The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: Volume 1: Chronology
December 1904 In the School class list of this date, Ronald is listed eleventh out of fifteen in the Sixth Class at King Edward’s School.
Late 1904 Since Ronald and Hilary cannot live with him in the Oratory, Father Francis has to find them suitable lodgings, but he knows that both the Suffield and the Tolkien families had opposed Mabel’s conversion and might contest her will to gain control of the boys. King Edward’s School records list Ronald’s address, immediately following his mother’s death, as care of Laurence Tolkien (one of Arthur’s brothers, an insurance manager) at Dunkeld, Middleton Hall Road, Kings Norton. By January 1905, however, Father Francis will arrange for Ronald and Hilary to live with Beatrice Suffield, the widow of Mabel’s youngest brother, William. This seems a good compromise, as Aunt Beatrice has no strong religious views, she is family, and she lives near the Oratory at 25 Stirling Road in Edgbaston. The boys are given a large room at the top of her house from which they have a view of the countryside in the distance. – During school holidays Ronald and Hilary often stay with other relatives. Among these are two of their father’s sisters (see *Tolkien family), Aunt Grace who lives in Newcastle with her husband William Mountain and their children Kenneth and Dorothy, and Aunt Mabel who lives at Abbotsford, 69 Wake Green Road, Moseley, Birmingham with her husband Tom Mitton and their children (*Mitton family). But most often they stay with the Incledons, who now live at *Barnt Green, Worcestershire, near Rednal. (A second daughter, Friede Mary, had been born to May and Walter Incledon in 1895.) On one of his early visits to the Incledons Ronald discovers that Marjorie and Mary Incledon have constructed a language, ‘Animalic’, almost entirely out of English animal, bird, and fish names, and are able to converse in it fluently. He learns a little of Animalic and is amused by it. He does not admit to his cousins that he himself had already indulged a ‘secret vice’ of creating languages: he will later remark that he had been making up imaginary languages since he could write (see *Languages, Invented).
1905
1905 Aunt Beatrice gives the boys board and lodging but little affection or consideration for their feelings; one day Ronald discovers that she has burned their mother’s personal papers and letters. In many ways, the Oratory is Ronald and Hilary’s real home. In the morning, they serve Mass for Father Francis, and they eat breakfast in the refectory before leaving for school, either on foot or by horse-bus or bicycle. Ronald will later describe this period in his life as having ‘the advantage of a (then) first rate school and that of a “good Catholic home” – “in excelsis”: [I was] virtually a junior inmate of the Oratory house, which contained many learned fathers (largely “converts”)’ (letter to *Michael Tolkien, begun after 25 August 1967, Letters, p. 395). – Having access to books in Spanish belonging to Father Francis Morgan (who is half Spanish), Ronald tries to teach himself that language.
Spring and summer terms 1905 With the permission of the Oratory, for otherwise they would have to go to St Philip’s, Ronald continues to attend King Edward’s School, now together with Hilary, who enters in January 1905 in Class XIII, Section D7. Ronald is still in the Sixth Class under George Brewerton, in Section B6. He is also now in the Third Division (b) of the French course taught by Assistant Master A.L. Rothe. Father Francis will also allow Ronald to attend classes on the New Testament in Greek, offered by the Head Master of King Edward’s School, *Robert Cary Gilson.
6 and 8 July 1905 Athletic Sports are held at the King Edward’s School Grounds.
August 1905 Jane Suffield and Edwin Neave are married in Manchester. They settle in *Gedling, near Nottingham, where Edwin now holds a more senior position with Guardian Assurance.
2 August 1905 Speech Day and prize-giving at King Edward’s School. Ronald, who has tied for first place among fifteen boys in the Sixth Class, receives as a prize the book Roman History by W.W. Capes (1879).
Summer 1905 According to Humphrey Carpenter, Father Francis Morgan took Ronald and Hilary on holiday to *Lyme Regis, on the south coast of England, every summer after their mother’s death; and ‘later in childhood’ Ronald went on a railway journey to *Wales (Biography, p. 26).
Autumn term 1905 Ronald is now in the Fifth Class at King Edward’s School, under Assistant Master C.H. Heath. There he meets Christopher Wiseman, who will become a close friend and friendly rival. At the end of term Ronald is placed first and Wiseman second in the class of nineteen boys. Other pupils who also will become close friends are *Robert Q. ‘Rob’ Gilson, the son of the Head Master, and *Vincent Trought. During this term Ronald is in Section B5 for Mathematics and Arithmetic under Assistant Master Charles Davison, and in the French Third Division (a) under Assistant Master J.W. Smyth. Hilary Tolkien continues in Class XIII, Section D7.
