J.R.R. Tolkien and A Legend He Created

J.R.R. Tolkien and A Legend He Created

                           

Tolkien's grand themes would play out in the world of Middle Earth. It was a world created in his head but ¹⁾imbued with his two greatest loves -- languages and ²⁾mythology² -- loves that were ³⁾ignited by his mother.

Tolkien Expert: She knew French and German and Latin. She encouraged him to enjoy language; not only to study language, but to enjoy language. She got him to thinking about language.

   ⁴⁾Linguistics³ would be Tolkien's constant ⁵⁾obsession⁴. As a child, he spent days locked away in his room creating languages. 

Tolkien Expert: While a lot of children invent languages of their own, nonsense languages, Tolkien took this to the max. He took it very seriously and invented his own language which he called Nafereen. 

   Years later, his self-described "mad hobby" would find its way into The Lord of the Rings. 

"When he saw Strider, he ⁶⁾dismounted and ran to meet him, calling out, 'Ai na vedui Dúnadan! Mae govannen'. His speech and clear ringing voice left no doubt in their hearts the rider was of the Elven folk." (The Fellowship of the Ring, page 204)

   As Tolkien ⁷⁾scribbled out chapter after chapter of Rings in his barely legible handwriting, his real life experiences began to influence his writing. His days in the English countryside, the lessons of his Catholic upbringing, and especially his horrific time spent in battle during World War I would also find its way onto the pages of his new novel.

Christopher Lee ("Sarumen"): And there's a scene where you see Hobbits - they go through the dead ⁸⁾marshes and they see all the dead faces staring up at them through the water, as a result of these terrible battles, that was actually based on Tolkien's own experiences in World War I when he saw these ⁹⁾appalling⁷ massacres⁸ of soldiers, which took place in battlefields. 

   "I saw them. ¹⁰⁾Grim faces and evil, and noble faces and sad. Many faces proud and fair, and ¹¹⁾weeds in their silver hair. But all foul⁹, all rotting, all dead."  (The Two Towers, page 614)

   In 1940, Tolkien's publisher, Allen and Unwin, eagerly awaited the new Hobbit book.  However, Tolkien's pursuit of perfection slowed the process. 

Tolkien Expert: He was a ¹²⁾perfectionist, so that he would write, push to one side, rewrite, push to one side, rewrite, but it was as if he always had to start from the beginning again every time. 

   Tolkien was writing not a book, but a history of Middle Earth that was rich with detail. 

Elijah Wood ("Frodo"): These books were written with such depth and ¹³⁾density¹⁰ and sort of attention to detail, that they almost seem like history. Like you can read them and almost believe they really happened. 

   Sure, even the smallest detail was scrutinized¹¹. He created maps, charts and an ¹⁴⁾appendix the size of most books. In Tolkien's mind, he wasn't just creating a fantasy world, but an ancient mythology for England. It is this eye for detail that separated Tolkien's work from that of other fantasy writers and forever changed the ¹⁵⁾genre¹². 

Tolkien Expert: He gave fairy tale a kind of geography and a map, and a history, and a ¹⁶⁾chronology, and a whole world in which to exist and the worlds were connected up with each other. 

    His ¹⁷⁾dedication¹³ to detail, ¹⁸⁾workload¹⁴ at Oxford¹⁵, and occasional lack of interest, caused the writing process to ¹⁹⁾drag on. Tolkien began to doubt whether he would ever finish. Encouragement would come from a ²⁰⁾fellow member of the Oxford community, C.S. Lewis, a writer who would carve his own ²¹⁾niche¹⁶ in the world of fantasy writing with works like, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Over a ²²⁾pint¹⁷ at the local pub, Tolkien began to share chapters of his new book with Lewis, who became ²³⁾enthralled with the work. 

Tolkien Expert: Tolkien would never have finished The Lord of the Rings without Lewis' continuous encouragement. And Tolkien really needed somebody like that.

In 1949, twelve years after he had started, J.R.R.Tolkien sat on his attic¹⁹ bed. Using two fingers, he typed out a complete draft of Rings. The book contained dozens of characters, 62 chapters, and lots of pages. Rings was over 1,000 pages so the editors wanted to break it up into three volumes. 

Tolkien Expert: They had to talk him into publishing it as a ²⁴⁾trilogy. He saw it as a single book, The Lord of the Rings.

The first volume of The Lord of the Rings, ²⁵⁾entitled, The Fellowship of the Ring, was published in August of 1954. The final two volumes would be released over the next 14 months. To the author's dismay, many ²⁶⁾interpreted the book as an ²⁷⁾allegory for World War II. 

Tolkien Expert: He discouraged any sort of ²⁸⁾allegorical reading where, as a one-for-one ²⁹⁾correspondence between what's in the book and what's in the world, so that Tom Bonneville's neutral territory is not Switzerland and Mordor is not Nazi²⁰ Germany.

