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Authors: Humphrey Carpenter
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in its rather altered scope and tone. A good many folk have found it very diverting (I think that is the right word): but that is as may be! I see that it is
not
long enough to stand alone probably â at least not as a commercial proposition (if indeed it cd. ever be such a thing). It probably requires more of its kind. I have planned out a sequel 1 (though it does not need one), and have an unfinished pseudo-Celtic fairy-story of a mildly satirical order, which is also amusing as far as it has gone, called the
King of the Green Dozen
. 2 These I might finish off if
Giles
seems to you worthy of print and companionship.
In the last two or three days, after the benefit of idleness and open air, and the sanctioned neglect of duty, I have begun again on the sequel to the âHobbitâ â The Lord of the Ring. It is now flowing along, and getting quite out of hand. It has reached about Chapter VII and progresses towards quite unforeseen goals. I must say I think it is a good deal better in places and some ways than the predecessor; but that doesnot say that I think it either more suitable or more adapted for its audience. For one thing it is, like my own children (who have the immediate serial rights), rather âolderâ. I can only say that Mr Lewis (my stout backer of the Times and T.L.S.) professes himself more than pleased. If the weather is wet in the next fortnight we may have got still further on. But it is no bed-time story. . . . .
Yours sincerely,
J. R. R. Tolkien.
34 To Stanley Unwin
13 October 1938
20 Northmoor Road, Oxford
Dear Mr Unwin,
. . . . I have worked very hard for a month (in the time which my doctors said must be devoted to some distraction!) on a sequel to
The Hobbit
. It has reached Chapter XI (though in rather an illegible state); I am now thoroughly engrossed in it, and have the threads all in hand â and I have to put it completely aside, till I do not know when. Even the Christmas vacation will be darkened by New Zealand scripts, as my friend Gordon 1 died in the middle of their Honours Exams, and I had to finish setting the papers. But I still live in hopes that I may be able to submit it early next year.
When I spoke, in an earlier letter to Mr Furth, of this sequel getting âout of handâ, I did not mean it to be complimentary to the process. I really meant it was running its course, and forgetting âchildrenâ, and was becoming more terrifying than the Hobbit. It may prove quite unsuitable. It is more âadultâ â but my own children who criticize it as it appears are now older. However, you will be the judge of that, I hope, some day! The darkness of the present days has had some effect on it. Though it is not an âallegoryâ. (I have already had one letter from America asking for an authoritative exposition of the allegory of The Hobbit).
Yours sincerely
J. R. R. Tolkien.
35 To C. A. Furth, Allen & Unwin
2 February 1939
20 Northmoor Road, Oxford
Dear Mr Furth,
By the end of last term the new story â
The Lord of the Rings
â had reached Chapter 12 (and had been re-written several times), running to over 300 MS. pages of the size of this paper and written generally asclosely. It will require 200 at least to finish the story that has developed. Could you give me any idea of the
latest
date by which the completed MSS. ought to reach you? I have worked under difficulties of all kinds, including ill-health. Since the beginning of December I have not been able to touch it. Among many other labours and troubles that the sudden death of my friend Professor Eric Gordon bequeathed to me, I had to clear up the New Zealand examinations, which occupied nearly all last vacation. I then caught influenza, from which I have just recovered. But I have other heavy tasks ahead. I am at the âpeakâ of my educational financial stress, with a second son clamouring for a university and the youngest wanting to go to school
not
long enough to stand alone probably â at least not as a commercial proposition (if indeed it cd. ever be such a thing). It probably requires more of its kind. I have planned out a sequel 1 (though it does not need one), and have an unfinished pseudo-Celtic fairy-story of a mildly satirical order, which is also amusing as far as it has gone, called the
King of the Green Dozen
. 2 These I might finish off if
Giles
seems to you worthy of print and companionship.
In the last two or three days, after the benefit of idleness and open air, and the sanctioned neglect of duty, I have begun again on the sequel to the âHobbitâ â The Lord of the Ring. It is now flowing along, and getting quite out of hand. It has reached about Chapter VII and progresses towards quite unforeseen goals. I must say I think it is a good deal better in places and some ways than the predecessor; but that doesnot say that I think it either more suitable or more adapted for its audience. For one thing it is, like my own children (who have the immediate serial rights), rather âolderâ. I can only say that Mr Lewis (my stout backer of the Times and T.L.S.) professes himself more than pleased. If the weather is wet in the next fortnight we may have got still further on. But it is no bed-time story. . . . .
Yours sincerely,
J. R. R. Tolkien.
34 To Stanley Unwin
13 October 1938
20 Northmoor Road, Oxford
Dear Mr Unwin,
. . . . I have worked very hard for a month (in the time which my doctors said must be devoted to some distraction!) on a sequel to
The Hobbit
. It has reached Chapter XI (though in rather an illegible state); I am now thoroughly engrossed in it, and have the threads all in hand â and I have to put it completely aside, till I do not know when. Even the Christmas vacation will be darkened by New Zealand scripts, as my friend Gordon 1 died in the middle of their Honours Exams, and I had to finish setting the papers. But I still live in hopes that I may be able to submit it early next year.
When I spoke, in an earlier letter to Mr Furth, of this sequel getting âout of handâ, I did not mean it to be complimentary to the process. I really meant it was running its course, and forgetting âchildrenâ, and was becoming more terrifying than the Hobbit. It may prove quite unsuitable. It is more âadultâ â but my own children who criticize it as it appears are now older. However, you will be the judge of that, I hope, some day! The darkness of the present days has had some effect on it. Though it is not an âallegoryâ. (I have already had one letter from America asking for an authoritative exposition of the allegory of The Hobbit).
Yours sincerely
J. R. R. Tolkien.
35 To C. A. Furth, Allen & Unwin
2 February 1939
20 Northmoor Road, Oxford
Dear Mr Furth,
By the end of last term the new story â
The Lord of the Rings
â had reached Chapter 12 (and had been re-written several times), running to over 300 MS. pages of the size of this paper and written generally asclosely. It will require 200 at least to finish the story that has developed. Could you give me any idea of the
latest
date by which the completed MSS. ought to reach you? I have worked under difficulties of all kinds, including ill-health. Since the beginning of December I have not been able to touch it. Among many other labours and troubles that the sudden death of my friend Professor Eric Gordon bequeathed to me, I had to clear up the New Zealand examinations, which occupied nearly all last vacation. I then caught influenza, from which I have just recovered. But I have other heavy tasks ahead. I am at the âpeakâ of my educational financial stress, with a second son clamouring for a university and the youngest wanting to go to school
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