Everyone seems to hate the interviewer. I love the interviewer. He clearly loves the books and knows a lot about them and it made for a great interview overall. Interviews today are usually much more shallow. Yes, he arrived at a few incorrect interpretations of the book and especially symbolism within the book, but remember that this was 60 years ago when people generally had to make up their own mind about things and couldn't just go on the internet to read up on everything.
Dude, I love him too. He asks valid questions, it's obvious he has read Tolkien's books, he's respectful and knowledgeable. Bless this guy, I'd like to see this level of proffessionalism in journalism nowadays.
He is a terrible interviewer by modern standards. He has a set list of questions and is unable to explore topics as his subject moves. eg. Instead of exploring the role of sex and temptation, he received a tangential answer regarding war and then moved on. A modern interviewer would jump on this thread.
To great fans it kind of seems as an attack on Tolkien. But we need to take it as it is. And through all it is just amazing. After all the Professor is a Hobbit himself.
There is absolutely no doubt that his genius completely changed how fiction (especially fantasy and science fiction) was written. Though a pale comparison, LotR is a bigger version of how George Lucas changed film making in 1977.
Just IMAGINE sitting down and spending a whole evening just chatting with Professor Tolkien about whatever came to your mind! If I ever found a genie’s lamp, I know what one of my wishes would be 😅
Actually, in my opinion, people were better and more extensively educated in his time. The way he talks and seems to think is similar to Churchill if you read a biography of him. Same with a lot of the politicians he debates with. Pull any famous guy of the age out of the basket and read enough of their thoughts and you get a similar feel. I am in no way arguing that Tolkien was not special. He was. But i think his intelligence seems to me a mark of his time. We are getting less educated now. Schools are more about indoctrination than real smarts. At least in the West. Our enemies are laughing at us and educating their kids much better.
Is it weird, that I find myself honored to be able to hear this interview in such good quality? This is awesome, you just made my day, after a really hard day at work, I could just sit down, and listen to this extraordinary man talking about my favorite thing. Thank you, and have a great one, everybody :D
I love the way how even Tolkien himself sounds like he is sort of discovering the story as opposed to composing it. I guess that makes sense because he invented the world first and then fit a story in it. Which of course enables it to be so incredibly consistent and thorough. Man! He truly was a genius.
To write fiction like that requires great improvisation. His seemed to have got away from his cognitive control. He was too imaginative and not systematic enough. It hurts the coherence of the LOTR (especially once you try to relate it to the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, etc.). But in the 21st century, most people actually prefer incoherence--I mean, look at Marvel films, for example.
@@cejannuzi What do you mean the book is incoherent? It's a fantasy novel yet is fantastically internally consistent. Every characters timeline, the genealogy, the system of languages, the calendar, everything fits perfectly together.
Yes. At the start maybe he should have stressed that more? it's mythology, not based on factual history and geology etc. Apparently in later life he struggled with rewrites of the Silmarillion, trying to make it more 'realistic' as he thought his readers would find it hard to believe the world was once lit by the light of two trees, or was once flat and then became a globe by an act of God. I think he shouldn't have worried about that, his fictional universe only had to be internally consistent, not accurate to science and history...
He did. In 2000 years tolkeins mythology will be talked about like how we talk about Greek mythology today. Its will just enrich the history of Brittan and the islands as a whole.
I'm sad I wasn't alive to appreciate his work while he was alive. One of the greatest writers of the time. CS Lewis too. They were able to create a whole different world in a time where science fiction as we know it was in its infancy. Almost like he remembered a past life, and he lived it.
I love the way he speaks about England. it's the same to me, i will never leave this island. I love everything about it and it breaks my heart how much we "orcs" are scarring it
I have my own knowledge of Mr. Tolkien... despite not having the time to enjoy or judge this vid... but I do want to say that Mr. Tolkien was/is a good man. I will provide one point, to be argued or simply pondered... that, generally, Mr. Tolkien broke good and evil into humans vs evil, which (and i said "generally") was really the loose point throughout... because, good vs evil takes place within human circles first, here in Middleearth... and once you realize all else falls to the wayside.. well you get my point. ---- What is to love about Tolkien? 1) He served in WW1. 2) He cared for his children in his creative efforts. 3) His love of Trees and nature. 4) His love of God, County and humanities evolution. 5) His ability to create a story so rife with ingenuity and depth, that he created histories, languages and a nod to honor and love.... HONOR being a thing we seem to have forgotten as time has passed. -Think about what it means; looking in the mirror, to create a future and a lesson... giving of ourselves, to ensure humanities future. -God Bless.
I really like how knowledgeable the interviewer is regarding the story and actually asked smart and sensible questions. However it seems like they really have very diff personality especially humor. 😅
John, yes, Tolkien and the Interviewer are not exactly compatible 😉 But l can understand the interviewer very well, while a lot of what Tolkien says, remains a mystery!
4:40 symbolic v. emblematic (leopards of England) 5:31 **pops bottle** 5:32 haven't you?? 5:58 the shire 6:50 memory as photographic plate (how did people describe memory before invention of camera?) 8:40 the indomitable courage of quite small people against impossible odds 10:06 the races
Good is in Aragorn, in Frodo, in Sam, in Merry and Pippin, in Galadriel, in Gandalf, in Samwise, in Farmer Cotton, in Faramir, in Eowyn, good is in them all....and in us all. Attribute it to what you will. To me that's the beauty of the tale...better than a god doing it all....they all sacrifice and work for good and take care of one another....that's what defeats evil.
