GetWiki

{{Short description|British book editor, son of J. R. R. Tolkien}}{{Use British English|date=March 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

factoids

| birth_place = Leeds, Englanddf=yes01192421}}| death_place = Draguignan, Franceillustrator|academic}}Fantasy literature>FantasyTrinity College, Oxford (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Letters>BLitt)}}Faith Faulconbridge1967Baillie Tolkien>1967}}Simon Tolkien>SimonJ. R. R. Tolkien (father)| Edith Tolkien (mother)}}Hilary Tolkien (uncle)John Tolkien (priest)>John Tolkien (brother)|Priscilla Tolkien (sister)}}| awards = Bodley Medal (2016)}}Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 â€“ 16 January 2020) was an English and naturalised French academic editor.In his later years Mr. Tolkien became a French citizen..., NYTimes Christopher Tolkien, Keeper of His Father’s Legacy, Dies at 95, 16 Jan, 2020 The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father's posthumously published work, including The Silmarillion and the 12-volume (plus one volume of indices) series The History of Middle-Earth. Tolkien also drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings.Outside his father's unfinished works, Christopher Tolkien edited three tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (with Nevill Coghill) and his father's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Early life and education

Tolkien was born in Leeds, England, the third of four children and youngest son of John Ronald Reuel and Edith Mary Tolkien (née Bratt). He was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford, and later at The Oratory School.BOOK,weblink J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, Michael D. C., Drout, Taylor & Francis, 2007, 663, 978-0415969420, 17 January 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140929184722weblink">weblink 29 September 2014, live, He entered the Royal Air Force in mid-1943 and was sent to South Africa for flight training, completing the elementary flying course at 7 Air School, Kroonstad, and the service flying course at 25 Air School, Standerton. He was commissioned into the general duties branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 27 January 1945 as a pilot officer on probation (emergency) and was given the service number 193121.{{London Gazette|issue=36989|date=16 March 1945|pages=1492–1494 |supp=y}} He briefly served as an RAF pilot before transferring to the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve on 28 June 1945.{{London Gazette |issue=37327 |date=26 October 1945 |pages=5275–5276 |supp=y}} His commission was confirmed and he was promoted to flying officer (war substantive) on 27 July 1945.{{London Gazette| issue=37237 | date=21 August 1945 | page=4282| supp=y}}{{London Gazette |issue=37264 |date=11 September 1945|page=4575|supp=y}}After the war, he studied English at Trinity College, Oxford, taking his B.A. in 1949 and his B.Litt. a few years later.

Career

Tolkien had long been part of the critical audience for his father's fiction, first as a child listening to tales of Bilbo Baggins (which were published as The Hobbit), and then as a teenager and young adult offering much feedback on The Lord of the Rings during its 15-year gestation. He had the task of interpreting his father's sometimes self-contradictory maps of Middle-earth in order to produce the versions used in the books, and he re-drew the main map in the late 1970s to clarify the lettering and correct some errors and omissions. Tolkien was invited by his father to join the Inklings when he was 21 years old, making him the youngest member of the informal literary discussion society that included C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, Warren Lewis, Lord David Cecil, and Nevill Coghill.BOOK, The Company They Keep, Diana, Glyer, Kent State UP, 2007, 978-0-87338-890-0, Kent, OH, He published The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise: "Translated from the Icelandic with Introduction, Notes and Appendices by Christopher Tolkien" in 1960.Tolkien, Christopher (1960) The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise; translated from the Icelandic with introduction, notes and appendices. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. ASIN: B000V9BAO0 Later, Tolkien followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a lecturer and tutor in English Language at New College, Oxford, from 1964 to 1975.WEB,weblink Tolkien, Christopher Reuel, Routledge, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140407080758weblink">weblink 7 April 2014, 16 April 2016, In 2016, he was given the Bodley Medal, an award that recognises outstanding contributions to literature, culture, science, and communication.WEB,weblink Christopher Tolkien awarded the Bodley Medal, Onwuemezi, Natasha, 31 October 2016, www.thebookseller.com, 3 November 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161104075133weblink">weblink 4 November 2016, live,

