This is a great quiz idea, Annunfuiniel! It took some searching to find the answer to your question, but skimming pages and pages of Carpenter's biography finally proved successful. Here's what he says about the background for the story of 'Mr Bliss':
Quote:
|
The purchase of a car in 1932 and Tolkien's subsequent mishaps while driving it led him to write another children's story, 'Mr Bliss'. This is the tale of a tall thin man who lives in a tall thin house, and who purchases a bright yellow automobile for five shillings, with remarkable consequences (and a number of collisions).
|
I haven't read that story yet; is anyone familiar with it?
__________________
'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth..
.'