When was God ever said to do it all, besides creation anyway?! It is up to us… free will has always been our gift from God and in tolkiens universe it’s no different… tolkiens story also has a God that created everything just like the Bible… 🤦🏽♂️ it’s literally the Bible tale with different names… 🤷🏽♂️ nothing is new under the sun, not even the lord of the rings when Tolkien wrote it so long ago…
Yes there does not seem to be a picture of the interviewer. Tolken does not seem to mind him! Old age superfan! I agree! I bet he asked him to test him "poor fellow"!
You know what? I think that Tom Bombadil isn't nearly as mystifying as it is often made out to be. I am perfectly ok with the idea that the Tolkien children had a so-called Dutch doll whose name was Tom Bombadil and who looked exactly like Tolkien described Tom in the books. Tom Bombadil was apparently made into a character who had several adventures in the stories Tolkien told his children. This explains the silly songs which sound just like nursery rhymes 😊 Tolkien might've liked the idea to insert this fellow into his grand and sweeping saga he was concocting. And when Tolkien said that Tom Bombadil was there first, and that he was the oldest being, it was quite literally true! The doll and his adventures were there first. And Tom Bombadil might've helped Tolkien to remain grounded. There might've been one more thing about Tom Bombadil: he saves the four hobbits not just once but twice! Tom and Goldberry are like a father and a mother who have to get their children out of trouble. Or console them when they had nightmares. And they shelter the hobbits in their home, where they are perfectly safe - at least for the time being. But when the hobbits say their final good bye, they are truly on their own. They need to grow up - and Tolkien was finished with writing a story just for children! That are my two cents re: Tom Bombadil 😊
@@sabineb.5616 I love it! lol yea I have a similar stand. And I know there’s all kinds of theories out there on who he his. But that’s the best part. Even in the book When asked, Tom simply just sais “Havnt you learned my name by now” 😂😂😂 he’s Tom. Thats it. lol Not a direct quote just used quotes to make my point haha
@@Jakblade , thanks for your thoughts, and I agree 😀 I just discovered that there is a transcript available. I am reading it right now, because l had a very hard time to understand Tolkien. It's nice to know what he really said 😉
@@Jakblade , ha, ha, slowing the whole thing down is a good idea! The reporter speaks in a very clear voice, while Tolkien's words seem to tumble out of his mouth, and not always in the correct order. That's of course not true, but he speaks so quickly 😉 l have to say that after l read what Tolkien actually said, l don't have the impression anymore that he wasn't willing to answer questions. He actually answered most questions in a precise way. And some of his insights are surprising - for example when he talks about his childhood memories, when he was suddenly transplanted from South Africa to the English Midlands. But he also remembered that he was bathing in the Indian Ocean, although he must've been under three years old at the time! He also explained very well that not all choices he made, when he was writing his stories, have a super deep meaning. But it was simply practical to proceed in a specific way. As he said: he had started to write about hobbits, and that meant he needed to proceed with these little fellows for better or worse. And he had been asked specifically to write more about hobbits, since they turned out to be immensely popular. Well - we learned more about hobbits, much more 😀
Tolkien wouldn’t have liked the movies very much I think. They are too glossy and pretty much all the bad guys are just cannon fodder. The tone in the books are a tone of hopelessness. Saurons armies are immensely strong, the elves are leaving, men are fighting men and Saruman has joined the dark side. Orcs are actually dangerous and scary.
Great men like Tolkien forced to contend with liberal questioning like “why aren’t there more sexy women killing orcs and exploring the frozen tundra?”
It’s fun that we know the name of the God in LOTR (Eru Iluvatar), Tolkien knows the name of the God in LOTR, but the interviewer did not know, could not know, and all the Professor cares to tell him was “The One, in this book.”
Star Wars (And Harry Potter) borrow a lot from Tolkien. Gandalf = Obi Won = Dumbledore Special orphan boy = Frodo = Luke = Harry Dark Lord = Sauron = Palpatine = Voldemort One Ring = Death Star = Horcruxes Samwise = Han Solo/Leia = Hermione/Ron
@@cejannuzi, exactly 😉 l don't think at all that the reporter arrived at all the wrong conclusions. He was very good IMO. It's obvious that Tolkien loved to be the contrarian! I came to the conclusion long ago that we cannot rely solely on what Tolkien himself said about his works when he was interviewed - which he doesn't seem to enjoy particularly 😉 l am not saying that we should ignore what Tolkien himself said about his work. It's actually very interesting. But again: he loved to be the contrarian, and he often changed his mind about certain things. I also think that he was completely flabbergasted by all the attention he suddenly got from people who could not be further removed from the life he lived: the hippies and flower children from the 1960s and early 1970s 😊 This interview was recorded in 1964, when the hype just started. It's possible that these - from his perpective very unlikely - fans made him defensive.
The interviewer was trying to get tolkien to agree with his version of the story,spoilt the whole interview in my mind,he never actually listened to tolkien at all as he seemed to have his own agenda.
@@blackcoffeeinbed the all-seeing eye is using mindless orcs to take over the british shires and destroy everything that is good. it's almost as tho LotR is based on this exact event happening in the past when 'fair folk' used to live in middle earth... you might want to look up the etymology of elf.
