Person
J. R. R. Tolkien
Writing & Narrative
Arts, Music & MediaWho is J. R. R. Tolkien in the Agency editorial?
J. R. R. Tolkien was an English writer and philologist, the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The Agency editorial names him twice, both in passing: in an image caption in Issue.6, beside C. S. Lewis and C. G. Jung, and in Issue.14, where the mythology of The Lord of the Rings is given as one of the inspirations for the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven.
In short
J. R. R. Tolkien is named in two editions of the Agency editorial, and the mentions are short. In Issue.6 his name is in the caption of an image placed in the passage about Zygmunt Bauman: "Three other wise men who you may see smoking a pipe one day", listed as C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. G. Jung. In Issue.14, in the story of how Led Zeppelin wrote Stairway to Heaven, the author says that Robert Plant, in an interview for a book by Richard Cole, reported being inspired by the natural beauty around him and by the mythology of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The editions do not discuss his books beyond this.
Key facts
- Where does Issue.6 name Tolkien?
- Only in an image caption, as one of three wise men the reader may see smoking a pipe one day, with C. S. Lewis and C. G. Jung. The text around the image is about Zygmunt Bauman.
- What does Issue.14 say about Tolkien?
- That the mythology of his book The Lord of the Rings was, with the natural beauty of the English countryside, an inspiration Robert Plant reported for the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven.
- Which work by Tolkien do the editions name?
- The Lord of the Rings, in Issue.14. The edition names the book only as a source of inspiration for a song and does not describe its story or characters.
Who was J. R. R. Tolkien?
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer, philologist and professor at the University of Oxford. He wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, set in the invented world of Middle-earth. The years and the other card facts of this entry come from outside the editions and are marked for verification.
How do the editions use J. R. R. Tolkien?
Issue.6 mentions him once, in a caption. The edition is discussing Zygmunt Bauman and liquid modernity, and the image shows, in the words of the caption, three other wise men who may be seen smoking a pipe. Nothing else is said about him there.
Issue.14 mentions him in its section on Stairway to Heaven. The author tells how Robert Plant, sitting by a fire in a cottage in the English countryside, wrote in a single afternoon the lyrics to a riff by Jimmy Page, and says that Plant reported being inspired by the nature around him and, believe it or not, by the mythology of The Lord of the Rings. The edition attributes this to an interview for a book by Richard Cole about Led Zeppelin.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.