[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.15,0:00:03.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This episode is sponsored \Nby the Manhattan Rare Book Company.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.68,0:00:12.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1954, J.R.R. Tolkien was 62 years old,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.06,0:00:17.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and had just spent the last 16 years\Nworking industriously on a book.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.83,0:00:20.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was now time\Nto release it into the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.48,0:00:22.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he was very nervous.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.87,0:00:24.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he should have been,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.62,0:00:28.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because no one had seen anything\Nquite like "The Lord of the Rings" before.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.44,0:00:31.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a huge risk for the publishers
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.96,0:00:34.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were convinced \Nthat it wouldn't sell many copies.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.88,0:00:37.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who was the audience for this strange book
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.06,0:00:41.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,filled with unfamiliar and unpronouncable\Nnames of people and places?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.34,0:00:45.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Was it a children's book\Nlike "The Hobbit"?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.10,0:00:48.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It certainly had wizards\Nand strange creatures,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.11,0:00:50.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was also an epic adventure\Nof some kind.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.03,0:00:53.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was also very, very, long.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.89,0:00:55.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Three volumes in fact,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.63,0:00:57.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and several appendices.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.52,0:01:01.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But no, it was neither a children's book\Nor an adult novel.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.88,0:01:04.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien wrote to his publisher\Nat the time:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.82,0:01:08.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"My work has escaped from my control\Nand I have produced a monster,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.43,0:01:10.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"an immensely long, complex,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.87,0:01:13.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"rather bitter, and rather\Nterrifying romance,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.56,0:01:16.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"quite unfit for children \N(if fit for anybody)..."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.79,0:01:19.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I now wonder whether\Nmany beyond my friends [...],
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.26,0:01:21.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"would read anything so long."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.43,0:01:24.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We can only imagine \Nwhat was at stake for Tolkien.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.06,0:01:26.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If the first volume wasn't a success,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.26,0:01:28.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what would happen to the other two volumes
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.82,0:01:32.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which he had spent \Nthe best part of 16 years writing?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.19,0:01:56.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the early 1930s, when Tolkien\Nwas a professor of anglo-saxon at Oxford,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.11,0:01:58.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he was grading papers when he noticed
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.66,0:02:01.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that one of the candidates\Nhad left a blank sheet of paper.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.95,0:02:04.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Nothing to read. So I scribbled on it\NI can't think why:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.68,0:02:07.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"In a hole in the ground\Nthere lived a Hobbit"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.07,0:02:10.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, the Hobbits were born.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.08,0:02:15.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Hobbit can broadly be considered\Na prequel to The Lord of the Rings.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.39,0:02:18.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It introduces Tolkien's world \Nof Middle Earth.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.42,0:02:21.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The world of Hobbits, wizards, \Ndwarves, and elves.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.61,0:02:23.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it is a much different book,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.62,0:02:25.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a different intended audience.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.94,0:02:29.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Upon publication, \NTolkien''s friend C.S. Lewis
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.07,0:02:30.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,compared "The Hobbit" to such classics
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.90,0:02:33.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as "Alice in Wonderland" \Nand "The Wind in the Willows",
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.82,0:02:36.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and like those works\Nit has often been considered
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.33,0:02:38.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a children's fantasy book
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.12,0:02:41.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,written primarily\Nfor children or adolescents,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.09,0:02:43.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but enjoyed by adults as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.54,0:02:45.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Hobbit" was a huge success
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.20,0:02:47.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and only a few weeks \Nafter its publication,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.60,0:02:50.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien met \Nwith his publisher Stanley Unwin,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.48,0:02:52.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to discuss a sequel.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.64,0:02:54.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The writer expressed his desire to publish
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.87,0:02:56.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a long, detailed, mythological work
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.99,0:03:00.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about Middle Earth, called the Silmarillion.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.83,0:03:04.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Unwin insisted that\Nwhat the public really wanted,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.38,0:03:07.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was more stories about the Hobbits.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.79,0:03:09.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He wanted The Hobbit 2.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.90,0:03:12.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien and Unwin had variations\Nof this debate
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.49,0:03:16.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the entire 16 years Tolkien\Nwas working on his next book.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.17,0:03:19.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ultimately the Lord of the Rings
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.35,0:03:22.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,succeeded in developing\NTolkien's Middle Earth,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.03,0:03:24.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without losing \Nthe narrative appeal of "The Hobbit".
