Great Tales Never End, The

Essays in Memory of Christopher Tolkien

Richard Ovenden, Catherine McIlwaine

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English

Bodleian Library
24 June 2022

Biography: literary; Literary essays; Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers; Fantasy; Fantasy

Over more than four decades J.R.R. Tolkien’s son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, published some twenty-four volumes of his father’s work, much more than his father had succeeded in publishing during his own lifetime. Standing on the mountain of his son’s colossal publishing effort and extraordinary scholarship, readers today are therefore able to survey and understand the vastness of the landscape of Tolkien’s legendarium.

This collection of essays by world-renowned scholars, together with family reminiscences, sheds new light on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, his son Christopher’s unique gifts in communicating and interpreting that work and the debt owed to Christopher by the many Tolkien scholars who were privileged to work with him. What was Tolkien’s intended ending for The Lord of the Rings? Did it leave echoes in the stripped-down version that was actually published? What was the audience’s response to the first ever adaptation of The Lord of the Rings – a radio dramatization that has now been deleted forever from the BBC’s archives? What was the significance of the extraordinary array of doorways which confronted the hobbits as they journeyed through Middle-earth?

The book is illustrated with colour reproductions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s manuscripts, maps, drawings and letters and, with the kind permission of his estate, photographs of Christopher Tolkien and extracts from his works, some of which have never been seen before, making this volume essential reading for Tolkien scholars, readers and fans.

Edited by: Richard Ovenden, Catherine McIlwaine
Imprint: Bodleian Library
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781851245659
ISBN 10: 1851245650
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 24 June 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

CONTENTS 1 Catherine McIlwaine Introduction Timeline 2 Maxime H. Pascal Eulogy delivered at Christopher Tolkien’s funeral 3 Priscilla Tolkien A Personal Memory 4 Vincent Ferré The Son Behind the Father: Christopher Tolkien as a Writer 5 Verlyn Flieger Listening to the Music 6 John Garth The Chronology of Creation: How J.R.R. Tolkien Misremembered the Beginnings of his Mythology 7 Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull ‘I Wisely Started with a Map’: J.R.R. Tolkien as Cartographer 8 Carl F. Hostetter Editing the Tolkienian Manuscript 9 Stuart D. Lee A Milestone in BBC History? The 1955-56 Radio Dramatization of The Lord of the Rings 10 Tom Shippey King Sheave and The Lost Road 11 Brian Sibley Down from the door where it began… Portal images in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Bibliography for Christopher Tolkien Notes About the Contributors Further Reading Picture Credits Index

Richard Ovenden OBE is Bodley's Librarian. Catherine McIlwaine is the Tolkien Archivist at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

Reviews for Great Tales Never End, The: Essays in Memory of Christopher Tolkien

Ovenden, head of the Bodleian Library, and Tolkien archivist McIlwaine take an illuminating look in this superior anthology at the work of J.R.R. Tolkien's son Christopher (1924-2020), who played a major part in his father's literary legacy. . . . Taken together, the pieces are a great testament to what Christopher's 'extraordinary editorial efforts have brought to light.' This is a must-read for fans of Tolkien's classic epic fantasies. -- Pubilshers Weekly