Zoom Rabbit Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 That's right--today is J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday! (And everyone's favorite deleted moderator, international jet-setting superstar Neil Joshi...) Anyway, the good professor was born in South Africa in 1892 on this very day. He soon moved to and lived all his life in merry olde England, where he taught english language and literature at Oxford University. A respected scholar of note on the history and philology of european languages, it is somewhat curious that we know of him today almost exclusively for what was a mere hobby for most of his life. For his fictional writings were an offshoot of that scholarly interest--the languages and alphabetic systems we see in his books were created by him over the years of his life as a pastime, and the stories only took shape when his niggling perfectionism sought to supply a historical structure behind them just as those he'd studied professionally behind the real languages of our past. Within the hundreds of dry and dusty pages of his trilogy and moreso The Silmarillion, there is a very carefully-woven tapestry of language and history that have been (in my opinion) the secret for the wide popularity of these writings. They provide a sense of reality to Middle Earth, for we can inspect the fictional matrix (so to speak) at a high resolution and see that it is sound. So, What did everyone get Neil for his birthday? My gift is this amusing little cartoon. Gotta love granny... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernil Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 I got him that guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabez Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 It's worth noting that two years ago the people of Oxford celebrated Tolkein's one hundred and eleventh birthday. There was some kind of party followed by a viewing of Felowship of the Ring at the cinema, but I didn't go. :~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 Originally posted by Gabez It's worth noting that two years ago the people of Oxford celebrated Tolkein's one hundred and eleventh birthday. There was some kind of party followed by a viewing of Felowship of the Ring at the cinema, but I didn't go. :~ THAT'S NOT ABOUT ME!!! Anyway, thanks guys, you're all swell. For my birthday, I've so far got a £60 DVD player for my room (cheap, but effective, plays MP3's as well and has most functions of a good quality one) although it's cost me quite a bit because I had to be a universal remote control for my TV (the remote control was broken for that one) as well as an automatic scart block because otherwise the DVD blocked out all other channels as long as it was switched on or on standby (the only way to switch it off completely would be to unplug it) Still, worth it. They also gave me a ring, white gold with tiny diamonds in it. i didn't ask how much it cost, but it was probably a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernil Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 They also gave me a ring, white gold with tiny diamonds in it. i didn't ask how much it cost, but it was probably a lot. And now, you're the official bling master. Joshi and fellow bling loving grandpa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Rabbit Posted January 5, 2004 Author Share Posted January 5, 2004 Originally posted by Joshi They also gave me a ring, white gold with tiny diamonds in it. i didn't ask how much it cost, but it was probably a lot. Lovely ring, yes. Precious-ss... Gives it to us! It's our birthday--! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 Ah, the lovely picture of Gollum before serkis came along. NOt the subtle and yet obvious differences. Andthe ring is actually growing on me. No, really, it's growing, I think it might be defective, it's melting at room temperature (I love that term because it depends what room you're in, I'm in a blast furnace) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptdc Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 Pffft! Forget tolkien's birthday, yesterday was my birthday and of course I'm much more important. For one I'm alive and GAHHHHK! *splutter* *die* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinkie Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 My birthday is in a several months and days in the future, begin the celebration now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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