    Rings proved to be a steady seller over the next decade. The income from book sales even allowed for Tolkien to take an early retirement²¹ from Oxford. The author ³⁰⁾settled in, planning to spend a quiet retirement writing. Then, in the midst of the ³¹⁾turbulent 60's,   Rings was released in ³²⁾paperback²² in the United States. Instantly, the book became a "must read" for ³³⁾disillusioned²³ college students across the country. 

Tolkien Expert: First of all as an anti-war book, this was the era when ³⁴⁾resistance to the Vietnam War was growing, especially on college campuses.

Tolkien Expert: The readers were primarily those who had been dropping away from mainstream²⁴ society. And they happened to meet Tolkien in the woods of Middle Earth. 

     By 1968, the book had sold over three million copies and made an ³⁵⁾unwanted ³⁶⁾cult²⁵ hero out of its quiet and reserved author. 

Tolkien Expert: Tolkien was quite horrified²⁶ by many aspects of the "³⁷⁾hippie" adoption²⁷ of, I mean, "drug culture" ? Tolkien just wouldn't know anything about that! 

     Over the next several years, The Lord of the Rings would reach all corners of the globe. It would be translated into over 25 languages, ³⁸⁾dissected in college classrooms, and sung about in pop songs. Generation after generation would connect with the book's themes and see them through the ³⁹⁾prism of their time.

 

《魔戒》之父托尔金其人其事

 

    托尔金的大作描写了一个中土世界。他凭想象创建出这个世界，其中蕴含了他受母亲激发出的两大爱好--语言与神话。

托尔金专家：托尔金的母亲会说法语、德语和拉丁语。她鼓励他去体会语言带来的乐趣；不仅要学习语言，还要体会当中乐趣。她让他揣摩语言的精妙。

托尔金一生醉心于语言学。还是个孩子的时候，他就长时间闭门不出，在房间里创造语言。

托尔金专家：当许多孩子只是咿呀乱语，自说自话时，托尔金则尽情地发挥。他认认真真地创造自己的语言，将它称为“纳法林”语。

多年以后，他更把这个自称是“疯狂的爱好”融入《魔戒》一书中。

“他一看到大步，就翻下马来迎着大步跑上去，一边大声喊着“Ai na vedui Dúnadan! Mae govannen（精灵语）。”他的话语和那金铃般的嗓音使他们确信无疑，来者是精灵族。”（《魔戒再现》第204页）

托尔金用难辨的笔迹一章接一章地写着《魔戒》，与此同时，生活经历也影响到了他的写作。他在英国郊区的生活，他的天主教背景，尤其是一战中的可怕经历，这些在他的新小说中都能找到蛛丝马迹。

克里斯托弗·李（萨拉曼扮演者）：在一个场景中能见到霍比特人--他们经过死亡沼泽，看见许多死人的脸透过水面盯着他们，那是可怕的战争所造成的。这个情景就是托尔金根据自己在一战时期的经历写成的，他亲眼目睹过战场上骇人听闻的士兵大屠杀。

“我看到他们。严峻的邪恶的脸，高贵的和悲伤的脸。许多面孔骄傲而姣好，银发上缠着水草。可是全脏兮兮的，全腐烂了，全死气沉沉。”（《双塔骑兵》第614页）

1940年，托尔金的出版人艾伦、安伟急不可待地等他出霍比特人的新书。可是，托尔金精益求精的态度使出书进度放慢下来。

托尔金专家：他是个完美主义者，所以他写完了就搁到一旁，重写后又搁到一旁，然后再重写，每次他都几乎是推翻了重写。

托尔金写的不是书，而是一部中土世界的历史，巨细无遗。

伊立加·伍德（“弗拉多”扮演者）：这些书的内容深刻而且丰富，细节很多，很接近史书。你读了以后仿佛就会相信那里面写的是真实发生过的事情。

描写的确无微不至。托尔金画了地图、图表，附录长如书的内容。托尔金不认为他是在创造神话世界，而是英国的古代神话学。对细节的另眼相看使托尔金从芸芸神话作家中脱颖而出，对奇幻文学写作产生了永久的影响。

托尔金专家：他给神话故事界定出发生的地点，有地图，有历史，有编年表，在那个世界中所有一切都彼此紧密相连。

他对细节的一丝不苟，在牛津大学的工作，以及偶尔的意兴阑珊，这些让写作进展得很慢。托尔金开始怀疑起自己是否能够完成写作。牛津大学的一位同事给了他鼓励，那人叫C.S.刘易斯，也是奇幻文学作家，写有流芳后世的《雄师、女巫和衣橱》。有一次托尔金和他在当地酒吧喝酒后，把新书拿给刘易斯看，刘易斯一读便给迷住了。

