Today, January 3rd 2011, would be the 119th birthday of Mr. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. I think that it is a reasonable argument that there is no greater figure in the history of modern fantasy literature than Mr. Tolkien. His novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy are a staple of the genre and have contributed greatly to all fantasy that has been written since them. Indeed. Mr. Tolkien’s vast works of world building, language creation, and mythology has set a high bar for any fantasy writers who have followed in his stead.
This past weekend I finished re-watching Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (the special extended versions) which I had started a week or so back. I think that the films, as a whole, do a wonderful job at capturing Mr. Tolkien’s world and stories (though there are some lacking aspects in the portrayal of several characters). All around I think that the movies are a wonderful homage to Mr. Tolkien’s epic.
However, it is the books that I must really recommend. I have written before of my love of The Hobbit and how influential it was to my development as an avid reader. Likewise I have great respect for The Lord of the Rings in all its vastness and genre developing. I appreciate The Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales from the perspective of world-making and constructed mythology, though I will say that both are nigh impossible to read as straight novels due to their complex language and utter vastness (I am sure some folks have read them both from cover to cover and I will say good for them, but in my experience, and talking to many other people, these two books remain difficult to swallow as entire works).
Beyond his story creations Mr. Tolkien was an avid linguist who contributed significantly to the Oxford English Dictionary. He also created fabulous illustrations to accompany his stories. His works will undoubtedly continue to be remembered for many long years to come. So happy birthday to you sir, you’ve certainly given us a lot to enjoy.
