Christopher Tolkien notes
'On one of his copies of the First Edition my father wrote beside it: 'This Foreword I should wish very much in any case to cancel. Confusing (as it does) real personal matters with the 'machinery' of the Tale is a serious mistake.'" The Peoples of Middle-earth
I feel like I am misunderstanding Tolkien here, as I don't see the confusion in the original Foreword -- I mean not to question the man himself [which means I am], and obviously or arguably he should know best, but what lines
necessarily confuse the conceit?
To my mind Tolkien 'as translator' of parts of The Red Book can himself have children of course, be friends with Inklings and even comment on whether or not the present translation is a children's story or has been given the quality of one, subjective as that might be. And a translator can be in part author of the modern book, which can explain some modern references anyway, like a 'train' for example.
I think it's a bit fanciful to say that the Shire map was approved by Hobbits, but then again English speaking Hobbits who preserved knowledge of Westron and the Tengwar would go some way to explaining how Tolkien translated the original [if Elfwine's Old English translation of
The Silmarillion was 'out' of the picture for good]. Plus fanciful isn't bad. Are there Hobbits in Oxford? Why not. Perhaps they were rustic and 'wild', and shorter, than in days long past, but where did JRRT lay his hands on a copy of the Red Book in the first place?
Sorry if you [anyone reading this] don't have a way to read the original Foreword, but anyway, again I'm not sure if I'm understanding this correctly, or if I am, perhaps I'm straining too far to allow the conceit to be easily accepted...
... and Tolkien essentially agreed?