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.11,0:03:29.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The result was not so much a sequel \Nbut a much more complex, adult work.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.02,0:03:35.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the process Tolkien had invented\Na whole new genre - the fantasy novel.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.85,0:03:42.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size).
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.54,0:03:46.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I like gardens, trees\Nand unmechanised farmlands,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.29,0:03:49.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I smoke a pipe, \Nand like good plain food."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.58,0:03:50.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"- J.R.R. Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.57,0:03:53.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien in his later years professed\Nto love the simple life,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.83,0:03:56.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,much like his beloved\NHobbits in the Shire.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.96,0:04:00.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This desire for peace, security, \Nand companionship, however
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.37,0:04:03.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was likely the result of his upbringing\Nand young adulthood,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.84,0:04:06.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was anything\Nbut peaceful and secure.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.17,0:04:09.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This quintessentially English Professor
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.99,0:04:13.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien \Nin Bloemfontein,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.91,0:04:17.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in what is now South Africa, in 1892.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.60,0:04:22.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1895 Tolkien, his mother, \Nand his infant brother, Hillary,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.23,0:04:25.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,went to England for a visit\Nto his mother's family,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.21,0:04:27.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who like her were British.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.20,0:04:31.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But soon after their arrival, \Nhis father died in Bloemfontein,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.16,0:04:32.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of rheumatic fever,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.72,0:04:35.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leaving the family \Nwith very little inheritance.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.77,0:04:39.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The family stayed in Britain, \Nwhere she had the support of her family,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.14,0:04:42.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and moved to the small village of Sarehole
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.18,0:04:45.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just outside the industrial city\Nof Birmingham.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.24,0:04:47.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although they didn't have much money,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.06,0:04:49.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien became captivated\Nwith his environment.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.69,0:04:51.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He would later say:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.16,0:04:53.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It was a kind of lost paradise.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.01,0:04:57.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"There was an old mill that really\Ndid grind corn with two millers,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.24,0:04:59.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"a great big pond with swans on it,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.21,0:05:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"a sandpit, a wonderful dell with flowers,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.00,0:05:04.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"a few old-fashioned village houses
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.14,0:05:07.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"and, further away,\Na stream with another mill..."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.40,0:05:10.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The village scenery would Inspire the Shire.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.38,0:05:13.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it was just outside\Nthe major industrial city of Birmingham
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.60,0:05:15.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was expanding rapidly
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.85,0:05:20.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in the process absorbing\Nthe surrounding villages.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.24,0:05:22.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I was brought up in considerable poverty,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.55,0:05:24.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"but I was happy running about\Nin that country.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.16,0:05:28.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I took the idea of the Hobbits\Nfrom the village people and children...
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.60,0:05:32.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Hobbits are just what I should like\Nto have been but never was...
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.41,0:05:34.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"an entirely unmilitary people
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.76,0:05:37.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"who always came up\Nto scratch in a clinch...
