Farewell, Christopher Tolkien

[Vinyadan]

Christopher Tolkien died in the night between 15th -16th January.

While he seemingly strove not to become a public figure, he was well known to Tolkien fans for his work in collating his father's unpublished pages, as well as an early mapper of Middle-Earth.

There also are tales about him, some of them reliable (that he was a RAF pilot in WW2), some of them less so (that he kept wild boars in his garden in France to discourage the curious).

From my point of view, he was something of a link between his father and the fans. Publishing something so many wished for -- the Silmarillion -- was probably a necessity to give us a full scope of the content of The Lord of the Rings.

So I am grateful for his work, and sad to hear he's gone.

Priscilla Tolkien is now the Professor's last living child.

[Willie the Duck]

He has passed into the West.

[J-H]

I came here to post this. He did a masterful job managing his father's work, finishing and publishing the unfinished items, and protecting the IP*. Apparently he was also an excellent literary scholar and translator in his own right, as well. Both father and son's extensive literature background inspired and helped them in their work.

*I wish he'd been able to reign in Peter Jackson a bit more, especially with The Hobbit trilogy.

[Dire_Flumph]

Always seemed like a class act, protecting his father's legacy without locking it all up or looking for quick cash-ins.

Don't think he could have done much about any of the films, his father had sold the rights long before. It was his stance that the family would have no official position on any of the adaptions to avoid the appearance of endorsement.

His History of Middle-Earth series was an absolutely fascinating look at the evolution of his father's writing.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Vinyadan
Publishing something so many wished for -- the Silmarillion -- was probably a necessity to give us a full scope of the content of The Lord of the Rings.

I first read the Silmarillion when I was a kid, not long after Lord of the Rings, and I’ve always loved it for that mythical, legendary quality.

It took me a long while to realize just how much effort Christopher Tolkien had put into it. I have yet to read his History of Middle-Earth books, since that’ll be a project just to read them, but now I’m feeling like it’s time.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Christopher Tolkien really put in a lot of work making his father’s writings accessible to all of us and it’s something that has really improved Middle-earth for the better. I definitely need to actually get around to finishing the History of Middle-earth now.

[GrayDeath]

Another great Tolkien forever gone.

I am saddened a lot by this.

May we all cherish his work.