Book Review: Tolkien Maker of Middle-earth by Catherine McIlwaine

Tolkien

Maker of Middle-earth
by Catherine McIlwaine

Last year I heard about the new exhibit Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth coming to The Morgan Library & Museum in New York in the exhibit's only appearance outside of Oxford.  It sounded like something amazing to experience, and I tried to figure out how to make a trip to New York work so that I could see it.  I looked into flights, babysitters, time off, workload, and many other factors but sadly I just couldn't make the logistics work.

Even though I had to give up on the idea of seeing the exhibit in person I was still fascinated by the topic.  I've enjoyed the world of Middle-earth since I first cracked open the books in my childhood and recently I've started picking up more of Tolkien's books and books related to Tolkien.  Fortunately I discovered that there was an exhibit book that had been produced and so I decided that buying the book and reading through it would be my consolation prize.

The author is Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien Archivist at the Bodleian Libraries for more than fifteen years, who also curated the exhibit.  The book is a massive collection that takes some time to peruse.  It opens with a series of essays by Catherine and other Tolkien experts, the titles of which I've listed below.  Even if you're already familiar with Tolkien's life you'll find some interesting nuggets and details in these passages.

• J. R. R Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch Catherine McIlwaine
• Tolkien and the Inklings John Garth
• Faërie: Tolkien's Perilous Land Verlyn Flieger
• Inventing Elvish Carl F. Hostetter
• Tolkien and 'that noble northern spirit' Tom Shippey
• Tolkien's Visual Art Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

After the essays the meat of the book begins, the catalogue section that covers the artifacts in the exhibit.  There are nine different sections covering different aspects of Tolkien's work and his life.  Included are a number of photographs of Tolkien, his family, and other important people in his life.  The photograph below is of Tolkien and his brother Hilary in 1905.  On the right is Father Francis Morgan, the man who took over responsibility for the boys after their mother died and took care of their upbringing.

Many of the pages also show examples of Tolkien's own artwork.  While I enjoy many other artist's versions of Middle-earth, it is especially wonderful to experience Tolkien's direct visions of his masterpiece of secondary creation.  While he apparently didn't always think much of his talents I would argue that he was a decent artist.  I found his drawings on newspapers and other materials especially fascinating.  These are a series of Númenórean patterns that he doodled over the years.

In addition to these patterns Tolkien also made quite a number of paintings.  Here you can see his vision of Bilbo talking with Smaug on his hoard and the dragon dying after he is pierced by the arrow of Bard the Bowman.

By far my favorite section of the book was the last section, on maps.  As you may or may not know I'm a bit of a geography buff and really enjoy maps.  I especially enjoy novels with maps in them and have ever since I read the Lord of the Rings and pored over the map of the third age of Middle-earth.  This map is annotated by Tolkien and the artist Pauline Baynes.  You can see a larger version of the map itself at this link.  Apparently the map was only discovered in 2015, so amazingly it appears as though items may still be uncovered in the archives.

I bought the book in May of 2019, but took my time reading it, letting it stretch out over many months so that I didn't finish it all at once.  I did take a break of a couple months in the middle of that time as it sat beneath another stack of books.  I finally finished it last month in January 2020.  I enjoyed the entire time going through the book and was sad to see it come to an end.

Rating: 5.5 out of 5*
Summary: A fascinating exploration of the life of J. R. R. Tolkien through manuscripts, photographs, artwork, and other exhibit materials.
Technical: Hardcover, 416 pages, £40.00, $65.00§.  Includes select bibliography and detailed index. 180 catalogue items and many other additional images included.

*Yes, I'm cheating slightly on the rating.  This book is simply too enjoyable to just give a rating of 5 stars.
§I bought it for $41 something on Amazon, but see that it is currently listed for just over $32 as I post this.

~Matt

Fort Stanwix National Monument

After leaving the Saratoga battlefields we drove across much of upstate New York until we reached Rome late in the afternoon.  I had been to this city many years ago as my brother-in-law used to be stationed at an Air Force base in the area and I'd visited with my mother when one of my nephews was born.  While were were traveling on further before stopping for the night I wanted to make sure that we saw Fort Stanwix National Monument before we drove on.