Editorial work

His father wrote a great deal of material connected to the Middle-earth legendarium that was not published in his lifetime. J. R. R. Tolkien had originally intended to publish The Silmarillion along with The Lord of the Rings, and parts of it were in a finished state when he died in 1973, but the project was incomplete. Tolkien once referred to his son as his "chief critic and collaborator", and named him his literary executor in his will. The younger Tolkien organised the masses of his father's unpublished writings, some of them written on odd scraps of paper half a century earlier. Much of the material was handwritten; frequently a fair draft was written over a half-erased first draft, and names of characters routinely changed between the beginning and end of the same draft. In the years following, Tolkien worked on the manuscripts and was able to produce an edition of The Silmarillion for publication in 1977 (a very young Guy Gavriel Kay served as his assistant for part of this time).The Silmarillion was followed by Unfinished Tales in 1980, and The History of Middle-earth in 12 volumes between 1983 and 1996. Most of the original source-texts have been made public from which The Silmarillion was constructed. In April 2007, Tolkien published The Children of Húrin, whose story his father had brought to a relatively complete stage between 1951 and 1957 before abandoning it. This was one of his father's earliest stories, its first version dating back to 1918; several versions are published in The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The History of Middle-earth. The Children of Húrin is a synthesis of these and other sources. Beren and Lúthien is an editorial work and was published as a stand-alone book in 2017.WEB,weblink JRR Tolkien book Beren and Lúthien published after 100 years, 1 June 2017, BBC, 5 June 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170605022233weblink">weblink 5 June 2017, live, The next year, The Fall of Gondolin was published, also as an editorial work.NEWS,weblink The Fall of Gondolin published, 30 August 2018, Daniel, Helen, Tolkien Society, 20 January 2020,weblink 8 December 2019, live, The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin make up the three "Great Tales" of the Elder Days which J. R. R. Tolkien considered to be the biggest stories of the First Age.WEB,weblink The Fall of Gondolin to be published, 10 April 2018, Daniel, Helen, Tolkien Society, 20 January 2020,weblink 4 July 2018, live, HarperCollins published other J. R. R. Tolkien work edited by Christopher that is not connected to the Middle-earth legendarium. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún appeared in May 2009, a verse retelling of the Norse Völsung cycle, followed by The Fall of ArthurWEB,weblink The Fall of Arthur – J.R.R. Tolkien, HarperCollins, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130511044715weblink">weblink 11 May 2013, 23 May 2013, in May 2013, and by (Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary) in May 2014.NEWS,weblink JRR Tolkien translation of Beowulf to be published after 90-year wait, Alison Flood, The Guardian, 7 December 2014, 19 March 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150119004230weblink">weblink 19 January 2015, live, WEB,weblink Tolkien's 'Beowulf' battles critics, Ken Raymond, 30 May 2014, NewsOk.com, The Oklahoman, 13 December 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150224215234weblink">weblink 24 February 2015, live, Tolkien served as chairman of the Tolkien Estate, the entity formed to handle the business side of his father's literary legacy, and as a trustee of the Tolkien Charitable Trust. He resigned as director of the estate in 2017.WEB,weblink Christopher Tolkien Resigns From the Tolkien Estate – Does This Mean More 'Lord of the Rings' Movies and Shows?, Hall, Jacob, 15 November 2017, /Film, 16 January 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180119094538weblink">weblink 19 January 2018, live,

Reaction to filmed versions

In 2001, Christopher Tolkien expressed doubts over The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, questioning the viability of a film interpretation that retained the essence of the work, but stressed that this was just his opinion.WEB,weblink Middle-earth & J.R.R. Tolkien Blog, Middle-earth & J.R.R. Tolkien Blog, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100625231031weblink">weblink 25 June 2010, 7 December 2014, In a 2012 interview with Le Monde, he criticised the films, saying: "They gutted the book, making an action film for 15 to 25-year-olds."NEWS,weblink Tolkien, l'anneau de la discorde, Raphaëlle Rérolle, Le Monde.fr, 7 December 2014, 5 July 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120709045110weblink">weblink 9 July 2012, live, In 2008, he commenced legal proceedings against New Line Cinema, which he claimed owed his family £80 million in unpaid royalties."Hobbit movies meet dire foe in son of Tolkien" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615224143weblink |date=15 June 2011 }}. The Sunday Times. 25 May 2008. In September 2009, he and New Line reached an undisclosed settlement, and he withdrew his legal objection to The Hobbit films."Legal path clear for Hobbit movie" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090911095838weblink |date=11 September 2009 }}. BBC News. 8 September 2009.

