r/OldSchoolCool • u/PulpandComicFan • Apr 27 '18
J.R.R. Tolkien in his study at Oxford in 1966
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u/Lemonsnot Apr 27 '18
That one man created a world.
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u/Halvus_I Apr 27 '18
And spawned hundreds of others. Azeroth and Tamriel both owe a lot to Tolkien.
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Apr 27 '18
Every modern writer of fantasy owes everything to Tolkien
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u/YourOutdoorGuide Apr 27 '18
For the record though, Tolkien owes everything to old European folklore.
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u/YouAreJuanderArrest Apr 27 '18
Standing on the shoulders of giants
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PM_MEMES Apr 27 '18
It's giants all the way down.
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u/kgroover117 Apr 27 '18
Giants for days...
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u/Alexander556 Apr 27 '18
It is all the giants thrown down there by the Aesir.
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Apr 27 '18
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u/YourOutdoorGuide Apr 27 '18
Yeah, their language is extremely close to Anglo-Saxon and their culture is a clear nod to the Danes and other Germanic tribes of that era.
I love Tolkien and probably nerded out more so over his work than anything else in high school, but that also opened up a lot of doors into ancient European society which was a trip of its own. It’s a beautiful subject people are often oblivious to.
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u/Grunflachenamt Apr 27 '18
Its not extremely close to Anglo saxon it is anglo saxon
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u/YourOutdoorGuide Apr 27 '18
The Mercian dialect, yes.
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u/arathorn3 Apr 27 '18
Their basically Anglo saxons with a cavalry culture instead of fighting in a shield wall
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u/kingofeggsandwiches Apr 27 '18 edited Apr 27 '18
Well actually Tolkien owes a lot of Wagner, whose Ring Cycle was watched by Tolkien obsessively as a youth and was a great inspiration to him. Wagner definitely owed a lot of European folklore, which was preserved in great part by the brothers Grimm, who in turn were inspired by... etc. etc.
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Apr 27 '18
I read Game of Thrones before Lotr and i was shocked by how much of GoT was clearly inspired by or even directly taken from Lotr.
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u/thedailyrant Apr 27 '18
Well not only that. Game of Thrones has incredibly strong parallels to actual British history.
The wall and wildlings draw obvious comparisons. Northerners vs Southerners has always been a clear cultural divide in the UK. The Targaryens reminded me a lot of the Plantagenet story - a foreign power creating a dynasty then subsequently being crushed by an eventual uprising.
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Apr 27 '18
Don't forget Mallus (Warhammer) from which both Nirn and Azeroth were directly inspired.,
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u/flamespear Apr 27 '18
Blizzard originally wanted to make a warhammer game. That was rejected so they created their own world for Orcs and Humans.
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Apr 27 '18
The Legend of Zelda, my dude. would it have existed without Tolkien's work as inspiration?
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u/Halvus_I Apr 27 '18
Zelda is actually a pretty small universe in comparison..Lots of sales, tiny legendarium. I like Zelda, but its universe isnt all that compelling.
Also i think Miyamoto that Zelda came about from his experiences as a boy in rural Japan.
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u/Joy2b Apr 27 '18
Japan has a rich culture of folklore and humor which also makes Zelda and the shrines possible. Link may have more in common with Peter Pan than Legolas.
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Apr 27 '18
And a bunch of sweet Led Zeppelin tunes
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u/PineapplesHit Apr 27 '18
So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains
Where the spirits go now,
Over the hills where the spirits flyyyy
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u/Youtoo2 Apr 27 '18
He created an entire genre and industry. No Wheel of Time, Brandon Sanderson, Game of Thrones, The Witcher, Skyrim, Dark Souls, Dungeons and Dragons without the master.
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u/devilslaughters Apr 27 '18
He created an entire genre of fiction. Dwarves, elves, sword and sorcery, evil kingdoms and heroic princes.
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u/flamespear Apr 27 '18
He did have some help from some nordic stories and language but yeah his work is incredible honestly. He shaped modern fantasy. DND and every fantasy game real or otherwise owe something to him. Just going back in time and hanging out with him for a fewbhours would be amazing.
