Acknowledgements
Noscholarworksinavacuum,especiallyonelikemyselfcominglatetoamajor author,andanumberofTolkienexpertsmadetheresearchmoreaccurateaswell asmoreenjoyable.Manyoftheirnamesappearinsubsequentpagesbutdeserve mentioninghere.OxfordmedievalistsHelenBarrandSimonHorobinreferredme tolocalauthoritieswhointurnreferredmetootherauthorities.PeterGilliverat theDictionaryDepartmentofOxfordUniversityPressmadeinitialinvestigations, experiencedashewaswiththeauthor’shandwritingfromhisworkonTolkienas an OED lexicographer,andheintroducedmetotheotherDictionarystaffers JonathanDent,BethanTovey,andEdmundWeinerwhohavebeenliberal withtimeandknowledge.CharlotteBrewersharedoverlappinginterestsin Skeat’seditorialworkandthe OED’shistory.Gilliverfurtherconnectedmewith VerlynFlieger,MichaelDrout,JohnRateliff,andJaneChance.StuartLeeand ElizabethSolopovaaddedtothecamaraderieofOxford’smedievaliststurned Tolkienspecialists.ChristopherStraykindlysenthisforthcomingentryfor KennethSisamin ODNB.KathyLavezzotrackeddowninformationonthe independentscholarMaryEdithThomas.ThomasHoneggerwasastonishingly eagle-eyedatspottingerrorsandsuggestingimprovementsinanearlydraft.It wasmyverygoodfortunethatUNLV’sBlackMountainInstitutehostedJohn GarthasVisitingHumanitiesFellowinLasVegasfortheacademicyear2015–16, withanofficeacrossthehallwayfrommyown,andhesharedunstintinglyhis greatstoreofknowledgeonTolkien’slifeandworks.
Archivistsareoftentheunsungheroesofresearchprojects,andhugecredit goestoMartinMawofOxfordUniversityPress,hisOUPpredecessorPeter Foden,RobinDarwall-SmithofMagdalenCollege(whoalsoprovidedmany helpfulcommentsonanearlydraft),JulianReidofMertonCollege,andparticularlyCatherineMcIlwaineoftheBodleianLibrary’sSpecialCollections.My gratitudetolibrariansbeginswithKyleFelkerofUNLV’sLiedLibraryfor arousinganinterestinTolkienbeforeIknewthatIhadone.ColinHarrisand hisstaffassistedgallantlyunderdifficultconditionswhentheSpecialCollections ReadingRoomwasexiledtothebasementoftheRadcliffeScienceLibrary.James FishwickofMagdalenCollegeLibraryunearthedpublicationsbyGeorgeGordon. OtherrarevolumesbyGordonwereprovidedbySusanUsher,EnglishSubject LibrarianatOxford’sEnglishFacultyLibrary;shealsoprovidedmewithascanof cataloguecardsforTolkien’ s ‘CelticLibrary’ donateduponhisretirementin1959 andtransferredin2015totheBodleian’sWestonLibrarywhereitisnowpartof theTolkienArchive.MichaelSpurlingandhisstaffattheOxfordUniversityPress
Librarywereunfailinglyhelpfulandgood-humouredduringmytwosummers intheirmidst.
MertonCollegemadethisventurepossiblebyhostingmegrandlyduringthe summersof2013and2014.MythanksgototheWardenSirMartinTaylor andtheFellows,particularlyRichardMcCabe,StevenGunn,StuartLee,Julia Walworth,andDomesticBursarDouglasJ.Bamber.
Earlyoverviewsofthisprojectwerepresentedatbiennialcongressesofthe NewChaucerSocietyinPortlandinJuly2012andinReykjavikinJuly2014.Tony Edwardsisalwaysastonishingforhowmuchheknowsandgenerouslyshares, notablyasacommentatoronthisentirebookindraftform.BruceHolsinger invitedatalkfortheMedievalColloquiumattheUniversityofVirginiainOctober 2014duringmymuch-appreciatedsabbaticalfromtheUniversityofNevadaLas Vegas.InattendancewasA.C.SpearingwhohadmetTolkienwhenhecameto Cambridgein1964fortheelectionofasuccessortoC.S.Lewis’sprofessorship. IwishtoexpressmythankstoProfessorSpearingandotherswhosharedtheir remembrancesofTolkien:JohnBurrow,AnneHudson,PeterDronke,Prosser Gifford,CarterRevard,DerekBrewer,DerekPearsall,andRogerHighfield.Celia SisaminretirementontheScillyIsleskindlyreadthemanuscriptandfound nothingobviouslywrongaboutherfatherKennethSisam.V.A.Kolvenotonly sharedhisrecollectionsofTolkienasateacherinthe1950sbutalsoreadanearly draftofthisbookwiththesamecarefulattentionaswhensupervisingmydoctoral dissertation.MoretimesthanIcancount,mygraduateresearchassistantPeter Steffensenkeptmefromblundersofcitationandquotation.