Known as "the fort that never surrendered," Fort Stanwix, under the command of Col. Peter Gansevoort, successfully repelled a prolonged siege, in August 1777, by British, German, Loyalist, Canadian, and American Indian troops and warriors commanded by British Gen. Barry St. Leger. The failed siege combined with the battles at Oriskany, Bennington, and Saratoga thwarted a coordinated effort by the British in 1777, under the leadership of Gen. John Burgoyne, to take the northern colonies, and led to American alliances with France and the Netherlands. Troops from Fort Stanwix also participated in the 1779 Clinton-Sullivan Campaign and protected America's northwest frontier from British campaigns until finally being abandoned in 1781.
--from Fort Stanwix NPS site

We found parking along the street and then headed towards the visitor center.

 This bateaux represents centuries of trade passing through this location.

Once inside I made sure to stamp my passport book and those of all three kids as well.  I bought each one their own book when we visit their first National Park site after they were born.

I really enjoyed the cartographic artwork above the welcome desk.

The reconstructed fort is a bit over forty years old, something I didn't realize until we visited.

The exhibits did a good job presenting multiple viewpoints including Colonial and Oneida women.

Also you saw the perspective of traders and American soldiers. I really appreciate exhibits that try to tell the stories of as many of the participants as possible and don't just present one perspective.

The area now occupied by the fort was known as the Oneida Carrying Place, as it was a portage spot between two different bodies of water and thus a vital link along the local trade routes.  Multiple forts were built in the area by the Americans and British over the years.

Fort Stanwix was also on the border of lands allocated to European settlement by the British Crown.  Colonists were prohibited from going further inland into lands reserved for Native Americans by the Proclamation of 1763.  Many settlers resented this limitation and wanted to extend speculation and settlement further west.

After we'd been through the exhibits we headed out the back of the visitor center towards the reconstructed fort.

The reconstruction is built on the foundations of the original 18th century fort.

As you approach you can definitely see signs of modernity outside, but if you're careful you can get a great view just of the fortifications and feel like you've gone back in time.

Inside are quite a number of different buildings.

How would you like to sleep in the beds in these barracks?  As many as forty men would have been housed in this room in the casemate.

These were the missionary's quarters.  During the Revolution "[b]oth the Americans and the British used their missionaries in attempts to sway the Indians to one side or another by mixing politics into their religious messages." (exhibit signage) I'm more than happy for religious people to be involved in politics, but religion and politics themselves do not mix very well, inevitably religion is corrupted.

The sutler was a trader who was kept connections alive between the fort and other locations.

Artillerymen were housed in these quarters.  This position "was a specialist discipline, requiring knowledge of math and the use of measuring tools to calculate trajectories of cannon and mortar.  Artillery soldiers therefore received better pay and living conditions than regular soldiers, although their job was also far more dangerous." (exhibit signage)

While this room appears to be nicer than the rooms in the casemates it would have been draftier and thus not quite as pleasant.

The junior officer's quarters were definitely nicer than those for the regular men and with many fewer people in the room of course.

A number of the rooms were closed for construction.

We also entered another exhibit area inside the fort.  It was interesting to see that the area now occupied by the fort had long ago been fully urbanized and the land had to be cleared before the structure could be reconstructed.  This view shows the site in 1969.

Not quite a decade later you can see the reconstructed fort as it appeared for the national bicentennial in 1976.

I'm a sucker for models of buildings.  I find that they really help me to visualize what the site would have looked like in its heyday.

I also enjoyed this model of the fort under construction

The area included several learning activities for children, but we were very close to closing time and didn't have an opportunity to fully explore everything.

You can see quite a few of the fort's buildings from this perspective up on the embankment.

I also ventured into the depths of the bombproof.

While intended for storage it functioned as a hospital during the siege of 1777.

This is another photo I took with the Google Cardboard app that when viewed directly in Google Photos (click here) is shown as a full 360º view.

We were one of the last (or maybe the last) visitors to leave the fort for the day.

It looks like quite an impressive structure.

I walked back to the car via another route so that I could capture several pictures of the fort's exterior.

You can view more pictures of the museum and fort in this album.  The next fort we stopped at would prove to be a very different experience.  Look for that post coming soon.

~Matt

Saratoga National Historical Park

From Vermont we headed further west into upstate New York.  Our first historic stop of the day was at Saratoga National Historical Park.  This site commemorates the turning point of the Revolutionary War.

After a week of negotiations, Burgoyne surrendered to Gates, on October 17, 1777. The American victory demonstrated that American troops could fight a European army, on their own terms, and win. It also convinced the French to ally themselves with the Americans and declare war against England. Later, the Spanish and Dutch did the same.