1906
c. 1906–1907 On a later visit to his Incledon cousins, Ronald discovers that Marjorie has lost interest in Animalic. He and Mary begin to create a new, more sophisticated language, ‘Nevbosh’ or ‘New Nonsense’.
Spring and summer terms 1906 Ronald enters the Fourth Class under *R.W. Reynolds. He thinks that Reynolds makes Greek and Roman history boring, but likes him as a person. Ronald is in Section B4 for Mathematics and Arithmetic, in which he will be ranked second, and in the French Third Division (a) under Assistant Master J.H. Manton, in which he will be ranked third. Hilary Tolkien is now in Class XI, Section D5. At the end of the summer term Ronald is placed second in a class of nineteen boys (Christopher Wiseman is sixth) and is awarded a joint prize for Grammar.
28 and 30 June 1906 Athletic Sports are held at the King Edward’s School Grounds.
27 July 1906 Speech Day and prize-giving at King Edward’s School.
Summer 1906 Father Francis takes Ronald and Hilary on holiday to Lyme Regis. They stay at the Three Cups Hotel in Broad Street. Ronald enjoys exploring the countryside and shore, sketching, and searching for fossils in the cliffs; on one of his visits to Lyme Regis he finds a prehistoric jawbone and pretends that it came from a dragon. He draws a view of the harbour from the window of the hotel (Lyme Regis Harbour from the Drawing Room Window of the Cups Hotel, see Artist and Illustrator, fig. 8).
Autumn term 1906 Ronald enters the Third Class at King Edward’s School under Assistant Master A.E. Measures, and in Section A6 for Mathematics and Arithmetic under W. Sneath. At the end of term he is placed fourth out of twenty in the class (Christopher Wiseman is eighth). Hilary Tolkien is now in Class X, Section D5.
1907
Spring term 1907 Ronald enters the Second Class at King Edward’s School, under both Robert Cary Gilson, the Head Master, and his assistant A.E. Measures, and in Section A5 for Mathematics and Arithmetic under Assistant Master P.M. Marples. Hilary Tolkien is now in Class IX, Section D4.
4 April 1907 Field Marshal Earl Roberts visits King Edward’s School, as one of four public engagements in Birmingham. He inspects the newly formed Cadet Corps (*Societies and clubs), of which Tolkien is now a member. A photograph is taken of the assembled group of some 120 cadets. See note. After the inspection, Lord Roberts gives an address in the School hall, encouraging the boys to learn to shoot and to understand that it is not only his duty, but an honour and privilege, to defend his country.
27 and 29 June 1907 Athletic Sports are held at the King Edward’s School Grounds.
31 July 1907 Speech Day and prize-giving at King Edward’s School. Now at the end of the summer term, Ronald is placed fourth out of twenty in his general class, and eighth in Section A5.
Summer 1907 Father Francis again takes Ronald and Hilary to Lyme Regis. He learns from them that they are not happy living with their Aunt Beatrice.
Autumn term 1907 Ronald enters the First or Senior Class, under Robert Cary Gilson and A.E. Measures; he will remain in this uppermost class, under the same instructors, for the rest of his years at King Edward’s School. There are twenty-two boys in the class, listed by seniority rather than by term work or examination results; among these is *Wilfrid Hugh Payton (known as ‘Whiffy’), who will be one of the members of the *T.C.B.S. during Ronald’s last term at school. Gilson is an inspiring teacher who tries to interest his pupils in classical linguistics and philology, but also encourages them to branch out in their studies. Ronald will later recall that on many occasions the Head Master imposed on him the writing of lines, such as ‘punctuality is the soul of business’ and ‘brevity is the soul of wit’. During this term Ronald is in Section A5 for Mathematics and Arithmetic, again under P.M. Marples, in which he will end the term ranked third. Hilary Tolkien is now in the Upper Remove, Section D3. – Apart from his official studies, Ronald is already pursuing interests in Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and Middle English. He feels a special sympathy and even a sense of recognition for Middle English works such as *Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and *Pearl, written in the West Midlands dialect which he thinks was spoken by his mother’s West Midlands ancestors. He even begins to learn Old Norse in order to read the story of Sigurd in the original. He also reads books on philology and the history of language, and begins to buy books secondhand. He is learning a lot, developing an interest in philology and a deep appreciation of the look and sound of words. He also discovers Esperanto and learns enough of its grammar and structure to be able to read works written in it. Probably at about this time he begins to create for himself a language to suit his own aesthetic tastes: Naffarin, influenced by Latin and Spanish. – He is not alone at King Edward’s School in his unusual interests: Christopher Wiseman is studying Egyptian and its hieroglyphics, while *Geoffrey Bache Smith, who will later become a close friend, is interested in Welsh.
