Antisemites Are Not Necessarily Creatures Of Hobbit
A number of months ago, I wrote of H G Wells antisemitism, followed by a post on Roald Dahl’s.
Thankfully, not all British authors were afflicted by this pernicious malady*
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.
Precious. (hat tip: Raffe G)
* My attempt to write like a British author
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: Aussie Dave
In today’s world though, as a White South African he’d be branded as ‘bad as a’ Jew or worse by the left.
There is more text to the letter — as well as that of his publsiher — that is well worth reading.
http://io9.com/5892697/whats-classier-than-jrr-tolkien-telling-off-nazis-absolutely-nothing
And here I was thinking about what must be the correct translation of the Arabic on Obama’s ring…..
“One ring to rule them all…”
I’m pretty sure Obama’s ring tone is Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite.” (don’t confuse with lame Jimmy Walker routine “Dyn-O-Mite!”)