Fans of classic fantasy fiction will be sad to hear of the passing of editor and son of legend J.R.R. Tolkien died at the age of 95 on the 15th January 2020.
A titan in the literary community, Christopher Tolkien’s wit, humour and dedication to literary causes will be much missed by all who knew him and everyone who had the privilege to read anything he wrote or edited.
One of his biggest contributions was to edit and help to posthumously publish unfinished or previously unseen works by his late father, who was famed for his Lord Of The Rings saga.
While his father was alive, Christopher was the youngest member of the Inklings, an informal gathering of fantasy fans and writers. He grew up listening to tales of Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, Legolas, Gimli and the other inhabitants of Middle Earth.
After his father died in 1973, Christopher took on the role of interpreting his often confusing maps of his fictional land and finishing his unpublished work, such as The Silmarillion, a sort of Middle Earth version of the Bible, as well as Unfinished Tales and The History Of Middle Earth.
Alongside these, Christopher also wrote and edited a number of other books, mostly around the topic of fantasy fiction. His works will live on forever in this incredibly popular and world-renowned genre of literature.
In his personal life, Christopher enjoyed two marriages and fathered a number of children, the majority of whom enjoyed cordial relationships with him throughout his life, although some were a little tumultuous.
Overall, Christopher Tolkien will always be remembered as a stalwart J.R.R. Tolkien lover, historian and literary editor whose contributions to the cannon of fantasy fiction will live for the rest of eternity. It’s been a pleasure to read his incredible works and I hope he rests in power.
The Dorset Book Detective 