Tolkien and the Great War (39 page)

p.18

The Peace
:
KESC
, October 1911, 72;
Biography
, 49; the Greek Plays: William H. Tait in
OEG
, June 1972, 17;
The Clouds: KESC
, October 1912, 66. GBS as the Ass: KES photograph of
The Frogs
[July 1913].

‘As a boy…' (C. V. L. Lycett); TCBS not aloof
:
Letters
, 429.

Nicknames: CLW to JRRT, 27 April and 17 August 1911, 19 March and 20 November 1912; CLW memoir,
OEG.

p.19

Classical tags (footnote):
KESC
, March 1909, March 1910, March 1911.

‘My dear Gabriel', etc.
: CLW to JRRT, 27 April 1911. ‘gracing our ancestral hearth', etc.: RQG to JRRT, 10 June 1913.

‘
a daft slang…
': J. B. Priestley,
The Edwardians
, 82.

p.20

Macaulay's ‘The Battle of Lake Regillus': Yates, ‘“The Battle of the Eastern Field”: A Commentary',
Mallorn
13, 3-5.

‘
The Battle of the Eastern Field
':
KESC
, March 1911, 22-7; ‘Sekhet, the lion-headed': Haggard,
She
, 281.

p.21

‘
Our country is now supreme…
':
KESC
, February 1909, 9.

‘hooliganism and uproar'; foreign policy
: Stapledon Society minutes, 1 December and 7 November 1913.

‘Court of Arbiters' debate
:
KESC
, February 1911, 5.

p.22

Debate demanding war:
KESC
, October 1911, 79.

KES anthem, by Alfred Hayes (1857-1936): Trott,
No Place for Fop or Idler
, 1;
The Annotated Hobbit
, 344.

p.23

A good shot
: Priscilla and Michael Tolkien, quoted in an unsigned report,
Amon Hen
13, October 1974, 9.

OTC presented to the King:
KESC
, November 1910, 69, 73.

‘
kindled an immovable smile
': unsigned editorial,
KESC
, June 1911, 33.

Footnote on
Adfuit omen:
T. A. Shippey to the author.

Coronation trip:
KESC
, July 1911, 59-60;
Letters
, 391 (which says the party was twelve-strong).

pp.23-4

Aldershot camp
:
KESC
, November 1910, 69.

p.24

Tidworth Pennings camp: William H. Tait in
OEG
, June 1972, 17.

pp.24-5

King Edward's Horse
: James,
The History of King Edward's Horse
, 1-53;
The Stapeldon Magazine
, December 1911, 117-18; JRRT service record.

JRRT and horses: Priscilla and Michael Tolkien, quoted in
Amon Hen
13, 9. (The unsigned report says erroneously that Tolkien began his war service in King Edward's Horse.)

p.25

‘
In fact we have done nothing…
': unsigned ‘Oxford Letter',
KESC
, December 1911, 100.

‘
predominant vice…
': CLW to JRRT, 27 April 1911; ‘Very lazy': Lorise Topliffe, ‘Tolkien as an Undergraduate',
Exeter College Association Register
, 32.

‘
a winger…
':
The Stapeldon Magazine
, December 1911, 110-11. ‘immensely attracted…':
Letters
, 214. The popular edition that JRRT read was W. F. Kirby's.

Kalevala
overdue: RQG to JRRT, 4 October 1911.

p.26

Eliot's
Finnish Grammar
was the first written in the English language. JRRT borrowed it from 25 November to 5 December 1911, 25 October to 5 December 1912, and 14 November 1914 to 16 January 1915 (Exeter College library register).

‘
It was like discovering…
':
Letters
, 214.
Kullervo:
begun 1912 to 1913, according to
Letters
, 214-15, but ibid. 7 shows that Tolkien was still working on it in October 1914.

‘
hurrying and febrile…
': Priestley,
The Edwardians
, 218.

Brooke and Housman: Parker,
The Old Lie
, 94.

p.27

Emily Annie Gilson's death:
KESC
, June 1907, 36. Thomas Smith, commercial clerk:
Corpus Christi Biographical Register 1880-1974.

‘
The passing of certain…', etc.: RQG to JRRT, 4 October 1911. ‘the old shrine
': CLW to JRRT, 19 March 1912.

