J. R. R. Tolkien Interview about The Lord of the Rings (1964)

[@Y13dea]

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.

[@XAVR_]

Ian McKellen partly based Gandalf's voice on recordings of Tolkien

[@turbanheadless]

Yeap.

[@jelleludolf]

thank you for this

[@ratatosk001]

Yes, I also very much liked Ian Holm´s approach to the character.

[@tughanorhun9679]

love how he casually brings out a pipe at 23:21 while still answering the question :D

[@Huffman_Tree]

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.

[@thomasbrown8468]

Agreed

[@DavetheNord]

Well said.

[@trommnorse]

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.

[@Johnny-Joseph]

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.

[@dalepride8671]

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.

[@BigBadMadDog.]

This man was truly on an entirely different wavelength. His brain just operates differently. Incredible interview.

[@matthewwilliams9200]

He seems really practical, reasonable and very logical.

[@frankphillips7436]

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.

[@czcrossman]

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 😅

[@bcsemotorworks2462]

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.

[@joshavara]

Im sure he's rolling in his grave right now with how terrible Amazon's Rings of power is🙄

[@nicholaspoloukhine1761]

I could listen to him talk forever

[@TheMerryPrangster]

You can by hitting repeat

[@trinelangohr6661]

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.

[@redadamearth]

Back when most people were at least somewhat literate and actually read books.

[@Mark-sx3rf]

My favourite question....Where do you get your ideas from? Haaa!

[@restitvtororbis5330]

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.

[@JohntyNich]

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.

[@samwallaceart288]

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.

[@dr.demontale3250]

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

[@nicholaspoloukhine1761]

Same!

[@nicholaspoloukhine1761]

Same!

[@mikkotuisku1254]

its made audio. whats made good really too good

[@smokesnwhisky3822]

I hope after 2 years your days have been good.

[@Xerrand]

Not weird at all, its a gem.

[@AshishShrivastava-q6i]

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.

[@cejannuzi]

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.

[@robcousins231]

@@cejannuzi Can you expand on this? On the weakness of the coherent story?

[@radoskan]

Who cares about coherence? It's a fucking story to read for fun, not my tax return form.

[@AshishShrivastava-q6i]

@@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.

[@WesterossFox]

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.

[@BalrogsHaveWings]

A dream for any aspiring writer: To be interviewed by a real journalist of this calibre, versus only yourself to justify your workings. Wonderful.

[@quazzydiscman]

Balrog wings are only smoke and shadow. They do not function as wings.

[@trommnorse]

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.

[@SeanMac1776]

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.

[@Cyannah117]

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.

[@christopherquinn5899]

This is a fantastic thing to find on KZbin. 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.

[@Sionnach1601]

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! 😁👍🏻☘️

[@AquariusGate]

0:44 i simply love the way he easily associates time, culture, and ages to the sense of imagination being realised.

[@Jacckh]

This is proper content.

[@Cyannah117]

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!

[@TheMerryPrangster]

Are you ok?

[@vercingetorixavernian8978]

Tolkien was so cheeky and playful. So deeply philosophical and spiritual. What a treasure!

[@Jakblade]

That was so captivating. Every single second of it. A MUST for any fan of Tolkien I think. Thank you Professor 🙏

[@nahuelurtasun8407]

"you wouldn't likely think much of a chap called Ugluk" LOL

[@MrJazz-yp9wg]

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.

[@NinjaBusCow]

You are awesome for uploading this. More people need to here this fine man speak!

[@iaamusic1121]

Quite amazing and a great interview. A very brilliant man. He was always clear about writing a “credible history”.

[@anthony-kelly]

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.

[@TruSciencePro]

This man was a genius

[@simonidastankovic2627]

He still is....

[@popadomjim178]

​@@simonidastankovic2627 he's been dead for over 40 years, so he WAS a genius, genius.

[@GuyC7]

His spirit lives on...still is

[@perlamargarita8040]

Absolutely!

[@TheMerryPrangster]

@@GuyC7that doesn't make any sense

[@michaelodwyer7641]

This is an excellently clear upload. Well done for taking the time to find such high quality audio

[@Sionnach1601]

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.

[@jakob3044]

@@Sionnach1601 Indeed, among the many things one could credit Tolkien for, a seasoned MC would not be one of them.

[@richardthompson6079]

Really hard hitting questions, that are still discussed to this day. Great interview.

[@sheskimusic]

This is an interview that deserves several listenings. Thank you for posting this.

[@TheReadyz]

Brilliant. Thank you for sharing

[@nidh1109]

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.

[@animusadvertere3371]

This is excellent. One of the best things I have heard on KZbin ever or anywhere. Thank you for sharing.

[@sabineb.5616]

I just noticed that there is a transcript! Thank you! I had a very hard time to understand Tolkien 😊

[@Sionnach1601]

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.

[@sabineb.5616]

@@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!

[@Garbageman28]

"It seems to me as though it's this world in a different era..." ".. .Well no, at a a different stage of imagination." Genius.

