Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.

Little is known about the poem's development. According to Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, it began as early as the 1920s or 1930s in a composition in Old Norse titled Vestr um haf–"West over sea". [8] As Scull and Hammond point out, the poem cannot have reached its final form until after Tolkien had conceived how The Lord of the Rings would conclude. [7] A progress report on the writing of the book that Tolkien sent to his son Christopher on 29 November 1944 shows that the coda of his story had taken shape in his mind long before it was published in 1955: "The final scene will be the passage of Bilbo and Elrond and Galadriel through the woods of the Shire on their way to the Grey Havens. Frodo will join them and pass over the Sea." [T 3] Precursors and parallels [ edit ] An image of the Navigator-monk St Brendan from St Benin's Church, Kilbannen. In a much reworked poem finally published in 1955 as Imram, Tolkien sends Brendan past the isle of Númenor to the supernal shores of the land of the blessed, before bringing him home again to die in Ireland. [T 4] Joseph Horovitz in the Royal College of Music Journal says "A model of text-music-graphic book production". The Great Tales of Middle-earth ( The Children of Húrin [2007] • Beren and Lúthien [2017] • The Fall of Gondolin [2018]) Illustration of the road by Kay Nielsen for the 1914 fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, whose title Tolkien uses in one of his walking songs for Aman, the desired other world. [1]

While this is not a story or a sequel, it is nevertheless very Tolkienish. The rhythm, meter, and wording of this little poem is very recognizable as tolkien's work, for anyone who has read his books and the wonderful poetry that is sprinkled through them. And Pauline Baynes has augmented the poetry with a series of beautiful pictures. Quite detailed and pretty, they have a slightly unearthly tinge, like the starlight around the Elves. And this new edition has excellent paper and printing, very high quality.

Our final trip to Middle-earth to finish with 'The Last Goodbye' sung by Billy Boyd". 20 October 2014 . Retrieved 26 December 2022.Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien · J.R.R. Tolkien: Life and Legend · J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator · The Annotated Hobbit · The History of The Hobbit · The Nature of Middle-earth · The Fall of Númenor