1908
Beginning of 1908 Ronald and Hilary move to 37 Duchess Road, Edgbaston, the home of Louis Faulkner, a wine merchant; his wife, Mrs Faulkner, holds musical evenings which some of the Fathers from the nearby Oratory attend. The boys’ room is on the second floor; in the room beneath them is another lodger, Edith Bratt. The three young people become friends, and deeper feelings develop between Ronald and Edith. She conspires with the Faulkners’ maid, *Annie Gollins, to smuggle extra food from the kitchen to the hungry boys upstairs, by means of a basket lowered from their window.
Spring and summer terms 1908 Ronald continues in Class I, Section A5 at King Edward’s School; there are twenty-one pupils in the First Class. He will end the term ranked sixteenth in his Mathematics section. Hilary Tolkien is now in Transitus, Section C5.
25 and 27 June 1908 Athletic Sports are held at the King Edward’s School Grounds.
30 July 1908 Speech Day and prize-giving at King Edward’s School. Ronald is awarded a prize for achievement in English.
Autumn term 1908 Christopher Wiseman has now joined Ronald and seventeen others in the First Class at King Edward’s School. Rob Gilson and Vincent Trought are in the Second Class. Hilary Tolkien is now in Class VI, Section B6. Ronald is now a King Edward’s Scholar, a distinction which will continue until he leaves the School in 1911. He will end the term ranked thirteenth in Mathematics Section A4, under Assistant Master the Rev. F.O. Lane. During this term he also takes a voluntary class in Practical Chemistry, taught by Assistant Master T.J. Baker. – During the 1908–9 school year Ronald will present to the School library two books by *G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (1908) and Heretics (1905).
1908 or 1909 One of Ronald’s school-friends buys A Primer of the Gothic Language by *Joseph Wright at a missionary sale, thinking it a Bible Society product. When he realizes his error he sells the book to Ronald, who upon opening it is ‘at least as full of delight as first looking into Chapman’s Homer’ (quoted in Biography, p. 37). The surviving fragments of Gothic (*Languages) give him aesthetic pleasure. He is fascinated by Gothic in itself, ‘a beautiful language’, and learns from the primer how to convert words of other Germanic languages into Gothic script. ‘I often put “Gothic” inscriptions in books, sometimes Gothicizing my Norse name and German surname as Ruginwaldus Dwalakōnis’ (letter to Zillah Sherring, 20 July 1965, Letters, p. 357). He inscribes ‘Ermanaþiudiska Razda eþþau Gautiska tungō’ (‘Language of the Great People, or Gautish [Gothic] tongue’) inside a notebook to be used for work dealing with Gothic, but only uses a few pages (the notebook will be used later for a Quenya phonology and lexicon). – He now abandons the Latin- and Spanish-influenced Naffarin and begins to develop an imaginary ‘lost’ Germanic language, trying to fit it into the historical development of the Germanic tongues.
1909
1909 During this year Ronald is supposed to be working hard, as he is to sit for an *Oxford Scholarship at year’s end, but he is distracted by linguistic interests and he begins to take an active part in school activities. One of these is rugby football, in which Ronald’s slight form is a handicap. One day, however, ‘I decided to make up for weight by (legitimate) ferocity, and I ended up a house-captain at end of that season, & got my colours the next’ (letter to Michael Tolkien, 3 October 1937, Letters, p. 22). He will be described in the King Edward’s School Chronicle as ‘a light but hard-working forward who makes up for his lightness by his determined dash. Tackles well but his kicking is weak’ (‘Football Characters’, n.s. 25, no. 180 (April 1910), p. 35). During one game his tongue will be badly damaged, an accident he will sometimes blame when people complain that they find his speech difficult to understand. On another occasion he will damage his nose. – His relationship with Edith now becomes more serious. They begin to meet in Birmingham tea-shops; they go on cycle-rides together; they have a private whistle-call by which one can summon the other to the window at Duchess Road. Ronald will later recall to Edith their first kisses and ‘absurd long window talks’ (quoted in Biography, p. 40). By summer 1909 they will decide that they are in love.
