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Lord of the Rings Books Media Movies Book Reviews

Tales From The Perilous Realm 246

Posted by timothy from the read-at-your-own-pleasure dept.
honestpuck writes "I find it surprising that with the current popularity of the The Lord of The Rings movies and subsequent rise in sales of the trilogy and The Hobbit that so few bookshops stock more of the Professor's other works. Fortunately this volume makes it easier. It puts four of his works in one, Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil Leaf By Niggle and Smith of Wootton Major." The first and fourth of these I've read elsewhere (and enjoyed), so I'm glad to learn of the other two. Read on for honestpuck's capsule description of each.
Tales From The Perilous Realm
author J.R.R. Tolkein
pages 192
publisher Harper Collins
rating 9
reviewer Tony Williams
ISBN 0261103431
summary Excellent short stories and poetry from a master story-tellet

Farmer Giles of Ham

This is a marvelous tale of a reluctant, and accidental, hero and a dragon who doesn't quite live up to the stereotype. The style is a little old fashioned, making it seem more like the fairy tales of your childhood than even The Hobbit, with a dry sense of humour. That said, it also seems to be the hardest for a child to enjoy (my sample size is only two, however), though personally I liked it when I first read it and enjoy it still.. It is the longest of the four works and by far the earliest written and published, 1949.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

The Adventures is a collection of 16 assorted poems, most are either partially quoted or referred to in The Lord Of The Rings. The poems are a mixed bag, ranging from the short and amusing "Oliphaunt" through to the more adult and wistful "The Last Ship" that closes the collection. All are enjoyable for the adult reader, some enjoyable for children. Iâ(TM)ve never really liked Tolkienâ(TM)s verse when he tries to be serious, in this collection I only really like "Oliphaunt."

Leaf By Niggle

The shortest of the three stories, in this one Niggle, whose dreams far outweigh his talent, sets out to paint the perfect tree and is caught up in his own variation of the Pygmalion myth (though it is a tree that comes to life.) It is a marvelously written tale that unfolds beautifully.

Smith of Wootton Major

My favourite of them all, a tale in which Smith voyages to the land of the faeries via a magical cake. Another story that revolves around the dreams and fantasies in a life. This one is a perfect fairy tale and perfect for reading aloud to a small person, full of magic and charm and whimsy it brings to mind everything I loved about The Hobbit.

Conclusion

While the three tales and 16 poems all have their differences there is certainly a distinctive style across them all. Just a little old-fashioned, a little formal - in fact almost exactly how you'd expect an Oxford Professor to write fiction. This volume is worth reading, and an enjoyable read but does not quite have the magnificence of language in The Lord of The Rings nor the wonderful light touch of well-crafted children's tale in The Hobbit. They are good short pieces, that sort of excellence is hard to craft into such short works.

Anyone who enjoyed The Hobbit will find this a wonderful volume. Tolkein always talked of writing both The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings as a way of creating truly English myth and fairy tales (he felt that Arthur was too much a tale borrowed from the French). While both of those 'grew in the telling,' this small volume gives us three marvelous (and English in feel) fairy tales and some good poetry. A must for all Tolkein fans.

Tales from the Perilous Realm is harder to find than Tolkein's better-known works, but is available from online merchants including Amazon. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
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Tales From The Perilous Realm

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  • Who's Tom Bombadill? (Score:5, Funny)

    by MoxCamel ( 20484 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:34PM (#6132905)
    Sorry, just watched the DVD again, didn't see him. Anything other than the movie just isn't canon. :P
    • Think of a Jesus Christ figure prancing through the woods with golden curls who defeats his enemies through song... then you have Tom Bombadill. Truly, a king among middle earth men. :D

      • Re:He is your personal jesus christ (Score:5, Funny)

        by L. VeGas ( 580015 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:55PM (#6133103) Homepage Journal
        Think of a Jesus Christ figure prancing through the woods with golden curls who defeats his enemies through song.

        There actually are scenes with him (played by Richard Simmons) in the extended version available on DVD. They had to cut them because he kept bursting into tears.
      • He's the section of the book where you skip and rather than lose something of the story, it adds to it. Just like the songs and poems in there. Tolkien's books really need a 'good parts version'. ;)
      • I wouldn't put him in the class of men. I believe that he is treated more as a spirit from the first age though his origins are a bit cloudy.

