Chapter 10
Frodo Lives
US college students in the 1960s knew that Tolkien’s books were about more than just wizards and dragons. The “counterculture” was a youth movement that started in the United States and spread throughout the world. In the 1960s, there was a large population of teenagers who had been born in the years just after World War II. They had very different ideas from their parents about things like the Vietnam War, racial equality, and women’s rights.
They experimented with drugs and had their own styles of dress and music. They read The Lord of the Rings and discovered a society where people were free and peaceful and loved nature. Young environmentalists were inspired by the stories. They hated Sauron for trying to destroy nature.
The books were loved both by war protestors and by many of the soldiers fighting in Vietnam. The mysterious phrase Frodo Lives! started to appear written on walls, and then on buttons and bumper stickers. It meant that Ronald’s characters and his world were alive in the imaginations of readers. Ronald didn’t quite understand his new fans. He was old enough to be the grandfather of many of these young people with their long hair and strange clothes. But he was glad they loved his stories.
In 1966, Edith and Ronald celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Over the years, Edith had developed arthritis. It was hard for her walk up the stairs of the house.
When Ronald retired from teaching, he and Edith moved to Bournemouth, a resort town near the sea. Bournemouth was not the type of place that Ronald liked. However, he felt that Edith had spent her whole life at Oxford for him. Now it was his turn to live where she wanted to be.
Edith made a lot of friends in Bournemouth. Ronald continued to work on new stories about Middle-earth.
In November 1971, Edith was rushed to the hospital with an inflamed gallbladder. She died days later on November 29. She was eighty-two. Ronald had loved her since he was sixteen years old. There was no reason for him to stay in Bournemouth without Edith, so he returned to Oxford.
He spent a lot of time with Christopher, who now taught at Oxford just as his father had. Ronald often visited his daughter, Priscilla, and his old friend Christopher Wiseman. He spent a few weeks with John, who was now a priest, and the two visited Hilary together. He also spent time with Michael. On Sundays he visited Edith’s grave in the Catholic section of Wolvercote Cemetery in Oxford.
Many American universities asked Ronald to visit, but he felt too old to journey to the United States. He did accept an invitation to Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth herself awarded him a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) on March 28, 1972. That same year, Oxford presented him with an honorary Doctorate of Letters. This honor perhaps meant the most to him, because it was the only one he received that wasn’t for The Lord of the Rings. It was for his work in the study of historical languages.
Through it all, Ronald was still writing, usually with Christopher’s help.
In August 1973, Ronald traveled back to Bournemouth to visit with some friends. While there, he was diagnosed with an ulcer and then a chest infection. Michael and Christopher were both out of the country, but John and Priscilla came to be with him. He died on September 2, 1973. He was eighty-one.
Ronald was buried beside Edith in Oxford. The single gravestone reads: EDITH MARY TOLKIEN, LUTHIEN; JOHN RONALD REUEL TOLKIEN, BEREN. Ronald had chosen the names of the mortal man and the immortal elven princess who fell in love to mark his and Edith’s final resting place.
After his father’s death, Christopher continued Ronald’s work. In 1977, The Silmarillion was finally published. It describes more of the history of Tolkien’s world, including Middle-earth, where The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place. In 2014, Christopher published a translation of Beowulf that his father had worked on for years without many people even knowing he was doing it.
Ronald Tolkien not only created his own world, he also changed ours. Today, fantasy adventures are not only for children. Epic fantasy series like Star Wars would not exist without Ronald leading the way. Role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons also have their origins in Ronald’s world. He inspired other writers of fantastic stories to describe their worlds in glorious detail, inventing new words, new languages, and new histories. He encouraged readers to journey deep into their imaginations and to create their own magical, enchanting worlds.
