Man behind the Mythology - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Bêthberry · 05-22-2004, 04:10 PM

Thank you, Mother Cami.

Well, here's a topic less literary and more pecuniary, although perhaps a bit obscure. Still, I think, it tells us something about the man.

Tolkien refused his University pension. Why, or, what did he do instead?
*dances off on that floor... in the best imitation of Tom*

Estelyn Telcontar · 05-23-2004, 10:46 AM

Obscure indeed - I've been searching in both the biography and the letters, unsuccessfully so far. Did it have something to do with the Merton fellowship? Some vague memory lurks at the back of my mind... Or was it because of his book earnings, which already put his taxes at a high level?

Bêthberry · 05-23-2004, 11:12 AM

Oh dear! I had hoped not to be that obscure. Where is Squatter and his great familliarity with the Letters?

The answer can be found in a letter in which Tolkien urges someone to accept a gift he sent in the form of a cheque. The letter would, of course, have been written after he retired from Oxford.

In this letter, Tolkien also talks about the progress of a certain book of poems, which was being illustrated by someone whose work he greatly admired.

Son of Númenor · 05-23-2004, 11:50 AM

"I receive as a septuagenarian a retirement pension, of which I feel it proper to give away at least what the Tax collectors leave in my hands (a National one, I mean: I refused the University pension, and took the lump sum and invested it in a trust managed by my bank) (Letters - 238)."

Quote:

*dances off on that floor... in the best imitation of Tom*

Heheh. That hint was a bit subtle.

Bêthberry · 05-23-2004, 01:20 PM

As subtle as "derry dol", my good Númenor.

You have invested your time in the Letters as wisely as Tolkien invested his pension. Pray, give us a fair rate of return on a surety of your own, and see what interest it gathers.

Son of Númenor · 05-24-2004, 08:00 AM

What exactly did J.R.R. Tolkien feel was his philological colleagues' reaction to his writing & publishing The Lord of the Rings?

Estelyn Telcontar · 05-24-2004, 09:27 AM

He said that they told him:

Quote:

Now we know what you have been doing all these years! Why the edition of this, and the commentary on that, and the grammars and glossaries, have all remained "promised" but unfinished. You have had your fun and you must now do some work.

05-22-2004, 04:10 PM	#1
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	Thank you, Mother Cami. Well, here's a topic less literary and more pecuniary, although perhaps a bit obscure. Still, I think, it tells us something about the man. Tolkien refused his University pension. Why, or, what did he do instead? dances off on that floor... in the best imitation of Tom __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

05-23-2004, 10:46 AM	#2
Estelyn Telcontar Princess of Skwerlz Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles) Posts: 7,500	Obscure indeed - I've been searching in both the biography and the letters, unsuccessfully so far. Did it have something to do with the Merton fellowship? Some vague memory lurks at the back of my mind... Or was it because of his book earnings, which already put his taxes at a high level? __________________ '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...'

05-23-2004, 11:12 AM	#3
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	Tolkien's generosity Oh dear! I had hoped not to be that obscure. Where is Squatter and his great familliarity with the Letters? The answer can be found in a letter in which Tolkien urges someone to accept a gift he sent in the form of a cheque. The letter would, of course, have been written after he retired from Oxford. In this letter, Tolkien also talks about the progress of a certain book of poems, which was being illustrated by someone whose work he greatly admired. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

05-23-2004, 01:20 PM	#5
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	a bankable note As subtle as "derry dol", my good Númenor. You have invested your time in the Letters as wisely as Tolkien invested his pension. Pray, give us a fair rate of return on a surety of your own, and see what interest it gathers. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

05-24-2004, 08:00 AM	#6
Son of Númenor A Shade of Westernesse Join Date: May 2004 Location: The last wave over Atalantë Posts: 515	Low interest rates What exactly did J.R.R. Tolkien feel was his philological colleagues' reaction to his writing & publishing The Lord of the Rings? __________________ "This miserable drizzling afternoon I have been reading up old military lecture-notes again:- and getting bored with them after an hour and a half. I have done some touches to my nonsense fairy language - to its improvement."