        • Tom raises several issues (Score:4, Insightful)

          by arcite ( 661011 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:26PM (#6133385)
          When I read this odd section of the book I always find Tom to be a rather creepy character. He seems to eminate power and is able to see into the future, yet he chooses to pacify his enemies though the most gentle of means (by singing!). As mysteriously as he appears, he is quickly forgotten and plays no other important part in the book. He is somehow 'above' the petty, earthly issues of the dark lord and the one ring and sees no reason to alter the forseen course that history will take. I suppose like so many other characters in LotR, Tom is an idealized figure, whose actions are constrained by the nature of his being. Otherwise, why would he not just prance down to Mordor and sing a little toon for Sauron? :D One wonders what Lucas would have done with Tom... CGI extravaganza showdown with Sauron! Bullet time anyone??? :::shudder:::

          • Re:Tom raises several issues (Score:5, Insightful)

            by magarity ( 164372 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:43PM (#6133526)
            He is somehow 'above' the petty, earthly issues of the dark lord and the one ring

            This is because he is a Druidic figure who believes in balance between good and evil. Unlike the good guys who want to do away with evil and the bad guys who want to do away with good. Instead, Tom sees that the fight is pretty well balanced (despite an advantage on paper for the evil side). After all, good and bad can't exist without the other to compare against.
            • Unlike the good guys who want to do away with evil and the bad guys who want to do away with good.

              The bad guys don't want to do away with good, they're just looking for unlimited power and control over good (much like the RIAA).
              That, and cheap labor for their smelters.

            • That doesn't sound like Tolkien. For one thing, that world-view is dualistic, not Christian. Tolkien was, you'll remember, a devout Catholic. Although some Christians are dualists (in that sense, not the idealist/dualist/materialist sense), I believe that Tolkien was too intelligent for that. His good friend Lewis certainly was.

              After all, good and bad can't exist without the other to compare against.

              Not so. Good exists; in fact, God is (cf. Moses & the burning bush...). Evil is simply the re


        • I wouldn't put him in the class of men.

          so richard simmons would be a perfect fit!

          Ha! I kill me. Dial 10-10-220
    • Why, he's one of the Lords of the Rhymes [lordsoftherhymes.com]. Word!

    • He's better known as Tim Benzedrine [amazon.com].
      • Bored of the Rings is great, but I really wish that they had republished the original illustrations in the new edition. I really miss them. I also wish that I could find my copy (bought in 1977 or 1978) with the pictures. Envision the sheepriders...

    • Re:Who's Tom Bombadill? (Score:5, Informative)

      by mbogosian ( 537034 ) <matt@@@arenaunlimited...com> on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:20PM (#6133322) Homepage
      Who's Tom Bombadil?

      Gene Hargrove [unt.edu] has one answer [unt.edu], but it will only make sense if you've at least read the Lord of the Rings.

      • Re:Who's Tom Bombadill? (Score:5, Informative)

        by mbogosian ( 537034 ) <matt@@@arenaunlimited...com> on Friday June 06, 2003 @02:08PM (#6133714) Homepage
        Steuard Jensen has a differing opinion [slimy.com]. Both Hargrove's and Jensen's essays are referenced in the The Encyclopedia of Arda entry [glyphweb.com].

        From William D. B. Loos' essay [cro.net]:

        As to Tom's nature, there are several schools of thought.

        He was a Maia (the most common notion). The reasoning here is plain: given the Middle-earth cast of characters as we know it, this is the most convenient pigeonhole in which to place him (and Goldberry as well) (most of the other individuals in The Lord of the Rings with "mysterious" origins: Gandalf, Sauron, Wizards, and Balrogs did in fact turn out to be Maiar).

        He was IlÃvatar. The only support for this notion is on theological grounds: some have interpreted Goldberry's statement to Frodo (F: "Who is Tom Bombadil?" G: "He is.") as a form of the Christian "I am that am", which really could suggest the Creator. Tolkien rejected this interpretation quite firmly.

        T.A. Shippey (in The         Road to Middle-earth) and others have suggested that Tom is a one-of-a-kind type. This notion received indirect support from Tolkien himself....

        For the ill-informed conspiracy theorists out there, you might wish to read this [flyingmoose.org].

        And for those of you who say that public schools aren't turning out good work, you may wish to visit a less meticulous analysis [dpsk12.org] (author unknown) from DPS.
    • I have it on good authority that he later changed his name to John Galt.