@@blackcoffeeinbed Uncontrolled immigration from third-world countries and Middle-East has ruined England, Britain... and every country it has been carried out in.
Love it that the interviewer has not only READ the books, he has questions about all kinds of details, he's really interested in this. Yeah, he grills Tolkien for inconsistencies, but that's normal in academia. That's not taken as a sign of disrespect, it's simply an MO. I bet Tolkien really enjoyed this interview. He could really geek out when he answered the guy's questions.
I don't think 'grill' is the appropriate term. The interviewer CHALLENGES Tolkien on aspects of his work. To 'grill' someone that you are interviewing has the implication that you know their work is flawed and needs to be exposed for its faults. To 'challenge' is to confront someone with a difficult aspect of their work that isn't fully resolved within their work. The interviewer isn't trying to catch tolkien, he's trying to get him to expand on ideas that seem present in his work, but aren't fleshed out to the extent they might have been.
I got the impression that the interviewer was reflecting the critical views that Tolkien was receiving at the time. Whether it was writers who were used to a different style, those of political, societal or religious views who felt it conflicted with their views who were trying to undermine the book. The attacks continued long after he died but I would like to think he would have great satisfaction that the book continued to be a successful regardless. The interviewer was also following the style and format from that time, had clearly done a lot of research and got some great answers to those questions.
This is a fantastic thing to find on TH-cam. Thank you very much for putting it up. I must also add that I am struck that we are listening to men of superior education, and I think our culture has declined from the one that produced them.
I don't think most people realise that we used to have universities full of powerful thinkers and learned men like Tolkien in the past. Governments could consult with these wise individuals to seek the best ways forward in all kinds of directions. We seem to have an extreme shortage of this of these intellectuals now, and our so called leaders do not strike me as particularly wise. I worry for our future.
In a pre draft of the Sillmarilion, nl the story of Aelfwine, Tolkien tried to connect the ages of Middle Earth with real history. Aelfwine was cast as an Anglosaxon traveling to Tol Eressëa. When working out the landscape of the Sillmarilion he obvious dropped that idea.
Well Tom bombadil was an oddity, a character from earlier works of Tolkien.. Implemented in LOTR. It sounded to me like he didn't want to use it as an example for explaining the lore because he's an oddity...
Awesome interview! Great questions from the interviewer, too. You could even hear one of them striking a match a couple times, I guess enjoying some Longbottom Leaf!
Arda existed in Tolkien's mind and in the minds of those who read of it. Perhaps in-between ice ages long ago then the world was reshaped and the Valar moved on into the vast universe
I always imagined the 3rd theme where "Elves aren't around" but "Men will have a role to play" are what we're living right now and that's why we don't see Elves and the other races are bound to the fate of Arda. Why we don't see dwarves? Well maybe they've all dug far below, haha. Anyway, it's all in good fun and nothing to be taken as true.
1 The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things. Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is all that we shall see. Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.
The interviewer is infuriatingly arrogant, Tolkien showed infinite patience with him. Imagine trying to pull that kind of thing now, you'd be lucky to get a second chance.
@Shoenheim it's sheep* just as "Deer" isn't "Deers." We are social creatures. Do you wear pants and socks, use a toothbrush and sleep with a pillow? By your logic that makes you a sheep along with the rest of us. Please take your ill will and attitude to another place. Disrespectful to Tolkien, the atmosphere he created, and the love amongst men that he cherished.
@@lioleigh9791 I think calling this interviewer a dick or arrogant is just as disrespectful if not more lmao. Tolkien was a straight shooter and you would know immediately if you got him angry, but Tolkien laughed and joyfully responded to all the questions and some clarifications even made him give deep thought to his work. I think it pleased him someone was asking him questions out of the ordinary and not really insisting on anything. To say this interview was "Tolkien vs an Asshole" is massive disrespect.
Well, that's what people who ask the questions are supposed to do. It's funny that everyone that has read something by Tolkien act like like they knew that shit already. That's why it's called an interview, so questions can be explained so people that weren't that familiar with him and his work can get to know the details.
I first read Lord of the Rings in about 1975 and have read it many times with greater understanding ever since. At that time it would have been inconceivable that I would ever hear Tolkein actually speaking about his own work. There are moments of such high emotion in the book that make me cry even today and they all came from this gentle man's imagination. Frodos arrival at the 'far green country' for example shocked me more than anything I've ever read.
Fascinating interview. I love Tolkien, and the Lord of the Rings, the I can't entirely reconsile it with my values as an adult. I wish the interviewer had followed up on the comment that Tolkien made about touching your cap to the squire "being bad for the squire but good for you." On the face of it, it is complete nonsense. Even if I accept for a moment the idea that rich people are better than ordinary people (which I certainly do not), what the heck was he talking about. Why is it good for you, and why is it bad for the squire? And how could any system that is inherently bad for some party a good thing?