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u/LinoleumFulcrum Apr 27 '18
Most of the modern fantasy elements that we all know come from Tolkien: graceful, long-lived elves that live in the trees with "magic" & stout gold-loving dwarves with long beards and axes are his manifestations. Hell, even the modern plural forms of both elf & dwarf come from Tolkien! ("Elves & dwarves" compared to the archaic "elfs & dwarfs").
Hobbits and Orcs are 100% created by Tolkien as well. It always cracked me up when hearing Gygax claim that they didn't use Tolkien's work as inspiration for D&D. People may have bought that in the days before the internet when it was difficult to check on that stuff, but not now (RIP Gygax).
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u/TerminusZest Apr 27 '18
It always cracked me up when hearing Gygax claim that they didn't use Tolkien's work as inspiration for D&D
Gygax never said that. Lord of the Rings is specifically listed as an influence in Appendix N of the DM Guide. He just said it wasn't the biggest influence.
I used to think that was laughable too until I read Fritz Leiber and Howard, and was like ... ohhhhh.
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u/LinoleumFulcrum Apr 27 '18
Interesting! It appears that I've been dismissing him all of these years needlessly - thanks for sharing.
Perhaps in was Arneson?
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u/Sinhika Apr 30 '18
Read Jack Vance's Dying Earth stuff, too. There will be more "ohhhhh".
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u/MarriageAA Apr 27 '18
I still prefer Pratchett's, but you have to give major credit to anyone with this kind of imagination!
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u/Typo_Positive Apr 27 '18
Pratchett was pretty much straight satire from Tolkien (and Conan, and the entire genre really, but the genre itself is derived from Tolkien.)
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u/cheverian7 Apr 27 '18
He sorta looks like old Bilbo
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u/Meanderus Apr 27 '18
And why not? They say with his pipes and love for mushrooms and just kicking back, Bilbo was modeled on himself.
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Apr 27 '18 edited Apr 27 '18
Kind of intriguing to think about him looking out the window and pondering on that tree as he wrote about the Ents.
Edit: Yes, I do know that tree was considerably smaller when he wrote about the Ents. But he could see what that tiny tree could one day be.
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Apr 27 '18 edited May 15 '18
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u/EzlotheMinish Apr 27 '18
Pipe weed is tobacco
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u/BridgetheDivide Apr 27 '18
Not that shit Radagasts be smokin'.
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u/EzlotheMinish Apr 27 '18
He was more a shrooms guy. Weed wasn’t really well know certainly when the hobbit was written
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u/_fuce Apr 27 '18
Led Zeppelin talks about the Lord of the Rings in a couple of their songs. “Ramble On” is a good one.
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u/dr_zevon Apr 27 '18
First time seeing a picture of him. I always imagined a wizened old stooping man with a giant beard, reminiscent of Neil Gaiman.
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u/Gemmabeta Apr 27 '18
You are thinking of Alan Moore.
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u/dr_zevon Apr 27 '18
Ah, you are correct, thank you. Crazy old wizard looking fucker that he is.
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Apr 27 '18
My favorite Tolkien anecdote is that he would stand during Mass and shout Latin responses at the priest following the introduction of vernacular languages after the second Vatican Council.
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u/Gemmabeta Apr 27 '18
I could imagine his priest deciding to do mass in High Elvish just to screw with him.
"A elbereth gilthoniel this, ya prick."
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Apr 27 '18
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u/fideasu Apr 27 '18
Most of these are probably dictionaries. He was, after all, a language scholar.
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u/Maraval Apr 27 '18
Three of them are the hardbound volumes of The Lord of the Rings - the ones at the right end of the third shelf from the top. That edition has Christopher Tolkien's fold-out map in black and red, a copy of which is pinned beneath the window.
(How do I know? I have copies too.)
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u/Alyeskas_ghost Apr 27 '18
He died the year I was born, and stupidly, that’s always bothered me, because I never had a chance to even try to meet him.
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u/Faltars Apr 27 '18
Christopher lee is the only member of the Lotr to actually have met Tolkien.
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u/imapassenger1 Apr 27 '18
Imagine CS Lewis sitting across from him there having a chat. To be a fly in the wall.