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.41,0:05:41.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Behind all thi Hobbit stuff\Nlay a sense of insecurity.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.04,0:05:43.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I always knew it would go - and it did."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.21,0:05:47.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The theme of the destruction\Nof idilic countryside
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.43,0:05:49.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would fill his literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.62,0:05:53.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's mother Mabel was the primary\Ninfluence on his early life.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.78,0:05:56.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1900 when Tolkien was 8,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.33,0:05:58.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mabel converted to Catholicism.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.75,0:06:01.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her family, who were Methodist, \Ndisapproved.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.39,0:06:02.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her father disowned her,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.84,0:06:06.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and her brother-in-law,\Nwho had been assisting her financially,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.01,0:06:07.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,withdrew his support.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.70,0:06:09.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a spectacular fall from grace,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.01,0:06:12.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a theme we often find in Tolkien's books.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.38,0:06:15.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She homeschooled him\Nuntil the age of eight,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.57,0:06:17.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,encouraging him to read widely,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.92,0:06:21.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and introducing him to the works\Nof George McDonald and Andrew Lang,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.88,0:06:24.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,early developers of fantasy literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.78,0:06:27.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1904 however, when a Tolkien was 12,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.99,0:06:30.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mabel died of diabetes,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.12,0:06:32.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hastened, Tolkien later believed,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.48,0:06:34.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by persecution for her faith,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.85,0:06:38.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leaving her two sons orphaned \Nwith bleak prospects.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.55,0:06:42.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He took refuge in language, \Nlearning Chaucer's Middle English,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.96,0:06:45.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the old norse of the Viking sagas,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.56,0:06:47.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the old English of Beowulf,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.71,0:06:50.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even reviving long dead languages
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.85,0:06:53.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and inventing languages of his own.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.58,0:06:56.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I first began seriously inventing languages...
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.62,0:07:00.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"about when I was 13 or 14,\Nand I've never stopped really."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.38,0:07:02.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,School was a haven for Tolkien.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.08,0:07:04.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He first attended \NKing Edward's School in Birmingham,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.74,0:07:08.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was here crucially, that he formed\Nhis first literary group
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.33,0:07:11.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the "Tea club and Barovian Society",
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.24,0:07:13.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,four friends who played rugby together,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.53,0:07:15.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and talked about Norse mythology,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.58,0:07:18.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while drinking tea\Nand inventing languages.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.32,0:07:20.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Groups like this were important to Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.91,0:07:23.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a fatherless boy, and now an orphan.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.68,0:07:26.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it was the first\Nof many literary groups
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.33,0:07:29.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Tolkien would form\N- a fellowship of sorts.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.28,0:07:34.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even this early on, he was obsessed\Nwith myths, legends, and folklore,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.87,0:07:37.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and concerned with creating \Na British mythology.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.78,0:07:40.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He won a scholarship\Nto Exeter college, Oxford,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.44,0:07:44.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and unsurprisingly he showed\Na special aptitude for languages,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.28,0:07:48.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Old and Middle English, \NOld Norse, and Gothic in particular.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.62,0:07:52.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Graduating in 1915 with a degree\Nin English language and literature,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.81,0:07:54.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with First Class honours.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.89,0:07:57.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it is these studies that will lead
Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.48,0:08:00.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the creation of a series\Nof languages in Lord of the Rings
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.76,0:08:05.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which are among the most fully developed\Nfictional languages in literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.36,0:08:09.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But 1915 could only mean one thing...war.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.61,0:08:12.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And almost immediately after graduation
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.37,0:08:15.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he was commissioned\Ninto the Lancashire Fusiliers.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.60,0:08:22.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Lord of the Rings" is\Nat its most basic level, a hero's quest.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:23.14,0:08:26.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the hero in this case\Nis not someone strong and fierce
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.88,0:08:29.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like Odysseus, Beowulf, or Aeneas,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.74,0:08:32.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the Hobbit Frodo Baggins,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.10,0:08:35.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a diminutive creature who, at his core,\Nlike other Hobbits,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.64,0:08:40.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wishes to be left alone \Nto enjoy peace, good food and fellowship,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.01,0:08:41.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in his homeland the Shire.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.90,0:08:44.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Frodo has no special abilities,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.05,0:08:48.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and is extraordinary, only in his courage,\Nloyalty, and incorruptibility.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.01,0:08:52.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the quest of Frodo and his companions\Nis most unusual.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.84,0:08:55.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead of trying to gain power,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.17,0:08:59.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they are dedicated to the destruction\Nof the one thing, a magical ring,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.30,0:09:01.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would give them great power.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.54,0:09:03.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, the quest succeeds,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.57,0:09:06.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because the idea\Nthat someone would forego power
