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
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.
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.
I would think when interviewing the man who had a hand in the Oxford Dictionary, it would be disrespectful _not_ to interrogate his exact positions on symbology.
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.
Fun fact he was a good friend of C.S Lewis (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe) also rumored to have known Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - still looking for evidence of the latter online.
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.
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.
You didn't find it hard to understand Tolkien's audio?? I thought he was very garbled. The interviewer was obviously right on top of a microphone, whilst Professor Tolkien was at a slight distance from it. As he mumbles quite a bit too and also speaks too quickly, I found it very hard to decipher much of his diction.
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.
Exactly. It's like listening to men like Enoch Powell and Oswald Mosley: you actually feel your brain gladly expanding, and your level of English tweaked and trued in many ways so that it fast approaches what it always should have been with you; and I am Irish! 😁👍🏻☘️
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!
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 salute your intention here, but his World is very much Northern European with Germanic and Celtic cultures dominating. Only the Shire and perhaps Rohan to a much lesser extent could be said to fit into an "English" mythological World.
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.
Me too. The interviewer's voice is extremely clear. Professor Tolkien's is sadly very garbled: partly because he speaks too quickly and mumbles quite a bit, and partly because he was obviously too distant from the microphone to be perfectly audible. It was yet another sad rendition for me I'm afraid.
@@Sionnach1601 , l agree with you as far as the technical aspects are concerned. The elderly Tolkien was apparently a mumbler, and you are right. He didn't properly handle the microphone. But what do you mean with "it's another sad rendition"? I think that the actual content of the Interview is very interesting!
I think this was a fantastic, and the interviewer did an amazing job. The questions he asked had depth and he had taken the trouble to understand the Tolkien's work. I was particularly impressed by the rather understated questioning toward the end of the interview. He drew out some very interesting information on Tolkien's beliefs that, I believe, have a pertinent baring on the formation of the mythology he created. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, and I must admit that I now have a greater appreciation for it after listening to this interview. I have read several criticism of the interviewer. Not many, but a few. I'm afraid I can't fully coprehend what these criticism are based on. People making such criticism should be grateful that this interview exists at all. It is, without doubt or exaggeration, a real treasure.
I must say that I found this interview quite fascinating and a very eloquent conversation. I loved hearing such rich English. Comparing this interview to today's I much rather watch or hear an interview of 1964 than today in 2024. Beautiful conversation. I can see how even today's English language has lost it's finest and respectfulness.
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!
I was particularly struck buy the "Guilt" question and just thought of the impact his work is still having in 2024. I watch people online respond to the films with awe & tears! The books sales have been phenomenal for a reason. Be true to your own vision.
He's grave is in wolvercote cemetery oxfordshire. My son works for ODS who look after all of oxford cemeteries and church yards . He said on the anniversary of his death lots of people go up and pay their respects and leave offerings.
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
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
Be strong brother. All europeans are in this fight, and LOTR resonates with this fight. We are fighting evil (fight the orcs, mind the Dark Lord…). Greetings from 🇪🇸
6:48 Well damn. That was an enlightening statement made by Tolkien, describing how his move from South Africa to England at the age of 3 1/2 was poignant in his development and outlook on the world. Most kids grow up seeing the same things so their minds aren't often tested. The image Tolkien paints of photographing the same meal and only noticing slight changes each time as opposed to a child having a sudden breakthrough due to their drastic environmental/cultural change will have a lasting impact on that child. I myself had a troubled childhood littered with instability however I have always maintained a similar view as Tolkien in that without my experiences I would be ignorant to the real world and the varying natures that exist within it. Tolkien has a way with words unlike anyone I have ever listened to and his insight into life is second to none.
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.
Exactly. It's like listening to men like Enoch Powell and Oswald Mosley: you actually feel your brain gladly expanding, and your level of English tweaked and trued in many ways so that it fast approaches what it always should have been with you; and I am Irish! 😁👍🏻☘️
It's literally the exact same now. Literally every pseudo intellectual says the same thing every era. "Back in the day, there were people of true character and intellect, unlike now."