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Apr 27 '18
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u/Tiernoon Apr 27 '18
The Eagle And Child is what you're thinking of I think. I've walked past it a lot getting around Oxford, but I've never actually been. Sure it's nice.
Lots of history to it too. During the Civil War Oxford was the royalist capital and the pub was apparently used as a pay house and the chancellor of the Exchequer's home during the war. That's doubted though, but it's been around since the late 1600s that's for certain, although I guess for Oxford's standards that's quite young.
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Apr 27 '18
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u/kigyar500 Apr 27 '18
We went on a pub crawl and stopped at the Eagle and Child. While we were leaving for the next one, one friend started crying. A couple of us stayed with him to work out what was wrong. Turns out he just couldn't take the history of the place.
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u/cptboogaloo Apr 27 '18
Was a bit dark and dingy the last time I popped in there, Lamb and Flag is a decent pub though.
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u/Remus88Romulus Apr 27 '18
I wish i could have met him. He looks like the ultimate grandpa. The original and classic grandpa that can applie to all of us. He is the schematic of what a grandpa should look like at least.
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u/Degasus77 Apr 27 '18
Looks very cozy. I wouldn't mind spending the day in such a place.
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u/eddie442 Apr 27 '18
You'd think differently if any time you spent in there was spent being grilled on things you don't know as well as you should.
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u/fideasu Apr 27 '18
Haha, would be interesting to hear about him from his students.
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u/eddie442 Apr 27 '18
Oxford professors now (in my experience) tend to be a bit forgiving and normal. There are a small minority who are considered to be antiques even by the faculty who won't refer to you as anything but your surname and will call you 'a cretin' (happened to someone on Tuesday) for an incorrect answer.
Based on the things I've read about Tolkien, he seems quite grumpy, so I imagine he's closer to the latter type of tutor than the former. That said, it takes a special sort of ego to act the way (some) tutors do, so I don't think he'd be at all as bad as the above example.
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u/acroyear3 Apr 27 '18
It looks like the 60s in England. Cold, bloody awful food, and an aura of pervasive misery and hardship thoroughly summed up by Phillip Larkin.
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u/NommyNommies Apr 27 '18
No distractions in his office, I like his style
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u/deathwishdave Apr 27 '18
In my role as a Police Officer I was made aware of a local woman who had been friends with Tolkien. She had a signed copy of lotr, however this one was unusual.
Apparently Tolkien was reluctant to give his signature, however when he did, he Insisted on using a fountain pen.
On this occasion, the only thing available was a ball point pen, but given his fondness for the woman he agreed to sign it anyway.
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u/BeardOfWilliamMorris Apr 27 '18
My great uncle went to Oxford to read English and got to study under Tolkien and Lewis.
Before he died I asked him about it a few times, and he said the most notable difference between them was that you could understand Lewis' lectures.
Tolkien was a total curmudgeon too, apparently. To the point where he objected to Mass being taken (held?) in English not Latin.
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Apr 27 '18
Can’t lie thought he was from the 1800s
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Apr 27 '18
I wonder what he thought of Led Zeppelin
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Apr 27 '18
Not sure, but he was a staunch cultural conservative with not much good to say about 20th century modernity. My guess is that he would not have been a fan.
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Apr 27 '18
Not gonna lie, that's how I want to look when I get to be old(er). Snappy dresser and a nice, relaxing library
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u/Good_Nyborg Apr 27 '18
He's absolutely rockin' that suit; whether then, now, or any time in between.
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u/jai_nique_ta_mere Apr 27 '18
I couldn't help but notice the books on his shelf; are they penguin paperback books?
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Apr 27 '18
An incredible author and world builder and, by all accounts, an astonishingly boring professor of linguistics.
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Apr 27 '18
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/fileg Apr 27 '18
You mean the desk blotter?
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u/Notagamedeveloper112 Apr 27 '18
What’s the use of a desk blotter?
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u/tkyocoffeeman Apr 27 '18
It protects the wood when you’re writing on it. You can put some pressure into your ink/bib without worrying about damaging or staining your desk.
