Letter to Liège University (18 October 1954)

Liège University 18 October 1954 is a letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to the Rector of the University of Liège, written on October 18th, 1954.

The letter concerns the festivities of Tolkien's reception of an honorary doctorate at the University of Liège on October 2nd, 1954 (he was suggested as a candidate by Simonne d'Ardenne).

• Authenticity: High. The letter is kept at the University Archives in Liège, and is mentioned by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull in The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: Chronology.
• Publication: The letter was reprinted in full in the article "Tolkien and Belgium" by Johan Vanhecke, published in Lembas Extra: Proceedings of the 5th Unquendor Lustrum.

Excerpt

"I returned from Belgium to considerate pressure of business, and have been obliged to come to Ireland on academic affairs."

― J.R.R. Tolkien (in Lembas Extra: Proceedings of the 5th Unquendor Lustrum, p.57)

See also

• Liège University 29 January 1954
• Liège University 9 September 1954