The Adventures of Tolkien and Lewis?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Although I do wish the author had bothered to learn enough about Tolkien to know that he never went by "John." To his family he was "Ronald," to Lewis and other friends he was "Tollers". About as egregious as calling Lewis "Clive."

[Estelyn Telcontar]

William, I think that was part of the idea, using names that wouldn't give away their identity too quickly. And the Tolkien character comments on that somewhere.

edit: Again, it's important to remember that this is a work of fiction. In historical fiction, where real people become characters in a novel, changes and liberties with known facts are frequently used to heighten the dramatic effect and/or tighten up the storyline. A work of fantasy fiction should certainly not be judged by biographical standards, especially when it clearly states its intention to be fictional.

Oh, and I like the explanation that the story gives for the choice of "Jack" as Lewis' name!

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Although I do wish the author had bothered to learn enough about Tolkien to know that he never went by "John." To his family he was "Ronald," to Lewis and other friends he was "Tollers". About as egregious as calling Lewis "Clive."

Though to be fair, while if I see John Tolkien my first instinct is to think it refers to Father John, I have just been re-reading the letters and in no309 he says:

" But for myself I remained John. Ronald was for my near kin. My friends at school, Oxford and later have called me John (or occasionally John Ronald or J.Rsquared)..".

Of course that is contradicted by the notes that he signed few letters John and asks Rayner Unwin to call him Ronald in letter 334. And the fact that men of his generation in the public school / university environment especially would probably have used surnames /nicknames. Even in my day at a comprehensive decades later I can't recall the boys using christian names among themselves.

I am not accusing him of lying but names are a complex thing in Tolkien's world and it is often the case that certain names are for certain people / situations only and so it was perhaps for Tolkien. Having a four syllable first name myself I have given up trying to impose its use in it's entirety on everyone (though I mind a little if people shorten it without asking) but the resulting instant familiarity does seem a little hasty as Treebeard would say! Maybe my English stuffiness over names is a result of having lost the distinction between the polite and familiar forms of "you". When I lived in France you moved to first names quickly but to "tutoyer" someone was a significant mark of intimacy.

[davem]

Another novel with a Tolkien connection, Fire & Ice, is out next year - http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/22243

FIRE AND ICE introduces Magnus Jonson, an Iceland-born Boston-raised homicide detective seconded to the Icelandic police force after an attempt on his life by a drugs cartel in Boston. Magnus immediately becomes involved in a murder investigation after the body of a university professor is found at a summer house by a lake outside Reykjavík. Magnus discovers that two obsessive LORD OF THE RINGS fans, an Englishman and an American, have been negotiating to buy a previously undiscovered ancient saga from the professor – allegedly the saga on which Tolkien's masterpiece was based. Such a saga would be priceless without the Tolkien connection. With it, and with the possibility of the fabled actual ring existing, men could be driven to murder.

Obsessive Lord of the Rings fans driven to murder? huh! I get enough of that at home....

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Agh! Does anyone else sense a Da Vinci Code ripoff novel
(but hopefully not as silly as Dan Brown's stuff).
My theory is an albino did the dirty deed (MURDER!)

[Hakon]

This may be a bit off topic but if anyone wants to read a Da Vinci code like book, look up the author Phil Rickman. He is a British author that writes stuff similar to the Da Vinci code but better writing and no silly stuff like albino monks.

Anyway Fire & Ice does sound interesting and good.