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Comment by fmajid | Hacker News Reader

It's worth recognizing the late Christopher Tolkien for his life's work protecting, preserving and collecting his father's writings, in a deeply moving example of filial piety.

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I couldn't agree more with that statement. For someone who had read the hobbit, LOTR, and the Silmarillion and wanted more from that universe. Christopher Tolkien provided a wealth of new books from his fathers unpublished papers released since the 90's and beyond: things like unfinished tales, the children of Hurin, the fall of Gondolin, etc. I couldn't be happier having these extra novels to read and am thankful for the tireless work of his son to bring these to light who worked into his 90's to get them published.

The ideas may have been his father's, but Christopher Tolkien is as responsible for execution as his father was in my eyes, and I solidly consider him to be just as brilliant of a mind, especially for the fantasy-world.

nit: Unfinished Tales was first published in 1980.

I think you're misreading "into his 90s" as "the 90s"? ;)

OP says "released since the 90's and beyond," earlier in the comment.

No - JRR Tolkien was already dead by 1980.

I read it in 1982 when I briefly lived in London as a child.

thanks! you are correct, I thought Unfinished Tales was released in the 90's when I first read it. it was released in 1980.

Seriously. Especially When you compare to some other inheritors (eg Brian Herbert)

Alternative view: he made a career out of gleaning his father's wastepaper bin, and jealously made sure other people couldn't play in his sandpit.

(Obviously I've never been a fan).

You make it sound like they are doing it for free.

To dedicate your life to your father's work, to forgo carving your own path, and at great risk of carrying blame for tarnishing Tolkien's legacy, and still earning praise for it -- I don't think the money offsets it by much.

Exactly, Tolkien also got paid, but no one could claim he did it for the money. Both hid and the work of his son to preserve and share his legacy were labors of love.

For something completely different, but the same here is a YouTube clip of Billy Strings playing with his dad, a very similar dynamic here: https://youtu.be/_6U6NCvOfl8

I doubt the sum total of royalties for the work released by Christopher Tolkien amounts to even a single percent of those for the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, even if you include The Silmarillion. He could just have leaned back and counted the checks incoming.

Because you make money from something doesn't mean it's your only, primary or a necessary motivation.

Also, they might not earn as much as you imagine: They sold the movie rights in 1969 for £100,000.

https://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/my-father039s-qu...

£100,000 in 1969 is nearly £2 million today, so while little compared to the billion dollar adaptations in the 2000s, still a tidy sum

It was needed to pay a large tax bill. Taxes were much higher then. In the UK they peaked at 98%, made up of 83% Income Tax and a 15% surcharge for income not directly earned.

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