New Tolkien's paper?: The Essayist versus The Novelist
5 January
2026-1-5 9:27:23 AM UTC
2026-1-5 9:27:23 AM UTC
And another relevant finding.
In ‘The Oxford Magazine’, vol. 53 (1934), on page 193, there is a very interesting mention of a paper which, if I understand correctly, Tolkien gave together with Edmund Blunden. Its title, ‘The Essayist versus The Novelist’, suggests that Tolkien may have assumed one of these two roles (perhaps the essayist?) and Blunden the other. Or perhaps the lecture was given by Blunden alone. The link is: https://www.google.es/books/edition/Th ... lkien&printsec=frontcover
The dates can be narrowed down by accessing online catalogues, between 18 October 1934 and 14 February 1935, possibly in Michaelmas Term: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/103218226
Unfortunately, Google Books searches are often fragmentary, and there is nothing more than what is shown in the image. I don't know if anyone can shed more light on this lecture, as I haven't found anything else about it.
Edmund Blunden (1896–1974) was an English poet, critic and memoirist, one of the most prominent voices in First World War poetry. He served on the Western Front with the Royal Sussex Regiment and captured those experiences in “Undertones of War” (1928). His poetry, serene and bucolic, attempts to reconcile the beauty of the English countryside with the trauma of war. In 1934, he returned permanently to Oxford, where he worked as a fellow and tutor at Merton College. He later became a renowned editor and academic, eventually holding the chair of Oxford Professor of Poetry (1966–1968).
In ‘The Oxford Magazine’, vol. 53 (1934), on page 193, there is a very interesting mention of a paper which, if I understand correctly, Tolkien gave together with Edmund Blunden. Its title, ‘The Essayist versus The Novelist’, suggests that Tolkien may have assumed one of these two roles (perhaps the essayist?) and Blunden the other. Or perhaps the lecture was given by Blunden alone. The link is: https://www.google.es/books/edition/Th ... lkien&printsec=frontcover
The dates can be narrowed down by accessing online catalogues, between 18 October 1934 and 14 February 1935, possibly in Michaelmas Term: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/103218226
Unfortunately, Google Books searches are often fragmentary, and there is nothing more than what is shown in the image. I don't know if anyone can shed more light on this lecture, as I haven't found anything else about it.
Edmund Blunden (1896–1974) was an English poet, critic and memoirist, one of the most prominent voices in First World War poetry. He served on the Western Front with the Royal Sussex Regiment and captured those experiences in “Undertones of War” (1928). His poetry, serene and bucolic, attempts to reconcile the beauty of the English countryside with the trauma of war. In 1934, he returned permanently to Oxford, where he worked as a fellow and tutor at Merton College. He later became a renowned editor and academic, eventually holding the chair of Oxford Professor of Poetry (1966–1968).
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