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09-16-2009, 09:16 AM | #1 |
Illustrious Ulair
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Tolkien the Spy
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09-16-2009, 09:46 AM | #2 |
Gruesome Spectre
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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.
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09-16-2009, 09:50 AM | #3 |
Illustrious Ulair
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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 Ł50k a year must have been a hard thing to do.
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09-16-2009, 06:58 PM | #4 |
Guard of the Citadel
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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.
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09-16-2009, 07:59 PM | #5 | |
Cryptic Aura
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Quote:
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09-17-2009, 06:51 AM | #6 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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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...
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09-17-2009, 07:21 AM | #7 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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Having never met the Professor, I can't say how they would compare personality-wise, but about ten years ago, I edited a book for a fellow who had taken that job, and wound up working in Britain as a codebreaker during WWII. He eventually became a lawyer, but from his memoirs, during the war he was more interested in the young ladies he worked with and met while sightseeing than in codebreaking. Perhaps JRRT, being married, would have been able to give much more of his concentration to his work.
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09-17-2009, 11:40 AM | #8 |
Princess of Skwerlz
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I can see it now: "My name is Tolkien, J. Tolkien."
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09-17-2009, 02:40 PM | #9 |
Shade with a Blade
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Ah ha.
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09-20-2009, 08:39 AM | #10 | |
Pilgrim Soul
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“But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.”
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09-21-2009, 02:14 AM | #11 | |
Illustrious Ulair
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For those who don't keep up with the Lord of the Rings Plaza Forum, (I occaisionally pop up there as Captain Bingo to pass on info - I also started a thread on this same topic over there just after starting this thread) I thought I'd pass on a response on that forum from Wayne Hammond & Christina Scull, noted Tolkien experts with a number of major works behind them (the Tolkien Companion & Guide, LotR Reader's Companion, etc), on this subject
Quote:
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09-21-2009, 07:38 AM | #12 |
Pilgrim Soul
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Thanks Dave..I stopped going there when they were so obnoxious about the article Lalaith translated.
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“But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.”
Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace |
10-11-2009, 05:38 AM | #13 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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A allusion to this?
Tolkien may have been very distantly alluding to all this in LotR, in the episode 'A Conspiracy Unmasked'. In it, Merry told Frodo that because he suspected that the latter was going to leave the Shire, he formed a conspiracy with Pippin, Sam and Fatty. He then said:
'But if you want to be introduced to our chief investigator, I can produce him.' 'Where is he?' said Frodo, looking around, as if he expected a masked and sinister figure to come out of a cupboard. 'Step forward, Sam!' said Merry; and Sam stood up with a face scarlet up to the ears. (LotR, Book 1, Chapter V) What do people think? |
10-20-2009, 11:14 AM | #14 |
Pilgrim Soul
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Well the main problem there, is that they then say that Sam stopped providing information once he was caught but given the point when Gandalf caught him, I don't know what he could have told them before...
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“But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.”
Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace |
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