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.16,0:09:10.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and intentionally destroy the most\Ncoveted possession in their world,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.28,0:09:14.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a thought that is impossible\Nfor their enemy Sauron to anticipate,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.00,0:09:16.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or even to contemplate.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.14,0:09:21.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was an academic deeply steeped\Nin the tradition of the Epic,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.20,0:09:24.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but he also knew \Nhow to subvert those traditions,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:24.34,0:09:26.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to create a new kind of Epic,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.38,0:09:29.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that address the fears\Nand concerns of his generation
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.04,0:09:32.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- the generation of World War One.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.57,0:09:41.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,War of one kind or another\Npermeates "The Lord of the Rings",
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.63,0:09:44.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through death and loss, \Nthrough notions of power,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.51,0:09:47.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through camaraderie in deathly times,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.12,0:09:49.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and eventually through disappointment.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:49.86,0:09:52.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien took part\Nin the battle of the Somme,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.66,0:09:55.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of the most horrific battles\Nof the 20th century.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.91,0:09:58.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over 3 million men fought in the battle,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.35,0:10:01.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which saw over a million \Nkilled or injured,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:01.09,0:10:03.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,scarring the Earth in one\Nof the most deadliest battles
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.91,0:10:05.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in human history.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.79,0:10:08.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He saw many of his school friends\Ndie in the fighting,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.92,0:10:13.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and by 1918, he said that he had lost\Nall but one of his closest friends.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.14,0:10:16.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In some sense he was lucky
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.32,0:10:19.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to have contracted \Na severe case of trench fever
Dialogue: 0,0:10:19.28,0:10:21.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,near the end of the battle of the Somme,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.34,0:10:23.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and sent back to England to recover.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.64,0:10:25.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While convalescing in army barracks,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.73,0:10:27.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the war very much fresh in his mind,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.99,0:10:30.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien put to paper much of the story
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.45,0:10:33.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would later become \N"The Fall of Gondolin",
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.23,0:10:35.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a story published after his death,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:35.51,0:10:39.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a cataclysmic battle featuring orcs,\Ndragons, and bullrogs,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.99,0:10:43.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and notably his first work\Nto feature "Middle Earth".
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.20,0:10:51.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"They walked slowly, stooping, \Nkeeping close in line,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.38,0:10:54.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,following attentively\Nevery move that Gollum made.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.96,0:10:58.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The fens grew more wet, opening\Ninto wide stagnant meres.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.64,0:11:01.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"among which it grew\Nmore and more difficult,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:01.19,0:11:03.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"to find the firmer places\Nwhere feet could tread
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.47,0:11:06.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"without sinking into gurgling mud...
Dialogue: 0,0:11:06.26,0:11:08.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Wrenching his hands out of the bog,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.12,0:11:09.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"he sprang back with a cry.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.96,0:11:13.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,," 'There are dead things, dead faces\Nin the water', he said with horror.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.02,0:11:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,," 'Dead faces!' "
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.61,0:11:19.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although Tolkien here is describing\Nthe outskirts of Mordor
Dialogue: 0,0:11:19.87,0:11:21.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in his fictional Middle Earth,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.69,0:11:25.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is not hard to imagine this \Nas a description of Tolkien's experience
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.73,0:11:27.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,during the battle of the Somme.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.02,0:11:32.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The I World War begins as a battle \Non horseback with cavalries,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:33.12,0:11:36.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it is the beginning \Nof mechanised warfare.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.54,0:11:38.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Characters in "The Lord of the Rings"
Dialogue: 0,0:11:38.40,0:11:41.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,describe being watched \Nby mysterious figures flying overhead,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.65,0:11:46.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in 1914, airplanes on both sides \Nwere first used for reconnaissance,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:47.06,0:11:49.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,flying deep behind enemy lines.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.67,0:11:51.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the course of the war,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:51.34,0:11:54.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,aviation developed significantly\Ninto a major force,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.47,0:11:56.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and by the end of that war
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.30,0:11:59.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was obvious that airplanes\Nwere the weapon of the future.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.37,0:12:02.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Then Frodo and Sam staring at the sky...
Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.72,0:12:06.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"saw it come: a small cloud \Nflying from the accursed hills,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:06.67,0:12:09.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"a black shadow loosed from Mordor;
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.44,0:12:12.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"a vast shape winged and ominous."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:12.39,0:12:14.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It scudded across the moon,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.18,0:12:16.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"and with a deadly cry went westward,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.64,0:12:19.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"outrunning the wind in its fell speed."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.59,0:12:22.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is at the Somme \Nwhen tanks were first used,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:22.53,0:12:25.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and although Orcs make up the bulk\Nof Sauron's Army
Dialogue: 0,0:12:25.47,0:12:27.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in "The Lord of the Rings",
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.30,0:12:30.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of his most powerful weapons\Nwere the tanks of Middle Earth
Dialogue: 0,0:12:30.87,0:12:32.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- the "Oliphaunts".
Dialogue: 0,0:12:33.15,0:12:35.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Newsreel: "A state of war once more exists
Dialogue: 0,0:12:35.42,0:12:37.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between Great Britain and Germany"
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.12,0:12:39.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien began writing\N"The Lord of the Rings"
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.45,0:12:43.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the outbreak\Nof the II World War, late 1937.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:43.35,0:12:46.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the world was once again\Non the precipice of war.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.19,0:12:49.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien denied\Nit was an allegory of any kind
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.87,0:12:51.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the forward to the book,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.30,0:12:55.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also admitted that an author\Nis influenced by his experiences.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.10,0:12:59.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The writing of the novel began\Nduring the rise of Hitler,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.21,0:13:02.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and continued during the darkest days\Nof World War II,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:02.23,0:13:05.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when all hopes of a peaceful \NNew World Order had vanished,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:05.97,0:13:08.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially for someone living in England
Dialogue: 0,0:13:08.53,0:13:11.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in constant fear of air raids\Nand Nazi victory.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:12.04,0:13:15.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"If you really come down\Nto any 'large' story
Dialogue: 0,0:13:15.12,0:13:19.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"that interests people - that can hold\Ntheir attention for a considerable time
Dialogue: 0,0:13:19.92,0:13:25.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"stories - human stories - are practically\Nalways about one thing: death."
Dialogue: 0,0:13:26.95,0:13:30.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The I World War almost certainly\Nhad more influence on Tolkien,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:30.27,0:13:32.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but "The Lord of the Rings" \Ncan also be considered part
Dialogue: 0,0:13:32.94,0:13:35.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of post-World War II literature,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:35.20,0:13:39.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that includes "The Lord of the Flies", \N"1984", and "Animal Farm",
Dialogue: 0,0:13:39.76,0:13:43.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,books that were marked \Nby their author's wartime experiences,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:43.78,0:13:46.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and deal with the question\Nof good and evil.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:50.46,0:13:53.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Sauron was become now\Na sorcerer of dreadful power,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:53.96,0:13:56.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"master of shadows and of phantoms,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:56.57,0:13:59.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"foul in wisdom, cruel in strength,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:59.22,0:14:02.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"misshaping what he touched,\Ntwisting what he ruled."
