Tolkien's Letter 001 | #tolkien #podcast

Of Dusty Books, Drills, and a Pig In this episode, we discuss Letter No. 1 from October 1914. Tolkien wrote this letter to his fiancée, Edith Bratt. Tobias and Annika will give you a brief summary and place the correspondence within the context of Tolkien's life and work. 💬 Feedback We look forward to your feedback: • 💬 Discord: auenland.chat (https://www.auenland.chat) • 📸 Instagram: @auenland.fm (  / auenland.fm  ) • 🌐 Bluesky: @auenland.pro (https://bsky.app/profile/auenland.pro) • 📧 Email: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) 🌳 Support us If you enjoy the podcast, we would appreciate your support: • auenland.pro/unterstuetzen (https://www.auenland.pro/unterstuetzen/) • steadyhq.com/de/tolkiens-briefe (https://steadyhq.com/de/tolkiens-briefe/) 📜 People Mentioned Donald William Edward Shakespeare (1890 – unknown), known as Anthony or Tony Shakespeare studied law and was likely one of the Catholic students who helped Tolkien settle in at Oxford. He later became a lawyer at Shakespeare & Vernon. First mentioned: Letter No. 1 Louis Lionel Harry Thompson (1893 – 1983) Thompson studied Classics and was a member of the Apolaustiks and the Essay Club. Photographs of him can be found in Humphrey Carpenter's J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography and in John Garth's *Tolkien at Exeter College*. Thompson founded the Oxford University British-American Club. He later became Deputy Director and Auditor of the Royal Mint, the United Kingdom's mint. First mentioned: Letter No. 1 First mention: Letter No. 1 Father Francis Xavier Morgan (1857–1935) After Mabel Tolkien's death, Father Francis became the guardian of Ronald and Hilary Tolkien. Following their mother's death, he arranged for the children to be placed in a boarding school and continue attending King Edward's School in Birmingham. He forbade Tolkien from seeing Edith until he came of age, yet he remained an important figure in Tolkien's life. His first son was baptized John Francis. First mention: Letter No. 1 Principal Lewis Richard Farnell (1856–1934) Farnell was Principal of Exeter College, Oxford, from 1913 to 1928. From 1903 to 1914, he was a lecturer in Classical Archaeology and a leading authority on Greek religion. Farnell championed Tolkien's change of major from Classics to Language & Literature. When Tolkien applied for the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford in 1925, Farnell recommended him for the position. First mention: Letter No. 1 Kenneth Sisam (1887–1971) Sisam was an assistant to Arthur Sampson Napier, who held the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at the time. Sisam also served as Tolkien's tutor after he changed his major. In 1925, Sisam also applied for the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship. First mention: Letter No. 1 Thomas Wade Earp (1892–1958), known as T.W. Earp Earp was a fellow student of Tolkien's and also a member of the Essay Club. He was co-editor of the 1915 edition of the Oxford Poetry collection, in which Tolkien published his poem "Goblin Feet." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, T.W. Earp may be the origin of the English insult "twerp" (simpleton). First mention: Letter No. 1 📚 References • Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien (eds.): The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, London 2006 • Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien (eds.): J.R.R. Tolkien Letters. Translated by Wolfgang Krege, Stuttgart 2021 • Catherine McIlwaine (ed.): Tolkien, Maker of Middle-earth, Oxford 2018 • Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond: The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion & Guide. Reader’s Guide, London 2017 • Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond: The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion & Guide. Chronology, London 2017 • Humphrey Carpenter: J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Translated by Wolfgang Krege, Stuttgart 1983 🔍 Further links and information • DTG: Overview – Stages in Tolkien's Life (https://www.tolkiengesellschaft.de/j-...) • Tolkien in 5 Minutes, Episode 2: What was Tolkien doing in South Africa? (https://www.tolkienin5minuten.de/epis...) If you enjoyed this podcast, then discover our other formats – there's lots of great stuff to hear from Tolkien's world: 👉 TolkCast (https://tolkcast.de) – live every two weeks with news, discussions, and exciting guests from the Tolkien community. 👉 Tolkien in 5 Minutes (https://tolkienin5minuten.de) – Middle-earth...