Tolkien was a literary genius, a man who made up a whole world in his head over 20 odd years then fit stories to it. A man who had been through hell in WWI, a man who made up extremely detailed languages then histories of the peoples that inhabited this world, something that is no longer really done by authors these days. It was such a great privilege to listen to this interview, thank you for finding this and uploading it for us Tolkien fans. ❤ The interviewer was very well read and so so knowledgeable about Tolkien’s works. BTW, that and his accent gives away that he was very well off and went to the best schools in England, so he was actually the perfect candidate to interview Professor Tolkien! Whatever his background, the interviewer obviously put in the time to read the books, become extremely familiar with them, and then come up with questions/subjects that were intellectual and searching. Tolkien answered every question with aplomb. The whole interview seemed like more of a conversation between peers than between interviewer and interviewee…..maybe a conversation between professor and student? 🤷🏻♀️ All of the racial and propaganda crap that is supposedly integrated into Tolkien’s works is just pure speculation and as most of the stories were written prior to WWII, I think it is all just a load of bullshit by jealous people to discredit Tolkien. I really think Tolkien would be shocked by how long his books have endured and even more shocked by the books becoming the basis of such amazing movie adaptations!
People always over-analyze literature, talk about the themes and symbolism and deeper meanings, but then the authors are just like “No, I just wrote a story I thought would be a good one.” And it’s as simple as that. Tolkien is the biggest example of this, where there are college classes dissecting every little word he wrote, like what Galadriel giving Gimli her hair symbolizes etc… when in reality it’s just something Tolkien thought up as being an interesting scene so he put it in.
It's both, of course. What we like or invent does not simply originate in a vacuum. As a scholar and linguist, Tolkien was formed to his core by a body of literature that spans the ages of human cultures (as he mentions in this invertiew). Moreover, he DID give serious thought to motives (motifs) and symbology writing his own work. Thirdly, should the focus of discussing literature just be on what the author intended, or also on what the reader can take away from the experience?
Everyone seems to hate the interviewer. I love the interviewer. He clearly loves the books and knows a lot about them and it made for a great interview overall. Interviews today are usually much more shallow. Yes, he arrived at a few incorrect interpretations of the book and especially symbolism within the book, but remember that this was 60 years ago when people generally had to make up their own mind about things and couldn't just go on the internet to read up on everything.
Agreed
Well said.
Dude, I love him too. He asks valid questions, it's obvious he has read Tolkien's books, he's respectful and knowledgeable. Bless this guy, I'd like to see this level of proffessionalism in journalism nowadays.
He is a terrible interviewer by modern standards. He has a set list of questions and is unable to explore topics as his subject moves. eg. Instead of exploring the role of sex and temptation, he received a tangential answer regarding war and then moved on. A modern interviewer would jump on this thread.
To great fans it kind of seems as an attack on Tolkien. But we need to take it as it is. And through all it is just amazing. After all the Professor is a Hobbit himself.
This man was truly on an entirely different wavelength. His brain just operates differently. Incredible interview.
He seems really practical, reasonable and very logical.
There is absolutely no doubt that his genius completely changed how fiction (especially fantasy and science fiction) was written.
Though a pale comparison, LotR is a bigger version of how George Lucas changed film making in 1977.
Just IMAGINE sitting down and spending a whole evening just chatting with Professor Tolkien about whatever came to your mind! If I ever found a genie’s lamp, I know what one of my wishes would be 😅
Actually, in my opinion, people were better and more extensively educated in his time. The way he talks and seems to think is similar to Churchill if you read a biography of him. Same with a lot of the politicians he debates with. Pull any famous guy of the age out of the basket and read enough of their thoughts and you get a similar feel. I am in no way arguing that Tolkien was not special. He was. But i think his intelligence seems to me a mark of his time. We are getting less educated now. Schools are more about indoctrination than real smarts. At least in the West. Our enemies are laughing at us and educating their kids much better.
Im sure he's rolling in his grave right now with how terrible Amazon's Rings of power is🙄
Is it weird, that I find myself honored to be able to hear this interview in such good quality? This is awesome, you just made my day, after a really hard day at work, I could just sit down, and listen to this extraordinary man talking about my favorite thing. Thank you, and have a great one, everybody :D
Same!
Same!
its made audio. whats made good really too good
I hope after 2 years your days have been good.
Not weird at all, its a gem.
"It seems to me as though it's this world in a different era..."
".. .Well no, at a a different stage of imagination."
Genius.
the GOAT
Indeed
Wow
What does that even mean though? LOL.
@@cejannuzi more or less that it's a parallel dimension that only exists in imagination
I love the way how even Tolkien himself sounds like he is sort of discovering the story as opposed to composing it. I guess that makes sense because he invented the world first and then fit a story in it. Which of course enables it to be so incredibly consistent and thorough. Man! He truly was a genius.
To write fiction like that requires great improvisation. His seemed to have got away from his cognitive control. He was too imaginative and not systematic enough. It hurts the coherence of the LOTR (especially once you try to relate it to the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, etc.). But in the 21st century, most people actually prefer incoherence--I mean, look at Marvel films, for example.
@@cejannuzi Can you expand on this? On the weakness of the coherent story?
Who cares about coherence? It's a fucking story to read for fun, not my tax return form.
@@cejannuzi What do you mean the book is incoherent? It's a fantasy novel yet is fantastically internally consistent. Every characters timeline, the genealogy, the system of languages, the calendar, everything fits perfectly together.
I cant help but feel that Tolkein succeeded in his attempt to write an English mythology for us.
Definitely. More than anything else, LotR would fit that bill
Yes. At the start maybe he should have stressed that more? it's mythology, not based on factual history and geology etc. Apparently in later life he struggled with rewrites of the Silmarillion, trying to make it more 'realistic' as he thought his readers would find it hard to believe the world was once lit by the light of two trees, or was once flat and then became a globe by an act of God. I think he shouldn't have worried about that, his fictional universe only had to be internally consistent, not accurate to science and history...