    • Seriously, Tom Bombadill == Väinämöinen (Score:5, Interesting)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @03:13PM (#6134196) Homepage Journal
      Or at least Tolkien must have been aware of the similarities with this hero of the Finnish Kalevala when he was writing his poems. The Kalevala wizards employed a style of magic much like Bombadil's. The Bombadil poems read, unfortunately, like a rather watered down and less earthy copy of the orginal.

      I think it's probably significant that the Bombadil chapters occur so early in LotR, when Tolkien was casting about for a theme. He was trying to create a new English folkore, and the Kalevala was an obvious model, having virtually redefined the Finnish national identity when it was published. The Bombadil chapters of LotR just feel like an unsuccessful graft from a different story. Indeed while with some effort Tolkien managed to accomodate Bombadil in his world by giving him an unique role in it, he rather ignores Goldberry, whose nature is equally problematic.

      The simplest answer is that they both belong to a different story, one that Tolkien thought he might be writing before he found his own voice in Rivendell.

  • Probably because of Chris's publications (Score:5, Informative)

    by Vinnie_333 ( 575483 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:35PM (#6132926)
    I think the reluctance of shops to stock Prof Toliens other material is because of the constant issues of his dad's notes and half finished tales that Christopher Tolkien dished out for so many years. I think the LotR is brilliant, but I haven't got time to read through anyones 'works in progress'.

    • Christopher Tolkien's "History of Middle-Earth" (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:49PM (#6133060)
      Serious Tolkien readeres will probably be interested in Christopher Tolkien's "History of Middle-Earth" and the other publications which have been released.

      Everyone else probably will have comparatively little use for them. If you haven't read the "Silmarillion", I wouldn't even bother picking them up; on the other hand, if you want a "first-hand" look at how the Lord of the Rings was constructed, "The History of Middle-Earth" is very insightful (and will give you a lot of extra-geeky trivia to throw around).

      I have read "Smith of Wotton Major" and "Farmer Giles of Ham", and to throw in my two bits I think they're both wonderful stories. "Farmer" is at times outright hilarious, as the above reviewer indicates the humor is dry; I found it thoughly entertaining.

      "Smith" is another matter. I think it's a wonderful story, too, but it's a "fey-story" in the old sense, which means it's actually a little creepy at times. I loved it as a child, but found it a little disturbing. Recently reading it (~8 months ago) I thought it absolutely beautiful, and decidely bittersweet.

      Another story not in this collection that's very recommended for both whimsical adults and any child is "Roverandom", which is a wonderful fantasy about a lost toy dog who ends up in the company of wizards...

  • inga tengwa (Score:5, Funny)

    by Stargoat ( 658863 ) <stargoat@gmail.com> on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:36PM (#6132934) Journal
    First post, in Elvish.

  • Why surprised? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Chris_Stankowitz ( 612232 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:38PM (#6132952)
    Its the fact that LoTR series has been made into Motion Pictures that is rasing the sales of the books. Maybe if some of his other works were made into TV series (not sure how well that would work) or also motion pics then his other works would sell.

    It should be noted though that the sales of his other books have risen. They obviously just havn't sold as much as the LoTR series.

  • It's all about punctuation (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Torgo's Pizza ( 547926 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:40PM (#6132976) Homepage Journal
    The Adventures of Tom Bombadil Leaf By Niggle and Smith of Wootton Major

    Did anyone else read this as just a very long title? Goes to show that commas still have importance in the English language.

    • The big problem is the fact that the "and" is emphasized. If it were

      The Adventures of Tom Bombadil Leaf By Niggle and Smith of Wootton Major

      you'd have parsed it correctly (though, yes, while one doesn't always have to put a comma after the penultimate item in a series, when the series is of phrases or clauses, especially titles, one should).

      • Re:It's all about punctuation (Score:4, Informative)

        by Earlybird ( 56426 ) <slashdotNO@SPAMpurefiction.net> on Friday June 06, 2003 @02:21PM (#6133805) Homepage
        The big problem is the fact that the "and" is emphasized.

        No, the big problem is that it's incorrectly written and typeset.

