TOLKIENS LOST CHAUCER

by John M. Bowers

Tolkien's Lost Chaucer uncovers the story of an unpublished and previously unknown book by the author of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked between 1922 and 1928 on his Clarendon edition Selections from Chaucer's Poetry and Prose, and though never completed, its 160 pages of commentary reveals much of his thinking about language and storytelling when he was still at the threshold of his career as an epoch-making writer of fantasy literature. Drawing upon other new materials such as his edition of the Reeve's Tale and his Oxford lectures on the Pardoner's Tale, this book reveals Chaucer as a major influence upon Tolkien's literary imagination.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literature, Literary Criticism, Audiobook, Medieval

336 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2019

About the author

Dr. John M. Bowers is Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He holds a B.A. from Duke University, an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, and an M.Phil. from The University of Oxford, where he was also a Rhodes Scholar. Before joining the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Professor Bowers taught at the University of Virginia, Hamilton College, the California Institute of Technology, and Princeton University.

Professor Bowers has received numerous awards for his scholarship, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford, and a resident scholar at the Rockefeller Foundation's Study Center at Bellagio, Italy. Among his many teaching recognitions are a Nevada Regents' Teaching Award.

A widely published scholar, Professor Bowers has written four books, including The Politics of "Pearl": Court Poetry in the Age of Richard II and Chaucer and Langland: The Antagonistic Tradition; more than 30 articles and essays; and entries in the 2006 Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature.

Reviews

[Briana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tolkien's Lost Chaucer is a fascinating look at a book most people--even during Tolkien's lifetime--had no idea he was working on, a student edition with selections from Geoffrey Chaucer's works which Tolkien was to gloss and provide notes for. A co-editor would provide the introduction. Bowers work helps position Tolkien as a scholar who was not only interested in Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic literature but also a Chaucerian who was deeply familiar with Chaucer's work and could even recite some of The Canterbury Tales from memory. This sheds new light on Tolkien as a reader and an academic and on Tolkien's own fiction and ways it might have been influenced by Chaucer.

The beginning of the book provides a detailed look at the history of the student edition of Chaucer--how it came about, how Tolkien was chosen to work on it, what work he did (or did not) complete for it, what happened to the manuscripts and notes, etc. This is interesting if one wants to know how Tolkien could have done significant work on Chaucer that basically no one knew about or discussed, and it gives a decent portrayal of Tolkien as a scholar--someone who was incredibly thorough, often at the expense of actually finishing things. (There's probably a whole conversation to be had about academia in general here, to be honest, as Tolkien is compared to scholars who were more well-known and prolific but admitted to just kind of moving on if they weren't certain about something in what they were working on, instead of trying to figure it out.)

Personally, I was more interested in the next section of the book, which gives an overview of what Tolkien had drafted for his glosses and notes. This section does require the reader have a working knowledge of Chaucer's "minor" poems, as no summaries are provided, but if you are familiar with the texts Tolkien was commenting on, it's fascinating to see his thoughts. Bowers also notes where Tolkien's opinions or commentary is different from other Chaucer scholars' views--and how much over his page limit for the manuscript his notes extended, as he delved deep into the history of certain words. (The book also emphasizes that Tolkien as a scholar and lecturer was very much a philologist commenting on individual words in individual lines, rather than making general arguments about literature--interesting, as he clearly had a profound understanding of literature and would have been able to analyze it in a lecture.)

Finally, Bowers explores how Tolkien's familiarity with Chaucer might have influenced his own writing, including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. "Tolkien's sources" is, of course, a favorite topic for Tolkien scholars, who have compared Gandalf to Odin, noted that a cup is stolen from a dragon hoard in both Beowulf and The Hobbit , etc., so it's no surprise people would want to know what Tolkien might have "taken" from Chaucer. In many places, Bowers's arguments are convincing, and one can definitely imagine Tolkien reading a scene or seeing a theme in Chaucer and having it in the back of his mind somewhere. At times, however, Bowers seems to be stretching. For instance, there are cases where I wonder if Tolkien was influenced by Chaucer...or just medieval literature in general, which of course is notorious for reworking and recycling various themes, characters, plots, and so forth. There are also times where I would argue Tolkien was probably not "influenced" by much of anything. Can one really argue that the fact Dwarves arrive at Bilbo's house in discrete groups in The Hobbit is somehow related to the fact that the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales show up in different-sized groups? I think not.

Overall, however, Tolkien's Lost Chaucer is an excellent, clearly well-researched book that will help Tolkien scholars and fans see the author and his work in a new light and remind them that, as a medievalist, he was actually familiar with works written after the Anglo-Saxon period.

[Michael Joosten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like it could have been two, if not three, different books, and as a consequence, it shorts those different components just enough to feel that they might have been left out. These would-be "books" are probably not all quite book-length, though, which was likely a consideration in how this came about.

