roy@gatech.UUCP (07/27/83)
I seem to remember some part of Tolkien's "Unfinished Tales" talking about the development of the Lord of the Rings. I believe that even as far into the book as Bree, when the Hobbits meet Aragorn, Tolkien had no idea where the story was going, that Aragorn was the king to be, that he had to become king to wed the woman (elf) he loved, etc. All that developed later, but because the publisher was in a hurry to get more stuff from the creator of "The Hobbit" out, there wasn't a chance to rewrite the first book to be a part of the more grandious mythos he eventually evolved. Oh well, as they say, Money Talks. By the way, I have noticed that although there is at least one REAL science fiction author (Mr. Pournelle) on the net, we loyal SF book purchasers never receive the benefit of their experience. Maybe it is asking too much of the author's highly paid fingers to expect to read something from them in this news group, but.... ;-) Roy J. Mongiovi roy.gatech@Udel-Relay (ARPANET) roy@gatech (CSNET) ...!allegra!gatech!roy (UUCP/mail) ...!decvax!duke!mcnc!msdc!gatech!roy (UUCP/mail/news)
SR.KAUFMAN@MIT-SPEECH@sri-unix.UUCP (08/02/83)
From: David H. Kaufman <SR.KAUFMAN at MIT-SPEECH> This doesn't sound right (that due to editorial pressure Tolkien was unable to revise The Fellowship after he finished The Return of the King). First of all, there are hints of what Aragorn's real aim in life is when the Fellowship is being formed at Rivendell - he sits beside Arwen at one fancy dinner, and when he misses a dinner that she's at, Bilbo makes a pointed comment (along the lines of, "we missed you at dinner, the Lady Arwen was there"). Secondly (from notes by C.S. Lewis) Tolkien had the Lord of the Rings practically completed (some names were later changed) and had it rejected by many publishers, to the point where he dispaired of ever seeing it in print. Lewis suggested that he send it to a student of his (Tolkien's) in the publishing business - any student who might be willing to publish it as a favor. Tolkien sent to Rayner Unwin, who did just that. David Kaufman