        Not only is there a comma missing after "Bombadil", the titles are not emphasized correctly. Quotation marks or emphasis should be used to clearly demarcate the titles. Since the story text itself is in italics, the titles should be in roman (ie., upright) type to set them apart. The correct formatting and grammar, therefore, would be:

        • "... It puts four of his works in one, Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Leaf By Niggle and Smith of Wootton Major."
        Of course, this is probably asking too much from the average Slashdot editor geek type.
    • I just figured it was one book entitled 'The Adventures of Tom Bombadil Leaf' written by two guys named Niggle and Smith from some place called 'Wootton Major'

  • reading aloud (Score:5, Insightful)

    by trillian42 ( 674714 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:41PM (#6132985)
    One of my favorite childhood memories is my dad reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings out loud to me and my younger brother. I'm glad other people are doing that with their kids also, and it's cool that there are more Tolkein stories to delve into. :)

  • Really good book: Simarillian (Score:5, Informative)

    by MurrayTodd ( 92102 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:41PM (#6132989) Homepage
    The Simarillian is a must-have for anyone interested in Tolkien's world. It was actually his FIRST work, predating the Hobbit, but people told him it wouldn't sell. It was an ongoing work and his son (Christopher) edited and published it after his death.

    It goes through all the history from "In the Beginning there was darkness" sort of Genisis to the final history of Aragorn and Arwen. There you learn about where Gandolf comes from, what the Wizards really are (same tier of age as Balrogs, interestingly) as well as Soron's predecessor, Melkor.

    Repeat VERY GOOD BOOK TO HAVE!!!!
    • Just a word to the wise, it ain't exactly light reading. Its practically the ME equivalent of the Bible, and reads similiarly in terms of style.

      • Re:Really good book: Simarillian (Score:5, Interesting)

        by j0hnfr0g ( 652153 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:17PM (#6133303)
        Just a word to the wise, it ain't exactly light reading. Its practically the ME equivalent of the Bible, and reads similiarly in terms of style.

        Just to be a little more specific, it is more like the Old Testament of the Bible.

        The New Testament narratives are usually easier to read for the modern English reader. Many people compare The Hobbit and LoTR to the New Testament, especially in the light of prophecy being fulfilled.

        As a side note, you may want to look into the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament, which are two narratives that are relatively easy to read and are based on manuscripts with excellent Greek style (IIRC). And these two flow together, sort of like a part 1 and part 2.

      • A major point that many miss (Score:4, Interesting)

        by devphil ( 51341 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @03:28PM (#6134304) Homepage


        is that the stories of the Silmarillion aren't really meant to be read, like the published forms of the Hobbit and LotR are.

        The Silmarillion is meant to be told, out loud, in the manner of a bard in the king's hall, reciting and performing before a crowd. Modern readers find the style dry because they're used to having the facial expressions and voice tones spelled out in the text, or shown to them on television. If you read the stories aloud, you find that they're not so dry after all.

    • While I own it and have read it a couple of times, it's not a great book. It's very useful as a reference to learn about the things you mentioned, but it is not a compelling story and I doubt it would have sold very well if it had to stand on its own merits

      • While I own it and have read it a couple of times, it's not a great book. It's very useful as a reference to learn about the things you mentioned, but it is not a compelling story and I doubt it would have sold very well if it had to stand on its own merits

        That's debatable, to be sure. The Silmarillion is a fine tale of good intentions gone awry and the ends failing to justify the means (strangely apropos, these days). It tends to be quite dense, featuring huge chunks of explanatory text rather than

        • Not to mention the fact it kills off Glorfindel a few hundred years before he saves Frodo in Lord of the Rings (a role taken over by Arwen in the film).
          • Not to mention the fact it kills off Glorfindel a few hundred years before he saves Frodo in Lord of the Rings

            Yeah, that confused me, too. Different elf, same name. Check this out: http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/glorfindel.html

            • Re:Really good book: Simarillian (Score:4, Informative)

              by dschuetz ( 10924 ) * <david&dasnet,org> on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:33PM (#6133450)
              Not to mention the fact it kills off Glorfindel a few hundred years before he saves Frodo in Lord of the Rings

              Yeah, that confused me, too. Different elf, same name. Check this out: Glorfindel [glyphweb.com]

              [er...sorry...reposted 'cause I wrongly thought slash would automagically linkify a bare URL. And then I had to wait 2 minutes to correct it. Almost not worth the trouble. So I hope you appreciate it. :) (yes, I'm killing time waiting for the timer to time out).]

              • The link seems to be slashdotted. So I don't know what it says.

                But I would point out that the "same name" problem was actually an accident, and that when Tolkien discovered it, he decided that they were in fact both referring to the same elf. This, over time, led him to the theory of elvish reincarnation.

