0381: The Lord of the Rings » Tolkien's Foreword(s)

What did Tolkien himself say The Lord of the Rings was about?In this episode of Do Not Be Hasty, we explore Tolkien’s forewords to The Lord of the Rings — because there are actually two very different versions.

00:00 — What Did Tolkien Say The Lord of the Rings Was About?02:15 — The Original 1954 Foreword03:43 — The Red Book of Westmarch09:45 — Tolkien as “Translator” and Middle-earth as History13:20 — Why Tolkien Replaced the First Foreword15:24 — The Second-Edition Foreword20:17 — Why Tolkien Wrote The Lord of the Rings21:21 — No Hidden Message or World War II Allegory22:12 — What the Story Would Look Like If It WERE About WWII26:09 — Allegory vs. Applicability30:11 — So What Is The Lord of the Rings About?The First-Edition Foreword

Published with The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954Tolkien presents The Lord of the Rings almost as an authentic historical documentThe story is supposedly drawn from the Red Book of WestmarchBilbo and Frodo appear as memoirists whose accounts were preserved by Sam’s descendantsTolkien plays with the idea that he is discovering or translating Middle-earth rather than simply inventing itWhy Tolkien later rejected this forewordThe role of the unauthorized Ace Books edition and the U.S. copyright situationThe first foreword’s possible spoiler concerning Frodo and SamThe Second-Edition Foreword

How The Lord of the Rings grew out of The HobbitWhy the story was drawn toward the older world of The SilmarillionTolkien’s long process of composition through the late 1930s and 1940sThe extraordinary amount of work involved in completing and revising the bookTolkien’s stated purpose: to tell a long story that could hold readers’ attention, delight them, excite them, and move themWas The Lord of the Rings an Allegory?

Tolkien rejects the idea that the book has a simple hidden messageWhy the War of the Ring should not be read as an allegory of World War IITolkien imagines what the story might have looked like if WWII really had dictated the plotHis skepticism toward political power and his concern for ordinary peopleWhy the Scouring of the Shire is not simply commentary on contemporary EnglandAllegory vs. Applicability

Tolkien’s famous declaration that he “cordially” disliked allegoryAllegory depends upon the author imposing a particular meaningApplicability depends upon the freedom of the readerReal history and personal experience can influence storytelling without turning a story into allegoryThe importance of remaining faithful to the art