CathleenBlackburnofMaierBlackburngrantedpermissiononbehalfofthe TolkienEstateforhavingphotocopiesofClarendonChaucermaterialsand forusingquotationsinthisbookfromTolkien’spreviouslyunpublished writings.Iamgratefulforherquickandgenerousattentions.Lettersfrom OUP’ s ‘ClarendonChaucer’ filefortheyears1922–60arequotedbypermission oftheSecretarytotheDelegatesofOxfordUniversityPress.
Whenreproducingmanuscriptquotations,IhavefollowedChristopherTolkien’ s leadforexpandingabbreviationsandapplyingbetterpunctuationandmore consistentcapitalization.¹Ishareeveryone’ssenseofchallengewithhandwriting sometimesimpossibletoreadwithcertainty,andIoccasionallymakemyownbest guesseswithoutclutteringthetextwithbracketstosignalconjectures.Tolkien’ s typewriterproduceditalics;whenheunderlinedinhishandwrittendrafts,these wereintendedasitalicsandhavebeenreproducedassuch.Imakereferenceto The LordoftheRings byvolumes,books,andchapters(e.g. FR II/2)sincethesehave notchangedoverseveraldifferenteditionswhereaspage-numbershave.Every fact,date,andpieceofbackgroundinformationnototherwisenotedcanbe
¹SeeChristopherTolkien’ s ‘Foreword’ tohisfather’ s TheBookofLostTales:PartI (1983; NewYork:BallantineBooks,1992),pp.xix–xx.
assumedtocomefromChristinaScullandWayneG.Hammond’smagisterial three-volume J.R.R.TolkienCompanionandGuide,thevalueofwhichcannotbe overestimated.Lastly,IwanttothankOUP’scopyeditorDorothyMcCarthyfor the finalstageofimprovements;ifTolkiensuspectedthatChaucer’sscribes changedhisspellingsto fifteenth-centurynorms,shehaschangedmyspellings totheBritishusageswhichwouldsurelyhavepleasedTolkien.
ListofIllustrations xi
ListofAbbreviations xiii
1.Prologue:ConcerningChaucer1
2.UnexpectedJourneys13
3.FourChaucerians:WalterW.Skeat,KennethSisam, GeorgeS.Gordon,C.S.Lewis41
4.TolkienasEditor:TextandGlossary79
5.TheChaucerianIncubus:TheNotes105
6.TolkienasaChaucerian: TheReeve’sTale 187
7.ChaucerinMiddle-earth223
8.Coda:FathersandSons269 AppendixI279 AppendixII283
Prologue:ConcerningChaucer
J.R.R.TolkienwasaspecialistinearlyGermaniclanguageshauntedbyhow muchhaddisappeared,regrettingespeciallythelostmythologyofpre-Christian EnglandandthelostpoetryoftheAnglo-Saxons.¹Racesaswellaslanguageshad gonemissing,andarchaeologicalsitesnotfarfromhisOxfordhomeborewitness tothoselong-vanishedpeopleslikehisownprehistoricracewhichleftbehindits monumentsatDunharrow: ‘Theirnamewaslostandnosongorlegendrememberedit.’²Personallyhehadsufferedtheearlylossofbothparentsandthedeaths ofclosefriendsduringtheFirstWorldWar,andhispessimismshoweditselfin whathisbiographerHumphreyCarpentercalledhis ‘deepsenseofimpending loss.Nothingwassafe.Nothingwouldlast.’³Hefoundin Beowulf thisancient themethatallmenandalltheirworksmustdie.Titleslike TheLostRoad, The CottageofLostPlay,and TheBookofLostTales bearwitnesstothisabidingsense ofdoom,andhis Silmarillion grewtobecomeavastchronicleoflossuponloss. Evenwhentracinganetymologytoaword’searliestroots,hefacedthesadreality that ‘thereisalwaysalostpast’ ⁴ Itistherefore fittingthatoneofhismostwidely quotedlineshasbecome ‘Notallthosewhowanderarelost.’⁵ Tolkien’sLostChaucer picksupthisthemebyexploringhisClarendonedition SelectionsfromChaucer’sPoetryandProse begunin1922butleftunfinishedin 1928,abandonedamongsomanyotherdroppedprojects,and finallylostto TolkienhimselfwhenobligedtoreturnhismaterialstoOxfordUniversityPress in1951.⁶ Incontrastwithhisotherunfinishedbook ‘Beowulf ’ andtheCritics,his ClarendonChaucerhadadvancedmuchfarthertowardpublication,itstextand
¹ChristinaScullandWayneG.Hammond, J.R.R.TolkienCompanionandGuide:Revisedand ExpandedEdition (London:HarperCollines,2017),on ‘Loss’ 2:740–4.SeeJ.R.R.Tolkien, ‘Sigelwara Land’ , MediumÆvum 1(1932),183–96: ‘In Sigelhearwan ispreservedatleastaname,ifnomore,from thevanishednativemythology’ (p.192).
²J.R.R.Tolkien, TheReturnoftheKing (1956;BostonandNewYork:HoughtonMifflin,1988),V/3. ³HumphreyCarpenter, J.R.R.Tolkien:ABiography (1977;BostonandNewYork:Houghton Mifflin,2000),39.
