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Archive (1968) Tolkien interview on BBC website.....



Pryderi
Rivendell

Aug 17 2010, 7:08pm


Views: 4966
Archive (1968) Tolkien interview on BBC website.....

.....may be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/writers/12237.shtml

At least I hope so. I am somewhat tecnologically challenged. It is more a documentary than an interview really and is 26 minutes long. Lots of Tolkien. Lots of Oxford students with plummy accents and contrary opinions. Fascinating. I did not know it existed. Can anyone confirm whether it has been drawn upon by scholars at all?

Pryderi.


Ethel Duath
Half-elven


Aug 17 2010, 10:40pm


Views: 3636
Thanks! Just watched the whole thing

and sent it to 2 people! Wish I knew who was singing at the end--it almost sounds like Christoper Lee, but I don't think he did anything like that as early as '68 (I was 12, knew the Hobbit well, and was just starting to tackle the Trilogy . . .)


Kangi Ska
Half-elven


Aug 17 2010, 11:06pm


Views: 3604
Very nice. I had not seen that video before.//

 

Kangi Ska

Make the Hobbit Happen Now!

Photobucket


aranelthehobbit22
Gondor


Aug 17 2010, 11:30pm


Views: 3609
Thanks for posting!

I'm watching it now!

Photobucket

'Help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter.'

Photobucket

"Yet in that hour was put to the proof that which Mithrandir had spoken, and help came from the hands of the weak when the Wise faltered."





Magpie
Immortal


Aug 17 2010, 11:47pm


Views: 3565
"When you finish reading Lord of the Rings..."

"...not only have you had a marvelous adventure story and a marvelous fantasy but some of the magic has rubbed off on some off of ordinary, very homely things of life."

nice observation

thanks for the link.


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Magpie
Immortal


Aug 18 2010, 12:19am


Views: 3691
the tune is the one Tolkien composed and Swann set to music

...but it's not the version Swann recorded with William Elvin and Elvin's voice is higher than this one so I don't think it's another occasion of his singing it than on the recording. It sounded to me that a record was hitting the center at the end which could be an indication that it was on a record.

I was able to record the music from the website.


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silneldor
Half-elven


Aug 18 2010, 2:42am


Views: 3592
GREAT find Pryderi.

I really enjoyed this. I thought about what he said about being just an ordinary scholar. Well...perhaps on the surface..:). A chimney is just a chimney until you experience the brilliance at the hearth.

I like what the young woman said about Tolkien writing the story with language as a premise but then the story itself took hold. I had always believed that. The exercise of scholarship grew into (from) the matters of the heart and soul.

It was just so wonderful to walk with the professor. And then sit with him and catch the gems as they fell from the things that he said and the way he said them.

And at the end the retreating aerial as Tolkien stood there with that deep voice in song was very moving.

It is in my favorites now, as a prized possession:).

Thank you.


''Sam put his ragged orc-cloak under his master's head, and covered them both with the grey robe of Lorien; and as he did so his thoughts went out to that fair land, and to the Elves, and he hoped that the cloth woven by their hands might have some virtue to keep them hidden beyond all hope in this wilderness of fear...But their luck held, and for the rest of that day they met no living or moving thing; and when night fell they vanished into the darkess of Mordor.'' - - -rotk, chapter III

May the grace of Manwë let us soar with eagle's wings!

In the air, among the clouds in the sky
Here is where the birds of Manwe fly
Looking at the land, and the water that flows
The true beauty of earth shows
With the stars of Varda lighting my way
In all the realms this is where I stay
In the realm of Manwë Súlimo













dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator


Aug 18 2010, 3:01am


Views: 3786
So that is what it's from!

I had seen a picture once, of Tolkien sitting back in his chair and blowing smoke - and it's a still from this interview!

Very nice to see the Professor relaxing in his element. That background music is quite '60s, isn't it? Thank you for posting this! Smile


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"I desired dragons with a profound desire"

"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915




dormouse
Half-elven

Aug 19 2010, 1:50pm


Views: 3573
I remember that!!!!

I was a kid and had just discovered the books - and I was so, so angry with the drippy girl on the bridge because she was years older than me and made such a rotten job of summarizing the plot. I felt she was making fun of it....

Thanks for posting the link. I'm sitting here with a big grin because it was so good to see it again and remember how it felt the first time round to hear Tolkien speaking, and all the questions I was burning to ask. But did we really all talk in such tirribly pricise, clipped little accents? I wonder when that stopped.


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Aug 19 2010, 7:36pm


Views: 3576
From Runk Snusgrop

Re: BBC Interview with Tolkien Resurfaces: As always I'm having great difficulty understanding him at times. Being a born mumbler and slurrer myself is not as helpful as one might think.
Was that simply his accent, or did he indeed have some sort of speech impediment? He sometimes seems to skip certain sounds and certains and certain combinations of letter entirely, or mumble through them.


(Just tidying up a duplicate thread - Ataahua.)

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.


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Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Aug 19 2010, 7:47pm


Views: 3662
From Aunt Dora Baggins: Wow!

What an incredible half hour. My favorite quote, (or misquote, since I'm going from memory): "Any story of great length that manages to hold people's attention is about one thing: death. About the inevitability of death."
And my favorite light quote: "There's [can't remember the name--some colleague] all togged up. I've never seen him so tidy." :-D

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.