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!
1. The interviewer is remarkable, cultured and passionnate about Mr Tolkien's work of art. An interviewer that's respectable as we would like them to be always. 2. Though the triology of the Lord of the Rings isn't 100% canon, from Tolkien's sayings, you can tell Peter Jackson did a good job in accordance with the work. 3. The humility embodied by Master Tolkien is the last words of this interview make him an even greater being. (Maybe he's a Valar , after all...) Let's be greatful for his work of art, may he rest peacefully.
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...
He said in another interview that Bombadil was put in as a ‘ diversion, an adventure for the Hobbits on their journey, but he was not an important character and served no other purpose. He was an enigma, but not Maiar, Valar or any other supernatural being’. He had no interest in the affairs of men, Hobbits, Elves, Dwarfs or anyone else. He was just Bombadil. He first appeared in a Tolkien story in 1934. 😊
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…
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.
I disagree. Frodo is so marked by his experience that he has to leave Middle Earth for Vallinor because his physical and mental scars cannot fully heal. Likewise with Bilbo, he is restless, and must leave Middle Earth to truly be at peace. When the hobbits part, Sam is greatly saddened at the loss of Frodo, but also has a beautiful life ahead of him. It is bittersweet. There is the sense that the world has changed, and that elves and dwarves and hobbits and magic in general will continue to fade from the world. The end of Return of the King is both happy and sad. It's incredibly moving.@@jebespolitiko
I feel so close to his personality after listening to this, as if he still alive and this have been taken yesterday. HArdly to believe this great mind is long gone now and we wont see anything about the 4th age :( :( :(
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 That's really hard to say. He comes from a time where film wasn't a media so he would have a book perspective to the looking of the film and may view it in a way all of us have no capability of doing so.
22:50 It's a bit hard to hear it, but Tolkien explains that he'd already written most of the Silmarillion material long before he wrote the Hobbit and the LOTR.
Wait, did I just hear the great professor say he thought to tell the story of THE Ring (and not just some random magic ring Bilbo found in a cave) while soaking in his bath one day? That's almost as charming as him coming up with the Hobbit out of boredom while grading papers that one time! :B
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 😀
It's nothing to do with the west, north, south, or east. It's that we're living once again in the Dark ages, our conscious awareness is that of a mere snail. Even a snail knows when to pear out of the dark enclosure of his shell, and allow the light to flood in.
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?
It's some sort of human tendency, with every single kind of fandom books, films, comics, you see people discussing characters in extreme depth as if they're completely real and far beyond what was originally intended by the creators, perhaps because because storytelling and myths are so inherent to us
In his talking about creative imagination, I sense that these decisions about scenes occur simultaneously as "it would be a nice plot" and as subconscious creative spark that draws from his deep understanding of cultures, languages and myths without him formulating it in explicit terms. Creativity can become decimated by rationalization, so it might be that Tolkien avoided this trap intentionally, but still had a faint sense of where it really comes from.
@@ericdane7769 Exactly this. The intellectual depth of a book can only reach as far as the depth of its author. A wise, kind-hearted individual with an ideology aligned with human nature will naturally write a better book, even without meticulously analyzing every line, than someone who does but lacks intelligence and holds a spiteful ideology. This is also why evil corrupts rather than creates.
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.
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.
Ian McKellen partly based Gandalf's voice on recordings of Tolkien
Yeap.
thank you for this
love how he casually brings out a pipe at 23:21 while still answering the question :D
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🙄
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.
I would think when interviewing the man who had a hand in the Oxford Dictionary, it would be disrespectful _not_ to interrogate his exact positions on symbology.
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.
Fun fact he was a good friend of C.S Lewis (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe) also rumored to have known Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - still looking for evidence of the latter online.
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.