⁴ TheLettersofJ.R.R.Tolkien,ed.HumphreyCarpenterandChristopherTolkien(1981;Boston andNewYork:HoughtonMifflin,2000),268.
⁵ FR I/10. ‘Alasthelostlore!’ hewouldexclaimaboutthevanishedsourcesofVirgil’sepic(Essays 27);seealsoW.A.Senior, ‘LossEternalinJ.R.R.Tolkien’sMiddle-earth’,in J.R.R.TolkienandHis LiteraryResonances:ViewsofMiddle-earth,ed.GeorgeClarkandDanielTimmons(Westportand London:GreenwoodPress,2000),173–82.
⁶ SeeSH3:1029forTolkien’sdealingswithOxfordUniversityPress.
Tolkien’sLostChaucer.JohnM.Bowers,OxfordUniversityPress(2019).©JohnM.Bowers. DOI:10.1093/oso/9780198842675.001.0001
glossarytypesetandmeticulouslycorrectedingalleys.Largelyasaresultof theseeditorialpapersdisappearingintoOUP’scellar anddisappearing,too, fromthebiographicalrecord readershavelostanimportantsenseofTolkien asaChaucerianwithadeepdebttothefourteenth-centuryauthor.Whenhewas electedOxford’sProfessorofAnglo-Saxonin1925,hehadbecomeofficiallyan OldEnglishscholarrememberedforhisbard-likereadingsfrom Beowulf by studentssuchasW.H.Auden. ⁷ TomShippey’sgroundbreakingstudy TheRoad toMiddle-earth showedhowmuchTolkien’strainingasamedievalistmattersfor understandinghisimaginativewritings,andyetChaucer’snamedidnotappearin hissection ‘Tolkien’sSources:TheTrueTradition’ ⁸ Nowwithcharacteristic generosity,Shippeyhasbeenthe firsttoheraldnewsoftherecoveryofthe ClarendonChaucer.⁹
Shippey’spreviousoversightishardlysurprisingsinceTolkienlecturedonOld EnglishandIcelandicduringhis firsttwodecadesasanOxfordprofessorand deliveredhislandmarklecture ‘Beowulf: TheMonstersandtheCritics’ in1936. His1934study ‘ChaucerasaPhilologist: TheReeve’sTale’,thoughroutinelycited bytheshrinkingcompanyoflanguagespecialists,hasalwayslookedlikean accidentaldetour.¹⁰ Nowthissubstantialarticlecanbeseenasanoutgrowthof hiseditorialworkontheReeve’sTaleforhisClarendonedition.ThoughTolkien hadtaughtChaucerduringhislateryearsatOxford whenhislecturesonthe Pardoner’sTalespannedallthreetermsduring1955–6 hisremarksonChaucer inhis ‘ValedictoryAddress’ musthavesoundedunexpectedtoanaudiencethat didnotknowhowmuchtoil,tears,andsweathehadexpendedonhisClarendon editionduringthe1920s.¹¹
Discoveryofthesematerialsbringsintobetterfocushisprofessionalengagementswiththefourteenth-centurypoetthroughouthiscareer.Asaschoolboy,he cametomedievalliteraturebywayofthe CanterburyTales (Biography,36),andas anundergraduate,hetookcopiousnotesonSirWalterRaleigh ’sChaucerlectures andwroteessaysontopicssuchas ‘Chaucer’sDialect’ forhistutorKennethSisam. Duringhis firstacademicappointmentatLeeds,helecturedontheGeneral
⁷ W.H.Auden, ‘AShortOdetoaPhilologist’ (1962),in CollectedPoems,ed.EdwardMendelson (NewYork:RandomHouse,1976),566–7.
⁸ TomShippey, TheRoadtoMiddle-earth,rev.edn(BostonandNewYork:HoughtonMifflin, 2003),343–52.Shippeyreassertsthevalueofthisapproachin ‘Introduction:WhySourceCriticism?’ in JasonFisher,ed., TolkienandtheStudyofHisSources:CriticalEssays (Jefferson,NCandLondon: McFarland&Co.,2011),7–16.
⁹ TomShippey, ‘TolkienasEditor’,in ACompaniontoJ.R.R.Tolkien,ed.StuartD.Lee(Oxford: WileyBlackwell,2014),41–55atp.44: ‘thankstothepersistenceofJohnM.Bowers,allTolkien’ s materialsforthisprojecthavebeenrediscovered.’ SeealsoJaneChance, J.R.R.Tolkien,SelfandOther: ‘ThatQueerCreature’ (NewYork:PalgraveMacmillan,2016),146–7,fordiscussionofthisdiscovery.
¹⁰ J.R.R.Tolkien, ‘ChaucerasaPhilologist: TheReeve’sTale’ , TransactionsofthePhilologicalSociety (1934),1–70.TomShippey, ‘Tolkien’sAcademicReputationNow’,in RootsandBranches:Selected PapersonTolkien (ZurichandJena:WalkingTreePublishers,2007),203–12atpp.207–8,notesthe article’snegligibleimpactontheprofession.