He did. In 2000 years tolkeins mythology will be talked about like how we talk about Greek mythology today. Its will just enrich the history of Brittan and the islands as a whole.
It's a parable. Mirrored today
I'm sad I wasn't alive to appreciate his work while he was alive. One of the greatest writers of the time. CS Lewis too. They were able to create a whole different world in a time where science fiction as we know it was in its infancy. Almost like he remembered a past life, and he lived it.
Absolutely agree. I was only 2 when Tolkien passed, read his books when I was 12 or so and always felt that I missed out on a great man.
Tolkien was so cheeky and playful. So deeply philosophical and spiritual. What a treasure!
0:44 i simply love the way he easily associates time, culture, and ages to the sense of imagination being realised.
This is proper content.
Imagine interviews at this level these days.
Complete with all the gotcha questions like “why are most of the bad characters either dark skin or referred to as the BLACK lord???”
🤣🤣
That was so captivating. Every single second of it. A MUST for any fan of Tolkien I think.
Thank you Professor 🙏
A dream for any aspiring writer: To be interviewed by a real journalist of this calibre, versus only yourself to justify your workings. Wonderful.
This is an excellently clear upload. Well done for taking the time to find such high quality audio
I love the way he speaks about England. it's the same to me, i will never leave this island. I love everything about it and it breaks my heart how much we "orcs" are scarring it
It resonated with me strangely, as I'm from Oregon.
I have my own knowledge of Mr. Tolkien... despite not having the time to enjoy or judge this vid... but I do want to say that Mr. Tolkien was/is a good man. I will provide one point, to be argued or simply pondered... that, generally, Mr. Tolkien broke good and evil into humans vs evil, which (and i said "generally") was really the loose point throughout... because, good vs evil takes place within human circles first, here in Middleearth... and once you realize all else falls to the wayside.. well you get my point. ---- What is to love about Tolkien? 1) He served in WW1. 2) He cared for his children in his creative efforts. 3) His love of Trees and nature. 4) His love of God, County and humanities evolution. 5) His ability to create a story so rife with ingenuity and depth, that he created histories, languages and a nod to honor and love.... HONOR being a thing we seem to have forgotten as time has passed. -Think about what it means; looking in the mirror, to create a future and a lesson... giving of ourselves, to ensure humanities future. -God Bless.
There's a Book in Consideration there...😊
You are awesome for uploading this.
More people need to here this fine man speak!
At one point one can hear a match being fired and I instantly thought of Tolkien smoking Old Toby, the finest leaf in the Southfarthing.
Like Bilbo and Radagast had a nice chat in Bag End.
I really like how knowledgeable the interviewer is regarding the story and actually asked smart and sensible questions. However it seems like they really have very diff personality especially humor. 😅
John, yes, Tolkien and the Interviewer are not exactly compatible 😉 But l can understand the interviewer very well, while a lot of what Tolkien says, remains a mystery!
theyr'e just being English
Absolute Treat. Thank You Kindly. Huge Appreciation 📜📜📜
4:40 symbolic v. emblematic (leopards of England)
5:31 **pops bottle**
5:32 haven't you??
5:58 the shire
6:50 memory as photographic plate (how did people describe memory before invention of camera?)
8:40 the indomitable courage of quite small people against impossible odds
10:06 the races
They probably described memory as a painting before photography.
Pops Bottle 😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣
This is the first time I’ve heard this interview. Awesome!! ❤
I love this interview.
This is simply fantastic. Thank you!
The language/s he's brought into existence is beautiful! "Culvienen" for example is wonderful to look at and more so to speak it. 😙
Compare the way they talked then to the way we talk now.
Good is in Aragorn, in Frodo, in Sam, in Merry and Pippin, in Galadriel, in Gandalf, in Samwise, in Farmer Cotton, in Faramir, in Eowyn, good is in them all....and in us all. Attribute it to what you will. To me that's the beauty of the tale...better than a god doing it all....they all sacrifice and work for good and take care of one another....that's what defeats evil.
When was God ever said to do it all, besides creation anyway?! It is up to us… free will has always been our gift from God and in tolkiens universe it’s no different… tolkiens story also has a God that created everything just like the Bible… 🤦🏽♂️ it’s literally the Bible tale with different names… 🤷🏽♂️ nothing is new under the sun, not even the lord of the rings when Tolkien wrote it so long ago…
Thank you for this one 👍
This is a fine example of how to conduct an interview
I’ve never heard this. This is gold!
Yes there does not seem to be a picture of the interviewer. Tolken does not seem to mind him! Old age superfan! I agree! I bet he asked him to test him "poor fellow"!
Of course when he has a chance to elaborate on Bombadil, he says “meh not right now” 😂😂😂
You know what? I think that Tom Bombadil isn't nearly as mystifying as it is often made out to be. I am perfectly ok with the idea that the Tolkien children had a so-called Dutch doll whose name was Tom Bombadil and who looked exactly like Tolkien described Tom in the books. Tom Bombadil was apparently made into a character who had several adventures in the stories Tolkien told his children. This explains the silly songs which sound just like nursery rhymes 😊 Tolkien might've liked the idea to insert this fellow into his grand and sweeping saga he was concocting. And when Tolkien said that Tom Bombadil was there first, and that he was the oldest being, it was quite literally true! The doll and his adventures were there first. And Tom Bombadil might've helped Tolkien to remain grounded.
There might've been one more thing about Tom Bombadil: he saves the four hobbits not just once but twice! Tom and Goldberry are like a father and a mother who have to get their children out of trouble. Or console them when they had nightmares. And they shelter the hobbits in their home, where they are perfectly safe - at least for the time being. But when the hobbits say their final good bye, they are truly on their own. They need to grow up - and Tolkien was finished with writing a story just for children!
That are my two cents re: Tom Bombadil 😊
@@sabineb.5616 I love it! lol yea I have a similar stand. And I know there’s all kinds of theories out there on who he his. But that’s the best part. Even in the book When asked, Tom simply just sais “Havnt you learned my name by now” 😂😂😂 he’s Tom. Thats it. lol
Not a direct quote just used quotes to make my point haha
@@Jakblade , thanks for your thoughts, and I agree 😀
I just discovered that there is a transcript available. I am reading it right now, because l had a very hard time to understand Tolkien. It's nice to know what he really said 😉
@@sabineb.5616 I put on subtitles and actually slowed the video down to .75x speed and that really helped me lol
@@Jakblade , ha, ha, slowing the whole thing down is a good idea! The reporter speaks in a very clear voice, while Tolkien's words seem to tumble out of his mouth, and not always in the correct order. That's of course not true, but he speaks so quickly 😉 l have to say that after l read what Tolkien actually said, l don't have the impression anymore that he wasn't willing to answer questions. He actually answered most questions in a precise way. And some of his insights are surprising - for example when he talks about his childhood memories, when he was suddenly transplanted from South Africa to the English Midlands. But he also remembered that he was bathing in the Indian Ocean, although he must've been under three years old at the time!
He also explained very well that not all choices he made, when he was writing his stories, have a super deep meaning. But it was simply practical to proceed in a specific way. As he said: he had started to write about hobbits, and that meant he needed to proceed with these little fellows for better or worse. And he had been asked specifically to write more about hobbits, since they turned out to be immensely popular. Well - we learned more about hobbits, much more 😀
Man, I wished Tolkien got to see Peter Jackson bring his epic LOTR books to the big screen
He wouldn't of liked it. Its why he didnt like Shakespeare theatre plays. He believed books and writings should be left in the imagination.
Tolkien wouldn’t have liked the movies very much I think. They are too glossy and pretty much all the bad guys are just cannon fodder. The tone in the books are a tone of hopelessness. Saurons armies are immensely strong, the elves are leaving, men are fighting men and Saruman has joined the dark side. Orcs are actually dangerous and scary.
@@tfs7033 He certainly wouldn't HAVE liked your "wouldn't of liked it".
Great men like Tolkien forced to contend with liberal questioning like “why aren’t there more sexy women killing orcs and exploring the frozen tundra?”
Sorry just found this it is amazing
I can see where Lewis got the professor.
The interviewer got some interesting questions
It’s fun that we know the name
of the God in LOTR (Eru Iluvatar), Tolkien knows the name of the God in LOTR, but the interviewer did not know, could not know, and all the Professor cares to tell him was “The One, in this book.”
For a linguist, clarity of speech seems oddly unimportant to him.
What specifically do you mean?
The interviewer had Tolkien on the ropes a few times, but J.R.R. came out swinging in the end :3
What a guy!
anything or anyone on story you should ask christopher tolkien now
I love when he asks him, are you in fact a theist?
I'm a devout Roman Catholic. But I don't know about angelology... Lol
Nice
...he lights the match at the 23:22 and the pipe enters at 23:34 What is J.R.R.T. whitout a pipe and tobacco, right? :)
I think Mr Tolkien would enjoy watching Star Wars, a fantasy story as far in the space as Middle Earth is in the time.
Yes but I see him being more into Star Trek as it delves more into philosophy and sociology, seems more up his alley. But we'll never know.
@@lioleigh9791 maybe
Star wars is overrated as hell
Star Wars (And Harry Potter) borrow a lot from Tolkien.
Gandalf = Obi Won = Dumbledore
Special orphan boy = Frodo = Luke = Harry
Dark Lord = Sauron = Palpatine = Voldemort
One Ring = Death Star = Horcruxes
Samwise = Han Solo/Leia = Hermione/Ron
He sounds exactly like Jiminy Glick.
Really? lol
Martin Short doth concureth
It's pretty amusing to me that the journalist had clearly done his research and is a big fan, but nearly conclusion he arrived at was wrong
It's just Tolkien being contrary.
@@cejannuzi, exactly 😉 l don't think at all that the reporter arrived at all the wrong conclusions. He was very good IMO. It's obvious that Tolkien loved to be the contrarian!
I came to the conclusion long ago that we cannot rely solely on what Tolkien himself said about his works when he was interviewed - which he doesn't seem to enjoy particularly 😉
l am not saying that we should ignore what Tolkien himself said about his work. It's actually very interesting. But again: he loved to be the contrarian, and he often changed his mind about certain things. I also think that he was completely flabbergasted by all the attention he suddenly got from people who could not be further removed from the life he lived: the hippies and flower children from the 1960s and early 1970s 😊 This interview was recorded in 1964, when the hype just started. It's possible that these - from his perpective very unlikely - fans made him defensive.
It’s a shame this isn’t in English.
✌️❤️!....