                The confusion arises over the fact that he never set down "the facts" once and for all. Just kept rewriting and rewriting and amending and playing and rewriting and correcting and branching and rewo

      • I quite enjoyed the Silmarillion, personally. It doesn't have the 'epic' kind of feel to it that Lord of the Rings does, but I really enjoyed the stories of the elves. A lot of really original tales, which really connect you with the people (elves included) who populate middle earth. However, I will give this warning: Silmarillion has a lot of really fairly tragic tales. Between the ending of RotK, and the Silmarillion, I got the distinct impression that Tolkien was really drawn to tragedy.
      • I have to agree. After repeatedly reading The Hobbit and the LotR trilogy, my folks got me the Adventurures of Tom Bombadil and the Simarillian.

        Bombadil wasn't too bad, but I just couldn't wade through Simarillian. And trust me, I was a Middle Earth reference geek at the time. I spent as much time pouring over the appendices at the the end of Return of the King volume as I did reading the trilogy itself. I just couldn't get enough of Middle Earth's history.

        Even after several attempts to start the bo

      • Actually, I read The Silmarillion before the Lord of the Rings, and got absolutely hooked.

        I had no interest in reading the Lord of Rings, or even in fantasy literature beyond a bunch of David Eddings books, but the Silmarillion (from the very beginning story, the Ainulindalé) had a scale I've never seen before or since in fantasy literature.

        It also introduced me to the amazing world of philology. Seriously, it was one of the top five books I've ever read.
    • And, of course, if you loved "the Silmarillion", it's good to check out "the Book of Lost Tales" 1 and 2 (especially 2) and the "Lays of Beleriand". All of them tend toward the serious, but they also feature more epic grandeur and fantasy than the more down-to-earth Tolkien works like "Lord of the Rings". I highly recommend them, but they're definitely not light reading by any means.
      • Quite possibly my favorite thing about those books is that there are several tales with definitely unhappy endings. While most of Tolkein's work is based on ancient myth, several of these stories seem remarkably original and unpredictable compared to other work done before or since...
    • "The Silmarillion is a must-have for anyone interested in Tolkien's world. It was actually his FIRST work. [spelling corrected]

      The book entitled "The Silmarillion" is actually one of JRR Tolkien's LAST works. He never finished it before his death, although he intended to.

      To confuse matters, the body of myth that Tolkien started on before "The Hobbit" is also called the Silmarillion. In other words, there are two. The books on the writing of Tolkien's books are careful to distinguish the two.

      Technically,

      • Technically, it is not true that the book "The Silmarillion" predated The Hobbit"

        That's not true either. There isn't a single "Silmarillion", though Tolkien continued work on it throughout his life. After "the Hobbit" turned into a big success, Tolkien tried to get the Silmarillion into print. But after being convinced by his publisher that it wouldn't sell, he basically melded aspects of the Hobbit and Silmarillion (along with the fall of Numenor) into Lord of the Rings and got that published instea

    • I once read this rather large book, (in fact I have a copy) and found it rather difficult to get through, rather like reading the Bible from cover to cover. I remember the 3rd age only occupied a rather slim chapter near the end. Some of the individual tales in it could well have been broken out and made into short stores or even novels in their own right. But I couldn't reccommend the Simarillian to anything less than a hard core Tolkie with a lot of time on their hands.

      Some of Tolkein's sketches from th
    • Yes, the Silmarillion is an excellent book, but definitely hard to read. I've only read it a couple times, and the last time I tried to take it one story at a time, which made it a little easier to digest.

      The other books published by his son, Christopher, have also been very interesting, though much harder to digest, and probably should be taken in publication order. In decreasing order of "accessibilty," there's probably "Unfinished Tales" (sort of an addendum to the Silmarillion), "The Book of Lost Tal
      • Who Galadriel is? (she's pretty much the oldest Elf there, actually).

