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1919

1919 Tolkien marks the new year by beginning to record in a diary principal events in his life and his thoughts about them. He writes in English, at first with Roman letters, but later in a phonetic alphabet of his own invention. Eventually he attaches this to his mythology and names it the ‘Alphabet of Rúmil’ after the Elvish sage in his stories who devised letters to record Qenya texts (*Writing systems). From 1919 to the mid-1920s he will make constant alterations to the alphabet, so that even he will have difficulty reading it, and will rarely use it after 1930.

1919–1920 Tolkien revises his poem The Pool of the Dead Year (first composed in November–December 1915), now entitled The Pool of Forgetfulness. Probably during this period he also writes the poems The Brothers in Arms (later reworked as The Brothers-in-Arms), and Nursery Rhymes Undone (later revised as The Cat and the Fiddle, see *The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late).

c. 1919–c. 1923 Tolkien writes a series of tables of Qenya pronouns and pronominal prefixes and suffixes (*‘Early Qenya Pronouns’). Later he reuses some of these sheets, with other discarded papers (including a letter dated 4 June 1920), in compiling a partial English–Old English dictionary.

?January–?June 1919 Tolkien writes a cosmogonical myth, The Music of the Ainur (*Ainulindalë), and otherwise continues work on The Book of Lost Tales, but largely abandons it, apparently by the end of June 1919. (See further, article on *The Book of Lost Tales in Reader’s Guide.) The tales written in this period tell of the conflicts between the renegade Melko and the rest of the Valar (guardians or angelic powers) when he tried to seize the rule of the world; Melko’s destruction of the Two Trees which gave light to Valinor, home of the Valar and of many Elves; his theft of precious jewels from the Elves and his flight into Middle-earth (not yet so-called); and the long and bitter war of the Elves with Melko in the hope of recovering their jewels. Some tales are left only in the form of rough notes and outlines which suggest that the author is undecided about many things in his mythology. – Probably during this period Tolkien extensively re-writes The Fall of Gondolin in ink over the original pencil version, and Edith makes a fair copy of the revision. – A list, *Corrected Names of Chief Valar, and a brief Qenya text associated with The Nauglafring: The Necklace of the Dwarves (The Book of Lost Tales), *‘Si Qente Feanor’, may also date from this period. – At this time Tolkien also writes revisions to his Gnomish lexicon on the backs of Oxford English Dictionary proof slips.

January 1919 Tolkien begins work as an assistant at the Oxford English Dictionary in the Old Ashmolean building in Broad Street, Oxford, a short walk from the Tolkien home in St John Street. Under the supervision of *Henry Bradley, he will work on words beginning with ‘W’. Most of those on the Dictionary staff also teach in the University, and their hours are flexible: Oxford University Press records at the end of March 1919 show that up to that date Tolkien was paid only one and one-half months’ salary. – Tolkien will also accept tutorial work, and will come to find his services increasingly sought, particularly by the Oxford women’s colleges, where English is one of the more popular subjects. He tutors students from Lady Margaret Hall, St Hugh’s, Somerville, and St Hilda’s, mainly in small groups. It is an advantage that he is married, as Edith’s presence means that the colleges do not need to send a chaperone when their young ladies are tutored by Tolkien at his home.

19 January 1919 Hilary Full Term begins at Oxford.

Hilary Term 1919 Tolkien is noted as an Honorary Member of the Exeter College Essay Club, but is not recorded as present at any meetings during this term.

14 February 1919 Tolkien is examined by the Standing Medical Board, Merton Street, Oxford. The Board declares him unfit for general service or service abroad for six months, and unfit for active duty with troops on home service for three months, but fit for sedentary employment.

17 February 1919 W.W.T. Massiah-Palmer dies after becoming ill on active service.

21 February 1919 Tolkien reads part of William Blake’s prophetic books, which he has never seen before, and discovers to his astonishment several similarities in the nomenclature (though not necessarily the function) between Blake’s beings and those in his own mythology.

15 March 1919 Hilary Full Term ends.

3 April 1919 The first slips prepared by Tolkien for the Oxford English Dictionary with editorial text and illustrative quotations, after emendation and approval by Bradley, are sent to Oxford University Press for typesetting. As Tolkien becomes more proficient, Bradley makes fewer alterations. Some of Tolkien’s later work on the Dictionary will be under the editorship of *C.T. Onions.

27 April 1919 Trinity Full Term begins.

14 May 1919 In the evening, Tolkien attends a meeting of the Exeter College Essay Club at which C.A.R. Radford reads a paper on Rupert Brooke.

4 June 1919 In the evening, Tolkien attends a meeting of the Exeter College Essay Club at which *Wilfred R. Childe, an honorary visitor, reads a paper on modern poetry.

7 June 1919 Tolkien is examined by the Standing Medical Board, Merton Street, Oxford. The Board declares him unfit for general service or service abroad for six months, but fit for active duty with troops on home service. Tolkien is ordered ‘to return to O.U.T.C. [Officers’ University and Technical Classes] Oxford to complete his course’ and the Ministry of Labour is to be informed.

