J.R.R. TOLKIEN
A BIOGRAPHY
HUMPHREY CARPENTER
Dedicated to the memory of ‘The T.C.B.S.’
Contents
PART TWO: 1892–1916: Early years
CHAPTER III: ‘PRIVATE LANG.’ – AND EDITH
CHAPTER VIII: THE BREAKING OF THE FELLOWSHIP
PART THREE: 1917–1925: The making of a mythology
PART FOUR: 1925–1949(i):‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit’
CHAPTER II: PHOTOGRAPHS OBSERVED
CHAPTER III: ‘HE HAD BEEN INSIDE LANGUAGE’
PART FIVE : 1925–1949(ii): The Third Age
CHAPTER I : SLAMMING THE GATES
PART SEVEN: 1959–1973: Last years
It is mid-morning on a spring day in 1967. I have driven from the centre of Oxford, over Magdalen Bridge, along the London road, and up a hill into the respectable but dull suburb of Headington. Near a large private school for girls I turn left into Sandfield Road, a residential street of two-storey brick houses, each with its tidy front garden.
Number seventy-six is a long way down the road. The house is painted white and is partially screened by a tall fence, a hedge, and overhanging trees. I park the car, open the arched gate, go up the short path between rose bushes, and ring the front door bell.
For a long time there is silence, except for the rumble of distant traffic in the main road. I am beginning to think of ringing again or of turning away when the door is opened by Professor Tolkien.
He is slightly smaller than I expected. Tallness is a quality of which he makes much in his books, so it is a little surprising to see that he himself is slightly less than the average height – not much, but just enough to be noticeable. I introduce myself, and (since I made this appointment in advance and am expected) the quizzical and somewhat defensive look that first met me is replaced by a smile. A hand is offered and my own is firmly grasped.