...always dancing around..Tolkien’s vision of..Far Memory..his lifelong..Atlantis Dream...wherefore this axial..UNDEAD...with Heart-Song said...Needs BE ..OUR SINGING..TO WED 🐝🌈
Gonzalez Sharon Thomas Anna Martin Frank
40/45
Black Dwarfes because the sun is strong under the mountains in tunnels, its a disgrace what they have done
Jones Barbara Wilson Kevin Rodriguez Frank
Some just make good to sound to these like real
The interviewer is pulling the answers outta him..just doin his job
Williams Edward Walker Linda Wilson Gary
The interviewer was trying to get tolkien to agree with his version of the story,spoilt the whole interview in my mind,he never actually listened to tolkien at all as he seemed to have his own agenda.
The interviewer is so annoying
Wow watch a short then come to a normal video on you tu e and it's black
back to a time when england was actually english and britain was british.
What are you trying to say?
@@blackcoffeeinbed It was better back then
@@blackcoffeeinbed the all-seeing eye is using mindless orcs to take over the british shires and destroy everything that is good. it's almost as tho LotR is based on this exact event happening in the past when 'fair folk' used to live in middle earth... you might want to look up the etymology of elf.
@@blackcoffeeinbed Uncontrolled immigration from third-world countries and Middle-East has ruined England, Britain... and every country it has been carried out in.
Wow. Didn't realize there were so many racist & xenophobic Tolkien fans lol this is crazy. What is wrong with all of you 😕
love how he casually brings out a pipe at 23:21 while still answering the question :D
What I love about Ian Holm's acting as Bilbo is that he reminds me of Tolkien's way of talking. I always find it so touching.
Love it that the interviewer has not only READ the books, he has questions about all kinds of details, he's really interested in this. Yeah, he grills Tolkien for inconsistencies, but that's normal in academia. That's not taken as a sign of disrespect, it's simply an MO. I bet Tolkien really enjoyed this interview. He could really geek out when he answered the guy's questions.
Back when most people were at least somewhat literate and actually read books.
My favourite question....Where do you get your ideas from? Haaa!
I don't think 'grill' is the appropriate term. The interviewer CHALLENGES Tolkien on aspects of his work. To 'grill' someone that you are interviewing has the implication that you know their work is flawed and needs to be exposed for its faults. To 'challenge' is to confront someone with a difficult aspect of their work that isn't fully resolved within their work. The interviewer isn't trying to catch tolkien, he's trying to get him to expand on ideas that seem present in his work, but aren't fleshed out to the extent they might have been.
I got the impression that the interviewer was reflecting the critical views that Tolkien was receiving at the time. Whether it was writers who were used to a different style, those of political, societal or religious views who felt it conflicted with their views who were trying to undermine the book. The attacks continued long after he died but I would like to think he would have great satisfaction that the book continued to be a successful regardless.
The interviewer was also following the style and format from that time, had clearly done a lot of research and got some great answers to those questions.
This man was a genius
He still is....
@@simonidastankovic2627 he's been dead for over 40 years, so he WAS a genius, genius.
His spirit lives on...still is
Absolutely!
I could listen to him talk forever
I just noticed that there is a transcript! Thank you! I had a very hard time to understand Tolkien 😊
"you wouldn't likely think much of a chap called Ugluk" LOL
This is a fantastic thing to find on TH-cam. Thank you very much for putting it up. I must also add that I am struck that we are listening to men of superior education, and I think our culture has declined from the one that produced them.
I don't think most people realise that we used to have universities full of powerful thinkers and learned men like Tolkien in the past. Governments could consult with these wise individuals to seek the best ways forward in all kinds of directions. We seem to have an extreme shortage of this of these intellectuals now, and our so called leaders do not strike me as particularly wise. I worry for our future.
Can you imagine his outrage what they have doen with Ring of Power
Starmer and Rayner listen to their associates at Davos and the WEF.The agenda is designed to benefit them,not us.
Brilliant. Thank you for sharing
In a pre draft of the Sillmarilion, nl the story of Aelfwine, Tolkien tried to connect the ages of Middle Earth with real history.
Aelfwine was cast as an Anglosaxon traveling to Tol Eressëa. When working out the landscape of the Sillmarilion he obvious dropped that idea.
And Sauron was originally an evil cat named Tevildo.
Very interesting to hear Tolkien kind of bat aside the Tom Bombadil mention. I do wonder what is going on there...
Well Tom bombadil was an oddity, a character from earlier works of Tolkien.. Implemented in LOTR. It sounded to me like he didn't want to use it as an example for explaining the lore because he's an oddity...
This is excellent. One of the best things I have heard on TH-cam ever or anywhere. Thank you for sharing.
Really hard hitting questions, that are still discussed to this day. Great interview.
Awesome interview! Great questions from the interviewer, too. You could even hear one of them striking a match a couple times, I guess enjoying some Longbottom Leaf!
Nice podcast, didn’t even try to sell me any vitamins!
Love Tolkien’s voice
17:36 imagine accusing a man who watched friends die in WW1 of 'having all his good characters come home like happy boys safe from the war.'
But, except Boromir, who succumbs to the temptation, all of them do. Quite the opposite from WW1
Read the ending again. It's very sad and its made clear the losses.@@jebespolitiko
Arda existed in Tolkien's mind and in the minds of those who read of it. Perhaps in-between ice ages long ago then the world was reshaped and the Valar moved on into the vast universe
I always imagined the 3rd theme where "Elves aren't around" but "Men will have a role to play" are what we're living right now and that's why we don't see Elves and the other races are bound to the fate of Arda. Why we don't see dwarves? Well maybe they've all dug far below, haha. Anyway, it's all in good fun and nothing to be taken as true.