Personal life

Christopher Tolkien was married twice. He had two sons and one daughter.His first marriage in 1951 was to sculptor Faith Lucy Tilly Tolkien (née Faulconbridge) (1928–2017). After their separation in 1964, they divorced in 1967.WEB, Faith Tolkien Obituary (2017) - London Bridge, City of London - The Times,weblink 2022-10-20, www.legacy.com, en, JOURNAL, 2018, In Memoriam,weblink Tolkien Studies, 15, 1, 3–4, 10.1353/tks.2018.0002, 1547-3163, Her work is featured in the National Portrait gallery.WEB, Faith Lucy Tilly Tolkien - National Portrait Gallery,weblink 2022-10-20, www.npg.org.uk, en, Their son is barrister and novelist Simon Mario Reuel Tolkien.Tolkien and Baillie Tolkien (née Klass) married in 1967. In 1975, they moved to the French countryside where she edited her father-in-law's The Father Christmas Letters for posthumous publication. They had two children, Adam Reuel Tolkien and Rachel Clare Reuel Tolkien.In the wake of a dispute surrounding the making of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Christopher is said to have disapproved of the views of his son Simon.NEWS,weblink Tolkien's son denies rift, BBC News, 7 December 2001, 16 January 2022,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110307211943weblink">weblink March 7, 2011, live, NEWS,weblink J R R Tolkien's grandson 'cut off from literary inheritance', Thomas, David, 24 February 2003, 23 April 2010, Sunday Telegraph,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120913071207weblink">weblink 13 September 2012, live, Christopher felt that The Lord of the Rings was "peculiarly unsuitable for transformation into visual dramatic form", whilst his son became involved as an advisor with the series. They later reconciled, with Simon dedicating one of his novels to his father.NEWS,weblink Simon Tolkien: J R R Tolkien's grandson admits Lord of the Rings trauma, Hough, Andrew, 18 November 2012, 15 December 2012, Sunday Telegraph,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121227045500weblink">weblink 27 December 2012, live, WEB, 2012-11-24, 'Being Tolkien's grandson blocked my writing ...',weblink 2022-10-20, the Guardian, en, Christopher Tolkien died on 16 January 2020, at the age of 95, in Draguignan, Var, France.NEWS,weblink Christopher Tolkien, Keeper of His Father's Legacy, Dies at 95, Seelye, Katharine Q., 16 January 2020, The New York Times, Yuhas, Alan, 0362-4331, 16 January 2020,weblink 16 January 2020, live, NEWS, 16 January 2020, 'First Middle-earth scholar' Christopher Tolkien dies,weblink BBC News, 17 January 2020,weblink 16 January 2020, live, WEB,weblink Christopher, le fils de J.R.R. Tolkien, s'est éteint dans le Var à l'âge de 95 ans, Amalric, Laurent, 16 January 2020, Var-Matin, fr, live, 16 January 2020,weblink 16 January 2020, NEWS, Slawson, Nicola, 16 January 2020, JRR Tolkien's son Christopher dies aged 95,weblink The Guardian, 17 January 2020,weblink 17 January 2020, live,

Bibliography

As author or translator

• BOOK,weblinkweblink" title="ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009weblink">weblink 2022-10-09, live, The Battle of the Goths and the Huns, Tolkien, Christopher, Saga-Book, 1953–1957, 14, 141–63, Christopher Tolkien, none,
• "Introduction" to G. Turville-Petre, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (Viking Society for Northern Research, 1956, corrected reprint 1976), pp. xi-xx.
• BOOK,weblinkweblink" title="ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009weblink">weblink 2022-10-09, live, The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise, 1960, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, , from the Icelandic Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks

