CT's lawyer lays the facts down

[Saurreg]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

I think some legitimate complaints can be made against Christopher, despite his dedication. For example, as this article indicates, only four scholars have been given direct access to the linguistic papers. There is tremendous unhappiness about this among other linguists, since the material has been released very, very slowly. You can find websites where this is discussed, not by crackpots but legitimate scholars. Other scholars have complained about uneven access to the materials, with certain old favorites getting the nod. I am no expert on this, and undoubtedly there are different viewpoints here. Certainly, the blog cited above is ridiculous, and the author of this newspaper article is no fan of CT, but legitimate concerns could exist.

Hmm. I am divided between respect for private property and the betterment of the masses here. Is it really that wrong of CT to control the works of his father from hordes of legitimate scholars with nevertheless unknown agendas that we can only guess?

Ultimately what will be the final result of their research used for? Does it say, help humanity worldwide to understand the syntax of discovered but indecipherable ancient languages and as such serves as an advancement in mankind? Or does it simply serve an elite few in these world for mere amusement and interest?

[Child of the 7th Age]

Laying aside all matters of family discord, which are not ours to comment on, I feel that Christopher is the victim of some very peculiar thought. And some wrong thought, as in the Boston news article Child links to, which is full of errors. CT was chosen by his father as the person best suited to oversee what is both a complex and highly lucrative estate. We must trust that JRR chose the right person putting all family issues aside.

Hmm. I am divided between respect for private property and the betterment of the masses here. Is it really that wrong of CT to control the works of his father from hordes of legitimate scholars with nevertheless unknown agendas that we can only guess?

I believe these two statements, though seemingly contradictory, both contain a great deal of truth. No decent person would want the kind of name calling and innuendo that appears in the original blog, and a writer like the one for the Boston Globe clearly has a personal axe to grind and is more concerned with grinding that axe than arriving at the truth.

Even so, there are troubling things that have previously been discussed on the BD and in other articles and websites concerning the actions of the estate. Many people of good will on this site and others have used words like "over-litigious" to describe what is going on. (I could link to prior posts but won't.) CT is rightfully the one who still makes the big decisions on things like this, and personal comments about him often surface in the course of these wider discussions, which has to be frustrating.

Still, Saurreg asks a legitimate question: exactly where should the line be drawn? I have a personal bias here. I was a librarian in charge of book selection for a large metropolitan system, and I feel there are legitimate issues of free expression.

It goes far beyond serving the interests of an "elite few". For instance, there used to be many Tolkien map sites on the web with a variety of resources. Some of these maps were copyrighted, but others were simply produced by readers who were responding to the books. These were small websites so financial considerations were not an issue. The estate threatened to bring lawsuits and all these sites were shut down so that it is now difficult to find a good online map. Writers outside the circle chosen by the estate have had trouble publishing some materials.

I also feel that studying Quenyan and Sindarin is more than an esoteric exercise reserved for a few. It gets into scholarly questions of the crafting of man-made languages and how these are different and similar to so-called natural languages. It is at least a legitimate question to ask if access to the linguistic papers should be restricted to just four people, when many others have petitioned to use them. These are not crackpot media types but legitimate scholars trying to do work.

The most vexing problem to me is the one posed by Tolkien's translation of Beowulf. A few years ago, everyone was abuzz with the news that Profesor Michael Drout had been authorized to begin preparing that manuscript for publication. A short time later, after undue media hype and craziness, the estate withdrew that permission, though Drout himself was not involved in anything inappropriate. No one knows if and when Tolkien's scholarly work on Beowulf will ever see the light of day. That flies in the face of everything I believe about academic inquiry, to say nothing of the many people who will never get a chance to read what Tolkien has written.

