Tolkien references

[wellinghall]

"Tolkien was the worst lecturer I’ve ever heard. Took no trouble at all about anything, it was amazing how indolent he seemed to me to be."
http://www.literateur.com/2010/01/an-interview-with-sir-christopher-ricks-part-ii/

"Tolkien was a professor at Birmingham university, not far from the Lickey hills.....
It is said he walked these hills and I am sure he would have been inspired by the magic that is always there..........."
(Stunning photo)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8211100@N06/4279678386/

"But in another example, we learn that Beowulf was read by Tolkien, who was a close friend and University of Oxford colleague of CS Lewis, who in turn was an influence upon Sarah Palin."
http://howtoteachanovel.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/the-wind-beneath-their-wings/

Comments

[muuranker.livejournal.com]

Imagine how much worse she would be, if she hadn't been persuaded of the virtues of beer!

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Actually the Palin bit says ...

But in another example, we learn that Beowulf was read by Tolkien, who was a close friend and University of Oxford colleague of C.S. Lewis, who in turn was an influence upon Sarah Palin. So ultimately Sarah Palin’s thinking is descended from an ill-smelling, obnoxious monster of the cold North whose fame came from eating men alive. Insert your own joke here

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Hmm, the photo is rather goodm - shame they didn't get their thinking straight.

CRicks sounds exactly like the lit-crit tossers who've always hated Tolkien, and it shows in lots of the questions and answers, and I'd like to know how if one rarely goes to lectures can one say that someone takes no trouble over the job and that the lectures bear no relevance to the courses?

[arda-unmarred.livejournal.com]

Well, he is technically right about the lectures bearing no relevance to the courses - for instance, you could be studying 19th c. literature in the first term, and all the lectures on it will be concentrated in the 3rd term, when you've already passed on to Shakespeare, or whatever. This comes (partially) from the disconnect between Faculty and college teaching provision, and also from the fact that lectures are not really necessary - you could do all your tutorial reading and essays, and pass the exam without ever attending them (except in the case of certain introductory mandatory courses only recently introduced). It always comes as a shock to realise that in other subjects (e.g. maths), tutorials are directly linked to the lectures - there is no such thing in English.

[camillofan.livejournal.com]

"Oddly, C.S.Lewis, though he was very remarkable as a writer, he was not as a lecturer. Tolkien was the worst lecturer I’ve ever heard. Took no trouble at all about anything, it was amazing how indolent he seemed to me to be."

I've heard the Tolkien thing before-- that is, I've heard people say that they remembered him as a poor lecturer, not necessarily that they felt it was attributable to indolence-- even from JRRT/LOTR fans. But I've only ever heard Lewis' lecturing praised. Interesting.

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

I've always thought Tolkien must have been an absolutely appalling academic and colleague. His letters are all full of how he has missed this deadline, failed to write that lecture course, not finished the book etc. Sure "all the while he was laying up his great treasure", as Ricks says, but that wasn't actually what he was paid to do!! - N.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

It must be hereditary! I've heard Christopher Tolkien described as dreadful lecturer...

[scribblerworks.livejournal.com]

I had always heard ONLY that what made JRRT a terrible lecturer was not indolence and lack of preparation on the subject, but that he talked lightly and fast, so that people had a hard time making out what he was saying.

If the "lecture notes" in Finn and Hengest are any indications of his Beowulf lectures, then if you could hear him and follow him, they were chock full of fascinating stuff, springing from a mind that was having fun delving into the matter. (Oh, how I wish the rest of his Beowulf material would be published!)

I'm not sure what else he had to lecture on, so I suppose it is possible that some lectures were as Ricks described. On the other hand, how engaged was Ricks in the subject of the lectures? It's so easy for lazy, bored students to blame the lecturer/teacher. Just sayin'.