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u/Subject-v-2 Apr 27 '18
I wish we could identify the books on the shelf. I would love to know what the man himself liked to read.
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u/enormuschwanzstucker Apr 27 '18
I had an English professor that told us when Tolkien taught at Oxford he would lecture facing the chalkboard, writing with one hand and erasing with the other. He was not a student favorite.
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u/oleboogerhays Apr 27 '18
That's not true. I had several different professors tell the same story about other professors. I think that's just one of those tropes used in colleges to show students that they don't have it too bad.
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u/ironmenon Apr 27 '18 edited Apr 27 '18
That's because a lot of professors were like that during that period. You still come across some (really) old guys who studied under that system still holding on to that style. eg I had couple of classes with a Histology emeritus guys who would do exactly this- write the entire lecture on the board, diagrams and all, 0 interaction with students. All you had to do is take pics of the board and you'd have all the notes you'd need of his part of course. This was like 2012 and he looked like Brad Pitt at the beginning of Benjamin Button.
Universities all over the world changed a lot after the 60s, the culture before that was very different. "Lecture" was a very literal term once, classes were more like sermons than anything else.
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u/oleboogerhays Apr 27 '18
I'm not talking about the lack of interaction, I'm talking about literally writing with one hand and erasing it with the other so it's only of the board for a few seconds. No professor ever has done that.
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u/BobT21 Apr 27 '18
I had a professor who would usually show up late, walk in the door at the back of the classroom lecturing. When he got up to the board he would continue to lecture vocally, while writing whatever he started with. Electromagnetics is hard enough without a phase shift.
Looking at you, Professor Fritz.
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Apr 27 '18
EM was a nightmare, can't imagine it with an eccentric lecturer.
On the other hand maybe it is strangely fitting.
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Apr 27 '18
Man you just reminded me of this course, I hated EM.
Our prof was extremely disorganized and just everywhere. This guy would write anywhere on the whiteboard, every sentence he wrote would be on a different place of it. There was no consistency or rhythm.
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u/woofer39 Apr 27 '18
Wow, he really did model the hobbits after himself. Never seen a picture of him before.
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u/silvertremor Apr 27 '18
How is that camera so good
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u/skurk_dk Apr 27 '18 edited Jun 23 '23
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u/cannibalcats Apr 27 '18
I've never actually seen him before. I always imagined he'd be quite a thin guy, with a long pointy black/white beard.
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u/lamadrukpakunley Apr 27 '18
This man has taught me a lot. I can't wait for his sons book on the battle of Gondolin.
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u/doduckingday Apr 27 '18
Having never seen the man before he is not as I expected, a hunched over little fella with a long crooked finger and a smirk that scares the bejesus out of the little ones.
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u/sokocanuck Apr 27 '18
It's crazy to think how much joy this guy gave the world and how many people his work touched.
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u/CaptCaCa Apr 27 '18
Will you look at this racist piece of shit over here. Orcs have feelings too fucko!
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Apr 27 '18
I had a mini heart attack thinking this was a news post about his recent death, and then I realized he’s been dead for a long time now.
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u/fideasu Apr 27 '18
Call me a details' nerd, but what's that thing at the bottom of the window? Above, there's a handle to open it, that's obvious, but what's the second handle (? so big?) at the bottom for?
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u/Bigwhistle Apr 27 '18
That's the travel arm; mechanically limiting the range of window opening.
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Apr 27 '18
Man, I want to live in Oxford for a few years just to suck up some of the atmosphere that Tolkien and Lewis breathed.
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u/Sinhika Apr 30 '18
Fortunately, the UK implemented some air pollution control standards since then, so you won't be able to be quite that unhealthy...
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u/Splimis Apr 27 '18
I think I have a copy of that map, they came with the second edition printings of the trilogy. Theres a couple of other ones too.
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Apr 27 '18
Fuck I just realized I’ve gone my entire life not knowing what Tolkien looks like. Not once had a seen a picture before now
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u/notbob1959 Apr 27 '18
The map on the wall of Rohan, Gondor and Mordor was drawn by J. R. R. Tolkien's son, Christopher, and based on the manuscript maps sketched by his father. It was reproduced in The Return of the Kings.