¹¹ Essays 233–4;seeSH3:1373–4onhis ‘ValedictoryAddress’
PrologueaswellasChaucer’sLanguage.Begununderpressureforscholarly publicationsasayoungacademic,theClarendonChaucerdrewhisattentionto thedialecthumourintheReeve’sTaleandresultedin ‘ChaucerasaPhilologist’ , originallydeliveredin1931asthelecture ‘Chaucer ’sUseofDialects’.Laterinthis decade,attheinvitationofthePoetLaureateJohnMasefield,Tolkienactually dressedupasChaucerandrecitedfrommemorytheNun’sPriest’sTalein1938 andtheReeve’sTalein1939.Forthissecondperformance,heeditedthetextfor theprintedprogrammeinadaringattemptatre-creatingthepoet’soriginal language,andheprobablyusedthispamphletlaterasateachingtextforcadets duringtheSecondWorldWar.Thoughusuallyoverlooked,theChaucerianword losenger formedthesubjectofhislastscholarlyarticlein1953.¹²Chaucerwaspart ofTolkien’smentalfurniture,sotospeak,thathespentalifetimerearranging.
WhenhebecameOxford’sMertonProfessorofLanguageandLiterature in1945,hereturnedtolecturingonChaucerafteratwenty-yearhiatus.The Pardoner’sTalewasasettextintheLiteraturecourseandtheClerk’sTaleforthe Languagecourse,thelatterreplacedbythe ParlementofFoules in1948.Chaucerianinfluencesnaturallyfollowedduringtheseyearswhenhewascompleting The LordoftheRings,althoughthefourteenth-centuryauthorhadneverbeenfarfrom histhoughts.TofollowjustonestrandwithChaucer’sClerkofOxford,Tolkien’ s 1923reviewofFurnivall’ s HaliMeidenhad highlightedthefemalevirtue ‘most widelyfamiliarintheClerk’sTale’,buthejudgedthatthetreatise’sdiscussionwas ‘morerepulsivetomodernfeelingthananythinginChaucer’stale’.¹³Thetitleof his1925poem ‘LightasLeafonLind’ camefromtheClerk’sTalewherewives wereadvisedtobe ‘lightasleefonlynde’,¹⁴ andthephrasewentontosurviveas ‘lightaslinden-leaves’ inAragorn’slayofBerenandLúthien(FR I/11).Whenin 1956headmittedhis Silmarillion wasfullof ‘allthat “heighstile” (asChaucer mightsay) ’ ( Letters ,238),hewasrememberingaphrasefromtheClerk ’ s Prologue.
HisChaucerianexpertisewasmostfullydisplayedinthe160pagesofannotationswhichhedraftedforhis Selections.Althoughcriticshavenotexploredfully thenotesactuallypublishedinhis Gawain and Pearl editions,producedin
¹²J.R.R.Tolkien, ‘MiddleEnglish “Losenger”:SketchofanEtymologicalandSemanticEnquiry’ , EssaisdePhilologieModerne(1951) (Paris:Sociétéd’ÉditionLesBellesLettres,1953),63–76.
¹³Tolkien’sunsignedreviewof HaliMeidenhad:AnAlliterativeProseHomilyoftheThirteenth Century,ed.F.J.Furnivall,EETSOriginalSeries18(1922),appearedin TLS 26April1923,p.281;it wasreprintedin TLS 30June2017,p.34.HisreviewcopywentwithotherbooksdonatedtoOxford’ s EnglishFacultyLibrary,nowintheBodleian’sTolkienArchive.Hisclosereadingofthisedition broughttoTolkien’sattentiontheword eaueres whichledtohisarticle ‘TheDevil’sCoach-Horses’ , RES 1/3(July1925),331–6.Halfofhisarticle ‘SomeContributionstoMiddle-EnglishLexicography’ , RES 1(1925),210–15,wasdevotedtotheglossaryofFurnivall’sEETSedition.
¹⁴ JoeR.Christopher, ‘Tolkien’sLyricPoetry’ , Tolkien’ s ‘Legendarium’,ed.FliegerandHostetter, 143–60atp.150.Thelyric ‘LightasLeafonLinden’ wasembeddedin ‘TheLayoftheChildrenof Húrin’ inTolkien’ s TheLaysofBeleriand,ed.ChristopherTolkien(1985;NewYork:BallantineBooks, 1994),128–31,withcommentaryonpoem’sevolution,pp.142–7.
collaborationwithE.V.Gordon,hisunpublishedannotationsfortheClarendon Chaucer,producedonhisown,representagoldmineforappreciatinghisliterary andlinguisticinterestsatthestartofhiscareer.His1939lecture ‘OnFairy–Stories ’ dedicatedamajorsectionto ‘Recovery’—bywhichTolkienmeant ‘are-gaining regainingofaclearview’.¹⁵ RegainingthatclearviewofChaucer ’simportancefor Tolkien’scareerasscholarandstorytelleristhepurposeofthisbook.
