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'''Thomas Alan Shippey''' (1943) taught at the [[University of Oxford]] at the same time as [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] and with the same syllabus, which gives him an intimate familiarity with the works that fueled Tolkien's imagination. He subsequently held the chair of English language and medieval literature at [[Leeds University]] that Tolkien had previously held. He currently holds the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities at St. Louis University in Missouri.
'''Thomas Alan Shippey''' (1943) is one of the most well known scholars on [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], as well as fantasy and science fiction in general. He describes himself as a "Tolkien polemicist".<ref>Email from Tom Shippey (as of 17 February 2012) to [[User:Morgan]].</ref>
 
==Life==
===Youth===
Many commenters have noticed the parallels between his life and Tolkien's: born in a colony, moved to [[Birmingham]] at a young age, followed by an academic career in [[Oxford]] and [[Leeds]].
 
Shippey was born in India, where his father worked as a bridge builder. He spent the first several years of his life there.<ref name="hanley">Paul Hanley, [http://media.www.unewsonline.com/media/storage/paper953/news/2008/02/08/News/Let-Us.Introduce.You.To.Thomas.Shippey.Ph.d-3198399.shtml ''Let us introduce you to ... Thomas Shippey, Ph.D.''] </ref> His father then sent him to a strict boarding school in England, and when his father came back, Shippey was transfered to [[King Edward's School]] in [[Birmingham]], where he studied from [[1954]] to [[1960]].<ref name="Preface">Tom Shippey, ''[[The Road to Middle-earth]]'', Preface to the Third Edition</ref>
 
Here he was introduced to science fiction, and ''[[The Hobbit]]'', which was lent to him when he was 14 years old.<ref name="white">Claire E. White, [http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/mar02/shippey.htm ''Talking Tolkien With Thomas Shippey]''</ref> Shippey quickly developed an affinity for [[Old English]], Old Norse, German and Latin (like Tolkien) and playing rugby (like Tolkien), and he was able to afford ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' when he won a school contest.<ref name="hanley"/>
 
===Academic career===
Shippey did not immediately pursue an academic career after graduation, as the British economy in the early 1960s did not offer much work. Not until the mid-sixties did he enroll in [[Cambridge]].<ref name="white"/> His first academic work on Tolkien was from late 1969 or early 1970. Shippey, a junior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, was asked to speak at a Tolkien day organised by a student association. That lecture, "Tolkien as philologist", would form Shippey's view of Tolkien - a philologist - for years to come. Unbeknownst to him, [[Joy Hill]], the private secretary of Tolkien, was in the audience. After the lecture, she asked him for the script, for Tolkien to read. Tolkien wrote to Shippey on [[13 April|April 13]], [[1970]], with what first seemed like a formal reply.
<ref name="Preface"/>
 
The first meeting between Shippey and Tolkien took place in [[1972]]. [[Norman Davis]], successor of Tolkien at the Merton Chair of English Language, invited Shippey over for dinner. Shippey, then a Fellow of [[Oxford University|St. John's College]], taught Old and Middle English with Tolkien's syllabus, and his meeting with Tolkien at the diner left him full of professional piety.<ref name="Preface"/>
 
After Tolkien's death, Shippey's admiration only grew. His first printed essay, "Creation from Philology in ''The Lord of the Rings''", was much of an elaboration of his 1970 lecture. In 1979, he was elected to the Chair of English Language and Medieval English Literature at the [[Leeds University|University of Leeds]], a former position of Tolkien. He published his first book, the famed ''[[The Road to Middle-earth]]'', in [[1982]]. At this time, Shippey shifted from the view of Tolkien as a philologist to a view of a post-war writer, or what he called "traumatised authors", like [[wikipedia:Kurt Vonnegut|Vonnegut]] and [[wikipedia:William Golding|Golding]].<ref name="Preface"/>
 
After 14 years at Leeds, Shippey moved to the [[wikipedia:Saint Louis University|Saint Louis University]], where he was elected to the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities. Here, he could focus in teaching, research and publishing, rather than administrative work. He currently still holds this chair.<ref name="hanley"/>
 
===Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings===
Being considered the foremost expert on Tolkien, Shippey appeared in several documentaries surrounding [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]. He also assisted the dialect coaches<ref name="white"/> and is personally thanked in the closing credits.<ref name="imdb">[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794142/ Tom Shippey] at [http://www.imdb.com/ IMDb]</ref> He later recollected his experiences:
{{quote|The funny thing about interviews is you never know which bits they're going to pick. It always feels as if they sit you down, shine bright lights in your eyes, and ask you questions till you say something really silly, and that's the bit they choose. At least they didn't waterboard me. But it was good fun, and I'd cheerfully do it again.|Tom Shippey<ref>[http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/885-Tom_Shippey_chat_session.php Transcript of chat session with Pr. Tom Shippey during The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun Online Release Party (09.05.09)] at [[Pieter Collier|TolkienLibrary]]</ref>}}


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* [[1984]]: ''[[The Road to Middle-earth]]'' (first edition)  
The list below is extensive, but not complete.
===Books===
* [[1982]]: ''[[The Road to Middle-earth]]'' (first edition)  
* [[1993]]: ''The Road to Middle-earth'' (second edition)
* [[1993]]: ''The Road to Middle-earth'' (second edition)
* [[2001]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]]''
* [[2003]]: ''The Road to Middle-earth'' (third edition)
* [[2007]]: ''[[Roots and Branches|Roots and Branches: Selected papers on Tolkien]]''
===Articles===
* [[1975]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: Scholar and Storyteller|J.R.R. Tolkien, Scholar and Story-Teller: Essays in Memoriam]]''
** "Creation from Philology in ''The Lord of the Rings''"
* [[1980]]: ''[[Amon Hen 45]]''
** "A Wose by any Other Name"
* [[1988]]: ''[[Arda 1984/1985|Arda 1984]]''
** "Commentary and translation of ''The Clerkes Compleinte'' by J.R.R. Tolkien"
* [[1989]]: ''[[Amon Hen 100]]''
** "Tolkien's Academic Reputation Now"
* [[1991]]: ''[[Leaves from the Tree: J.R.R. Tolkien's Shorter Fiction]]''
** "Tolkien and ''The Homecoming of Beohrtnoth''"
* [[1991]]: ''[[Unquendor|Lembas Extra]]''
** "Heroes and Heroism: Tolkien's Problems, Tolkien's Solutions"
* [[1992]]: ''[[Arda (annual)|Arda]]'' 1987
** "Long Evolution: ''The History of Middle-earth'' and Its Merits"
* [[1993]]: ''[[Scholarship and Fantasy: The Tolkien Phenomenon]]''
** "Tolkien as a Post-War Writer" (originally lecture)
* [[1994]]: ''[[Unquendor|Lembas Extra]]''
** "Noblesse Oblige: Images of Class in Tolkien"
* [[1995]]:  ''[[Proceedings of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference]]''
** "Tolkien as a Post-War Writer" (reprinted)
** "Tolkien and the Gawain-poet"
* [[1995]]: ''[[Unquendor|Lembas Extra]]''
** "Tolkien and the West Midlands: The Roots of Romance"'
* [[1997]]: ''[[Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees|Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees - Volume 1]]''
** "Inspiration and Invention, or Where Tolkien Got Stuck"  [Speech at the Tolkien Society's Annual Dinner 1980]
** "...I thought of the incident of Zeebrugge which nobody wrote about at all..." [Speech at the Tolkien Society's Annual Dinner 1983]
* [[1998]]: ''[[Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees|Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees - Volume 2]]''
** "What have these people got in common? One thing... they had all been shot at" [Speech at the Tolkien Society's Annual Dinner 1991]
* [[2000]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances]]''
* [[2000]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances]]''
** "Orcs, Wraiths, Wights: Tolkien's Images of Evil"
** "Orcs, Wraiths, Wights: Tolkien's Images of Evil"
* [[2001]]: [[J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]]  
* [[2000]]: ''Literary Appropriations of the Anglo-Saxons from the Thirteenth to the Twentieth Century''
* [[2002]]: Foreword to third edition of ''[[A Tolkien Compass]]''
** "The Undeveloped Image: Anglo-Saxon in Popular Consciousness from Turner to Tolkien"
* [[2003]]: ''The Road to Middle-earth'' (third edition)  
* [[2000]]: "[[J.R.R. Tolkien. Modern Critical Views]]"
** "Lit. and Lang"
* [[2000]]: ''[[The Ways of Creative Mythologies]]''
** "Grimm, Grundtwig, Tolkien: Nationalisms and the Invention of Mythologies"
* [[2001]]: ''Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts'' 12/2
