"Remembering Him Like Anything": Tolkien's Birthday

Today, January 3^rd, would have been Tolkien’s 134^th birthday. I remember for years I had pronounced his name TOLKINE (I’d only ever seen it written down). I was only corrected when the Carpenter biography came out, but it still took me years to make the switch over. Even today I sometimes, out of old habit, will still do so. It is, of course, more properly TOLKEEN, with TOLKIN an acceptable, if less accurate, more popular way. I remember seeing Mel Tolkin credited as a writer on All in the Family and kind of wondering. According to David Bratman (on John D. Ratliff, Tolkien scholar’s, blog), “I once knew a Tolkien fan who also collected material relating to the TV writer Mel Tolkin, because his name resembled "Tolkien" - though there was no genealogical nor etymological relationship at all.”

While looking up material I found another ‘icon’ style portrait of Tolkien. Whether such pictures are related to the fact that he was Catholic, or that many fans consider him a secular saint, a sort of patron of Fantasy writing in its highest sense, I find it hard to tell. If it was because he was a Catholic, I wonder how sincere such efforts are. Is anyone seriously pursuing the cause for sainthood? If so, I can think of at least one miracle connected with the man.

Whatever the case, Happy Birthday, Professor. You would have been way past the Old Took now.

“And while the vain world careless sped
Unheeding the heroic name—
The souls most fed with Shakespeare's flame
Still sat unconquered in a ring,
Remembering him like anything.”

-         The Shakespeare Memorial, by G. K. Chesterton