.

But the report I found the most illuminating was Carpenter's claim that, in order to make his way through busy main streets and onto side streets in Oxford, Tolkien would plough into the intersection crying heroicly to Jo, "Charge 'em and they scatter!"

Rather Rohirric of him, don't you think? Oxfordians should perhaps be thankful he decided to give up ownership of automobiles.

The driver's seat is now yours, Mariska Greenleaf.

Thank you, BB!

What title did Tolkien himself prefer instead of "The return of the King", which according to him, gave it all away?

He preferred 'The War of the Ring' - I would agree that it would have been better.

So do I. The floor is yours, Estelyn!

Which dialect of Middle English was Tolkien's specialty in his linguistic studies?

I believe it was the West Midland dialect of Middle English, Estelyn.

Absolutely correct, Ms. Bêthberry! Your turn...

A 'gory story by any meaure
 

We likely are all aware of Tolkien's adamant denial in the Forward that LotR is an allegory. Yet, yet, in a draft of an undated letter, Tolkien does say what LotR is an allegory of.

What is that?

I believe Tolkien thought of it more as an allegory of the human race, saying:

But I'm nog sure since you are referring to the letters. Maybe you are looking for another answer...

You are correct, Mariska; I am looking for a different answer.

Tolkien uses the word allegory in his draft, first to deny what LotR is an allegory of. He then states what it is of.

There's two end prepositions, which I am proud of. :D

Ending a post with a preposition is something up with which I will not put!

Please Mr. Postman
 

A hint, a hint for an answer to come up with?

This was a letter written in the month of "shoures soote", in the mid-fifties, sent to someone who appears one time only to have been written to.

*nods to Fordim and Churchill*

.......Child comes dragging in from vacation with her copy of the Letters in one hand and Canterbury Tales in the other

Bethberry,

I'll take a shot at this. There is a letter dated 10 April 1958 (lots of nice showers then!) that was sent to C. Ouboter, a Rotterdam bookseller whom Tolkien had just visited. In this letter, Tolkien first says this:

But he then goes on to admit that , in rereading the book, he became "aware of the dominence of the theme of Death". He observes:

Is this what you had in mind?

~Child