麻豆约拍

As Russell states on the podcast: “His stories are everywhere.” Released in 1937, Tolkien’s The Hobbit was a smash-hit sensation that’s never been out of print. His follow-up, The Lord of the Rings, despite a sniffy critical reception, was even more successful and was voted the ‘best book of the millennium’ in a Waterstones poll. And the Peter Jackson film adaptations have taken a staggering $6 billion at the box office while the new Lord of the Rings TV series is the most expensive ever made. Not bad for a dude who, as Thanyia states, produces work for, “a bunch of geeks really enjoying stuff that doesn’t exist”,

FOR: He overcame adversity

Despite coming from a privileged background, he faced a great deal of hardship, especially as a child. Orphaned by the age of 12, he was raised by family members and priests, but excelled academically. He learned a huge number of languages, gained a First at Oxford and was an acclaimed academic for the rest of his life. As Russell suggests: “I bet he knew the word for showing off in every language.”

AGAINST: He was a bit of a crank

Tolkien admitted that he was fairly Hobbit-like in his attitude to life. He enjoyed simple pleasures, hated French food, didn’t like to travel, stayed up late, got up late, wore ornamental waistcoats and was very suspicious of change. As Russell says, “All of it like a stand-up comic, except for the travelling bit.” A committed Catholic, when the Latin Mass was changed to English, he was so appalled he would shout the Latin version at the Priest during the service.

Tolkien met his future wife Edith when he was 16. As she was a few years older and not a Catholic, she was deemed completely unsuitable as a marriage partner. His guardians forbade him any contact with her until he came of age. On the day he turned 21, he wrote and told her he had always loved her during their years apart and wanted them to be together. She immediately accepted his proposal, and they were married for 55 years. As Thanyia tells Russell, “What I’m learning is that a lot of what he starts lasts a long time.”

You鈥檝e got a book full of goblins and not one woman. That鈥檚 quite impressive.

Lauren Pattison

AGAINST: His was a woman-free world

There are no women at all in The Hobbit. Not one. As Lauren states on Evil Genius: “You’ve got a book full of goblins and not one woman. That’s quite impressive.” The Lord of the Rings does slightly better (though they do consist of three enormous tomes). It features 11 women in various roles, though one is a giant spider. And in his private life Tolkien had very outmoded ideas about women, stating they were put on the earth to serve and be educated by men. As Russell points out his views “feel medieval, not Victorian”.

FOR: He was overtly anti-Nazi

In 1938, a Berlin publisher wanted a German edition of The Hobbit. But with Hitler’s Nazi regime in power, they wanted to make sure that Tolkien was Aryan and not Jewish. He responded, “I regret that I have no ancestors of that gifted people.” As Russell states, “you know when someone does a hip-hop mic drop? This is the intellectual version”. He went on to call Hitler a ‘ruddy little ignoramus’ and The Hobbit was not published in Germany until 1957, losing Tolkien millions in revenue but upholding his principles.

AGAINST: His books have some worrying aspects

Some Tolkien scholars and fantasy critics have suggested that Tolkien’s world is painfully white, with few non-white characters. Not only that but many of the ‘baddies’ in the books feature potentially racist tropes. Tolkien also confessed that: “I do think of the 'Dwarves' like Jews: at once native and alien in their habitations”, though he may have been referring to the struggles that the Jewish people have faced. Tolkien always stressed that his books were set in a non-human world, not on Earth. Others feel this is a bit of a cop out. As Lauren puts it on the podcast: “I just find it fascinating how someone so smart and so educated can be so ignorant.”

So was JRR Tolkien considered a weaver of wonders or a worrying women-hating wally? Listen to Evil Genius with Russell Kane to find out.