Mith: Changed date format

2011-06-09T23:01:06Z

Changed date format

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:01, 9 June 2011
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	\| #=72		\| #=72
	\| to=[[Christopher Tolkien]]		\| to=[[Christopher Tolkien]]
−	\| date=[[~~1944#~~May~~\|May 31~~]], [[1944]]	+	\| date=[[31 May]] [[1944]]
	\| subject=Inklings meeting, work on ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Hobbits names, wartime bigotry		\| subject=Inklings meeting, work on ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Hobbits names, wartime bigotry
	}}{{Letter\|72}}		}}{{Letter\|72}}

Gamling: Created page with "{{letter infobox | #=72 | to=Christopher Tolkien | date=May 31, 1944 | subject=Inklings meeting, work on ''The Lord of the Rings'', Hobbits names, wartim…"

2011-04-20T21:05:15Z

Created page with "{{letter infobox | #=72 | to=Christopher Tolkien | date=May 31, 1944 | subject=Inklings meeting, work on ''The Lord of the Rings'', Hobbits names, wartim…"

New page

{{letter infobox
| #=72
| to=[[Christopher Tolkien]]
| date=[[1944#May|May 31]], [[1944]]
| subject=Inklings meeting, work on ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Hobbits names, wartime bigotry
}}{{Letter|72}}
==Summary==
Tolkien had been to an [[Inklings]] meeting where a chapter of [[Warren Lewis|Warnie Lewis]]'s book on Louis XIV had been heard, along with some excerpts from [[C.S. Lewis]]'s ''Who Goes Home?'' (Tolkien suggested should be called ''Hugo's Home'').

The rest of his time (barring chores) had been occupied by a desperate attempt to bring "The Ring" to a suitable pause, [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]]'s capture, before he was obliged to perform examining. By sitting up all hours he had done it and read the last two chapters ("[[Shelob's Lair]]" and "[[The Choices of Master Samwise]]") to C.S. Lewis. Lewis had been moved to tears by the last chapter.

[[Samwise Gamgee|Sam]]'s name, said Tolkien, was not short for ''Samuel'' but for ''Samwise'', Old English for "Half-wit". His father's name ''Ham'' came from ''Hamfast'', which was Old English for "Stay-at-home". That class of [[Hobbits]] usually had very Saxon names. Tolkien would have preferred ''Goodchild'' over ''Gamgee'' if he thought Christopher would have allowed it.

Tolkien planned to get his eight new chapters typed and sent to Christopher. However, he had not done any serious writing for a few days, having had to sweat at Section Papers<ref group="note">Examination papers for cadets taking English at Oxford.</ref> and deal with a punctured bicycle tire.

Resuming the letter on 3 June, Tolkien explained that the gap occurred so that he could get some chapters typed to send. He had finished two. He reported being increasingly heartbroken to hear crass comments of elderly and stupid gentlemen as allied armies drew near to Rome. On another occasion, he had been dining with Rice-Oxley just after the election to the Rectorship of Lincoln had been announced. A college master loudly proclaimed, "Thank heaven they did not elect a Roman Catholic to the Rectorship". Tolkien's guest whispered, "Models of tact and courtesy!"
==Note==
<references group="note"/>
{{letters}}

Letter 72 - Revision history

Mith: Changed date format

Gamling: Created page with "{{letter infobox | #=72 | to=Christopher Tolkien | date=May 31, 1944 | subject=Inklings meeting, work on ''The Lord of the Rings'', Hobbits names, wartim…"