Spring and summer terms 1909 Ronald continues in the First Class, one of eighteen pupils. He will end this period ranked thirteenth in his Mathematics section, A4, again under F.O. Lane, and second in his German class, which is taught by A.L. Rothe. Hilary Tolkien continues in Class VI, Section B6.
26 March 1909 Ronald takes part in one of the traditional Latin debates at King Edward’s School, in the role of ‘Spurius Vectigalius Acer, Haruspex’. (Haruspex = ‘soothsayer, prophet’. The names of Tolkien’s Latin debate personae always contain plays on his surname, here vectigal ‘toll’ and acer ‘keen’.)
Spring 1909 According to the ‘Parish Magazine’, the magazine of the Birmingham Oratory parish, for May 1909, ‘three patrols of Scouts under the Brothers Tolkien, have been started, and they marched smartly in the wake of the Boys Brigade on Easter Monday [11 April]. When they have done a little more drill, we shall ask some of our friends to help towards providing them with shirts, haversacks, etc.’
11 May 1909 Edwin Neave dies of bronchial pneumonia. He will be buried in All Hallows’ churchyard, Gedling, east of Nottingham.
Summer term 1909 The King Edward’s School Officers Training Corps (formerly the Cadet Corps) participates in field exercises, including one in the Clent Hills near Birmingham. As reported in the King Edward’s School Chronicle, ‘the corps went out five times with the 5th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and took part in the training of a Battalion under the instruction of Lieut.-Col. [John] Barnsley’ (‘Officers’ Training Corps’, n.s. 24, no. 177 (November 1909), p. 80).
10 June 1909 Ronald writes this day’s date (Corpus Christi 1909) on the title-page of a small notebook he calls The Book of Foxrook (*Writing systems). This
contains the key to a secret code consisting of a rune-like phonetic alphabet and a sizable number of ideographic symbols called ‘monographs’ … each monograph representing an entire word…. The code in Foxrook is not only the earliest known example of an invented alphabet devised by Tolkien, it is also the only one of his writing systems that is primarily ideographic. The majority of Foxrook is in English, including most of the messages written in code and the glosses of the monographs, but one page is almost entirely in Esperanto. [Arden R. Smith and Patrick Wynne, ‘Tolkien and Esperanto’, Seven 17 (2000), pp. 29–30]
1 and 3 July 1909 Athletic Sports are held at the King Edward’s School Grounds.
7 July 1909 King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visit Birmingham. After a reception and luncheon at the Council House they drive to Edgbaston to open the New Buildings of the University of Birmingham. The cadets of the King Edward’s School Officers Training Corps parade in the playground behind the School and then, preceded by a fife and drum band, march some distance by way of Bristol Road to the University to contribute to a Guard of Honour for the royal visitors.
26 July 1909 Speech Day and prize-giving at King Edward’s School. Ronald is runner-up for the German prize.
27 July–4 August 1909 Ronald participates with seventy-one other cadets in the King Edward’s School Officers Training Corps at the Public Schools’ Camp, *Tidworth Pennings on Salisbury Plain. They travel there by special train on 27 July. Although it rains that day, the remaining days at camp have fine weather. The King Edward’s School contingent are in one of four battalions given thorough training, culminating in ‘a grand field day, known officially as the Battle of Silk Hill, wherein nearly 20,000 troops of all arms, Regulars and Territorials, took part’ (‘Officers’ Training Corps’, King Edward’s School Chronicle n.s. 24, no. 177 (November 1909), p. 81). One of Ronald’s contemporaries at King Edward’s School will later recall that ‘he and I and six others occupied one bell tent. One evening Tolkien came charging in, leapt up and clasped the central pole high up and slid down it to the ground, not having noticed that someone had fixed a candle to the pole with his clasp knife. Tolkien must still carry the scar of the very nasty cut that resulted’ (William H. Tait, letter to the editor, Old Edwardians Gazette, June 1972, p. 17).
Summer 1909 Ronald spends part of the summer holidays at Rednal working for an Oxford scholarship.