Ataahua's stories


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Aug 19 2010, 7:48pm


Views: 3649
From Eruonen: I wonder if his accent is regional or of mixed origin

Maybe some English ringers can comment on any issues they have with his speaking style. As in this country, you have regional accents / dialects that take a while to understand. I remember a trip to England and asking for directions from a truck driver in Yorkshire...I don't think I understood 50% of what he said.
I just think Tolkien had a racing mind...too many things bubbling out...and it resulted in hurried speech.
I did not care for the "star trek " music effects....

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.


Ataahua's stories


Eruonen
Half-elven

Aug 19 2010, 7:52pm


Views: 3477
Great interviews....the TH White interview crosses similar territory too

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/writers/12242.shtml


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Aug 19 2010, 8:05pm


Views: 3790
The music and the hairstyles!

And that young punk political activist. He reminds me so much of people I met in the late 60s and early 70s. Anything fun was "bourgois" and worthless :-/


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories

leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




(This post was edited by Aunt Dora Baggins on Aug 19 2010, 8:08pm)


Alientraveller
Lorien

Aug 20 2010, 2:50pm


Views: 3504
"No death is a natural one. Because man's presence is not natural, it forces everything to be examined."

I did enjoy that quote (I've probably got it horribly wrong though). I remember clips of this documentary inserted into one about Tolkien when FotR came out.

I wonder if that punk was a young Phillip Pullman.


Eruonen
Half-elven

Aug 20 2010, 2:52pm


Views: 3411
Yes, the neuvo Marxist posers....

The rage at the time was to reject all the percieved fuddy duddy values..conservative...and embrace "the struggle" of the masses yada yada....hobbits as revolutionaries seeking to overturn the bourgeoisie of both Sauron and the allies...royals and thugs..two faces of the same coin.

It just goes to show you that one can read anything into a work of art and be so far off base from what the writer intended....

Very Monty Pythonish in many ways...BBC spoofs..the oh so serious interviewer, the student angst etc.

I liked that Tolkien showed a mischevious humor in some scenes. Loved the whole Bilbo appearance wiht his pipe, beer, fire, vest. Walking around Oxford shows where Rowling got her inspiration for Hogwarts.


(This post was edited by Eruonen on Aug 20 2010, 2:53pm)


geordie
Tol Eressea

Aug 21 2010, 10:32am


Views: 3553
It's good that this has a wider audience

- but there's quite a bit wrong with it - as a documentary on one of the 20th century's great minds is concerned. To take this from the BBC's synopsis:

"John Izzard meets with JRR Tolkien at his home, walking with him through the Oxford locations that he loves while hearing the author’s own views about his wildly successful high-fantasy novels. Tolkien shares his love of nature and beer and his admiration for ‘trenchermen’ in this genial and affectionate programme. "

Just one or two nit-picks, to begin with. Tolkien wasn't filmed at home. The pictures of him sitting in front of a table stacked with books were shot at the Oxford Chaplaincy, IIRC (I was told this by a friend, who was one of the students who took part in the fim. She only spoke a few words).

Tolkien himself was not too happy about the film - see Letter no. 301. Rayner Unwin mentions it briefly in his book 'George Allen and Unwin: A Remembrancer'. His opinion is that the fim was cut in such a way that it seems to give equal 'weight' to the opinions of Tolkien, and the students.

As for me - I was very pleased to see pictures of my hero walking and talking; but the film is too much of its time - we don't hear the interviewer's questions! Only the answers; and it seems that whenever a student voices an opinion (say, about food) we cut to Tolkien (apparently) flatly denying what that person had just said, yet (according to my friend) they and Tolkien never met during the making of the film.

Overall, though; and in spite of the inadequacies of the BBC, it's useful to see and hear some of Tolkien's ideas and opinions. Carpenter owes that bit about marking exam papers to this movie; and probably several other things, which I can't remember at present. Hammond and Scull refer to it once or twice in their book 'The JRR Tolkien Companion and Guide'.


Bywater Bridge
Registered User

Dec 11 2010, 6:19am


Views: 3476
Not available in my area?

I tried to watch this BBC interview tonight and, while the link connected and the start button came up for the video, it only resulted in a "not available in your area" message. I live in Indiana in the U.S. Is this video restricted to UK viewing or has the interview been taken down? Dooes anyone know of another location where it has been saved?


Magpie
Immortal


Dec 11 2010, 7:06am


Views: 3497
It had been available in the US

but it appears it isn't any longer. (I watched it, per my earlier post in this thread, and I am in Minnesota. But now it says it's not available for me.) I'm not sure off hand if it's available any where else.

btw: threads here don't rise to the top of the queue when you reply so it's almost serendipitous when someone realizes you've replied to a thread that is on some page other than the first page. What you can do, if you wish to discuss an old topic or thread, is to make a new thread, quote and link to the old thread and then make your point or ask your question. Feel free to do that if you'd like more people to catch your request for another link that works.


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Bywater Bridge
Registered User

Dec 13 2010, 5:05am


Views: 3241
Thanks

Thanks, Magpie. I'll do that.

Bywater Bridge