@@ParappatheRapper That third theme would be quite noisy I'm thinking if it involved the 21 century. We're weird
Thank you for this! I don't think I've ever heard him interviewed before.
Thank you so much for posting this interview and in such great quality!
Thanks SoC. What a treat!
Death year of 1973
1 - ring to rule them all
9 - nine rings to the kings of men
7 - to the dwarves
3 - to the elves
Oh my! Well figured. Stunner there. Thank you.
Read the books before watching the films
Thank you so very much for this. And it's clarity!
Clearly black people were everywhere in ancient England…
@@ravenhill-night-chills-1968 obviously, I was being sarcastic.
When you realize thar you english sounds good because of tolkien
He sounds like Jerma doing the byeah voice
"Well don't they remind you of the Jews?"
I lost my shit.
And they say they’re honoring his legacy
1
The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
(Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.
Always without desire we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.
Interviewer: *asks question*
Tolkien: *gives clear answer*
Interviewer: "With all due respect, I don't think that's actually what you really mean"
The interviewer is infuriatingly arrogant, Tolkien showed infinite patience with him. Imagine trying to pull that kind of thing now, you'd be lucky to get a second chance.
@Shoenheim it's sheep* just as "Deer" isn't "Deers." We are social creatures. Do you wear pants and socks, use a toothbrush and sleep with a pillow? By your logic that makes you a sheep along with the rest of us. Please take your ill will and attitude to another place. Disrespectful to Tolkien, the atmosphere he created, and the love amongst men that he cherished.
@@lioleigh9791 I think calling this interviewer a dick or arrogant is just as disrespectful if not more lmao. Tolkien was a straight shooter and you would know immediately if you got him angry, but Tolkien laughed and joyfully responded to all the questions and some clarifications even made him give deep thought to his work. I think it pleased him someone was asking him questions out of the ordinary and not really insisting on anything. To say this interview was "Tolkien vs an Asshole" is massive disrespect.
Well, that's what people who ask the questions are supposed to do. It's funny that everyone that has read something by Tolkien act like like they knew that shit already.
That's why it's called an interview, so questions can be explained so people that weren't that familiar with him and his work can get to know the details.
I think it’s more the times, we hate it but back then that’s how you interviewed… the great man seemed fine with it
"It's simply an old fashioned word for this world we live in"
I first read Lord of the Rings in about 1975 and have read it many times with greater understanding ever since. At that time it would have been inconceivable that I would ever hear Tolkein actually speaking about his own work. There are moments of such high emotion in the book that make me cry even today and they all came from this gentle man's imagination. Frodos arrival at the 'far green country' for example shocked me more than anything I've ever read.
Fascinating interview. I love Tolkien, and the Lord of the Rings, the I can't entirely reconsile it with my values as an adult.
I wish the interviewer had followed up on the comment that Tolkien made about touching your cap to the squire "being bad for the squire but good for you." On the face of it, it is complete nonsense. Even if I accept for a moment the idea that rich people are better than ordinary people (which I certainly do not), what the heck was he talking about. Why is it good for you, and why is it bad for the squire? And how could any system that is inherently bad for some party a good thing?
Tolkien was a literary genius, a man who made up a whole world in his head over 20 odd years then fit stories to it. A man who had been through hell in WWI, a man who made up extremely detailed languages then histories of the peoples that inhabited this world, something that is no longer really done by authors these days. It was such a great privilege to listen to this interview, thank you for finding this and uploading it for us Tolkien fans. ❤ The interviewer was very well read and so so knowledgeable about Tolkien’s works. BTW, that and his accent gives away that he was very well off and went to the best schools in England, so he was actually the perfect candidate to interview Professor Tolkien! Whatever his background, the interviewer obviously put in the time to read the books, become extremely familiar with them, and then come up with questions/subjects that were intellectual and searching. Tolkien answered every question with aplomb. The whole interview seemed like more of a conversation between peers than between interviewer and interviewee…..maybe a conversation between professor and student? 🤷🏻♀️ All of the racial and propaganda crap that is supposedly integrated into Tolkien’s works is just pure speculation and as most of the stories were written prior to WWII, I think it is all just a load of bullshit by jealous people to discredit Tolkien. I really think Tolkien would be shocked by how long his books have endured and even more shocked by the books becoming the basis of such amazing movie adaptations!
People always over-analyze literature, talk about the themes and symbolism and deeper meanings, but then the authors are just like “No, I just wrote a story I thought would be a good one.” And it’s as simple as that. Tolkien is the biggest example of this, where there are college classes dissecting every little word he wrote, like what Galadriel giving Gimli her hair symbolizes etc… when in reality it’s just something Tolkien thought up as being an interesting scene so he put it in.
Totally agree with you 👍
It's both, of course. What we like or invent does not simply originate in a vacuum. As a scholar and linguist, Tolkien was formed to his core by a body of literature that spans the ages of human cultures (as he mentions in this invertiew).
Moreover, he DID give serious thought to motives (motifs) and symbology writing his own work.
Thirdly, should the focus of discussing literature just be on what the author intended, or also on what the reader can take away from the experience?