‘Chapter2:UnexpectedJourneys’ recountshowTolkienlabouredonthis projectduringthe1920s,howhebemoaneditsstandstillduringthe1930s,and howhecomplainedbitterlyaboutreturninghismaterialstoOUPin1951.The chapterthenrecountshowTolkien’slostbookwasunearthedinthePressarchives whereIbeganstudyingthematerialsduringsummer2013andmakingsenseof thedocumentsinlightofthecorrespondence.Earlyin2014,thesematerialswere transferredtotheBodleianLibrary’sSpecialCollectionwherearchivistCatherine McIlwainehascarefullyarrangedthebatchesintofolders,paginatedthem,and grantedthemthesafeguardsaffordedtootherTolkienpapers.Mysecondresearch visitduringautumn2014allowedadditionalstudyofTolkien’slecturesonthe Pardoner’sTalefromthe1950storevealadeepeningengagementwithChaucerat thesametimeaspublishing TheLordoftheRings. Butwhattodowiththelong-lostChauceredition?Adoctoralthesiscould followthedetailsoftheevolvingprojectduringthe1920s,and Selectionsfrom Chaucer’sPoetryandProse couldbepublishedasaheftyvolumerepresenting exactlywhatTolkiendidaccomplish.S ucheditionshaveanoblepedigree. FrederickJ.FurnivallandhisEarlyEnglishTextSocietyeditorsoftenreproduced manuscriptsalmostasfacsimilesinprint.¹⁶ ThemethodenduredintothetwentiethcenturywithTolkien’sownEETSeditionofthe AncreneWisse.ButMichael Drout’sheroicstruggleswithTolkien’ sunfinished ‘Beowulf ’ andtheCritics demonstratehowthisundertakingwouldnotbeeasyforaneditororattractive forreaders.HereishowDrout’stextendsasthelegibilityofTolkien’shandwriting trailsoff: ‘Itisslowlaborious,compactandoftentaken????butfulloffeeling.??? ???whatthe????sametimeislargeand??????’¹⁷ StrainingoverTolkien’sdraft manuscripts,aresearcheroftenfeelslikeGandalfpuzzlingovertheslashed, stabbed,andpartlyburnedBookofMazarbul.
Tolkien’sreviewofFurnivall’sposthumous HaliMeidenhad explainswhyhe wouldhaveobjectedtohavinghisownunfinishededitionpublishedinthis fashion: ‘Itmaybedoubtedwhether,eventhoughithasbeendoneoutofgreat respectforagreatname,thebestservicehasbeenrenderedtothatname,orto Englishscholarship,bypublishingworkthatmighthavebeenrevisedand
¹⁵ Essays 146;seealsoSH3:1064–6 ‘Recovery’
¹⁶ DonaldC.Baker, ‘FrederickJamesFurnivall(1825–1910)’ in EditingChaucer,ed.Ruggiers, 157–69.
¹⁷ J.R.R.Tolkien, ‘Beowulf ’ andtheCritics,ed.MichaelD.C.Drout(Tempe:ArizonaCenterfor MedievalandRenaissanceStudies,2002),78.
supplemented.’ Stillonthethresholdofacareernotyetlitteredwithunfinished works,TolkienregrettedthattheindefatigablepioneerofMiddleEnglishstudies hadnotlivedtocompleteaneditionprintedbyEETSwithoutalterationashe leftit.
MyapproachtakesintorespectfulaccountwhatTolkien did accomplishinhis editedtext,glossary,andnotes,drawingintodiscussionhisancillarypublication ‘ChaucerasaPhilologist’ andhighlightingthiseditorialproject’scontributionsto hiscareerasa fiction-writeraswellasascholarandteacher.Asmuchaspossible, Iquotefromthesepagestolethimspeakinhisownvoicewhensharingthoughts aboutChaucer,MiddleEnglishlanguage,andstorytellingingeneral.Hewrotein 1951tothePressSecretaryDanDavinthathismaterialsrepresented ‘muchthatis fresh,andaprodigiousamountoflabour’ (Fig.1).Itisonlyrightthatthefruitsof theselaboursshouldnotbeentirelylostbutpreserved,likeChristopherTolkien’ s editionofhisfather’sundergraduate Beowulf lectures, ‘inwordsofhisown, hithertounpublished’.¹⁸
‘Chapter3:FourChaucerians’ discussesTolkien’seditorialcollaboratorGeorge S.Gordon(nottobeconfusedwithE.V.Gordon,hisco-editorfor Gawain) as wellasWalterW.Skeat,KennethSisam,andC.S.Lewisandreviewsthevarious rolestheyplayedintheproject’sgenesisandthecomplicationsthatarose.The namesofGordonandSisamwillhavebecomefamiliarfromthesurveyofOUP correspondenceinChapter2,butmoreabouttheirpersonalitiesandOxford careerswillhelpforunderstandingthefateoftheClarendonChaucer.Tolkien’ s practiceinscholarlystudieslike ‘Beowulf: TheMonstersandtheCritics ’ wasto dismisspriorcriticaleffortstocleargroundforhisownviews,butthecolossal presenceofSkeat ’ s CompleteWorksofGeoffreyChaucer couldnotbesohandily discharged.¹⁹ Thoughsomewhathackneyedaftermorethanfortyyears,Harold Bloom’ s anxietyofinfluence provesremarkablyapplicabletoTolkien’svarious responsesashelabouredintheshadowofSkeat’smonumentalsix-volume edition.Bytracingthetransmissionsfromolderwriterstonewones,Bloom offeredadifferentkindofthesourcecriticismusefulforunderstandinghow TolkiensortedoutChaucer’sliterarysourceswhilehimselfwrestlingwithSkeat ashisprincipalscholarlysource.² ⁰ NodescriptionofTolkien’sOxfordlifewould becompletewithoutconsideringtheroleofC.S.Lewis,andsoIconclude thischapterbywonderingwhyLewis,alwayssoeffectiveatencouraginghisfriend
¹⁸ J.R.R.Tolkien, Beowulf:ATranslationandCommentary,ed.ChristopherTolkien(Bostonand NewYork:HoughtonMifflin,2014),p.xiii.MostpublicationsrefertoChristopherTolkienby first nameasshorthandfordistinguishinghimfromhisfather.