I could listen to him talk forever
You can by hitting repeat
A dream for any aspiring writer: To be interviewed by a real journalist of this calibre, versus only yourself to justify your workings. Wonderful.
Balrog wings are only smoke and shadow. They do not function as wings.
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.
0:44 i simply love the way he easily associates time, culture, and ages to the sense of imagination being realised.
Tolkien was so cheeky and playful. So deeply philosophical and spiritual. What a treasure!
This is an excellently clear upload. Well done for taking the time to find such high quality audio
You didn't find it hard to understand Tolkien's audio??
I thought he was very garbled. The interviewer was obviously right on top of a microphone, whilst Professor Tolkien was at a slight distance from it. As he mumbles quite a bit too and also speaks too quickly, I found it very hard to decipher much of his diction.
@@Sionnach1601 Indeed, among the many things one could credit Tolkien for, a seasoned MC would not be one of them.
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.
Exactly.
It's like listening to men like Enoch Powell and Oswald Mosley: you actually feel your brain gladly expanding, and your level of English tweaked and trued in many ways so that it fast approaches what it always should have been with you; and I am Irish! 😁👍🏻☘️
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!
Are you ok?
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 salute your intention here, but his World is very much Northern European with Germanic and Celtic cultures dominating.
Only the Shire and perhaps Rohan to a much lesser extent could be said to fit into an "English" mythological World.
That was so captivating. Every single second of it. A MUST for any fan of Tolkien I think.
Thank you Professor 🙏
You are awesome for uploading this.
More people need to here this fine man speak!
This is proper content.
Really hard hitting questions, that are still discussed to this day. Great interview.
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.
I just noticed that there is a transcript! Thank you! I had a very hard time to understand Tolkien 😊
Me too. The interviewer's voice is extremely clear. Professor Tolkien's is sadly very garbled: partly because he speaks too quickly and mumbles quite a bit, and partly because he was obviously too distant from the microphone to be perfectly audible.
It was yet another sad rendition for me I'm afraid.
@@Sionnach1601 , l agree with you as far as the technical aspects are concerned. The elderly Tolkien was apparently a mumbler, and you are right. He didn't properly handle the microphone. But what do you mean with "it's another sad rendition"? I think that the actual content of the Interview is very interesting!
"you wouldn't likely think much of a chap called Ugluk" LOL
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.
Brilliant. Thank you for sharing
This is excellent. One of the best things I have heard on TH-cam ever or anywhere. Thank you for sharing.
"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
This is an interview that deserves several listenings. Thank you for posting this.
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???”
🤣🤣
@@frankphillips7436 "why does black always mean evil and white good? That's racist!"
Lex Friedman is what you are looking for.
I think this was a fantastic, and the interviewer did an amazing job. The questions he asked had depth and he had taken the trouble to understand the Tolkien's work.
I was particularly impressed by the rather understated questioning toward the end of the interview. He drew out some very interesting information on Tolkien's beliefs that, I believe, have a pertinent baring on the formation of the mythology he created.
I have read and thoroughly enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, and I must admit that I now have a greater appreciation for it after listening to this interview.
I have read several criticism of the interviewer. Not many, but a few. I'm afraid I can't fully coprehend what these criticism are based on. People making such criticism should be grateful that this interview exists at all. It is, without doubt or exaggeration, a real treasure.
I must say that I found this interview quite fascinating and a very eloquent conversation. I loved hearing such rich English. Comparing this interview to today's I much rather watch or hear an interview of 1964 than today in 2024. Beautiful conversation. I can see how even today's English language has lost it's finest and respectfulness.
Quite amazing and a great interview. A very brilliant man. He was always clear about writing a “credible history”.
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!
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!
@@GuyC7that doesn't make any sense
This is simply fantastic. Thank you!
Thank you so much for posting this interview and in such great quality!
Amazed and delighted to come across this on TH-cam. Than you for posting.
