There’s certainly nothing wrong with collecting Tolkienana. I’m guilty of it myself. I collect different editions of LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. I have an Icelandic edition of The Hobbit that I bought in Reykjavik, and a set of first day of issue Tolkien stamps from the UK. (I also have a bunch of movie figures, including a talking Sauron and a talking Treebeard.)
It’s a tiny collection, compared to some. A lack of money has kept me from building a real collection — not of movie stuff or sword replicas, but of signed or rare volumes. Yet I perfectly understand the impulse to buy a bunch of Tolkien crap.
But seriously, what is up with this Woodridings deal?
Woodridings is the bungalow Tolkien bought in 1968, in an effort to avoid fans who disturbed him in Oxford. Now it’s being demolished, and someone has decided we in the Tolkien fan community would love to own refuse from the site, like this lovely postcard received by Tolkien in 1968, and found behind the fireplace. It wasn’t written or signed by Tolkien. It was sent to him by someone named “Lin,” who might — might– be fantasy author Lin Carter, who wrote A Look Behind the Lord of the Rings. If so, that’s very exciting for Lin Carter fans. But since it’s a personal note discussing the beauty of the countryside, it’s hardly of any interest fans of the Legendarium, or even to those who research Tolkien’s life.
In other words, it’s trash left behind in an old house. And yet:
…the Tolkien Library had offered 500,000 US dollars (£253,186) for the postcard and the fireplace.
Really?
Now they’re ripping up the house and selling off the pieces. Of the house. Like they’re relics, and the proximity of this random piece of wood or rock has somehow been magically imbued with a Tolkienian essence. What’s next, finger bones?
You know who else would be flabbergasted that people want to pay good money for pieces of Tolkien’s house? Here’s a hint:
I might want to direct you to this thread at lotrplaza:
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=229767
It is very much understandable you get angry. Yet you should ‘always’ check your sources before you start screaming. First one thing… the media can write a lot of stuff. No one ever bought a piece of that house. No one ever offered 500.000 USD for a fireplace.
It is all good to scream and ask “where is the world heading to”, but please check in with the truth before you do so!
Who’s angry? Who’s screaming? Not me.
I can’t vouch for Dash.com when it comes to journalistic ethics. They quote Malton saying the Tolkien Library offered the money, and I quoted the quote with attribution.
If you genuinely represent TolkienLibrary.com, and if that web site genuinely represents the same entity Malton refers to, well, then you have just set the story straight. So, thanks.
My blog post did not claim to be a journalistic source for incontrovertible facts. I said “A says this, B says this, and here’s what I think of it.”
I must say that I would rate unsourced comments on a forum as less reliable than a sourced comment on a self-described news site.
But the point of my article was to opine on what might be a worthwhile collectible rather than a silly one. I wouldn’t pay extra for a hand-carved table because it contained wood from a house JRR Tolkien owned for a few years.
Thanks for commenting! I appreciate it.
No worries… i’m happy you are against people making money out of ‘Tolkien’. And the screaming I wrote before I noticed all your ‘titles’ are so big. I just went thru the rest of your site and it is was a lot of fun really! Good going, keep up the great work!
It was very strange for me to see how the media can blow up stories and tell lies around. It has made me very well aware of how sources can ‘change the truth’ and I will not easily trust any ‘news’ site ever again. Still, you are right about ’silly’ collectables…
Thanks for hearing me and as I said… keep up the good work!
LOL. Yes, I have to admit the titles on this WordPress theme do “SCREAM.” That’s because everything I have to say is SO IMPORTANT!