[@pdjinne65]

the GOAT

Indeed

[@gamma8871]

Wow

[@cejannuzi]

What does that even mean though? LOL.

[@pdjinne65]

@@cejannuzi more or less that it's a parallel dimension that only exists in imagination

[@danscreativecreatures]

Why oh why do we not hear voices speak in this way anymore? There such a unique blend of crisp calmness in every exchange...

[@someonesomewhere1526]

I cant help but feel that Tolkein succeeded in his attempt to write an English mythology for us.

[@SungPraise]

Definitely. More than anything else, LotR would fit that bill

[@livrowland171]

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...

[@kidsyx]

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.

[@maralfniqle5092]

It's a parable. Mirrored today

[@Sionnach1601]

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.

[@markcooper6042]

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.

[@WinsteadB73]

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!

[@ab.7272]

Like Bilbo and Radagast had a nice chat in Bag End.

[@beewhisperer8808]

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.

[@rushmore100]

Imagine interviews at this level these days.

[@frankphillips7436]

Complete with all the gotcha questions like “why are most of the bad characters either dark skin or referred to as the BLACK lord???” 🤣🤣

[@TheCsb1996]

​@@frankphillips7436 "why does black always mean evil and white good? That's racist!"

[@alecmonaghan1160]

Lex Friedman is what you are looking for.

[@simonroberts9599]

Just extraordinary. I was totally transported into his mind. Fascinating.

[@nbme-answers]

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

[@AlanSmitheeman]

They probably described memory as a painting before photography.

[@Ubermensch201]

Pops Bottle 😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣

[@andonambuehl5589]

23:21 strikes match

[@helixxharpell]

Thank you so much for posting this interview and in such great quality!

[@deewhite4346]

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.

[@professormariarty]

I went there, and planted a succulent❤

[@Thekowaikaiju]

Nothing conciliatory about _this_ interviewer. Great listen! Thank you.

[@ive3336]

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.

[@RingwraithReborn]

This is simply fantastic. Thank you!

[@sheilagraham8543]

Amazed and delighted to come across this on KZbin. Than you for posting.

[@Kash-Acous]

Thank you for this! I don't think I've ever heard him interviewed before.

[@graceygrumble]

Thanks SoC. What a treat!

[@manfrombritain6816]

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

[@wesleycolemanmusic]

It resonated with me strangely, as I'm from Oregon.

[@robberrttgi]

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 🇪🇸

[@Rootcauz]

This is the first time I’ve heard this interview. Awesome!! ❤

[@FERALDOG4]

Love Tolkien’s voice

[@Bhenderson0001]

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.

[@Marc98338]

Can you imagine his outrage what they have doen with Ring of Power

[@ravenmad9225]

Starmer and Rayner listen to their associates at Davos and the WEF.The agenda is designed to benefit them,not us.

[@Sionnach1601]

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! 😁👍🏻☘️

[@RetroMetroism]

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."

[@bobyami9718]

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.

[@Paloshoot]

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. 😅

[@sabineb.5616]

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!

[@AbbaZabbaMan]

theyr'e just being English

[@ZeppelinPotts-kl2rb]

"Well don't they remind you of the Jews?" I lost my shit.

[@BartvanderHorst]

Well Tolkien talks like a real Baggins.

[@chrisconway9959]

Nice podcast, didn’t even try to sell me any vitamins!

[@kamion53]

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.

[@chrismusix5669]

And Sauron was originally an evil cat named Tevildo.

[@jakob3044]

@@chrismusix5669 Azrael

[@HarryAcorns]

The language/s he's brought into existence is beautiful! "Culvienen" for example is wonderful to look at and more so to speak it. 😙

[@HowWeTriumph]

Great great great questions. I understand so much more about one of my favorite artists now.😊

[@spiritualseekeramor]

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.

[@CGoldmill-dz4gk]

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…

[@gslice8988]

Love that idea ❤

[@matthewvelazquez2013]

I love this interview.

[@godsblackpanther]

Absolute Treat. Thank You Kindly. Huge Appreciation 📜📜📜

[@Jakblade]

18:04 what an amazing question and an even more incredible answer!!! I’m absolutely speechless right now 🤯

[@rkbones9377]

More evidence we as a whole are getting less educated than our parents,parents generation

[@jelleludolf]

That match strike at 23:20, what an absolutely class act :D

[@SabinBabblatchu]

I’ve never heard this. This is gold!

[@jeremychase2663]

So good. Thank you for sharing this treasure!

[@lesromanchuk1293]

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

[@ParappatheRapper]

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.

[@lesromanchuk1293]

@@ParappatheRapper That third theme would be quite noisy I'm thinking if it involved the 21 century. We're weird

[@AlbertAlbertB.]

Thank you so very much for this. And it's clarity!