The sad fact is that decisions about Tolkien's writings are tainted by commercial considerations as well as the fact that the press acts irresponsibly. Although Beowulf may be a scholarly work, its publication could again place the family in the spotlight, and they are undoubtedly sick of that. Still, it is immeasurably sad that Tolkien's work as a medievalist is being hidden away because of problems like this. It's also impossible to say whether this situation will improve or not once control of the estate passes to the next generation. It is looking more likely that this control will rest not only with family representatives but scholars like Hammond and Scully. Christopher's son Adam also seems to be taking a larger role, and he is doing an excellent job in interviews. See here for Adam Tolkien's discussion of the upcoming Children of Hurin, which is a fascinating read. (Scroll down past the Spanish for English.)

[Lalwendë]

I think that the Boston Globe writer was more pursuing an angle than grinding an axe, even though he hit a saw point....but that's enough of the toolshed references...

It is a 'fine line' but I'd err on the side of the estate. We tend to think of Tolkien's work as 'ours' to do what we like with, but it isn't. What's more, there's a lot of that work yet unpublished that cannot simply be used as it is. The executors must think carefully about how that new material will be used, as it will go out with Tolkien's name attached to it, which is why they seek to approve everything that does go out in his name. Quite rightly.

And rightly for another reason. It helps us to sort out the merely speculative and the absolute dross from the genuinely useful (especially as these crit texts are deadly expensive and there are hundreds of 'em!). 'Approved' names like Flieger, Hammond, Scull, Vinyar Tengwar etc are marks of quality. It's all worth it if I never have to read a pile of tripe 'critical' book again!

Yes it's frustrating! But I'd rather be frustrated than have a free-for-all seeing the vultures picking over the remaining bones of the corpus. If scholars are genuine and have the right aims in mind, and the right understanding, then its up to them to convince the right people. 'Free access' is all well and good if we're talking about a less popular writer, but the fanaticism for Tolkien's work is a whole different kettle of fish to interest in Tennyson's for example.

[Boromir88]

We all know about the part of the will that named CT as JRR's literary executor. Here are some other moments when JRR talks about the importance of Christopher in the writing process and which is probably why Christopher has so many strong feelings about the books and upset over film adaptations:

A map of the Gondor area is perhaps the most urgent. I am hoping to get my son Christopher to produce one from my drafts, as soon as possible.~Letter 150

'This book {LOTR} has become to be more and more addressed to you, so that your opinion matters more than any one else's.'~Letter 78 (Dated Aug. 12, 1944 to Christopher).

"But I made a very great effort to finish the Hobbit sequel, and chapters went out to Africa and back to my chief critic and collaborator, Christopher, who is doing the maps"~Letter 105

JRR clearly felt that Christopher was an important person when it came to creating his story. And I think CT has taken on that duty quite admirably because as the will states...Upon trust to allow my son Christopher...he was trusted by his father to act as his Literary Executor over all unpublished works. I believe this is why CT has such strong beliefs about movie adaptations, just as his father did, because he was placed in such a position to do so.

I don't know Simon, it seems like he had great times with his grandfather, but if you ask me he seems like there was a strain between him and Christopher even before the movies came out:

Life wasn't great after his death....
My father moved to the South of France with his second family and I hated having to be away at school. I missed my grandfather very much. My father has always been in charge of my grandfather's literary estate, and about four years ago he started to think about who would succeed him on the board of the company which administers the Tolkien estate. He named new directors to join him and I was not one of them.

Here is the full account Simon tells...I greatly enjoyed reading the memories Simon had with his grandfather.

[Mithalwen]

A lot of good stuff has been said but I would point out both that Simon Tolkien was publicising his first novel when these stories emerged ( and that sensation sells.) and that the world has changed a lot in the past forty years, fathers are generally much more involved with their children and the needs of children of separated parents are better understood. So even if there is an element of truth it wouldn't make CT particularly monstrous by the standards of the time. Even in families that stay together it is not unusual for a child to have a better relationship with one parent than another ..it certainly was the case in mine..