¹⁹ TheCompleteWorksofGeoffreyChaucer,ed.WalterW.Skeat,6vols.(Oxford:ClarendonPress, 1894).
²⁰ E.L.Risden, ‘SourceCriticism:BackgroundandApplications’,inFisher,ed., Tolkienandthe StudyofHisSources,17–28,atpp.21and24fortheusefulnessofBloom’ s AnxietyofInfluence.Seealso SH3:1245–50 ‘SourceCriticism’
to finishotherbooks,didnotnudgehimaheadtocompletethisseemingly straightforwardeditorialproject.
Thenextchapter, ‘TolkienasEditor:TextandGlossary’,examinestheprinted materialspassedbackandforthinvariousstatesofcorrection,revision,abbreviation,andre-typesettingduringthemid-1920swhentheeditionmovedhaltingly forward.Itishardlyanexcitingsubjectevenforspecialists,butTolkieninvested considerableeffortinthesedry-as-dustdetails.LikeothersurvivorsoftheGreat War,hededicatedhimselfanewtorescuingEurope’sculturalartefacts,evenwhen theselegaciesresidedinthetiniestdetailsofacanonicauthor’sspellingand pronunciation.WhathelearnedfromcloseacquaintancewithChaucer for example,thepoet’sindebtednesstotheAlliterativetradition anticipateddiscoveriesbysubsequentscholarsandmarkedthecourseofTolkien’sownendeavours asphilologistandpoet.
The fifthchapter, ‘TheChaucerianIncubus:TheNotes’,looksalloutof proportionbecauseTolkien’sannotationsthemselvesfarexceededthemodest scaleofastudentedition.DespitedemandsfromhisOUPoverseerKennethSisam foronlytwentypages,Tolkienby1928haddraftedsome160pagesdelvinginto etymologies,ClassicalandContinentalsources,andhistoricalcontextsatfar greaterlengththan financiallyfeasible.IronicallyTolkienhadpraisedtheselfrestraintofafellowscholarin1927: ‘Knowinghowtheselittlelexicographical chasesopenvistaaftervistaandonecomplicationafteranother,wecanwell believethatmuchself-denialwaspracticedtokeepthenotesdowntothirteen pages. ’²¹Buthefounditeasiertopraisethanimitatethisself-denialashe struggledundertheburdenofSkeat ’sachievements,walkinginhispredecessor ’ s footstepsbut(toswitchmetaphors)knowingateverypacethathewasnot filling hisshoes.Thoughtheseexcessesdoomedtheproject,Tolkien’sannotationsnow holdconsiderablevaluefortheinsightstheyprovideintohisownphilologicaland literaryinterests.
Thesixthchapter, ‘TolkienasaChaucerian: TheReeve’sTale’,discusseswhat hasalwaysseemedlikeamysteriousoutlierinTolkien’scareer.Justwhenhe shouldhavebeenmakingheadwayonhis Beowulf bookinthe1930s,hemarshalledanimmenseamountofdetailedevidenceforhislandmarkstudy ‘Chaucer asaPhilologist’ publishedin TransactionsofthePhilologicalSociety.Whenviewed inlightoftheClarendonedition,however,thislanguagestudyemergesasalogical extensionoftheinvestigationsincompleteonpaperbutnotintheeditor ’smind. HisongoingfascinationwithChaucer’smasteryofNortherndialectthenled TolkientoeditanewtheReeve’sTaleintheprintedprogrammefortheOxford SummerDiversionsin1939.Andinthe1940s,whenteachingtheReeve’sTaleto cadetsheadingofftothebattlefield,hehadclearlyinmindthetwoyoungmen
²¹J.R.R.Tolkien, ‘Philology:GeneralWorks’ , Year’sWorkinEnglishStudies,6(1927),32–66at p.35.SeeSH3:1453–4 ‘Year’sWorkinEnglishStudies’
JohnandAlain’ s fightwiththemillerSimkinand Ishallargue hedrewupon thiscore-storywhenimagininghowtheyounghobbitsMerryandPippinjointhe attackuponthemill-masterSaruman.²²Maliciousmillerswerealreadyprominent intheChaucerianlegacy fromtheviolent,vulgarMilleroftheGeneralPrologue tothedevious,dangero usmilleroftheReeve ’ sTale andTolkienextended thistraditioninhisown fictionbeginningwithHobbiton’sunsavourymillers SandymanandhissonTed.²³
Thenexttolastchapter, ‘ChaucerinMiddle-earth’,followsTolkien’sinvolvementswiththefourteenth-centuryauthorevenafterhiscollaboratorGeorge Gordon ’ sdeathin1942whenitwascleartheireditionwouldneversee completion.Hehadlearnedmanythingsthathefounduseful,ashesaidinhis lastlettertoOUP’sDanDavin,andthecreativelegacyofChaucer’sotherworks suchas TroilusandCriseyde provedcrucial,forexample,whenwritinghisaccount ofFaramir’sloveandcourtshipofÉowyn.Tolkienwellunderstoodhowhisstories grew ‘outofallthathasbeenseenorthoughtorread,thathaslongagobeen forgotten,descendingintothedeeps’ (SH2:370),andChaucerprovidedagreat dealofthisdeep-buriedremembrance,hisinfluencepalpabletotheveryendof Tolkien’ s fiction-writinginworkssuchas SmithofWoottonMajor.His Beowulf lecturemayhavemockedsource-huntersmoreinterestedinthetower’sbuildingblocksthantheloftyconstruction,andhelamentedthispursuittotheendofhis lifewhenwritingthat ‘thesearchforthesourcesof TheLordoftheRings isgoing tooccupyacademicsforagenerationortwo’ (Letters,418).Buthewasperfectly capableoflaunchinguponhisownquestforsourceswhenitsuitedhispurposes. ThishappenedinhislateOxfordlecturesonthePardoner’sTalewhenhe recognized,probablytohisowngreatsurprise,thatChaucer ’score-storyof threemen fightingtothedeathoveragoldtreasurewasalsohiscore-storyin TheLordoftheRings
