Tolkien

Last week, Tolkien fans celebrated Hobbit Day, which falls each year on September 22. To mark the occasion, today’s issue of my author newsletter is a slightly unusual one featuring a photo tour of a number of locations in Oxford, England, with ties to J.R.R. Tolkien (I took these photos while in Oxford for the 2016 Historical Novel Society Conference).

For example, here’s a shot of Oxford University’s Radcliffe Camera, which houses a science library (photo copyright © 2016 by Christopher M. Cevasco). Tolkien was an undergraduate at Oxford’s Exeter College and later a professor of English language and literature at Merton College. Supposedly, Tolkien stated at some point that Radcliffe Camera was his inspiration for Sauron’s temple to Morgoth on Númenor in his fiction.

To view the rest of the photo tour, subscribe to my newsletter by filling out the sign-up form on my website. When you receive your welcome issue, follow the link to the 27 September 2021 newsletter, wherein you can see all the photos!