Talking About Tolkien

Which part of the book was Tolkien deeply moved by?
The Stairs of Cirith Ungol, when Gollum tried to wake Frodo, but was misunderstood by Sam.

Are the appendices of The Lord of the Rings important?
Yes, Tolkien especially had emphasized that the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen is more important.

How does Tolkien categorize the book?
Tolkien does not see The Lord of the Rings as a "novel", but is rather a heroic "romance." ("novel" reflect reality; "romance" has nothing to do with reality and is based on the adventure and love stories of a remote realm.)

Is The Lord of the Rings a sequel to The Hobbit?
Strictly speaking, no. In Tolkien's own words: "The Lord of the Rings is not really a sequel to The Hobbit, but to The Silmarillion."

In what way did Tolkien wish his readers to read his works?
Tolkien only wished the readers can enjoy the books from the literary perspective, and not trying to understand too much about the author in order to decode and to twist his original intentions.

Did Tolkien feel bad about devoting so much time to writing fictional things?
Of course not! Several scholars at the time thought of it silly, but Tolkien rather thought it has done languages much good!

What motivated Tolkien to write The Hobbit?
It was the summer of some time early in the 1930's when Tolkien was marking school exam papers, and as he turned to a page that was left blank, for no particular reason he scribbled "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" on the blank sheet. He didn't know what it was then, but being a scholar, he decided to investigate the story behind it. Tolkien later told of his discovery to his children and friends. The feedback was welcoming, and Tolkien was encouraged to finish the story and to have it published.

What motivated Tolkien to write The Lord of the Rings?
The creation of The Lord of the Rings was due to the welcoming popularity of The Hobbit. When Tolkien's publishers asked for a sequel of more hobbits, Tolkien was at first confused, becuase he thought he had no more ideas. But after some discussion with his family and friends, he took up his pen and started what was to last 12 years of writing.

What motivated Tolkien to write The Silmarillion?
The earliest chapters of The Silmarillion were written in as early as 1916, when Tolkien was saddened by the environment and the deaths of his friends, and soon afterwards, as a result, he started transforming his feelings and experience into mythology.

Why did Tolkien abandon The New Shadow?!
The New Shadow was meant to be the sequel to The Lord of the Rings, but Tolkien decided to abandon it after a few pages. Tolkien expressed that he surely could have written a thriller about it, but since we are dealing with Men - Men! - whose nature of quick satiety with the good had already much to tell in the downfall of Númenor, history was bound to repeat. And Tolkien thought it was not worth doing.

Did Tolkien himself invent the riddles in The Hobbit?
For the most part, yes, except two: Thirty White Horses, and No-legs.

Why did The Lord of the Rings take 12 years to complete?
Tolkien was still teaching at the time, and there were also trivial matters in life constantly bothering and interrupting his writing, plus that his health was not always at its best. But most of all, it was because of his noted perfectionism. He would consider every word and sentence and there would be revision after revision until he was satisfied. The manuscripts of the abandoned versions were later published as the History of The Lord of the Rings.

The book was completed in 1949, but why waited until 1954 to publish it?
Tolkien originally insisted that The Silmarillion must be published with The Lord of the Rings together, but both publishing companies had no confidence in The Silmarillion then. As a result, the whole plan was halted for years, until the summer of 1952 that Tolkien had somewhat modified his views; too much time was wasted, and Tolkien could wait no longer. Therefore, he agreed to first publish The Lord of the Rings. On July 29, 1954, the first volume finally saw the light.

Did the World Wars have influence on The Lord of the Rings?
In general, the answer is no. No significant influence. Tolkien said, however, that some landscapes were probably influenced by the battle fields more or less, such as the Dead Marshes and Morannon.

What were the modern languages that inspired Tolkien's elvish languages?
Sindarin is influenced by Welsh, and Quenya is influenced by Finnish.

What literary works took part in Tolkien's inspiration?
Elder Edda, Kalevala, and Beowulf. The naming system in Middle-earth is very similar to that in Kalevala, from which the tale of the Children of Húrin was also inspired.

What is so exceptional about the poem Errantry?
Errantry is a three-page long poem that was first published some time in 1933; Tolkien commented it as "most attractive." It consists of trisyllabic assonances with a metre that Tolkien invented, which was so difficult and complicated that he never wrote another poem again in this style, but he later did develop another style from this, and the result was Eärendil the Mariner.

Is our Earth the stage of Tolkien's Middle-earth?
Yes, Tolkien expressed that he did indeed take Earth as the setting for Middle-earth, only that the tales take place in a imagery time long ago. As for how long ago, Tolkien did not intentionally devise. However, being a scholar that he was, Tolkien explored the unknown; and he wrote in The Letters (#211): I imagine the gap to be about 6000 years [destruction of the Ring ~ modern ): that is we are now at the end of the Fifth Age, if the Ages were of about the same length as 2nd Age and 3rd Age. But they have, I think, quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the 6th Age, or in the 7th.

Reference:
JRR Tolkien: A Biography
The Letters of JRR Tolkien
The Inklings: CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams and their friends
Tolkien documentary

compiled by Nuinamarthion