21 June 1919 Trinity Full Term ends.

28 June 1919 The Treaty of Versailles with Germany is signed. Germany cedes Alsace-Lorraine to France, the larger part of Posen and West Prussia to Poland, and other territory to Belgium. The German army is not to exceed 100,000 men in number, and the size and number of its guns are restricted. Its naval power is also limited. An area thirty miles on the east side of the Rhine is to be demilitarized.

Summer 1919 Tolkien inscribes ‘Summer 1919’ in his copy of A Welsh Grammar for Schools by E. Anwyl (3rd edn., London, 1907).

Summer–autumn 1919 Probably during this period Tolkien is commissioned by Oxford University Press to write the glossary (*A Middle English Vocabulary) for the collection Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose, edited by his former tutor, Kenneth Sisam. Much research will be required for this, his first academic publication; and it may be for this reason that after June 1919 he largely abandons The Book of Lost Tales. Although he (apparently) now begins to retell the tale of Túrin Turambar in alliterative verse, he does not proceed very far with it, and is not occupied with any other major work on his mythology for the rest of the year. – Around this time, he also ceases to do much, if any, work on the Qenyaqetsa and the Gnomish Lexicon.

July 1919 Colin Cullis dies of pneumonia as a consequence of the influenza pandemic.

8 July 1919 The War Office informs Tolkien that his release from military service has been approved. He is to call at the Dispersal Unit at Fovant, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, on 15 July; his Army pay will cease on 16 July. The district OUTC office of the Ministry of Labour will issue him a Railway Warrant for the journey.

15 July 1919 Tolkien travels to Fovant to receive documents officially discharging him from military service, though he is still obliged to return to duty in the event of an emergency. His demobilization papers include a Protection Certificate (Officer) which states that he is released with effect 16 July; that he has the rank of Temporary Lieutenant; that the last unit in which he served was OUTC Oxford; that his Medical Category is C(i); that his occupation in civilian life is ‘tutor’; and that his permanent address is ‘Exeter College, Oxford’. He is also given a Demobilization Ration Book, valid for a fortnight, after which he will need a civilian ration book. (See also entry for 3 November 1920.)

19 July 1919 Britain celebrates peace with victory parades.

4 September 1919 The Ministry of Pensions writes to Tolkien that in respect of his disability he has been awarded temporary retired pay at the rate of £35 a year from 16 July 1919 to 6 December 1919, and encloses a form for Tolkien to send to the Paymaster General. If his disability continues at the end of the period he can request a medical examination for further consideration of his case.

17 September 1919 Tolkien’s combined income from the Oxford English Dictionary and from tutoring allows him to rent a small house at 1 Alfred Street (now called Pusey Street); the family moves on this date. Edith is able to bring her piano out of storage. The Tolkiens can also afford to engage a cook-housemaid to help Edith.

?Late summer 1919–?September 1920 Tolkien begins to write, or writes the earliest version of, *Light as Leaf on Lindentree, an expression in verse of the story of Beren and Lúthien. He will note on a later version that the poem had its ‘first beginnings’ in 1919–20 at his home in Alfred Street.

12 October 1919 Michaelmas Full Term begins.

Michaelmas Term 1919 Tolkien holds the office of Critic to the Exeter College Essay Club.

30 October 1919 Tolkien receives his Master of Arts degree at Oxford in a Congregation.

?November 1919 Tolkien begins to keep a notebook in which he records his two-year-old son’s pronunciation and use of words. He will later do the same for his second son, Michael.

11 November 1919 The Ministry of Pensions writes to Tolkien, who seems to have informed the authorities that he is still suffering some disability. The Ministry directs him to enter a hostel or colony for treatment and training, and also raises his retired Army pay to the maximum disabled rate, though he will be expected to use part of this to cover the costs of care. In the event, Tolkien seems not to have followed this directive, but used the verso of the letter to write part of a new poem, The Ruined Enchanter: A Fairy Ballad.

12 November 1919 In the evening, Tolkien attends a meeting of the Exeter College Essay Club at which C.H.B. Kitchin reads a paper, World Progress and English Literature. As Critic, Tolkien opens the discussion, touching upon the obsession with antiquity in art and ascribing the lure of the past to its familiarity. But he holds that the ‘widening of modern knowledge of the universe & consequent opening up of new fields of ideas, should more than compensate for any blunting of our capacity for imaginative appreciation of certain aspects of nature, as compared with the ancients’ (Exeter College archives).

26 November 1919 In the evening, Tolkien attends a meeting of the Exeter College Essay Club at which E.C. Dickinson reads a paper, The Aesthetic Value of the Ballad. As Critic, Tolkien opens the discussion, touching on the origin of the ballad, and maintains that because of a different origin, the so-called modern ballad is not really a ballad at all.

6 December 1919 Michaelmas Full Term ends.

Winter 1919 Tolkien will later write in his diary that this winter ‘found me still pegging away at tutoring in Oxford, still with the glossary [to Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose] hanging over me’ (quoted by Christopher Tolkien in private correspondence).