        Cirdan is older. Galadriel was born in Aman in the days of the Two Trees, and after the Darkening of Valinor she crossed into Middle-earth across the Helcaraxe with Fingolfin, having been marooned in Araman by Feanor. Yes, she's extremely ancient - and hardcore, too, to have made that journey. But Cirdan began his life at Cuivienen under the Stars, and reached the western shores of Beleriand with the march of the Teleri; there he remain

    • 1.) Mention something 90% of the nerds here have already read or heard about. 2.) Misspell "Simarillian," "Soron," "Gandolf," and "Genisis." 3.) Act like this is some sort of revelation for everyone to benefit from, when everyone knows about the Istari and that Sauron was a minion of Melkor and so forth. 4.) Get modded up by the ignorant and oblivious who don't realize this is common knowledge among the Lord of the Rings readers of Slashdot.
    • It's only his first work in that in order to write tH and LotR be decided to work out more of the "back-story" behind the world. He didn't start making it into proper book/story-form until much later, although being the person that he was, I'm sure there were many individual bits completed.

      Which I guess is why it's so damn difficult to follow - it was only intended as Tolkein's "research notes" and not as a book in its own right.

      Grab.
      • "It's only his first work in that in order to write tH and LotR be decided to work out more of the "back-story" behind the world"

        The body of work known as "The Silmarillion" was started way before "The Hobbit" was conceived. In fact, "The Hobbit" was sort of shoehorned into this mythic world after the fact.

        " it was only intended as Tolkein's "research notes" and not as a book in its own right."

        Tolkien makes quite clear in his letters that he did intend to get it published some day.
  • Less we forget Tolkiens translation of the Pearl Poet's, 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'? That poem kicks ass (atleast as far as a poem can kick one's ass, that is)!

  • wait there's more (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    dont forget _The Silmarillion_ and _The Lays of Beleriand_. The Silmarillion is required reading for anyone interested in the culture and mythology of Middle Earth. Besides, _The Silmarillion_ was Tolkien's life's work and the trilogy was based on the stories in this tome.

  • Tolkein's Translation of Gilgamesh (Score:5, Interesting)

    by codefool ( 189025 ) <ghester&codefool,org> on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:54PM (#6133095) Homepage Journal
    Hopefully someone here can help with this.

    I remember reading a couple of months back that some researcher requested someo f Tolkein's papers from the Oxford archives, and found within it a line-by-line translation of Gilgamesh, in Tolkein's own hand, with his comments. The article said that the translation was to be published this summer. I can find no reference to this on the web, however.

    Anyone else here of this?

  • Another Great Accomplishment (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ElitusPrime ( 202338 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @12:59PM (#6133131)
    Also worth noting is that Tolkin was one of the original translators of the New Jerusalem Bible [amazon.com].

    yes... yes... I know that many of you don't believe in God, etc. But, hopefully, you'll recognize that translating the entire Bible to English is quite an accomplishment for one of our favorite authors. And, just maybe, you'll even appreciate how happy it makes us Christians to have this great author bring his talents to scripture.

    Then again, maybe I'll just get modded to oblivion...

    • Re:Another Great Accomplishment (Score:5, Interesting)

      by kiwimate ( 458274 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:17PM (#6133302) Journal
      Well...um...yes...but...

      He worked on a couple of books (eg, Ruth, maybe, if my memory serves?), but (as was typical throughout his life) he got far too involved in the details. Being a lover of language above all else, he contributed vast reams of notes on the linguistic history of each phrase and missed out on the bigger picture. It's a bit of a stretch to talk about him translating the entire Bible.

      This comment, by the way, is not a criticism of Tolkien as such, more an observation. If you read his Letters, time and time again you'll come across apologies for being late with submissions to his publishers, having neglected this or that work...he always bit off far more than he could chew and inevitably produced rich fragments. That's why Christopher Tolkien has such a magnificent stash of notes to exploit^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hpublish.

      Interestingly enough, this happens to be perhaps the major failing of Niggle in Leaf by Niggle, despite Tolkien's oft-misquoted distaste for allegory. (The other major theme you may well see in that work is an allegory of Purgatory, which some critics claim stems directly from Tolkien's strong Catholic beliefs.)

      Tolkien, in fact, was a very staunch Catholic, and his Catholic beliefs pervaded everything he did (although for his views on this you really have to read his Letters, where he disclaims allegations of religious parallels in certain of his works). A long evening stroll that he took with C.S. Lewis was instrumental in Lewis' renewed interest in Christianity. Tolkien was naturally happy about this, but at the same time a bit disquieted and not a little hurt that Lewis went on to become so famous and well-regarded given he was almost a johnny-come-lately, having reconverted to Christianity at a later age in life. (Tolkien was also a bit miffed that Lewis became an Anglican (Episcopalian in the U.S.); he viewed Anglicanism as being a watered-down imitation of Catholicism, whose main recommendation was their beautiful cathedrals which had been perverted from their rightful Catholic purpose.)

