Tag: J. R. R. Tolkien

394 words

"I am in fact a Hobbit."—J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is a favorite author of New Left “hippies” and New Right nationalists, and for pretty much the same reasons. Tolkien deeply distrusted modernization and industrialization, which replace organic reciprocity between man and nature with technological dominion of man over nature, a relationship that deforms and devalues both poles.

But philosophically and politically, Tolkien was much closer to the New Right than the New Left. Tolkien was a conservative and a race realist. His preferences ran toward non-constitutional monarchy in the capital and de facto anarchy in the provinces, (more…)

J. R. R. Tolkien, 1892–1973

2,143 words

Übersetzt von Deep Roots

English original here, French translation here

Anm. d. Ü.: Die Zitate aus dem “Herrn der Ringe” sind entsprechend der deutschen Ausgabe von 1980 wiedergegeben (Klett-Cotta, aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Margaret Carroux, die dabei noch mit Tolkien zusammengearbeitet hat); die restlichen Zitate sind von mir direkt nach Brittanicus’ Text übersetzt worden. (more…)

J. R. R. Tolkien, 1892–1973

2,144 words

German translation here, French translation here

Despite the universal derision of the literary establishment, which could never comprehend its inherently noble spirit, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was recently voted the greatest work of fiction of the twentieth century by thousands of Waterstones’ customers. The accolade is well-deserved, for Tolkien’s masterpiece is a classic of heroic romance. (more…)

1,377 words

It was one minute past midnight, one last time. I knew The Return of The King would be a great movie, and it is. The only question in my mind was, “How great?”

Return is not as good as The Two Towers, my favorite Rings movie, but it is a magnificent, moving film, that will not disappoint, and taken together the Rings movies are certainly the greatest movie trilogy ever made, and rank among the greatest achievements in film history.

(more…)

2,607 words

It was one minute past midnight again, exactly 364 days after the opening of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of The Lord of the Rings movies, and I was back for the opening of The Two Towers. I loved the first movie so much that I was fully expecting to be disappointed. There’s nowhere to go from here but down, I thought. So I was moved to tears of absolute delight that The Two Towers is even better than The Fellowship of the Ring.

(more…)

1,317 words

At one minute past midnight on Wednesday, December 19th, 2001, I was one of hundreds of people assembled in several sold-out theaters to see the Atlanta opening of Lord of the Rings. I was astonished that hundreds of people had gathered to watch a three-hour movie starting after midnight. (more…)