Like Bilbo and Radagast had a nice chat in Bag End.
Thank you for this! I don't think I've ever heard him interviewed before.
Why oh why do we not hear voices speak in this way anymore? There such a unique blend of crisp calmness in every exchange...
Just extraordinary. I was totally transported into his mind. Fascinating.
I was particularly struck buy the "Guilt" question and just thought of the impact his work is still having in 2024. I watch people online respond to the films with awe & tears! The books sales have been phenomenal for a reason. Be true to your own vision.
Thanks SoC. What a treat!
This is the first time I’ve heard this interview. Awesome!! ❤
He's grave is in wolvercote cemetery oxfordshire. My son works for ODS who look after all of oxford cemeteries and church yards . He said on the anniversary of his death lots of people go up and pay their respects and leave offerings.
I went there, and planted a succulent❤
Love Tolkien’s voice
Nothing conciliatory about _this_ interviewer.
Great listen! Thank you.
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 😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣
23:21 strikes match
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.
Be strong brother. All europeans are in this fight, and LOTR resonates with this fight. We are fighting evil (fight the orcs, mind the Dark Lord…). Greetings from 🇪🇸
@@robberrttgiand who are you fighting?
6:48
Well damn. That was an enlightening statement made by Tolkien, describing how his move from South Africa to England at the age of 3 1/2 was poignant in his development and outlook on the world. Most kids grow up seeing the same things so their minds aren't often tested. The image Tolkien paints of photographing the same meal and only noticing slight changes each time as opposed to a child having a sudden breakthrough due to their drastic environmental/cultural change will have a lasting impact on that child.
I myself had a troubled childhood littered with instability however I have always maintained a similar view as Tolkien in that without my experiences I would be ignorant to the real world and the varying natures that exist within it.
Tolkien has a way with words unlike anyone I have ever listened to and his insight into life is second to none.
"Well don't they remind you of the Jews?"
I lost my shit.
Nice podcast, didn’t even try to sell me any vitamins!
18:04 what an amazing question and an even more incredible answer!!! I’m absolutely speechless right now 🤯
More evidence we as a whole are getting less educated than our parents,parents generation
Well Tolkien talks like a real Baggins.
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.
Exactly.
It's like listening to men like Enoch Powell and Oswald Mosley: you actually feel your brain gladly expanding, and your level of English tweaked and trued in many ways so that it fast approaches what it always should have been with you; and I am Irish! 😁👍🏻☘️
It's literally the exact same now. Literally every pseudo intellectual says the same thing every era. "Back in the day, there were people of true character and intellect, unlike now."
@@Sionnach1601wasn't Oswald a nationalist?
Thank you so very much for this. And it's clarity!
That match strike at 23:20, what an absolutely class act :D
These are one of the few sets of books that you can read over and over again and never be bored, and almost always find new surprises.
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
I love this interview.
Great great great questions. I understand so much more about one of my favorite artists now.😊
So good. Thank you for sharing this treasure!
The language/s he's brought into existence is beautiful! "Culvienen" for example is wonderful to look at and more so to speak it. 😙
I’ve never heard this. This is gold!
Absolute Treat. Thank You Kindly. Huge Appreciation 📜📜📜
Best podcast ever
1. The interviewer is remarkable, cultured and passionnate about Mr Tolkien's work of art. An interviewer that's respectable as we would like them to be always.
2. Though the triology of the Lord of the Rings isn't 100% canon, from Tolkien's sayings, you can tell Peter Jackson did a good job in accordance with the work.
3. The humility embodied by Master Tolkien is the last words of this interview make him an even greater being. (Maybe he's a Valar , after all...)
Let's be greatful for his work of art, may he rest peacefully.
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.
@@chrismusix5669 Azrael
Thank you for this one 👍
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...
He said in another interview that Bombadil was put in as a ‘ diversion, an adventure for the Hobbits on their journey, but he was not an important character and served no other purpose. He was an enigma, but not Maiar, Valar or any other supernatural being’. He had no interest in the affairs of men, Hobbits, Elves, Dwarfs or anyone else. He was just Bombadil. He first appeared in a Tolkien story in 1934. 😊
Good interview, by a good interviewer.
More content please. This is a lovely channel.
2:00 a long time ago in a galaxy far far away
Omg i just love this man! God bless his imagination!❤ Thank you for sharing!
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…
Love that idea ❤
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
Gotta love the occasional pipe puffing and match striking during the interesting conversation, but now I require a reading of the transcription 😅
This is a fine example of how to conduct an interview
Thank you !
"It's simply an old fashioned word for this world we live in"
I wish I could get hold of a transcript of this.
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
I disagree. Frodo is so marked by his experience that he has to leave Middle Earth for Vallinor because his physical and mental scars cannot fully heal. Likewise with Bilbo, he is restless, and must leave Middle Earth to truly be at peace. When the hobbits part, Sam is greatly saddened at the loss of Frodo, but also has a beautiful life ahead of him. It is bittersweet. There is the sense that the world has changed, and that elves and dwarves and hobbits and magic in general will continue to fade from the world. The end of Return of the King is both happy and sad. It's incredibly moving.@@jebespolitiko
I feel so close to his personality after listening to this, as if he still alive and this have been taken yesterday. HArdly to believe this great mind is long gone now and we wont see anything about the 4th age :( :( :(
Both were great.
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.
@@369tfs He certainly wouldn't HAVE liked your "wouldn't of liked it".
@tfs7033 That's really hard to say. He comes from a time where film wasn't a media so he would have a book perspective to the looking of the film and may view it in a way all of us have no capability of doing so.
He sounds like Jerma doing the byeah voice
THANKYOU 🙏🏽
And they say they’re honoring his legacy
He’s a real Englishman love his voice
Real... You talking about
'You wouldn't likely think much of a chap called Ugluk, would you now?"
22:50 It's a bit hard to hear it, but Tolkien explains that he'd already written most of the Silmarillion material long before he wrote the Hobbit and the LOTR.
Wonderful to have This pop up on TH-cam. What an absolute Gift 🧝♂️🧝♀️❤
Wait, did I just hear the great professor say he thought to tell the story of THE Ring (and not just some random magic ring Bilbo found in a cave) while soaking in his bath one day?
That's almost as charming as him coming up with the Hobbit out of boredom while grading papers that one time! :B
Holy shit I didn’t think I’d ever hear Tolkien actually speak let alone describe in detail their writing process
Same !
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 😀
When journalists werent complete idiots, knew what they were talking about and respected the interviewed. How the West has fallen...
It's nothing to do with the west, north, south, or east. It's that we're living once again in the Dark ages, our conscious awareness is that of a mere snail. Even a snail knows when to pear out of the dark enclosure of his shell, and allow the light to flood in.
You've shown your quality...the highest.
The Professor was the 🐐
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?
It's some sort of human tendency, with every single kind of fandom books, films, comics, you see people discussing characters in extreme depth as if they're completely real and far beyond what was originally intended by the creators, perhaps because because storytelling and myths are so inherent to us
In his talking about creative imagination, I sense that these decisions about scenes occur simultaneously as "it would be a nice plot" and as subconscious creative spark that draws from his deep understanding of cultures, languages and myths without him formulating it in explicit terms. Creativity can become decimated by rationalization, so it might be that Tolkien avoided this trap intentionally, but still had a faint sense of where it really comes from.
@@ericdane7769 Exactly this. The intellectual depth of a book can only reach as far as the depth of its author. A wise, kind-hearted individual with an ideology aligned with human nature will naturally write a better book, even without meticulously analyzing every line, than someone who does but lacks intelligence and holds a spiteful ideology. This is also why evil corrupts rather than creates.
J. R. R. Tolkien sounds like one of the characters of his books.