Autumn term 1909 Ronald’s friends Rob Gilson, W.H. Payton and his brother *Ralph Stuart Payton (‘the Baby’), and Vincent Trought have joined him, together with Christopher Wiseman, in the First Class at King Edward’s School. There are now only fifteen pupils in the class. Ronald is no longer in a Mathematics section, apparently having completed his required course of study. Hilary Tolkien is now in Class VI, Section B5.
8 October 1909 Now a member of the King Edward’s School Debating Society (*Societies and clubs), Ronald makes his maiden speech on the motion: ‘That this house expresses its sympathy with the objects and its admiration of the tactics of the Militant Suffragette.’ The King Edward’s School Chronicle will report that he ‘spoke of the Suffragette from a Zoological point of view and gave an interesting display of his paronomasiac powers [ability to play on words]. A good humourous speech.’ Christopher Wiseman, also entering into the debate, points out ‘that man had been educated from the middle of the 18th century, but it was not till 1884 that the vote was extended. Woman had had no education till the middle of the 19th century; ergo, they had still fifty years to wait!’ (‘Debating Society’, n.s. 24, no. 177 (November 1909), pp. 84, 83). The motion fails, 12 votes to 20.
22 October 1909 At a meeting of the King Edward’s School Debating Society R.W. Reynolds introduces the motion: ‘That this House disapproves of the Government proposals for the taxation of land’. The motion passes, 24 votes to 18.
26 October 1909 Ronald plays in the King Edward’s School Rugby 1st XV for the first time, in a home match against Jesus College, Oxford. King Edward’s School loses, 9 to 19. According to the King Edward’s School Chronicle, the home team ‘continued to keep their opponents well in hand, and were at length rewarded by a try by Tolkien, who had shown himself throughout the afternoon a keen forward, and fully deserved this success. The kick did not succeed…. At the close of the game J.R.R. Tolkien and H.N. Thompson received their 2nd Team Colours’ (‘Football’, n.s. 24, no. 177 (November 1909), p. 88). (A photograph of the 1909–10 1st XV appears in Biography, pl. 5a, and in The Tolkien Family Album, p. 26.)
29 October 1909 J.N.E. Tredennick, a student at King Edward’s School, reads a paper on the American author Oliver Wendell Holmes at a meeting of the School Literary Society (*Societies and clubs).
30 October 1909 Ronald plays in a 1st XV home match against the 2nd XV of Old Edwardians II. King Edward’s School loses, 8 to 10.
5 November 1909 At a meeting of the King Edward’s School Debating Society ‘a small House’ discusses the motion ‘That the heroes of antiquity have been much overrated’. The debate is opened by W.H. Payton, who lays ‘emphasis on the change between the conditions of several thousand years ago and those of to-day’. Rob Gilson speaks in protest, ‘arguing that the heroes of antiquity had an enormous influence for good on the morals and ideals of today’. Vincent Trought gives his maiden address to the Society, confessing that ‘he could never perform the labours of Hercules’ without ‘the beginning and end of modern heroes’ superiority’: beer (‘Debating Society’, King Edward’s School Chronicle, n.s. 24, no. 178 (December 1909), pp. 95, 96). The motion fails, 8 votes to 16.
6 November 1909 Ronald plays in a 1st XV away match at Oakham, Leicestershire, against Oakham School. King Edward’s School loses, 13 to 14.
9 November 1909 Ronald plays in a 1st XV away match at The Reddings, Moseley, against Moseley II. King Edward’s School loses, 0 to 17.
13 November 1909 Ronald plays in a 1st XV away match at Lifford, against Kings Norton. King Edward’s School loses, 0 to 30.
19 November 1909 The King Edward’s School Debating Society addresses the motion: ‘That this house deplores the disappearance of the stocks as a form of punishment.’ According to the King Edward’s School Chronicle, ‘J.R.R. Tolkien in a distinctly humorous speech, though somewhat marred by a faulty delivery, advocated the revival of the stocks as an admirable method for the training of the marksmen of this country. It would also benefit the grocers’ trade’ (‘Debating Society’, n.s. 24, no. 178 (December 1909), p. 96). The motion carries, 13 to 12.
26 November 1909 At a meeting of the Literary Society of King Edward’s School the Reverend E.W. Badger, one of the Masters, reads a paper entitled William Morris, Artist, Craftsman and Poet.