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Tolkien's Grandson reminisces

Just found this on Simon Tolkien's w/s:http://www.simontolkien.com/jrrtolkien.html

Quote:

My first recollection of my grandfather is like this: I'm four or five and I'm really scared. He is huge, with a great roar in his voice, and he's coming to get me. I am just about to cry when I see the twinkle in his bright eyes, and realise it's all just fun.

What a great article! He sounds like such an agreeable person. I love this bit:

Quote:

He was a devout Roman Catholic and it was soon after the Church had changed the liturgy from Latin to English. My grandfather obviously didn't agree with this and made all the responses very loudly in Latin while the rest of the congregation answered in English.

I just find that amusing... one can never accuse Prof. Tolkien of being a conformist!

Thanks for posting that, davem. Quite enjoyable.

It sounds like Tolkien is the kind of grandpa anyone would like to have!
Thank you for posting that.

very amusing, it has given me great laughs! thanks for that :D

Quote:

[size=1][color=#333333]For me the test of a good book was whether it could transport me body and soul out of the here and now into a magical new world, and The Lord Of The Rings certainly did that.[/color][/size]

LotR was the first book to really do that to me. From then on, the ability to lose myself into another world has always made literature good for me as well.

Quote:

Who were the four other wizards to whom my grandfather alluded? Where were they and what were they doing?

Well, Simon, what did he say? There's a whole Tolkien community waiting for hte definitive answer from the horse's mouth. Out with it, man!