托尔金专家：如果没有刘易斯的不断鼓励，托尔金是完成不了《魔戒》的。再说托尔金的确需要有人鼓励他。

1949年，动笔12年后，托尔金坐在阁楼的床上，用两个手指敲出了《魔戒》的完整稿。全书有几十个人物，62个章节，页数很多，高达千页，所以编辑把它分成三册出版。

托尔金专家：他们劝他出成三部曲，而他把《魔戒》看成是一个整体。

后来《魔戒》的第一册被命名为《魔戒再现》，于1954年8月出版。剩下两册在后14个月中陆续发行。很多人把该书看作二战的寓言，这让作者很失望。

托尔金专家：他不喜欢别人对号入座，将书中所写和现实生活一一进行对照，所以说汤姆·波内维勒并不是中立国瑞士，而魔朵也不是纳粹德国。

结果《魔戒》在后十年内销量很稳定。该书所取得的丰厚收入令托尔金得以提前从牛津大学退休。他搬了新家，并计划退休后专心写作。接着到了动荡不安的60年代中期，美国发行了平装本的《魔戒》。此书顿时成为全美国上下觉醒大学生的必读书。

托尔金专家：这成了一本反战书，在当时年代，反对越战的呼声水涨船高，大学校园里尤其如此。

托尔金专家：最早的读者都是些脱离主流社会的人。他们恰巧在中土世界的森林中遇到了托尔金。

到1968年，这本书已狂卖逾三百万套，温文尔雅的作者一下子成为英雄偶像，这令他很不喜欢。

托尔金专家：托尔金觉得嬉皮士对他的青睐着实可怕，“毒品文化”？他根本不精此道！

后来几年中，《魔戒》遍及全球。它被翻译成25种文字，在大学课堂上精读，被流行歌曲颂唱。该书影响了几代人，读者年龄层次不同，感受各异。

 

注释:

1) imbue¹ [im5bju:] v. 浸透

2) mythology [mi5WClEdVi] n. 神话

3) ignite [i^5nait] v. 点燃

4) linguistics [liN5^wistiks]n. 语言学

5) obsession [Eb5seFEn] n. 迷恋

6) dismount [dis5maunt] v. 下马

7) scribble⁵ out 信手写来，匆匆写下

8) marsh⁶ [mB:F] n. 沼泽

9) appalling [E5pC:liN]a. 令人震惊的

10) grim [^rim] a. 严酷的

11) weed [wi:d] n. 野草

12) perfectionist [pE5fekFEnIst] n. 完美主义者

13) density [5densiti] n. 密度

14) appendix [E5pendiks] n. 附录

15) genre [VB:Nr]n. 流派

16) chronology [krE5nClEdVi] n. 年表

17) dedication [7dedi5keiFEn] n.奉献，专注

18) workload [5wE:klEud] n. 工作量

19) drag on 拖拉

20) fellow [5felEJ] n. 朋友，同事

21) niche [nitF] n. 神圣的或合适的地位

22) pint [paint] n. 品脱

23) enthrall¹⁸ [in5WrC:l] v. 迷惑

24) trilogy [5trilEdVi] n. 三部曲

25) entitle [in5taitl] v. 命名为

26) interpret [in5tE:prit] v. 认为是……意思

27) allegory [5Ali^Eri] n. 寓言

28) allegorical [7Ali5CrikEl] a. 寓言的

29) correspondence [7kCris5pCndEns] n. 相应

30) settle in 迁入新居并安顿好

31) turbulent [5tE:bjulEnt] a. 狂暴的，吵闹的

32) paperback [5peipEbAk] n. 平装本

33) disillusioned [7disi5lu:VEnd] a. 觉醒了的，醒悟了的

34) resistance [ri5zistEns] n. 反抗

35) unwanted [5Qn5wCntid] a. 多余的，讨厌的

36) cult [kQlt] n. 礼拜，一群信徒

37) hippie [5hipi:] n. 嬉皮士

38) dissect²⁸ [di5sekt] v. 仔细研究

39) prism [5prizEm] n. 棱镜

1 imbue   

v.灌输(某种强烈的情感或意见)，感染

参考例句：

• He managed to imbue his employees with team spirit.他成功激发起雇员的团队精神。
• Kass is trying to imbue physics into simulated worlds.凯斯想要尝试的就是把物理学引入模拟世界。

2 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

3 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

4 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

5 scribble   

v.潦草地书写，乱写，滥写；n.潦草的写法，潦草写成的东西，杂文

参考例句：

• She can't write yet,but she loves to scribble with a pencil.她现在还不会写字，但她喜欢用铅笔乱涂。
• I can't read this scribble.我看不懂这种潦草的字。

6 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

7 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

8 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

9 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

10 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

11 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

12 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

13 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

14 workload   

n.作业量，工作量

参考例句：

• An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
• He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。

15 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

16 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

17 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

18 enthrall   

vt.迷住，吸引住；使感到非常愉快

参考例句：

• She kept her audience enthralled throughout her twenty-minute performance.她的20分钟演出使观众目不转睛。
• They were enthralled with the play.他们被那个戏迷住了。

19 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

20 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

21 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

22 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。

23 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

24 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

25 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

26 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

27 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

28 dissect   

v.分割；解剖

参考例句：

• In biology class we had to dissect a frog.上生物课时我们得解剖青蛙。
• Not everyone can dissect and digest the public information they receive.不是每个人都可以解析和消化他们得到的公共信息的。