ButwhyawholebookonTolkien’ sunfinishedstudenteditionofChaucer?Let meputthisquestionanotherway.WhatifresearchersdiscoveredShakespeare’ s heavilyannotatedcopyofStowe’s1561Chaucereditionwhichhehadusedwhen writing AMidsummerNight’sDream and TroilusandCressida?²⁴ Itwouldbe front-pagenews,afacsimilewouldbeannounced,andmultiplescholarswould beginworkatteasingouttheBard’sreader-responses.Thisisexactlythestormof
²²J.R.R.Tolkien, TheTreasonofIsengard:TheHistoryof ‘TheLordoftheRings’:PartTwo,ed. ChristopherTolkien(BostonandNewYork:HoughtonMifflin,1989),437,showsthiswashisplan earlyinthe1940s: ‘ThenrelatethebattlefromMerryandPippin’spointofview.’ ²³LeePatterson, ChaucerandtheSubjectofHistory (Madison:UniversityofWisconsinPress,1991), ‘TheMiller’sTale andthePoliticsofLaughter’,pp.244–79,tracestherootsofChaucer’shostilitytothe roleplayedbymillersinthePeasants’ Revoltof1381;Tolkien’shostilitywasbasedmoreuponmillsas dirty,violentmachinesthatrequiredfuelfromthefellingoftrees.
²⁴ NevillCoghill, ‘Shakespeare’sReadinginChaucer’ , ElizabethanandJacobeanStudiesPresentedto F.P.Wilson,ed.HerbertDavisandHelenGardner(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1959),86–99.
publicitythatsurroundedtherecentdiscoveryofapreviouslyunknownsourcefor Shakespeare.²⁵ AndifJaneAustenhadwrittenalong,thoughtfulcommentaryon ThomasTyrwhitt’s1775editionofthe CanterburyTales ,wouldn’twewantto knowwhatshehadtosayabouthergreatpredecessorincomicirony?Hereinthe twenty-firstcentury,intermsofreadership,booksales,numberoftranslations, andsuccessof filmadaptations,TolkienhascometooccupyapositioninEnglish literaturejustasconspicuousasShakespeareandJaneAusten whetherthedons likeitornot.A2003pollintheUnitedKingdomfoundthat TheLordoftheRings hadedgedout PrideandPrejudice tobecomethenation’sfavouritenovel. Thereforeabook-lengthstudyofTolkien’sChaucereditionhasvalueforappreciatingwhathethoughtabouttheFatherofEnglishLiteratureinthe1920s whenhehadnotyetbegunhisowncareerasoneofthemostwidelyreadauthors ofalltimes.²⁶
Itisevenpossibletospeculate(somewhatrecklessly)thatTolkienwouldnever havebecomeapublishednovelistwithouttheClarendonChaucerproject.Itis generallyacknowledgedthathisco-editorGeorgeGordonmanoeuvredbehind thescenestosecureTolkien’s1925electionasProfessorofAnglo-Saxonat Oxford.Hismotivesforthisstring-pullinghavealwaysseemedmurky,butnow wemayhaveaspecificreason,ifonlyoneamongmany,whyGordonwantedhim inOxford.By1924Tolkienwascausingdelaysbyre-editinginsteadofsimply reprintingfromSkeat.Andinsteadofsendingatwenty-pageglossaryasassigned, hecompiledthirty-eightpagesbeforehewasforcedtoreduceit.Nextheexperiencedevengreaterdifficultywithkeepinghisexplanatorynotestoamanageable length.Tolkienhadworkedsuccessfullyonhis Gawain editionbecause elbow-to-elbowwithhiscollaboratorE.V.GordoninLeeds.²⁷ Clearlyherequired on-sitesupervisionandlateradmittedasmuchwhentryingtocomplete The Silmarillion: ‘Itneedstheactual presence ofafriendandadviseratone’sside’ ( Letters ,366).ThoughTolkienhadcertainlyprovenhimselfabrilliantlinguist andprogramme-builderatLeeds,GeorgeGordonhadreasontobelievethat bringinghimtoOxfordwouldalsoallowd irectoversightforcompletingtheir Chauceredition.Therewerecertainlymanycontributingfactors,includingthe factthatthebest-quali fi edcandidatewithdrew,but fi nishingtheClarendon
²⁵ Afront-pagearticleinthe NewYorkTimes (8February2018)heraldedpublicationofDennis McCarthyandJuneSchlueter, ‘ABriefDiscourseofRebellionandRebels’ byGeorgeNorth:ANewly UncoveredManuscriptSourceforShakespeare’sPlays (Cambridge:D.S.Brewer,2018).
