I present to the public a photo story book of a Tolkien literary pilgrimage I made to Oxford in January 2007.
Several months ago wrote of my visits to the United Kingdom on behalf of the Big Evil Company. Two items which I never got around to writing about were a pair of visits I made to visit the places of legend where J.R.R. Tolkien lived, taught, worked, and wrote his stories. My first trip occurred during the weekend of January 20-21, 2007. I made a follow up visit on February 3, 2007. I had to make the follow up trip because of several factors. First, I took a train to get to Oxford since renting a car would have been a pain in the rear to do. The train which I had originally booked from the Paddington Station was canceled, leaving myself and dozens of other passengers stranded. One British man traveling with his girlfriend was less charitable. "God Damn!" he shouted. I caught the next train, but that train was a slow one which stopped at about 8-10 places before getting to Oxford. The trip took 1 hour and 45 minutes one way to only go 67 miles. One trio of 40-something British men who got on at Reading talked about the girls they thought were hot and how Felicity Kendall was the hottest thing they ever laid eyes on. They also complained that they could have gotten to Oxford faster if they had taken a car.
So I get to Oxford at perhaps 1:30pm. This gave me only 3-4 hours to make my trips. I eventually wended my way through the town to St. Giles Road and found the Eagle and Child pub. As the Wikipedia entry notes, I am now a marked figure amongst the fans of Professor Tolkien.
From there I made it to the Tolkien's house at 20 Northmoor Road. I wandered around the neighborhood that day, soaking up the feel of what the Professor's world was like. I saw St. Aloysius Church where the Tolkien's would sometimes worship. However the day turned cloudy and it started to drizzle. It was a brisk day and the weather reminded me of how I always envisioned Frodo's travels through to Rivendell in Arnor. I decided it would be better if I made my way back to London since I was on foot.
Because my time had been cut short, I had not been able to locate Tolkien's grave. I made a considerable effort to locate all six of Tolkien's homes as well as where he taught school. I made a second trip on February 3, 2007. This time I was able to find Wolvercote Cemetary. I had planned to purchase some flowers to lay at the Tolkien's headstone, but that thought got pushed out of my mind as I walked along the road. Incredibly, I didn't realize that the Tolkiens had lived at 22 Northmoor Road, right next door to 20 Northmoor Road, so I stopped by the neighborhood again before I made my way back.
So there you have it. I never thought I would be get around to making this pilgrimage and I will never forget those two days as long as I live. Having walked those streets of that ancient university town helped me understand how it was that the man whose stories of magic, fantastic races and creatures, war, conflict, romance and heroism which had entranced me as a teenager growing up in suburban America could have written them. The Professor wrote of what was all around him, but as a boy growing up in 1970's America I never understood that. We didn't have the Internet, nor the wave of secondary literature which has been produced over the past 15-20 years to help Tolkien fans understand what the Professor was writing about. As I wrote in one my of my photo notes, it became clear to me that there was no way that Middle Earth could have been invented by someone living anywhere else and not by any other man.
And that is my Ode to J.R.R. Tolkien.
Wizard.
Posted by The Mighty Wizard at August 5, 2007 04:35 PM