The Gallant Edith Bratt
Nancy Bunting and Seamus Hamill-Keays
Cormarë Series No. 46
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Who was Edith Bratt? Millions saw Hollywood's
fantasy version of J.R.R. Tolkien's one and only love,
Edith Bratt, in the 2019 movie, Tolkien. Fact, though,
is stranger than fiction, and more interesting. Edith's
story reveals a gallant heroine suffering under "The
Shadow of the Past." Edith was Ronald's "lover," and
much like her mother, Edith risked all for the man she
loved. New research finds a financially independent and
strong woman who was not only John Ronald's equal,
but his muse, his anchor of stability in the present, and
his hope for the future.
Admirers, enthusiasts, and students of Tolkien will find much new material to enrich their understanding and appreciation of Tolkien. Placing the development of John Ronald Tolkien's Elvish languages, mythology, and art during the crucial years of 1916-18 in a new biographical context that includes the importance and significance of Edith Bratt culminates in the pivotal story of Lúthien and Beren with new unsuspected sources and the complementary artwork of The Fair Towns of Holy Tol Eressëa. A fresh awareness of the compelling and pervasive influence and effect of Tolkien's biography on his oeuvre suggests new views and possibilities for further investigations.
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Series' Editors Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: In the Beginning
Chapter 2: Childhood
Chapter 3: Dresden House, 1903-1907
Chapter 4: The Faulkners', Birmingham, 1908-1910
Chapter 5: Charlton Kings, 1910-1913
Chapter 6: Waiting in Warwick, 1913-1915
Chapter 7: Waiting in Warwick, 1915-1916
Chapter 8: Edith Bratt Tolkien Confronts the War, 1916
Chapter 9: Edith Bratt Tolkien's Wanderings, 1917
Chapter 10: Edith: Creation, Subcreation, and Tinúviel/Lúthien
Epilogue
Appendix Concerning Tolkien and Sanskrit
List of Bibliographic Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index
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Cover
Cover: Edith Bratt, age seventeen (Courtesy of the Tolkien Estate)
(click above views to enlarge)
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About the authors
Nancy Bunting is a retired Ph.D. clinical psychologist presently residing in Arkansas. She has previously published on Tolkien in Beyond Bree, Lembas, Mallorn, Minas Tirith Evening-Star, Mythlore, VII, and Hither Shore (in press).
Seamus Hamill-Keays served over 30 years, world-wide, in the Royal Air Force retiring in 1987 from a Senior Scientific Lecturer post at the RAF College Cranwell with the rank of Squadron Leader. He obtained a Master of Arts degree in Celtic Studies, with Distinction, from the University of Wales in 2011. His property in the Brecon Beacons includes the site of the North Gate of the Buckland Estate. The exciting parallels between Brecon Buckland and J.R.R. Tolkien's Buckland in The Lord of the Rings created his intense interest in the early life of J R R Tolkien. His findings are summarised in the website https://www.talybont.com.
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Endorsements
Nancy Bunting and Seamus Hamill-Keayes' biography of Edith Bratt Tolkien is by turns diligently documented and daringly speculative. Many hitherto untapped records and sources are deployed in support of this new assessment of Edith's early life and character. In their concluding chapter, Bunting and
Hamill-Keays mount a well-reasoned defense for their challenge to, in Dimitra Fimi's phrase, Tolkien's "biographical legend."
Janet Brennan Croft
(editor of Mythlore)
An examination and documentation of Edith Bratt's influence and inspirational
presence in the life of J.R.R. Tolkien is long overdue and greatly desired. This
biography and study fills that large gap in Tolkien studies and research. The
detailed chronological, historical, and creative emphasis on Edith Bratt's bio-graphical information in relation to already-known facts related to Tolkien's
own biography provides a fuller picture of her contributions to the development
and creation of Tolkien's legendarium.
Bradford Lee Eden, Ph.D.
(editor of Journal of Tolkien Research)
For far too long the examination and evaluation of the life of J.R.R.
Tolkien has been limited to a narrow range of his academic work and a
few of his male colleagues and friends. In concentrating on this narrow
range, the picture of the creator of Middle-earth has so far lacked a more
rounded and useful dimension and has therefore been limited in value.
Here in this new book Bunting and Hamill-Keays have brought to the fore
the person who would have been closest to Tolkien – his wife Edith. Far from being a bland and unimportant figure in his life as some have suggested, in The Gallant
Edith Bratt we discover an interesting person in her own right with a key role in
Tolkien's creative life. The love affair between the young Tolkien and the love of his
life Edith was as passionate and remarkable as some of the love stories Tolkien told
about his own created characters such as Aragorn and Arwen, and Beren and Lúthien.
The authors have used much recent material to build a picture of Edith's
background, who her parents were, and just how financially independent she
was prior to marrying Tolkien. They have persuasively shown how much at the
core of his creativity Edith belonged – along with Tolkien's younger brother
Hilary. Without her, we would simply not have had the stories as we know them.
We find out more about the things that drove J.R.R. Tolkien to
create what he did, and discover in his wife not only a partner in mat-
ters physical, but also a wise and gifted counsellor to her husband as
well as an important source of inspiration to him during his whole life.
The style of the book is very accessible and it is a pleasure to read and
very informative.
Alexander Lewis
(Chairman (1988-1992) and Secretary (2013-2015) of the Tolkien Society)
A fascinating re-examination of the life of Edith Tolkien, née Bratt, that explores
interesting themes and ideas in relation to the development of JRR Tolkien's
early writing and the evolution of Middle-earth. An enjoyable new perspective
that will hopefully stimulate much debate and further research in years to come.
Scott Whitehouse
(librarian & historian: Staffordshire County Council & Tolkien Trail)
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Announcements
Eight book reviews (4th July 2023)
Mythlore reviews The Gallant Edith Bratt (14th April 2023)
Video review of The Gallant Edith Bratt (13th April 2023)
Many book reviews (12th April 2023)
Podcast on The Gallant Edith Bratt (31st March 2023)
Book reviews in Mallorn (6th February 2023)
Seamus Hamill-Keays wins Beyond Bree Award (28th November 2022)
Review of The Gallant Edith Bratt (18th October 2022)
Two reviews of Edith volume (18th April 2022)
Two books shortlisted for award (17th April 2022)
Mention of The Gallant Edith Bratt in Journal of Tolkien Research (12th November 2021)
New publication, The Gallant Edith Bratt (19th Aug 2021)
258 pages, Walking Tree Publishers 2021, Cormarë Series No. 46, ISBN: 978-3-905703-46-7.
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