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bluegargantua ([personal profile] bluegargantua) wrote2012-03-13 10:24 am
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One does not simply ask like a rude boor

Hey,

So apparently in 1938 a German publishing house wanted to publish The Hobbit. In the course of negotiations, they asked Tolkien about his "ancestry". The good professor was a bit non-plussed and sent two possible reply letters to his publisher. One of which quietly ignored the issue and the other of which makes for delightful reading.

Don't tick off an English professor...
Tom
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[identity profile] plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com 2012-03-13 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Fuck yeah Tolkien!

[identity profile] sunspiral.livejournal.com 2012-03-13 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
That is a thing of beauty.

[identity profile] etherial.livejournal.com 2012-03-13 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Given that one of his family names (Reuel) is Hebrew, I am not surprised the Germans asked.
Edited 2012-03-13 15:05 (UTC)

[identity profile] badseed1980.livejournal.com 2012-03-13 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I love him even more now. :)

[identity profile] chienne-folle.livejournal.com 2012-03-13 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
That's WONDERFUL; thanks for sharing it with us.

[identity profile] contradictacat.livejournal.com 2012-03-13 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Pity he was still pretty damn racist against non-white folks. http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Racism_in_Tolkien's_Works But at least he wasn't anti-semitic.
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