Free Republic

Tolkien, one of his generation's most respected linguists, was ''earmarked'' to crack Nazi codes in the event that Germany declared war. Intelligence chiefs singled him and a 'cadre' of other intellectuals to work at Bletchley Park, the codebreaking centre in Buckinghamshire. Its staff - which included Alan Turing, the gay codebreaker - would later decipher the 'impenetrable' Enigma machines. This saved Britain from German conquest by allowing the Navy to intercept and destroy Hitler's U-Boats. According to previously unseen records, Tolkien trained with the top-secret Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS). He spent three days at their London HQ in...

Rings writer reveals Two Towers secretsNick Smith "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." Readers could be forgiven for mistaking the above words as J R R Tolkien's, direct from the pen of The Lord of the Rings' author. The wrong attribution has happened often enough, several times by reporters who should know better. In fact, the words were penned by scriptwriters Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson for their film adaptation of Tolkien's masterpiece. Ms Boyens said the line is one of many that people assume is lifted straight from the book, the...

Ferthu Theoden Hal!  One tale people seldom discuss is the story of Theoden. That is, people who have read The Lord of the Rings recognize Theoden as the heroic king of Rohan who with the aid of Gandalf recovers from the evil spell Saruman's spy and surrogate, Grima Wormtongue, has woven about him. Theoden seems bent with old age when the reader first sees him, and then Gandalf works a near-miraculous recovery on the king. Theoden rides forth to do battle with his enemies and the enemies of Gondor, and he dies in glory on the Pelennor Fields.It may surprise...