Tolkien the Spy

[davem]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...itish-spy.html

[Inziladun]

I think he would have been quite good at code-breaking. 'Keen' indeed. I wonder if his motive for declining might have been partly a desire to avoid being mired in the general government red-tape and bureaucracy.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I think he would have been quite good at code-breaking. 'Keen' indeed. I wonder if his motive for declining might have been partly a desire to avoid being mired in the general government red-tape and bureaucracy.

Possibly - & I think the staff had to stay on site - in which case he wouldn't have seen his family for extended periods. That said, he was always quite short of money, so turning down the equivalent of £50k a year must have been a hard thing to do.

[The Might]

I'm pretty sure that the Professor would have been quite good at it, but I do not think he could have achieved the results of Mr. Turing, who is somewhat distastefully - in my opinion - called the "gay codebreaker". I think Tolkien lacked the analytical, computer-like way of thinking that was necessary, and perhaps this is why we refused... not wanting to turn into some kind of a "machine".

Now don't get me wrong, he was a really smart guy, but not really the type for this kind of job. Had the secret messages been hidden in riddles and poems, then he would have surely accepted.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Telegraph

A record of his training carries the word ''keen'' beside his name.

Perhaps this was a reminder of how to pronounce his name.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

While only speculative, this does bring to mind some vague allusions to
"war work" in Letters. Could he have had some advisory input on
Ultra and other projects? If this is just coming to light now what
else might still be hidden? Probably nothing, but still...