Dialogue: 0,0:14:03.55,0:14:05.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In "The Lord of the Rings"
Dialogue: 0,0:14:05.14,0:14:07.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is the rise of an evil force Sauron,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:07.98,0:14:09.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who is not unlike Hitler
Dialogue: 0,0:14:09.64,0:14:12.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in his desire for power\Nand world domination.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:12.54,0:14:14.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just like countries during the war,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:14.65,0:14:16.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some societies in the book,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:16.37,0:14:19.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether out of self-interest or fear,\Nside with Sauron,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:19.76,0:14:22.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,adding to the hopelessness\Nof the good-hearted.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:22.89,0:14:25.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fate of the world\Nis at stake in both worlds,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:25.91,0:14:27.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the outcome hinges on a race
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.86,0:14:30.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to prevent ultimate power\Ngetting in the wrong hands.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.05,0:14:34.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Crucially, the ring \Nis not just about power,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:34.97,0:14:37.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is about what we do with power
Dialogue: 0,0:14:37.73,0:14:39.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how it can corrupt us,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:39.41,0:14:41.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how that corruption\Ncan be addictive
Dialogue: 0,0:14:41.50,0:14:44.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leading to the eventual loss \Nof your Humanity,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:44.15,0:14:46.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the evil within you is exposed,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:46.80,0:14:49.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,absorbing all morals.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:49.43,0:14:52.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The very things that were being discussed
Dialogue: 0,0:14:52.15,0:14:53.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the outbreak, during, and at the conclusion of World War II. \N14:56\NThe horrific evils of the 20th century were just around the corner.\N15:05\NDespite the horrors Tolkien witness firsthand, the Lord of the Rings is not as you might expect explicitly anti-war. \N15:13\NTolkien may describe battles, almost poetically, and place an emphasis on heroism in combat, but for a man \N15:19\Nwho spent his life studying traditional myths and legends, often involving War, he understood \N15:24\Nthat nobility often means that we need to take up arms for a "just" cause. The Lord of the Rings is \N15:31\Nin fact, a book about the "unfortunate necessity" of War - when it is a just war - against evil. \N15:38\NBut crucially, Tolkien also understood that there was good and evil on BOTH sides of War, an unpopular \N15:45\Nsentiment in a time when those boundaries were being blurred beyond recognition. He was outspoken against bombing campaigns\N15:52\Non German cities, and even used a quote from The Lord of the Rings, in a letter to his son about the campaigns:\N16:04\NHe knew, as the characters of the fellowship do, that just because one fights for good,\N16:10\Nit doesn't make one immune to the power of evil - to the power of the Ring. The Fellowship \N16:15\Nmust resist the temptation of the ring, as we must resist using evil to fight evil. Tolkien understood \N16:24\Nthat bravery is a complex notion, for while battles swarm around him it is our little hobbit Frodo who \N16:30\Nsucceeds on his journey by avoiding War. But even he is not immune to War's effects and Trauma. \N16:36\NWhen the war is over and he is returning to the Shire, Frodo confesses to Gandalf, in one of \N16:41\Nthe most poignant passages in the book, that he is in pain, as so many shellshocked men of the trenches were.\N17:16\NAfter World War I, and certainly during World War II, artists and writers had to wrestle with a new reality:\N17:23\N"How to present life in the aftermath of such Horrors?", "Were the old stories of heroism even relevant anymore?"\N17:31\NTolkien, through his fictional world, has reinvented the heroic epic for our times. Giving us a fresh and more ambiguous perspective\N17:40\Non Modern Warfare, through the realm of fantasy. You may get all the heroics, but there are also points when his greatest heroes are full of fear.\N17:53\NReducing the Lord of the Rings to a heroic Quest or a war narrative, is convenient, and an an aid to our understanding, but ultimately \N18:01\Ndoes disservice to the book. It more likely just exposes our difficulties in identifying exactly what this strange work is.\N18:21\NThe action of the book takes place over a relatively short period of time, but throughout the Lord of the Rings, we hear tales and legends about the past, often stretching back thousands of \N18:32\Nyears. Tolkien hasn't just written a story, but has given us the impression that we are witnessing a \N18:37\Nseries of events, inside an entire history that exists outside of the books. Although he is just \N18:44\None writer, he has created an entire mythology comparable to traditional cultural mythologies. \N19:03\NDocumenting the history of Middle Earth, was a lifelong project of Tolkien's. In his letters, notes, and unpublished works \N19:10\Nhe filled in details of this mythology, complete with elaborate geneologies, and geographical details.\N19:17\NTolkien had the genius to make it sound like it was a "real history" he was exploring, as if\N19:23\Nhe was just "researching" it and reporting it to us. There had been fantasy books before Tolkien,\N19:29\Nbut never had there been such successful "World building", with such a serious tone and seismic events\N19:52\NFrom 1924 to 1945, Tolkien was the professor of anglo-saxon at Oxford, and even after the huge success of The Hobbit