** "Allegory versus Bounce: Tolkien's ''Smith of Wootton Major''" (with [[Verlyn Flieger]])
* [[2001]]: ''[[Lembas (journal)|Lembas]]'' 100
** "The Versions of ''The Hoard''"
* [[2002]]: [[The Best of Amon Hen|''The Best of Amon Hen'' Part 2]]
** "Tolkien's Academic Reputation Now"
* [[2002]]: ''The Daily Telegraph'' ([[2 January|January 2]])
** "Why the Critics Must Recognize ''Lord of the Rings'' as a Classic"
* [[2002]]: ''[[A Tolkien Compass]]''
** Foreword to the Third Edition
* [[2002]]: ''[[wikipedia:World Literature Today|World Literature Today]]'' 77/2
** "From Page to Screen"
* [[2003]]: [[Christian History 78|''Chistian History'', Issue 78]]
** "A Feeling for Language"
* [[2003]]: ''[[The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien]]''
** Foreword
* [[2004]]: ''[[Unquendor|Lembas Extra]]''
** "Indexing and Poetry in The Lord of the Rings"
* [[2004]]: ''[[Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader]]''
** "Tolkien and the Appeal of the Pagan: ''Edda'' and ''Kalevala''"
* [[2004]]: ''[[Tolkien Studies: Volume 1]]''
**"Light-elves, Dark-elves, and Others: Tolkien's Elvish Problem"
**"J.R.R. Tolkien, A Checklist" (with [[Douglas A. Anderson]])
* [[2005]]: ''[[Understanding The Lord of the Rings]]''
* [[2005]]: ''[[Understanding The Lord of the Rings]]''
** Article on ''[[Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings]]''
** "Another Road to Middle-earth: Jackson's Movie Trilogy"
* [[2006]] - ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment]]'', entries:  
* [[2006]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment]]'', entries:  
** Alliterative Verse by Tolkien  
** "Alliterative Verse by Tolkien"
** Tom Buchan, John (1875-1940)  
** "Tom Buchan, John (1875-1940)"
** Cruces in Medieval Literature  
** "Cruces in Medieval Literature"
** [[C.S. Lewis|Lewis, C.S.]] (1898-1963)  
** "[[C.S. Lewis|Lewis, C.S.]] (1898-1963)"
** Literature, Twentieth Century: Influence of Tolkien  
** "Literature, Twentieth Century: Influence of Tolkien"
** Mythology, Germanic
** "Mythology, Germanic"
** New Glossary of the Dialect of the Huddersfield District, A
** "New Glossary of the Dialect of the Huddersfield District, A"
** Old Norse Language  
** "Old Norse Language"
** Owl and the Nightingale, The  
** "Owl and the Nightingale, The"
** Poems by Tolkien in Other Languages  
** "Poems by Tolkien in Other Languages"
** Poems by Tolkien: [[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]
** "Poems by Tolkien: [[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]"
** Poems by Tolkien: Uncollected  
** "Poems by Tolkien: Uncollected"
** Scholars of Medieval Literature, Influence of
** "Scholars of Medieval Literature, Influence of"
** Ylfe, Álfar, [[Elves]]
** "Ylfe, Álfar, [[Elves]]"
* [[2007]]: ''[[Roots and Branches]]''  
* [[2006]]: ''[[The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder]]''
* [[2008]]: Foreword to edition of ''[[Tales from the Perilous Realm]]''
** "History in Words: Tolkien's Ruling Passion"
* [[2007]]: ''[[Myth and Magic: Art according to the Inklings]]''
** "New Learning and New Ignorance: Magia, Goeteia, and the Inklings"
* [[2007]]: ''[[Silver Leaves]]'' 1
** "Tolkien Connections"
* [[2008]]: ''[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]]'' 45
** "Encyclopedia of Ignorance", guest editorial
* [[2008]]: ''[[Tales from the Perilous Realm]]''
** Foreword
*[[2008]]: ''[[The Ring Goes Ever On: Proceedings of the Tolkien 2005 Conference]]''
<!--** "Tolkien and the War"-->
**"Wisdom and Wise Sayings in ''The Lord of the Rings''"
* [[2009]]: ''[[Beowulf and the Dragon]]''
** Foreword
* [[2010]]: [[Mallorn 49|''Mallorn'' 49]]
** "A question of source" (review of ''[[The Epic Realm of Tolkien]]'')
* [[2011]]: ''[[Tolkien and the Study of His Sources]]''
** "Introduction: Why Source Criticism?"
*[[2011]]: [[Lembas Extra 2011|''Lembas Extra'' 2011]]
** "The Ancestors of the Hobbits, Strange Creatures in English Folklore"
* [[2012]]: [[Amon Hen 235|''Amon Hen'' 235]]
** "Professor Moorman Again"
* [[2013]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: the Forest and the City]]''
** "Goths and Roman in Tolkien's Imagination"
*[[2013]]: ''[[Tolkien's Poetry]]''
** "Tolkien's Development as a Writer of Alliterative Poetry in Modern English"
*[[2014]]: ''[[From Peterborough to Faëry]]''
** "Jack Vance: Il ottimo fabbro"
*[[2014]]: ''[[Tolkien and Philosophy]]''
**"Tolkien between Philosophy and Philology" (with Franco Manni)
* [[2014]]: [[Mallorn 55|''Mallorn'' 55]]:
** "Reconstructing the Politics of the Dark Age"
 