Book 1: the full-text or as close to it as possible of the Gordon-Tolkien Clarendon Chaucer, or at least Tolkien's portions. This is probably what the Tolkien scholars would have most liked to have had--and the one that would have been dullest for the ordinary Tolkien fan, though I count myself in the middle: not QUITE a true scholar (certainly not a true scholar of Chaucer, however much I can pretend to being a Tolkien scholar), but something I would have wanted, however incomplete it was.

Book 2: an analysis of Tolkien as a Chaucerian scholar. This is the backbone of the book, and it receives the fullest treatment. I would argue that Bowers is most interested in revealing Tolkien's deep knowledge of Chaucer and how he fits into and reacts to the critical tradition (especially against Skeat). But this isn't possible without Book 1 already existing and it might have been more of an extensive essay on its own if Book 1 was already extant.

Book 3: Middle-earth as a product of the Chaucerian leaf-mould in Tolkien's creative mind. This is sort of an extension of Book 2, but you could have had Book 2 without it--and vice versa. Because there are arguably more Middle-earth scholars/fans than Tolkien scholars/fans (if that distinction even makes sense), I think this is positioned as the big highlight of the book and yet gets slightly shorter shrift than the rest, because I think it is less the focus for Bowers: a consequence of Book 2 not a coeval interest with it.

It's hard to say that this SHOULD have been any one of these Books or essays, and what is presented is an important and excellent addition to Tolkien scholarship, but it does feel like there is a little bit more out there than made it under the umbrella.

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my full review of John M. Bowers' Mythopoeic Award-winning (Inklings Studies) book Tolkien’s Lost Chaucer in this article: "The Doom and Destiny of Tolkien’s Chaucer Research: A Note on John M. Bowers, Tolkien’s Lost Chaucer (2019)" https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2021/11/...

[Nonethousand Oberrhein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The professor’s inspiring career
The Inklings publication made clear that professor Tolkien’s career (as well as his colleagues’) echoes in his work, however this essay pushes the point further highlighting the numerous Chaucerian elements in JRRT published works. Dragging the reader in an academic Easter egg hunt, John Bowers uncovers not only the source material for some of the most iconic pages of Middle Earth, but he also takes his time to illustrate the professor’s behaviour and priorities choices in his professional life. A thorough read that will help any Lord of the Rings enthusiast to be closer to their favourite author.

[emnello · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most interesting book about Tolkien I’ve read in a long, long time. Covering both Tolkien’s exploration of Chaucer in his academic career as well as the apparent influence of Chaucer on Tolkien’s own writings, it’s incredibly in depth and compelling. While some arguments are quite a stretch, overall it is convincing and well articulated.

It is worth knowing that the book assumes the reader has prior knowledge of Chaucer alongside The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion as well as parts of The History of Middle-earth.

[Timbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many years J.R.R. Tolkien labored on what was intended to be a new student translation of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Thwarted by his own tendency towards procrastination and insistence on needless detail, Tolkien never completed the project. In this well researched examination of extant materials, Bowers shows how Tolkien's work on the translation made him one of the world's foremost experts on Chaucer, while providing him with a wealth of source material for his own masterpieces, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

[Bel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this analysis of Tolkien’s connections to Chaucer. The only thing is, I wish it was almost more detailed. I feel like this is a sign I should research this topic more!

[Jon]

Nominated for Best Book - Tolkien Society Awards 2020

[kerrycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a joy this was to read, from the standpoint of a textual bibliographer, a student of Chaucer, and a lifelong fan of Tolkien. While there was indeed plenty of food for the textb in me, I don't think it would be overwhelming for readers who might only be interested in how Tolkien's work on the Clarendon Chaucer (never published, materials recently discovered in 2012 - including groundbreaking discoveries with which he was never credited) influenced his fictional tales (as well as his other scholarly work, if one is, as I am, interested in those, too).

I found certain details of particular interest: Tolkien's distrust of fifteenth-century scribes (authentic spellings lost to their corruption), his overwhelming focus on details/accuracy ("counsels of perfection" are not good with deadlines approaching, which were never met not only on this project but others - especially when some of this is subjective work using what is/was available - his obsession with lost work caused him no end of difficulty - and we must remember that there was no standard ME dictionary at the time, so T's own A Middle English Vocabulary, his first book, was, again, HIS work), his sanitization of certain tales, his composition process, his complicated 'relationship' with the Skeat Chaucer (which feels rather personal), connections between specific CTs and Middle Earth tales, and the advocacy of the sons of both Tolkien and Chaucer (Chaucer's more speculatively, of course) on behalf of their fathers' work.