Mock strike; ‘induce the Library…'
:
KESC
, October 1911, 70, 73.

The Rivals
:
KESC
, March 1912, 14;
Biography
, 57-8.

p.28

Trought's death; ‘Poor old Vincent…'
: CLW to JRRT, 21 and 22 January 1912.

Trought's character; ‘some of his verses…', etc.
:
KESC
, March 1912, 4.

p.29

‘
Ishnesses
':
Artist
, 34-40. Those named here were produced between December 1911 and summer 1913.

pp.29-30

Farnell
: Farnell,
An Oxonian Looks Back; Letters
, 7. His
magnum opus
was
The Cults of the Greek States
(1896-1909).

p.30

‘
People couldn't make out…
': interview excerpted in Sibley,
Audio Portrait.

Joseph Wright
:
Letters
, 397. Wright's
Comparative Grammar of the Greek Language
was published in January 1912.

RCG had expected a First from JRRT: RQG to JRRT, 27 April 1913.

Farnell and German culture: Farnell,
An Oxonian Looks Back
, 57.

Switch in courses:
Letters
, 397, 406.

p.31

The Rivals
revival:
KESC
, October 1912, 67-9. Old Boys' debate:
KESC
, February 1913, 7-8. JRRT in Birmingham, Christmas 1912:
Biography
, 59.

Oxford Old Edwardians: JRRT to EMB, 2 February 1913, in
Family Album
, 35;
KESC
, December 1911, 101.

RQG with Scopes in France: RQG to MCG, 7 and 13 April 1913.

College clubs:
Biography
, 54-5, 69, and photograph facing p. 83.

Cards on mantelpiece:
KESC
, December 1912, 85.

Draws cards: Priestman,
Life and Legend
, 26.

Role in Stapeldon Society: Stapeldon Society minutes. Colin Cullis was secretary under JRRT's presidency.

p.32

‘
I envy you Smith…
': CLW to JRRT, 20 November 1912.

GBS on King Arthur:
KESC
, February 1913, 5-6.

‘
We have managed to relieve…
': RQG to JRRT, 2 November 1913.

‘
I am very anxious to breathe…
': CLW to JRRT, 12 December 1913. CLW presumably refers to JRRT's planned visit to Cambridge with GBS on 4 December (RQG to MCG, 30 November 1913).

Rugby match: undated report,
KESC
, March 1914, 11-12. ‘We had such a splendid week-end…': RQG to MCG, 17 February 1914. Scopes, like GBS, was studying history at Corpus Christi.

p.33

‘
The only fear…
': CLW to JRRT, 20 December 1913, written during a visit from GBS. ‘Convention bids me…': RQG to JRRT, 4 January 1914, written when RQG had just received a summons from GBS to a TCBS meeting. There is no evidence for the view (
Biography
, 68) that JRRT wrote directly to RQG and CLW with news of his engagement. JRRT's fear of being cut off from TCBS: GBS to JRRT, 9 February 1916.

p.34

‘
hoard the hill-haunter…
': JRRT's undergraduate translation
from the Latin
Gesta Danorum
, by the twelfth-century Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus; Bodleian Tolkien A21/5.

Speculations on Germanic legend: Bodleian Tolkien A21/9. JRRT on Norse sagas:
The Stapeldon Magazine
, June 1913, 276.

p.35

Skeat Prize
:
The Monsters and the Critics
, 192;
Biography
, 69. J. Morris Jones's
Welsh Grammar
was published in 1913.

p.36

‘
the images drawn…'; ‘One must begin with the elfin…
': Essay Club minutes.

‘
international affairs…
':
The Stapeldon Magazine
, June 1914, 93.

p.37

Prince Lichnowsky
: Farnell,
An Oxonian Looks Back
, 327-8. Sexcentenary dinner:
The Stapeldon Magazine
, June 1914, 44-5.

Chequers Club ‘Binge': Priestman,
Life and Legend
, 25-6.

‘
All our festivities…
': L. R. Farnell, ‘Sexcentenary Celebration of the College', in
The Stapeldon Magazine
, December 1914, 109.

p.38

‘
A real taste…
': ‘On Fairy-stories',
Monsters
, 135.