[@Stoynov666]

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 :( :( :(

[@ashifsoyel7404]

"It's simply an old fashioned word for this world we live in"

[@conservatorcivilus]

Gotta love the occasional pipe puffing and match striking during the interesting conversation, but now I require a reading of the transcription 😅

[@A1Authority]

I have my own knowledge of Mr. Tolkien... despite not having the time to enjoy or judge this vid... but I do want to say that Mr. Tolkien was/is a good man. I will provide one point, to be argued or simply pondered... that, generally, Mr. Tolkien broke good and evil into humans vs evil, which (and i said "generally") was really the loose point throughout... because, good vs evil takes place within human circles first, here in Middleearth... and once you realize all else falls to the wayside.. well you get my point. ---- What is to love about Tolkien? 1) He served in WW1. 2) He cared for his children in his creative efforts. 3) His love of Trees and nature. 4) His love of God, County and humanities evolution. 5) His ability to create a story so rife with ingenuity and depth, that he created histories, languages and a nod to honor and love.... HONOR being a thing we seem to have forgotten as time has passed. -Think about what it means; looking in the mirror, to create a future and a lesson... giving of ourselves, to ensure humanities future. -God Bless.

[@godsblackpanther]

There's a Book in Consideration there...😊

[@keithc9461]

This is a fine example of how to conduct an interview

[@Sari36YT]

Very interesting to hear Tolkien kind of bat aside the Tom Bombadil mention. I do wonder what is going on there...

[@Zjonaaa]

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...

[@meganhuggins7494]

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. 😊

[@robert-robert-robert]

Thank you for this one 👍

[@tye829]

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.

[@andrecoetzee783]

Totally agree with you 👍

[@ericdane7769]

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?

[@bine35]

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

[@IgnasRubikas]

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.

[@Starkiller_G36]

When journalists werent complete idiots, knew what they were talking about and respected the interviewed. How the West has fallen...

[@Loveisthelaw69]

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.

[@LadyAnn8]

Omg i just love this man! God bless his imagination!❤ Thank you for sharing!

[@bakhtrian2867]

Holy shit I didn’t think I’d ever hear Tolkien actually speak let alone describe in detail their writing process

[@TheOnlyFeanor]

Same !

[@jamesboyleii6332]

Good interview, by a good interviewer.

[@isaacspence6130]

And they say they’re honoring his legacy

[@manicangel7796]

Most people will never understand fantasy writers because in our heads it's not fantasy...it's extremely real..

[@TrevsOutdoorsandWellbeing]

He’s a real Englishman love his voice

[@apocalypticdaze2139]

Real... You talking about

[@narekkhalafyan643]

J. R. R. Tolkien sounds like one of the characters of his books.

[@rcnyoplait]

You've shown your quality...the highest.

[@Beachcomber95]

Thank you !

[@QuanYin2060]

More content please. This is a lovely channel.

[@stevenevenson4611]

Yes there does not seem to be a picture of the interviewer. Tolken does not seem to mind him! Old age superfan! I agree! I bet he asked him to test him "poor fellow"!

[@sophiakiedrowski587]

Man, I wished Tolkien got to see Peter Jackson bring his epic LOTR books to the big screen

[@369tfs]

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.

[@freakazoid4691]

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.

[@marcydesade]

@@369tfs He certainly wouldn't HAVE liked your "wouldn't of liked it".

[@DblTap317]

​@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.

[@gawaniwhitecrow2731]

THANKYOU 🙏🏽

[@feno8104]

He sounds like Jerma doing the byeah voice

[@terragthegreat175]

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.'

[@jebespolitiko]

But, except Boromir, who succumbs to the temptation, all of them do. Quite the opposite from WW1

[@quixotiq]

Read the ending again. It's very sad and its made clear the losses.​@@jebespolitiko

[@thefellsman99]

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

[@verylongchicken]

'You wouldn't likely think much of a chap called Ugluk, would you now?"

[@johnosborne1873]

Great men like Tolkien forced to contend with liberal questioning like “why aren’t there more sexy women killing orcs and exploring the frozen tundra?”

[@DblTap317]

A woman killed the witch king. In what way is a woman killing orcs "liberal"? Quite odd comment.

[@jackobrienacting]

It was a pretty neutral question dude. Women don't seem to appear very much in Lord of the rings, why is that? Relax a little

[@VeritasEt]

@@jackobrienacting All the women that do appear have a very powerful presence, in fact any time they do appear, they overshadow the men around them with their grace, wisdom or dedication, and i'm not talking about just Galadriel or Arwen. The thing that usually bugs people's minds, is Tolkien's own view of what makes a woman powerful, which is the complete opposite of making her a masculinized warrior. He also did not think things like sex & romance were especially crucial to the development of a good story.

[@Justin.Danford]

It’s fun that we know the name of the God in LOTR (Eru Iluvatar), Tolkien knows the name of the God in LOTR, but the interviewer did not know, could not know, and all the Professor cares to tell him was “The One, in this book.”

[@gslice8988]

Wonderful to have This pop up on KZbin. What an absolute Gift 🧝‍♂️🧝‍♀️❤

[@matthewwithum8372]

The Professor was the 🐐

[@RodolfoUBRS]

Both were great.

[@ieradossantos]

23:33 hitting that pipe 😂