===Lectures===
* [[1970]]: ''Tolkien as Philologist'' ([[wikipedia:University of Birmingham|University of Birmingham]])
* [[1993]]: ''Tolkien as a Post-War Writer'' ([[wikipedia:University of Turku|University of Turku]])
* [[2002]]: ''Tolkien and Iceland: The Philology of Envy'' ([[wikipedia:University of Iceland|University of Iceland]], [http://www.hi.is/Apps/WebObjects/HI.woa/wa/dp?detail=1004508&name=nordals_en_greinar_og_erindi read here])
* [[2002]]: ''J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Behind The Lord of the Rings'' (covention, [[wikipedia:Arizona State University|Arizona State University]])
**"Trees, Chainsaws, and the Visions of Paradise in J.R.R. Tolkien" (in [[2003]] also in [[wikipedia:Cleveland State University|Cleveland State University]])
* [[2004]]: ''Adapting Middle-Earth: Tolkien, the Books, and the Movies'' ([[wikipedia:Northern Illinois University|Northern Illinois University]])
* [[2004]]: ''From Page to Screen: Problems Tolkien Set for Jackson'' ([[wikipedia:Hope College|Hope College]], [[wikipedia:University of Victoria|University of Victoria]])
* [[2004]]: ''History in Words, Tolkien's Ruling Passion'' ([[Marquette University]])
* [[2005]]: ''Wisdom and the Wise in The Lord of the Rings'' ([[wikipedia:Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University|Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University]])
* [[2005]]: ''[[Tolkien 2005]]'' (convention, [[wikipedia:Aston University|Aston University]])
** "Tolkien and the War"
** "Wisdom and Wise Sayings in ''The Lord of the Rings''"
* [[2006]]: ''Narnia and Middle-Earth: Seventy Years on and Still Accelerating'' ([[wikipedia:Marymount University|Marymount University]])
* [[2007]]: ''Filming the Lord of the Rings: How Peter Jackson Coped with J.R.R. Tolkien'' ([[wikipedia:Bates College|Bates College]])
* [[2008]]: ''C.S. Lewis, the Inklings, and the Call to Christian Community'' (conference, [[Diana Glyer|Azusa Pacific University]])
** "The two Images, Discarded and Rejected?"
 