As editor

• BOOK, The Nun's Priest's Tale, Chaucer, Geoffrey, 1958, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, Geoffrey Chaucer, 1387–1400, Coghill, Nevill, Nevill Coghill, The Nun's Priest's Tale, none,
• BOOK, The Pardoner's Tale, Chaucer, Geoffrey, 1959, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, Geoffrey Chaucer, 1387–1400, Coghill, Nevill, Nevill Coghill, The Pardoner's Tale, none,
• BOOK, The Man of Law's Tale, Chaucer, Geoffrey, 1969, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, Geoffrey Chaucer, 1387–1400, Coghill, Nevill, Nevill Coghill, The Man of Law's Tale, none,
• BOOK, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo, 1975, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, Tolkien, J. R. R., J. R. R. Tolkien, none,
• BOOK, The Silmarillion, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1977, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, 9780395257302, none,
• BOOK, Pictures by J. R. R. Tolkien, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1979, Allen & Unwin, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, 9780047410031, none,
• BOOK, Unfinished Tales, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1980, 2010, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, Unfinished Tales, Grafton, 978-0261102163, none,
• BOOK, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, 1981, 2005, Carpenter, Humphrey, Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, HarperCollins, 978-0261102651, none,
• BOOK, The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays, Tolkien, J. R. R., 2007, 1983, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays, HarperCollins, 978-0261102637, none,
• BOOK, The History of Middle-earth, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1983–2002, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-earth, HarperCollinsPublishers, 978-0008259846, none,
  • BOOK, The Book of Lost Tales, part 1, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1983, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 1, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Book of Lost Tales I, HarperCollins, 978-0261102224, none,
  • BOOK, The Book of Lost Tales, part 2, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1984, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 2, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Book of Lost Tales II, 978-0261102149, none,
  • BOOK, The Lays of Beleriand, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1985, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lays of Beleriand, HarperCollins, 978-0261102262, none,
  • BOOK, The Shaping of Middle-earth, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1986, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 4, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Shaping of Middle-earth, 9780261102187, none,
  • BOOK, The Lost Road and Other Writings, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1987, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 5, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lost Road and Other Writings, 9780007348220, none,
  • BOOK, The Return of the Shadow, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1988, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 6, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the Shadow, HarperCollins Publishers Limited, 9780007365302, none,
  • BOOK, The Treason of Isengard, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1989, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 7, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Treason of Isengard, Houghton Mifflin Company, 978-0395515624, none,
  • BOOK, The War of the Ring, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1990, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 8, J. R. R. Tolkien, The War of the Ring, Grafton, 978-0261102231, none,
  • BOOK, Sauron Defeated, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1992, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 9, J. R. R. Tolkien, Sauron Defeated, Houghton Mifflin, 978-0395606490, none,
  • BOOK, Morgoth's Ring, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1993, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 10, J. R. R. Tolkien, Morgoth's Ring, HarperCollins, 978-0261103009, none,
  • BOOK, The War of the Jewels, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1994, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 11, J. R. R. Tolkien, The War of the Jewels, HarperCollins, 978-0261103245, none,
  • BOOK, The Peoples of Middle-earth, Tolkien, J. R. R., 1996, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, 12, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Peoples of Middle-earth, HarperCollins, 978-0261103481, none,
  • BOOK, The History of Middle-earth Index, Tolkien, J. R. R., 2002, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, none,
• BOOK, The Children of Húrin, Tolkien, J. R. R., 2007, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Children of Húrin, HarperCollins Publishers, 978-0007597338, none,
• BOOK, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, Tolkien, J. R. R., 2009, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, HarperCollins, 978-0007317240, none,
• BOOK, The Fall of Arthur, Tolkien, J. R. R., 2013, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fall of Arthur, HarperCollins Publishers Limited, 978-0007557301, none,
• BOOK, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, 2014, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, Tolkien, J. R. R., J. R. R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, HarperCollinsPublishers, 978-0007590094, none,
• BOOK, Beren and Lúthien, Tolkien, J. R. R., 2017, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, Beren and Lúthien, HarperCollinsPublishers, 978-0008214197, none,
• BOOK, The Fall of Gondolin, Tolkien, J. R. R., 2018, Tolkien, Christopher, Christopher Tolkien, 3, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fall of Gondolin, HarperCollins Publishers, 978-0008302757, none,

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• {{ISFDB name}}
• {{LCAuth|n79144796|Christopher Tolkien|49|ue}}

{{Tolkien}}{{Authority control}}