Tolkien Estate blocks new Tolkien book

[Andsigil]

Something about this whole thing gives me the impression of the Tolkien Estate cutting off its nose to spite its face.

[Mister Underhill]

Bizarre is right, especially considering that the Facebook page for Wheelbarrows at Dawn says in a post dated 10/22/10 that "Chris Tolkien" was slated to attend the launch party. I wonder what eleventh hour dispute killed the book.

The Tolkien Estate has managed to cultivate a reputation -- deserved or not -- as a lumbering litigious behemoth obsessed with control, an irony which I'm sure is not lost on most Tolkien fans. I wonder if they're sensitive to that or if they're just too old and too wealthy to care.

Here's an old Downs thread about Hilary.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

Bizarre is right, especially considering that the Facebook page for Wheelbarrows at Dawn says in a post dated 10/22/10 that "Chris Tolkien" was slated to attend the launch party.

I suspect that refers to Hilary Tolkien's grandson Christopher rather than JRR's son. I'm sure I recently read a critic who distinguished between the two by calling JRR's son Christopher and Hilary's grandson Chris, but I cannot now recall the source. Here's a family tree on Wiki: Tolkien family tree.

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

I wonder what eleventh hour dispute killed the book.

The book had already been extensively rewritten in an attempt to accommodate the wishes of the Estate.

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

The Tolkien Estate has managed to cultivate a reputation -- deserved or not -- as a lumbering litigious behemoth obsessed with control, an irony which I'm sure is not lost on most Tolkien fans. I wonder if they're sensitive to that or if they're just too old and too wealthy to care.

It's really disheartening to recall that the Estate also rejected Professor Michael Drout's edition of Tolkien's translation of Beowulf. And they are sitting on Tolkien's private journal or diary, something scholarship would really benefit from seeing.

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

It dos seem a bit extreme especially when Gardener is such a mainstay of Oxonmoot and the TS which is proud and protective of its relationship with the surviving family.

Let me second this. Anyone who attended the session on this book at Oxonmoot this past September could not miss the genuine sincerity of the authors and their personal enthusiasm for the project. These are not fringe carbetbaggers using a cheap trick to hitch a ride on Tolkien's fame. Like other members of the Tolkien Society, they are exceptionally devoted fans of the author. If I am remembering correctly, they worked with Hilary's family on the book, which is based on a recently discovered stash of Hilary's family mementoes.

I have to say I'm very glad I attended this session, particularly in light of this news. I came away with a greater appreciation of the family relationships and some interesting information not in Carpenter's biography.

And in the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that after Oxonmoot I became friends with Angie Gardner on Facebook and am also friends there with Professor Drout, although I've not had any correspondence with them about their books.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Originally posted by Mithalwen
I have - and not only that version but I can't get the significance ..I remember whodunnit and how but nothing in the motive for libel.

Off topic, but...

In the movie Angela Lansbury is being sued by the (future) murder
victim for libel, AL's a romance novelist, and her daughter asks her
boyfriend if you can libel the dead. Of course the French detective
overhears her and she becomes a suspect.
(I was rewatching the movie this weekend).

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

I suspect that refers to Hilary Tolkien's grandson Christopher rather than JRR's son. I'm sure I recently read a critic who distinguished between the two by calling JRR's son Christopher and Hilary's grandson Chris, but I cannot now recall the source. Here's a family tree on Wiki: Tolkien family tree.

Thanks for the tree. How deliciously self-referential! That answers that, then.

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

It's really disheartening to recall that the Estate also rejected Professor Michael Drout's edition of Tolkien's translation of Beowulf. And they are sitting on Tolkien's private journal or diary, something scholarship would really benefit from seeing.

Lamentable indeed, though I imagine all of this will come to light sooner or later. Then again, none of us are getting any younger, are we?

That taste we had of Beowulf was particularly intriguing. I did a search to see if I could recall any of the particulars of the scuttling of the project. Ironically, the most detailed information I could find was right here on the Downs -- in fact Google is so swift that your post in this very thread, Bb, was near the top of the list. Anyway, I'm surprised that there hasn't been more of an outcry about Tolkien's work being kept under wraps. I suppose serious fans of both Tolkien and Beowulf comprise a relatively small demographic, but I would've expected some ongoing curiosity from Anglo-Saxon scholars at least.

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I really can't see how the estate can block the publication of Hilary's family reminiscences about Uncle Ronald (or whatever they called him) even if they now hate any aspect of JRRT's private life emerging into the public domain.

From what I can see, there are probably two main factors at play here that have nothing to do with the Estate actually having a winning legal case for blocking publication.

One is that the publisher (whose main operation seems to be running a specialty Tolkien bookstore whilst publishing the occasional Tolkien-related volume on the side -- I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) and the authors are all apparently dedicated Tolkienistas with at least some relationship with the family, a relationship I imagine they'd rather not sacrifice for the sake of a relatively obscure book.

And even if they weren't concerned about that, there's number two, which is the privilege of the very rich when it comes to the law. As davem mentioned upthread, the Estate has very deep pockets, and if you want to take them on in court you better have time and money of your own to spend, because they will find ways to make you work for it. An Estate with hundreds of millions of dollars versus a bookshop owner and a couple of authors, guess who's going to run out of money first?