===Reviews===
* [[1977]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** ([[13 May|May 13]]): "The Foolhardy Philologist" (review of ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography]]'' by [[Humphrey Carpenter]])
* [[1977]]: ''Oxford Mail''
** ([[15 September|September 15]]): "Silmarillion: The Oddest Tolkien Yet" (review of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'')
* [[1978]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** "Return Trip" (review of ''[[The Complete Guide to Middle-earth]]''
* [[1979]]: ''[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]]'' 13
** "An Introduction to Elvish" (review of ''[[An Introduction to Elvish]]'' by [[Jim Allan]])
* [[1980]]: ''Notes and Queries'' 225
** (December): "Tolkien's Art" (review of ''[[Tolkien's Art: A Mythology for England]]'' by [[Jane Chance]]'')
* [[1981]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** ([[28 August|August 28]]): "A Philologist in Purgatory" (review of ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'')
* [[1982]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** ([[26 November|November 26]]): "Blunt Belligerence" (review of ''[[Mr. Bliss]]'')
* [[1995]]: ''The Library''
** (March issue): "J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography" (review of ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography]]'' by [[Wayne G. Hammond]])
* [[2001]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** ([[21 December|December 21]]): "Temptations for All Time" (review of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'')
* [[2002]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** ([[20 December|December 20]]): "The Plot Unravels" (review of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'')
* [[2004]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** ([[9 January|January 9]]): "Not Worn Lightly" (review of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'') 
* [[2004]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** ([[20 February|February 20]]) "An Enchanted Front" (review of ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]'' by [[John Garth]])
* [[2005]]: ''[[wikipedia:Archaeology (magazine)|Archeology]]'' 58/2
** "Excavating Middle-earth" (review of ''[[The Real Middle Earth]]'' by [[Brian Bates]])
* [[2005]]: ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' (March issue)
** Review of ''[[The Science of Middle-Earth]]'' by [[Henry Gee]]
** Review of ''[[The Real Middle Earth]]'' by [[Brian Bates]]
* [[2007]]: ''[[Tolkien Studies: Volume 4]]''
** Review of ''[[The Roots of Tolkien's Middle-earth]]'' by [[Robert S. Blackham]]
* [[2008]]: ''[[Tolkien Studies: Volume 5]]''
** Review of ''[[The History of The Hobbit]]'' by [[John D. Rateliff]]
* [[2008]]: ''[[Aiglos (journal)|Aiglos]]'' #9
** Review of ''[[The Roots of Tolkien's Middle-earth]]'' by [[Robert S. Blackham]] (translated into Polish [[Agnieszka Sylwanowicz]])
* [[2009]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement'', May 6, 2009
**"[http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6232731.ece Tolkien out-Wagners Wagner]" - review of ''[[The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún]]''
* [[2010]]: [[Mallorn 49|''Mallorn'' 49]]
** "A question of source" (review of ''[[The Epic Realm of Tolkien]]'')
* [[2013]]: ''The Times Literary Supplement''
** "[http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1278838.ece Tolkien's King Arthur]" - review of ''[[The Fall of Arthur]]''
 
===Documentaries===
* [[1992]]: ''[[Tolkien Remembered]]'' - Himself
* [[1996]]: ''[[J.R.R.T.: A Film Portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'' - Himself
* [[1998]]: ''[[An Awfully Big Adventure: J.R.R. Tolkien]]'' - Himself
* [[2001]]: ''[[Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' - Himself
* [[2002]]: ''[[Page to Screen: The Lord of the Rings]]'' - Himself
* [[2003]]: ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: Origins of Middle-Earth]]'' - Himself


==Awards==
==Awards==
* [[1984]] - '''[[Mythopoeic Society|Mythopoeic Award]]''', Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies, ''[[The Road to Middle-earth]]''
* [[1984]] - '''[[Mythopoeic Society|Mythopoeic Award]]''', Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies, ''[[The Road to Middle-earth]]''
* [[2001]] - '''Mythopoeic Award''', Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies, ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]]''  
* [[2001]] - '''[[Mythopoeic Society|Mythopoeic Award]]''', Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies, ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]]''  
* 2001 - '''[http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/2001.html World Fantasy Award]''', Special Award Professional, ''J.R.R. Tolkien:Author of the Century''
* [[2001]] - '''[http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/2001.html World Fantasy Award]''', Special Award Professional, ''J.R.R. Tolkien:Author of the Century''
* [[2004]] - '''[[The One Ring Celebration|TORn Award]]''', Best Tolkien based Lecture presented at an Academic Function, ''History in Words, Tolkien's Ruling Passion''
* [[2006]] - '''[[The One Ring Celebration|TORn Award]]''', Best Lecture/Paper