  • Happened to me! (Score:5, Funny)

    by pubjames ( 468013 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:00PM (#6133139)
    My favourite of them all, a tale in which Smith voyages to the land of the faeries via a magical cake.

    That happened to me at the office Christmas party! Someone tooks photos and then put them up on the notice board. It was really embarassing.

  • 3 of 4 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gmuslera ( 3436 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:00PM (#6133140) Homepage Journal
    An earlier recopilation of most of this tales (without the one about Tom Bombadil) was Tree and Leaf (or at least, in spanish, was "Arbol y Hoja", that can be easily found in bookstores here in Uruguay). Of this 3 tales, the one I remember more is Leaf, by Niggle, is just the kind of tale that remembers you that Tolkien was a great writer even without the Middle Earth.

  • Letters from Father Christmas (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RealAlaskan ( 576404 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:02PM (#6133160) Homepage Journal
    Letters from Father Christmas [greenmanreview.com].

    Every year for 23 years, Tolkien wrote his children a letter from Father Christmas, from the late 20's into the 40's. The great depression and WWII get mentioned in passing, but Father Christmas always triumphs.

    This one is good for reading to children, with wonderful pictures by Tolkien. For older children, you can sprinkle in a bit of history by telling why Father Christmas had such trouble delivering toys in 1932, and so on. For the Tolkien fancier, the book gives some insight into the author's mind. For example, my edition has samples of the ``elvish writing'' which Father Christmas sent to the children.

    • Hey, I just wanted to thank you for pointing this book out. I have piles of Tolkien's books, but this one escaped me. Now with a 4-year-old, this looks like it could be fun, come the holidays. It's already on order.

      I knew /. was good for something!

  • Homer Simpson Moment. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Gumshoe ( 191490 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:06PM (#6133198) Journal
    [Smith of Wootton Major] a tale in which Smith voyages to the land of the faeries via a magical cake.


    Mmmm... Brownies...
    • Or perhaps in conversation with Marge-

      Marge, you're my wife and I love you very much. But you're living in a world of make-believe with flowers and bells and leprechauns,and magic frogs with funny little hats.

  • You answer you own question (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Q: Why aren't all these other books as popular?
    A: Because they aren't as good as LOTR.

    Duh. :)

    Personally I hated the LOTR trilogy and I can't see why any of it is popular. It is a crude and awkward reading experience. Sure, it is the grandfather of fantasy - but it is by no means the best.

    I am mostly a science fiction fan, but my favorite fantasy book ever is "Magician" by Raymond E. Feist. Highly recommended even to those (like myself) that otherwise hate the genre. There are a bunch of books in the se
    • Lord of the Rings is so popular because it's so detailed and complex. JRR Tolkien INVENTED several languages just so he could use phrases here and there in reference in the books, and all put together, including The Hobbit and the Silmarillion, there aren't even 2000 pages worth. It's the same reason the Dune series is so popular. Frank Herbert seemed to actually like in the Dune universe, and could convey thoughts, actions, visions, conversations, etc. that happened in that universe to a degree that very,
    • ....is that Tolkien kept his characters simple but created a complex world (middle earth)for them to inhabit. As a natural story teller, Tolkien realized that kids and adults alike enjoy living vicariously though charcters in books. Frodo is the 'everyman'. He doesn't have superpowers, super strength, or even super looks :D Because of this, we the reader are able to imprint our emotions onto Frodo and other characters as they wade through the perilous and mysterious place of middle earth. Another view
    • Hmm. Very good scenes in it, certainly, and the writing generally is good. The deus-ex-machina ending is *very* poor though (don't tell me it leads into the other books; it was supposed to be a single book until it sold well), and the happy-ever-after bit with all the heroes and heroines pairing off just sucked.

      I'm just plowing through the "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" series from Tad Williams ATM. It's good so far. Warning: the main criticism ppl have is that it's too slow. Fair enough, but the fact tha
    • Chacun a son gout, so far be it from me to say you are wrong. However, the thing that distinguishes LOTR from Tolkien's shorter works (and even more from writers such as Feist) is that it works on many different levels, each satisfying and valuable to the reader who can percieve and appreciate them.