This multi-national alliance turned a civil uprising for the British into a world war, as they would have to then fight not only in North America, but in the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, South Africa, and India --among other places.

Because of the incredible impact caused by the American victory in the Battles of Saratoga, they are known as the "Turning Point of the American Revolution", and are considered by many historians to be among the top 15 battles in world history.
--from Saratoga NHP site

Our first stop was at the park's main visitor center, up a path from the parking lot.

 Once inside we watched the orientation film.

 While the video isn't online, you can watch the map presentation online.

The visitor center had a set of costumes that kids could use to play dress-up.  I love interactive elements like these that have been added to many National Park sites.

We walked around the visitor center and saw a number of exhibits about the history of the battles.

 This was a light 6-pound cannon on loan from the United States Army Center of Military History.  It was made in England in 1756.

The best description of the Revolution that I've heard was that it was much closer to a civil war than to a revolution.  This was true even amongst some Native American tribes, for example the Iroquois Confederation was torn apart as some tribes sided with the British and some sided with the rebels.

Going through battlefields can be sobering when you realize that some who fought were not much older than your children.

These British cannons were captured at Saratoga in 1777 by victorious American forces.

One of the exhibits covered the history of Benedict Arnold.

Arnold may have worn a coat like this as an American Major General (though uniforms weren't standardized during the war).

He was wounded at Saratoga when a musket ball shattered his leg "the same one wounded at Quebec in 1775." (from exhibit signage)

This is a British Army Brigadier-general's Frock, which was the rank given to Arnold when he switched to the British side, technically a step down from his American rank.

You can get an idea of the exhibits with this panoramic shot.

We next headed to the park's tour road, our first stop being the Freeman Farm overlook.  In these fields "the first action of the Battle of Saratoga began.  Shortly after noon on September 19, American pickets posted in the Freeman House fired on advance elements of the center column of the British army." (from exhibit signage)

I love how 360º pictures can give you a good perspective on the battlefield.  Take a look at the original picture here in Google Photos where you can view it in a full 360º.

As we continued down the tour road we passed behind what were the American lines.

The lines were helpfully marked by a series of posts with blue tops marching off across the landscape.

Our next stop was at the Neilson Farm where we got out and walked around for a while.

In busier times I think they have the building open with staff inside, but it was shut tight when we came by.  I did take a glimpse in through the window and go this shot.

This monument honors the unknown American soldiers who perished in the battles of Saratoga.

Across the road is a monument in memory of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a native of Poland who fought in the Revolution.  There is also a National Park site in Philadelphia named after him that I want to visit.

Our next stop took us down by the Hudson River where this position marks one of the American units overlooking the river and was the location of a redoubt defended by cannons and strengthened by batteries down by the edge of the river.

As we drove back towards the direction we had come (but not on the same road) made our next stop where his view overlooks what was once the Chatfield Farm, where advance pickets exchanged musket fire following the September 19, 1777 battle.

The fifth stop along the road tour is the Barber Wheat Field.  Here a number of New Hampshire troops overran part of the British lines, claiming two cannons.  It was also here that British Brigadier General Simon Fraser was hit by rifle fire.

The British advanced on this position on October 7, 1777, but after the wounding of Fraser and other setbacks Burgoyne and others fell back to their fortifications on the Freeman Farm (the area overlooked on the first stop on the driving tour.  As we drove that way we entered the location of the British lines.  The Americans tried to take the farm, known as the Balcarres Redoubt, but failed, so they moved on to the Breymann Redoubt (see below)

After the Freeman Farm site we drove on to the Breymann Redoubt stop, the seventh on the tour.  While there we saw this monument to Benedict Arnold that deliberately does not include his name.  It describes his exact situation and circumstances, but due to his later traitorous actions it doesn't include his name.  The boot symbolizes the wounding of his leg during the battle.

Here you can see the markers that show the location of the British lines.

Of course there were more cannons.  What about a battlefield be without cannons?  ;-)

Finally we reached the location of the British positions directly near the Hudson River.

Not far from here Burgoyne's troops were finally cornered and on October 17, 1777 they surrendered.  This victory encouraged other European powers like France to take up the American cause and ultimately contributed towards the ultimate British defeat.

You can see even more pictures from the battlefield in this album.

~Matt