The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, Volume 1: Chronology

The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide #1

by Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond

Designed to be the essential reference works for all readers and students, these volumes present the most thorough analysis possible of Tolkien's work within the important context of his life. The Reader's Guide includes brief but comprehensive alphabetical entries on a wide range of topics, including a who's who of important persons, a guide to places and institutions, details concerning Tolkien's source material, information about the political and social upheavals through which the author lived, the importance of his social circle, his service as an infantryman in World War I -- even information on the critical reaction to his work and the "Tolkien cult." The Chronology details the parallel evolutions of Tolkien's works and his academic and personal life in minute detail. Spanning the entirety of his long life including nearly sixty years of active labor on his Middle-earth creations, and drawing on such contemporary sources as school records, war service files, biographies, correspondence, the letters of his close friend C. S. Lewis, and the diaries of W. H. Lewis, this book will be an invaluable resource for those who wish to gain a complete understanding of Tolkien's status as a giant of twentieth-century literature.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Biography

1002 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2006

About the author

Christina Scull was born in Bristol, England, where she attended the famous Red Maids School. In 1961 she moved to London and worked for ten years in the Board of Trade. In 1971 she received her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours from Birkbeck College, the University of London, where she studied art history and medieval history. From 1971 to 1995 she was the Librarian of Sir John Soane’s Museum, London. In December 1994 she married Wayne Hammond, and in October 1995 emigrated to the United States. Her publications include The Soane Hogarths (1991). She is also the co-author or co-editor with her husband of numerous works by and about J.R.R. Tolkien, and editor of the occasional magazine The Tolkien Collector. In 1992 she was chair of the Tolkien Centenary Conference in Oxford. She has won scholarship awards from the Mythopoeic Society four times.

Reviews

[Michael Joosten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how much I liked the Chronology--and I say this as a rather hardcore Tolkien would-be academic. It is quite dry, about as interesting as Appendix B "The Tale of the Years" in The Lord of the Rings, which makes sense since this is basically the same thing. That should have been my first warning--I love the Tale of the Years.

The Chronology was littered with little references and quotations I'd never seen before and did a lot to illuminate Tolkien the Professional, who has tended to lurk behind his authorial self. Partly because of its direct, non-commenting tone, it moves forward inexorably, and in the later stretches especially I had a real sense of Tolkien the Person, and in this respect it was quite moving. Obviously, it's not a book for everyone, but it's a beautiful read for the right people.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any Chronology, this volume is for fanatics. If you wish to know what lecture Tolkien gave on 17 July 1961, or what correspondence he engaged in on 8 Nov. 1959, this is the book for you! It works well with Carpenter's Biography to give an interesting snapshot of the life of the man. Very interesting.