²⁶ T.A.Shippey, J.R.R.Tolkien:AuthoroftheCentury (BostonandNewYork:HoughtonMifflin, 2001),pp.xvii–xxvi,makesthecaseforTolkienexercisingtremendousinfluenceontheliteraryworld evenpriortotheupsurgeinpopularreadershipinthewakeofPeterJackson’ s filmadaptations.My book ChaucerandLangland:TheAntagonisticTradition (NotreDame:UniversityofNotreDame Press,2007)hasasitscentralquestionwhyChaucerwasestablishedastheFatherofEnglishLiterature.
²⁷ DouglasA.Anderson, ‘“AnIndustriousLittleDevil”:E.V.GordonasFriendandCollaborator withTolkien’ , TolkientheMedievalist,ed.JaneChance(London:Routledge,2003),15–25;seealsoSH 2:464–6.
ChaucermightcertainlybeaddedtoGordon ’ smotivesforsecuringTolkien ’ s Oxfordprofessorship.
HadGordonnotpulledstringsbehindthescenes,analternativehistorycanbe imaginedforTolkien’ scareer andnotahappyoneforfansof TheLordofthe Rings.WithouthismovetoOxford,Tolkienmightwellhavespenttherestofhis academiclifeatLeedswherehewasalreadypromotedtoProfessorofEnglish Languagein1924,butwhereheprobablywouldnothave flourishedtothesame degreeasa fiction-writer.NotworkinginOxfordwouldhavedeprivedhimofthe encouragementfromC.S.Lewistocomplete TheHobbit.WithoutOxfordasa prestigiousbase,hewouldnothavebenefitedfromthefortuitousconnectionwith theLondonpublishinghouseofAllen&Unwin.Withoutrobustsalesof The Hobbit boostedbyLewis’sravereviewsin TLS and TheTimes,StanleyUnwin wouldnothaveencouragedhimtowriteasecondhobbitbook.Andevenifhehad startedasequel,Tolkienwouldnothavecompletedhisbookduringthedifficult 1940sexceptforthesupportofhisInklingsfriends,particularlyLewis.Tolkien admittedasmuch: ‘Butforhisinterestandunceasingeagernessformore,Ishould neverhavebrought TheLordoftheRings toaconclusion’ (Letters,362).
Tolkien’smasterpiececameintobeingandchangedtheliterarylandscape,in short,becauseGeorgeGordon finagledsuccessfullytohireTolkienatOxfordin somemeasureforthesakeofcompletingtheirstalledChauceredition.Thusthis humble-lookingtextbook,albeitnever finishedandpublished,becameafateful linkinthechainofevents.Ifnotfor SelectionsfromChaucer’sPoetryandProse, itisjustpossiblethatwewouldneverhaveheardofBilbo,Frodo,andGandalf theGrey.
JourneyintheDark
EveryonehashisownTolkienstory,andminealmostdisquali fiesmefromwriting thisbook.Ineverread TheHobbit inhighschoolor TheLordoftheRings at universitybecauseIwasputoffbytheTolkiencultwhosemembersworeFRODO LIVES!T-shirts.ReadingtheHarvardLampoon’ s BoredoftheRings didnot motivatemetotackletheoriginalwork.AndwhenIarrivedasastudentat Oxfordin1973,IsensedthelingeringresentmenttowardTolkienasaprofessor whopublishedbestsellersaboutfairiesinsteadofscholarlybooksabout Beowulf. SoIremainedaholdout.
Ontheotherhand,amedievalistispotentiallyTolkien’sbest-equippedreader. Asagraduatestudent,Istudied SirGawainandtheGreenKnight inhisClarendon editionand Pearl intheeditionwhichhehelpedtocomplete.Ihadreadhis Beowulf lecturewithadmiration,recommendingitsconcludingparagraphasa modelofbravurarhetorictomy first-yearstudentsattheUniversityofVirginia, andIhappenedupon ‘ChaucerasaPhilologist’ earlyinmygraduatetraining,