I am just now reading the letters and from them, you can glean the deep love Tolkien had for all his family. If you look at the donations of the Tolkien Trust you can see the kind of people the family are by the wide range of humanitarian causes they put the money from the estate to. And having recently had the pleasure of receiving a charming personal reply to a communication that demanded no response at all, from Adam Tolkien I can second Lalwende's comments. But I did not need that or a lawyers statement to know that the blog was ludicrous and libellous and guess the Simon Tolkien quotes "spun" ... frankly it would not be saying a lot for JRRT's judgement if it were even half true.

As for access ..I am sure we would all love to get our claws on everything. It isn't possible but HoME is enoughfor most ..and I believe that some of the Trust money is going on making some of the archive available in a more accessible form.

[Mänwe]

Squatter, you are right, my language was inappropriate. Lampooned it is then! I believe that Christopher is in his right to challenge certain publications of his fathers material.

Oringinally posted by Child of the 7th Age

The estate threatened to bring lawsuits and all these sites were shut down so that it is now difficult to find a good online map. Writers outside the circle chosen by the estate have had trouble publishing some materials.

I think this is no different to those on this site and other forum sites who make a point to correct other members of their points made in their posts. To some degree we seek for a perfection in the understanding of Tolkien's world and with it at times comes said correction of others.

In a way Christopher is performing this "correction", he is preserving the Tolkien estate from being completely diluted by the masses. He is very much of the same "thought" stock as Tolkien himself. Who in his letters we see is disappointed with certain representations of characters by critics.

I can quote a fair amount from the letters, mostly to Allen & Unwin,

"An abridgement by selection with some good picture-work would be pleasant, & perhaps worth a good deal in publicity; but the present script is rather a compression with resultant over-crowding and confusion, blurring of climaxes, and general degradation: a pull-back towards more conventional 'fairy-stories'. People gallop about on Eagles at the least provocation; Lórien becomes a fairy-castle with 'delicate minarets', and all that sort of thing. But I am quite prepared to play ball, if they are open to advice..." (Letter #201)

"As far as I am concerned personally, I should welcome the idea of an animated motion picture, with all the risk of vulgarization; and that quite apart from the glint of money, though on the brink of retirement that is not an unpleasant possibility. I think I should find vulgarization less painful than the sillification achieved by the B.B.C." (Letter #198) [My bold]

I could continue and bloat my post to the most hideous of distended proportions, including much of letter #210, of which many of the points are critisisms. Tolkien is at best scathing of the attempts at an adaptation. Much like the Tolkien estate today, and referring back to Child of the 7th Age's example of their "censoring". Despite the possibility of money coming their way in return (I refer to my bold).

Christopher is Tolkien pure and simple, far more interested in protecting the interests of his father's work and the work itself, who, to use a term Tolkien frequently wrote, would "degrade" the story. Long live Christopher and his sensible censorship!

[Boromir88]

Let's clear something up about Wild boar. My friend's brother owns a manor house in the Pyrenees and wild boar live in the woods there (their dog lost its mind from the scent of boar everywhere, driven mad by hunting instinct), so maybe someone saw some wild boar in the woods near CT's house. Certainly nobody would allow them to run wild near their house! A wild boar is certainly not a pet or a substitute guard dog, it can't be 'trained', and one can easily kill a full grown adult.

Also, when reading that, it really doesn't make sense...how could a wild boar guard someone's house? I mean it would have to be a tamed boar if it was set up serve as a guard dog, err boar...right?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

Also, when reading that, it really doesn't make sense...how could a wild boar guard someone's house? I mean it would have to be a tamed boar if it was set up serve as a guard dog, err boar...right?

You wouldn't go anywhere near a wild boar without some kind of weapon at hand! Even pigs, domesticated boar, can be incredibly vicious creatures (especially the males). As soon as I read this about CT and his 'wild boar' I thought - Hmmm, someone's been taking the Thomas Harris book (and film) Hannibal too seriously.