Ultimately, as Bowers notes, "unable as a philologist to give full voice to the lost past in deeds as well as words, Tolkien would seek this recovery in his fantasy writings" (lucky for us that he did) and "if readers have not previously detected Troilus and The Canterbury Tales in Tolkien's Middle Earth, it is because nobody was alert for noticing these ingredients." With the CC materials at hand, Bowers has done this for us, in entertaining as well as informative fashion.

[Stephanie Loomis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew Tolkien the philologist. I knew Tolkien, the father of fantasy writing in the modern age. I knew Tolkien the Inkling, the Roman Catholic, the professor, and I think I had heard about Tolkien's role in the OED. I have a copy of Tolkien's *Beowulf* translation/commentary and Baugh's *Chaucer's Major Poetry.* Of course, it goes without saying that I still have my 1970s era *Hobbit/Lord of the Rings* collection.
HOWEVER, I did not know that Tolkien was a Chaucerian scholar who translated, compiled, and edited a student Clarendon Chaucer in the 1920s. Sadly, he never finished (rather the same way Chaucer never finished *The Canterbury Tales*) and his work was boxed up and shelved until rediscovered 2006. Bowers curated the notes, proofs, letters, and marginalia into a cohesive story of Tolkien's Chaucerian work, particularly his inability to be succinct. The book is a fascinating and deep look at Tolkien's linguistic mind and how he was influenced by his research into Middle English poetry.
I had no idea how much of Chaucer was in the *LoR.* Evidently even Tolkien didn't realize it until he read his proofs while preparing to teach the Pardoner's Tale.
Narrator Jennifer M. Dixon is excellent when sped up to 1.25%.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. Tolkien had started work on an updated Clarendon student issue of Chaucer to replace Skeat's edition at the request of the publishers. He worked on it on and off for quite a few years, but never finished it. Most of it was eventually returned to the publishing house except for a few notes and studies of certain tales which Tolkien used in his classes. Then these were discovered in the publishers' archive and combined with Tolkien's own notes. A pattern has been established of how Chaucer's tales influenced the writing of the Lord of the Rings. Several parallels and similarities have been noted in the stories. Tolkien knew Chaucer very well and had studied his writing in detail and had revealed many corrections to previous translations.
The notes reveal much about Tolkien's creative process. Many things were in the back of his mind of old stories and mythology that he knew even though he was not consciously thinking of them when he wrote.

The reason there is such a long reading date is because the book was a hardback and I did not carry it everywhere for fear of destroying it. It got misplaced for quite a few months before I found it again.

[JD Shaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very clear and detailed look at both Tolkien the Scholar and his previously-unknown work on a student edition of Chaucer's work.

I actually knew little about Chaucer before reading this book, but have a deep-seated interest in both Tolkien and the same languages he loved (OE, ON, etc.), and so I was interesting in reading this book to learn a bit more about both Chaucer, Tolkien, and Middle English. And I was more than amply rewarded for my time! Bowers takes a scholarly approach to his analysis (much as Shippey has done with Tolkien's other works), heavily annotating sources and including a rich bibliography at the end (something sorely missing in most books on Tolkien and his work).

I sincerely appreciate such work, not only for the effort that was put into the research and writing, but that it eschews what might otherwise be a superficial look at Tolkien and his work and instead takes a deep scholarly dive into the nuts and bolts of language, literature, history, and biography.

Thank you Mr. Bowers for this wonderful book!

[Niek Oosterlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

John M. Bowers' Tolkien's Lost Chaucer can be deemed a true addition to the biographical literature on J.R.R. Tolkien's life. While many books in my Tolkien collection involve his fictional world, it is refreshing to read more about the man's philological endeavours as a scholar throughout his lifetime. In the field of Beowulf studies, his Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics lecture in 1936 still stands out famously as a turning point. All in all, I was gladly surprised by the results of Bowers' research on Tolkien. It not only shed new light on my understanding of Tolkien as a philologist but also brought ideas on how history can turn completely if other decisions are made! I recommend this book to any Tolkien enthusiast and philological scholars!

[Othy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing, unfortunately. I am not fan of Chaucer, and so I had hoped that Tolkien's views might help me understand him. Unfortunately, the book is mostly the author's somewhat vain ramblings about how he "discovered an important text." Alas. The book hypes itself and doesn't live up to said hype.

[Kevin Pynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is interesting to the Tolkien-lover in me, but the Chaucer-lover is certainly unsatisfied. Some of the most interesting info was about the huge amount of work that goes into critical editions of great authors. I will take them less for granted now

[Clare Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are into either/or Chaucer or J R R Tolkien this book is for you. I am interested in both and loved it. It's academic but is a good and interesting read.

[Matthew Edholm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miserable.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scholarly tome, medievalist delight.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting intellectual biography exploring Tolkien's relationship with Chaucer's work as a scholar and its effect on his Middle-earth books.

[Dan Moulton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of loose and free conjecture and giants leeps of logic, but interesting nonetheless.