"I hold the key": J. R. R. Tolkien through interviews and reminiscences

Dr Dimitra Fimi, internationally recognised scholar and expert, gave the first annual lecture in honour of J. R. R. Tolkien at University of Birmingham.

Dr Fimi’s lecture meanders through several interviews Tolkien gave during his lifetime, as well as reminiscences of people who knew him well (family, colleagues, publishers, friends). Though this material remains uncollected and scattered in various (often obscure) publications, it often reveals fascinating facets of Tolkien's inspirations, creative process, as well as the construction of a "biographical legend".

00:00 Introduction
06:30 Dr Dimitra Fimi
07:30 Corpus of interviews and reminiscences
11:43 Accuracy in note-taking
14:35 Birmingham and childhood
15:49 The Shire and Sarehole Mill
19:33 'a stranger to England and English nature'
23:11 Hobbits and the village people and children of Sarehole
24:38 Gandalf's fireworks and displays at Edgbaston Reservoir and Moseley Grammar School
25:12 Origin of the word 'Hobbit'
27:50 The pleasure of burrowing
28:22 Jerome Griswold's Snugness
29:19 Favourite moments from The Lord of the Rings
31:40 The theme of evil in The Lord of the Rings
32:00 'The New Shadow' - a sequel
33:40 Sauron as the toad from Paradise Lost
36:24 'That ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler'
36:56 Religion and natural morality in The Lord of the Rings
40:08 Aragorn and Arwen. Love and romance in The Lord of the Rings.
45:37 What genre is The Lord of the Rings?
47:50 Fantasy and science fiction
51:30 Tolkien's view of language in contemporary science fiction
53:03 Tolkien's invented languages
54:31 Tolkien on current affairs and motor cars
56:37 Tolkien's love of trees
58:45 Conclusion - pay attention to the details