Before the German publishing house Rutten & Loeing Verlag released The Hobbit in Nazi Germany, they asked Tolkien if he was of Aryan origin. In a letter to his British publisher, Stanley Unwin, he asserted that Nazism was “wholly pernicious and unscientific.”
He also said that he had many Jewish friends and was considering “letting a German translation go hang.” He provided two letters for Rutten & Loeing Verlag, and told his publisher to send whichever one he preferred.
The first was a more “tactful” letter, and simply stated that he was. In the other more honest letter however, Tolkien writes; “If I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.” Naturally and unfortunately, the first one was sent.
omg
ReplyDeleteisn't it enough writing a sentence (and making it clear what the subject is all about) just ONCE?
so repetative I got tired of reading it before I even got close to get the point.
practice some!
You need to do the same, so stick that up your smeagle and fly you fool! I will even sign my name "Anonymous" of no honor.
DeleteWriting a comment like the above with lamentable grammar and punctuation and not citing a name is cowardice, not to mention this blog is concerned with matters you clearly have no understanding of.
ReplyDeleteTo the author of the blog: it is both very interesting and not in the least repetitive, I enjoy reading it very much. The above article showed the integrity Tolkien had, shame his publisher did not show the same strength of character over the letters!