      The first level is as a really good advanture story. On first reading, this is the level most people perceive, and LOTR doesn't disappoint. This is the only level that most other fantasy writers (such as Fei

  • Farmer Giles of Ham (Score:5, Informative)

    by jpetts ( 208163 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:18PM (#6133315)
    This is definitely NOT a childrens book. It is absolutely crammed with in-jokes that are firmly directed at linguists and philologists and other academics.

    For example, when Tolkien talks about Farmer Giles' blunderbuss, he makes a point of saying that people might not know what a blunderbuss is, then goes on to say the "the four wise clerks of Oxenford" define it as . This is lifted EXACTLY from the then-current edition of the the Oxford English Dictionary.

    The dry, pedantic style was also directed at the similar style employed by academics.

    Also, one has to remember that this was written in the aftermath of one of the most terrible wars the country had ever seen, and also came at the end of rationing in the UK, and despite the style, FGoH is a rollicking great belly laugh, definitely one of JRRT's really intelligent works.

    BTW, was going through my papers last night and found my old copies of JRRT's poems, "Imram," which chronicles the travels of Saint Brendan, and "The Lay of Aotrao and Itroun", a very dark epic poem in the Breton tradition, which I copied by hand from the original manuscripts back in the '70s. As far as I know these have never been published, which is a shame, as they are both excellent works...

    • Re:Farmer Giles of Ham (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Nept ( 21497 )
      TW, was going through my papers last night and found my old copies of JRRT's poems, "Imram,"

      Wow... is there any way you could make those copies available online? They sound fascinating.

    • Re:Farmer Giles of Ham (Score:2, Informative)

      by umrgregg ( 192838 ) *
      Indeed they have been published. Imram in the December 3, 1955 issue of in the Time and Tide. The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun which is thought to be [tolkien.ru] written as an alternative ending for Chaucer's The Franklin's Tale and is published in the December, 1945 issue of the Welsh Review. NMG

  • aye... (Score:2)

    by joss ( 1346 )
    Farmer Giles of Ham is a treat, and rather counteracts the impression that Tolkein puts too much faith in nobility.
    Offtopic, but just for bragging points, I actually met Tolkein although i was too young to remember virtually anything of that. Can any other /.ers make this claim ?

  • Leaf by Niggle (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ansak ( 80421 )
    To review Leaf by Niggle becomes a lot easier when you remember that Tolkien was a devout Catholic and a confirmed Englishman. From Niggle it also becomes clear that he was a man who loved his hobby of writing Middle Earth stories but still felt obliged to be a good host -- while himself occasionally enjoying reciprocating the demand! -- and a good neighbour. It also becomes clear that he sometimes wondered if there was any long term value in either his work (the arcane study of English language and literat

  • New box set (Score:4, Informative)

    by Hexact ( 22921 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @01:52PM (#6133602)
    Amazon.ca gives me also "Hobbit/Roverandom/Tales from Perilous Realm Box Set" when I search for the Tales. It should be available soon. Amazon.com does not have it.

    Tolkien.co.uk [tolkien.co.uk] gives Feb/03 as the publication date.

    Clem.

  • The titles of these books remind me of the Monty Python bookstore skit... No, "Rarnaby Budge" by Charles Dikkens. That's Dikkens with two Ks, the well-known Dutch author. Do you have "Leaf By Niggle" by .... That's okay, how about "Smith of Wootton Major" by ....

  • An open plea to animation companies... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MtViewGuy ( 197597 ) on Friday June 06, 2003 @03:48PM (#6134570)
    ...I'd seriously consider negotiating for the rights to Farmer Giles of Ham and/or Smith of Wootton Major, plus lesser-known (still very good) stories like Roverandum and Mr. Bliss, to be done as animated features. =)

    Given the way these stories are written, they almost BEG to be done as animated features. Farmer Giles of Ham done under the right producing/directing team at Disney could be one very fun movie to watch (they can borrow the drawing style of Pauline Baynes, the original illustrator of the book) and Mr. Bliss is almost perfect as a Pixar feature. How about it, folks? :-)

    (P.S. I know Tolkien back in the 1950's had qualms about Disney animation, but Disney has shown since 1995 they can go with very different drawing styles successfully, styles that he probably would have approved.)
  • I read 4 boring books, and now you suggest I read a compelation of boring shit?

    Look, I like a good story, I have always liked to read. But Tolkien has a way of taking FOREVER to get to a point, WAY over descriptive and tedious.

    Give me Bradbury, Clarke, a Linux Guide, Anything but his longwinded fairy tales.

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