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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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6

Rings Writer Tolkien Trained as WWII Spy

Hobbit creator turned down chance to join codebreaking team

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(Newser) – Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien secretly trained as a British spy in early 1939, the Daily Telegraph reports. Newly released records show that Tolkien—one of his generation's foremost linguists—was given spy training along with 50 other intellectuals and had been picked to join the team trying to crack Nazi codes in the event of war. The writer turned down the offer to work at  Britain's codebreaking center for unknown reasons.

"We simply don't know why he didn't join," a historian said. "Perhaps it was because we declared war on Germany and not Mordor.''

JRR Tolkien. author of
JRR Tolkien. author of "The Lord of the Rings," smiles in this 1967 photo.   (AP Photo, file)
JRR Tolkien enjoys a pipe in his study at Merton College, Oxford, 1956.
JRR Tolkien enjoys a pipe in his study at Merton College, Oxford, 1956.   (Getty Images)
What enemies were on JRR Tolkien's mind?
What enemies were on JRR Tolkien's mind?   (Getty Images)
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Why he failed to join remains a mystery. There is no paperwork suggesting a motive, so we can only assume that he wanted to concentrate on his
writing career. - A British historian

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6 comments
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riffran
Sep 17, 09 4:25 AM CDT
he wantses the code my precious....lol...Tolkein is a genre unto himself, I really enjoyed his writings..even if the simarillion was a bit long :) Reply
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Todd_English
Sep 17, 09 4:26 AM CDT
cool. Reply
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jagerhans
Sep 17, 09 6:18 AM CDT
no wow. did you actually read the lord of rings? it is an obvious parody of nazism-fascism (sauron the dark lord and the ogre hordes) and communism (those villains who take over the shire and estabilish a vile parody of communism when the heroes are away) . now this fact explains it all putting it on a slightly different light. at least he wasn't antisemite. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
drlarrymitchell
Sep 17, 09 1:07 PM CDT
The Orcs were his version of the Jews.
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IN RESPONSE:
jagerhans
Sep 18, 09 4:15 AM CDT
you idiot. i let Tolkien answer to you asshole. «it appears that a German translation of The Hobbit was being negotiated in 1938. The German firm inquired whether Tolkien was of 'arisch' (aryan) origin. Tolkien was infuriated by this, and wrote two letters as a response...In the second one he proudly protested on the inquiry and, among other things, replied that "... I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted [Jewish] people".»
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