‘
I sense amongst all your pains…
':
Letters
, 78.

p.39

Language experiments around the outbreak of war: JRRT headed one 1914 college notebook (Bodleian Tolkien A21/10) ‘Toleka, Oksuortia', a rendering of his name and university in what looks like a nascent form of his 1915 invention, Qenya. Christopher Gilson has pointed out to the author that if
-eka
translates
-kien
(cognate with English ‘keen'), the name
Toleka
may reflect the emergence of the Qenya root EKE (
Parma Eldalamberon
12, 35, with derivatives referring to sharp objects such as swords and thorns), perhaps inspired by Old English
ecg
, ‘edge', and Old High German
ekka.
If Tolkien was on the path towards Qenya now, its true codification, however, did not take place until 1915. ‘But yet a pride is ours…': GBS, ‘Anglia Valida in Senectute',
A Spring Harvest
, 50.

p.40

Cornish drawings:
Artist
, 24-5.

‘The light got very “eerie”', etc.
:
Biography
, 70-1.

pp.40-1

Birmingham recruitment: Carter,
Birmingham Pals
, 35-42.

‘Patriotism insists…':
Birmingham Daily Post
, 28 August 1914, quoted in ibid. 36.

p.41

T. K. Barnsley, RQG, and the Old Edwardian recruits: RQG to EK, 4 October 1914.

Hilary Tolkien enlists:
Family Album
, 39;
Biography
, 72; Heath,
Service Record of King Edward's School
, 143. ‘In those days chaps joined up…':
Letters
, 53.

p.42

Saxon paternal ancestry:
Letters
, 218; cf.
Biography
, 18-19. Germanic tribes: Bodleian Tolkien A21/10.

‘
that noble northern spirit…
':
Letters
, 55-6.

Wright and the wounded Germans: E. M. Wright,
The Life of Joseph Wright
, ii. 459.

‘
I have been accustomed…
':
Letters
, 37.

‘
As the long prosperous years…
': Jenkyns,
The Victorians and Ancient Greece
, 24.

p.43

‘
full of old lays…
': ‘The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth',
Poems and Stories
, 79.

‘
though as a whole…
':
KESC
, March 1911, 19-20.

‘
man at war…
': ‘Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics',
Monsters
, 18.

‘
a young man…
':
Letters
, 53.

‘
I have nothing to say against Tolkien…
': C. H. Jessop to Stephen Gateley,
Family Album
, 34.

‘
He did not join the Army…
': RQG to EK, 10 March 1916.

p.44

‘a lamentable bore', etc.
: JRRT to Paul Bibire, 30 June 1969, in Hostetter, introduction to ‘The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor',
Vinyar Tengwar
42, 6-7.

‘Eala Earendel
…'
: Grein/Wülcker,
Bibliothek der angelsächsischen Poesie
, 5. During this crucial period (19 June to 14 October 1914) Tolkien also borrowed Earle's
The Deeds of Beowulf
and Morris's
Old English Miscellany;
Exeter College library register.

‘
I felt a curious thrill…
': ‘The Notion Club Papers',
Sauron Defeated
, 236; see also 285, notes 35 and 36, and
Letters
, 385.

p.45

‘
The Voyage of Éarendel the Evening Star
':
LT2
, 267-9; date clarified by Douglas A. Anderson.

‘over the cup…', etc.
: JRRT's undergraduate translation from
Beowulf
, line 1208, Bodleian Tolkien A21/9; ‘magnificent expression', he remarked.

Éarendel and OE
ēar:
Hostetter, ‘Over Middle-earth Sent Unto Men',
Mythlore
65, 5-10. See also Hostetter and Smith, ‘A Mythology for England',
Proceedings of the JRR Tolkien Centenary Conference
, 282.

p.48

‘
We are of course very mad…
': RQG to MCG, 7 October 1914. JRRT at the Oratory:
Letters
, 7.

Birmingham battalions
: Carter,
Birmingham Pals
, 45-7, 63-4.

Despair
:
Biography
, 30.

‘
the collapse of all my world
':
Letters
, 393.

‘
It is awful…
':
Biography
, 72.