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/ENG/faculty/shippey.html Tom Shippey profile at Saint Louis University]
* [http://www.slu.edu/x23819.xml Tom Shippey profile at Saint Louis University]
* [http://www.swarthmore.edu/news-events/tolkien-book-to-jackson-script-medium-and-message Tolkien Book to Jackson Script: The Medium and the Message]
 
{{References}}


[[Category:Authors|Shippey, Tom]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shippey, Tom}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:JRRTE contributors]]
[[Category:People by name]]
[[de:Tom Shippey]]

Revision as of 09:54, 27 March 2015

Tom Shippey.jpg
Tom Shippey
Biographical information
Born9 September 1943
EducationOxford University
OccupationAuthor

Thomas Alan Shippey (1943) is one of the most well known scholars on J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as fantasy and science fiction in general. He describes himself as a "Tolkien polemicist".[1]

Life

Youth

Many commenters have noticed the parallels between his life and Tolkien's: born in a colony, moved to Birmingham at a young age, followed by an academic career in Oxford and Leeds.

Shippey was born in India, where his father worked as a bridge builder. He spent the first several years of his life there.[2] His father then sent him to a strict boarding school in England, and when his father came back, Shippey was transfered to King Edward's School in Birmingham, where he studied from 1954 to 1960.[3]

Here he was introduced to science fiction, and The Hobbit, which was lent to him when he was 14 years old.[4] Shippey quickly developed an affinity for Old English, Old Norse, German and Latin (like Tolkien) and playing rugby (like Tolkien), and he was able to afford The Lord of the Rings when he won a school contest.[2]

Academic career

Shippey did not immediately pursue an academic career after graduation, as the British economy in the early 1960s did not offer much work. Not until the mid-sixties did he enroll in Cambridge.[4] His first academic work on Tolkien was from late 1969 or early 1970. Shippey, a junior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, was asked to speak at a Tolkien day organised by a student association. That lecture, "Tolkien as philologist", would form Shippey's view of Tolkien - a philologist - for years to come. Unbeknownst to him, Joy Hill, the private secretary of Tolkien, was in the audience. After the lecture, she asked him for the script, for Tolkien to read. Tolkien wrote to Shippey on April 13, 1970, with what first seemed like a formal reply. [3]

The first meeting between Shippey and Tolkien took place in 1972. Norman Davis, successor of Tolkien at the Merton Chair of English Language, invited Shippey over for dinner. Shippey, then a Fellow of St. John's College, taught Old and Middle English with Tolkien's syllabus, and his meeting with Tolkien at the diner left him full of professional piety.[3]

After Tolkien's death, Shippey's admiration only grew. His first printed essay, "Creation from Philology in The Lord of the Rings", was much of an elaboration of his 1970 lecture. In 1979, he was elected to the Chair of English Language and Medieval English Literature at the University of Leeds, a former position of Tolkien. He published his first book, the famed The Road to Middle-earth, in 1982. At this time, Shippey shifted from the view of Tolkien as a philologist to a view of a post-war writer, or what he called "traumatised authors", like Vonnegut and Golding.[3]

After 14 years at Leeds, Shippey moved to the Saint Louis University, where he was elected to the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities. Here, he could focus in teaching, research and publishing, rather than administrative work. He currently still holds this chair.[2]

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings

Being considered the foremost expert on Tolkien, Shippey appeared in several documentaries surrounding The Lord of the Rings (film series). He also assisted the dialect coaches[4] and is personally thanked in the closing credits.[5] He later recollected his experiences:

"The funny thing about interviews is you never know which bits they're going to pick. It always feels as if they sit you down, shine bright lights in your eyes, and ask you questions till you say something really silly, and that's the bit they choose. At least they didn't waterboard me. But it was good fun, and I'd cheerfully do it again."
― Tom Shippey[6]

Bibliography

The list below is extensive, but not complete.

Books

Articles

Lectures

Reviews

Documentaries

Awards

External links

References