Thursday, October 1, 2020

Tolkien and Leeds 1920

One hundred years ago John Ronald Reuel Tolkien 

was appointed

 Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds 

and arrived in the city take up the post

Tolkien would be joined by his growing family after his wife Edith gave birth (in Oxford) to their second son Michael. Initially Tolkien rented a room at 21a St Michael's Road, Headingley and returned to Oxford at the weekends.
 
As the Tolkien's approached Christmas 1920 they were starting down a road that would see the family move to Leeds and become part of the community of which the University was the centre.

To maintain the connection with his young family, Tolkien began a tradition that would last till the eary 1940s,  festive letters to his children. The first was written to his eldest son John, in Oxford (from Father Christmas, North Pole) in December 1920.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Christopher Tolkien (1924 - 2020)

 
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 15 January 2020) was the third son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), and the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C. J. R. T.
 
Christopher was born in Leeds in the same year that his father had been made Professor of the English Language at Leeds University at the age of thirty-two. His parents had purchased 2 Darnley Road and had moved with their children, John (6) and Michael (4) from St Marks Terrace.
He was baptised Christopher Reuel, the first name being in honor of Christopher Wiseman.


The Tolkien Society  is an educational charity, literary society, and international fan club, devoted to promoting the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien.