Since I posted on the existing audio of C. S. Lewis, I thought I’d do the same for Tolkien. Except he was also captured on film.
For the full audio, the CD to get is The J.R.R. Tolkien Audio Collection. Here’s a description:
Of historic note, these selections from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are based on a tape recording Tolkien made in 1952, which inspired him to continue his own quest to see his vision in print. Also included is a never-published poem, “The Mirror of Galadriel,” originally intended for inclusion in the trilogy, yet edited out. And, finally, Tolkien’s son, Christopher, reads selections from his father’s The Silmarillion, the epic foundation upon which rests the whole of his work.
Below are materials free online. A few clips from interviews, followed by several readings, recitings by Tolkien of his own material.
First broadcast on BBC 2 on March 30, 1968: “John Izzard meets with JRR Tolkien at his home, walking with him through the Oxford locations that he loves while hearing the author’s own views about his wildly successful high-fantasy novels. Tolkien shares his love of nature and beer and his admiration for ‘trenchermen’ in this genial and affectionate programme. The brief interviews with Oxford students that are dotted throughout reveal the full range of opinions elicited by ‘The Lord of the Rings’, from wild enthusiasm to mild contempt”:
A nearly 10-minute audio interview, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1971:
Tolkien reads from chapter 5 of The Hobbit:
Tolkien reciting the Ring Verse from “The Shadow of the Past” (LOTR):
Tolkien reading from chapter 4 of The Two Towers:
Tolkien singing “Troll Sat Alone On His Seat Of Stone,” the poem recited by Sam Gamgee in “Flight to the Ford” (LOTR):
Tolkien recites an Entish Chant (LOTR):
Tolkien in 1952 reciting the Quenya poem “Namárië,” sung by Galadriel in the chapter “Farewell to Lórien” (LOTR):
Tolkien recites the poem “The Hoard” from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil:
