What A Novel Idea

"And the hobbits weren’t the only four charming, cheeky English lads to win American hearts."

That’s from an article in Christian History magazine (Issue 78, The Man Behind The Myth) entitled, "An Unexpected Party." This article and whole month’s attention is focused on the life and work of J.R.R. Tolkien. As all of my friends will earnestly admit, I’m not a fan of fantasy writing, film, or anything else of that nature. However, they should know that I’m a fan of history, especially when it relates to my faith. This particular article was addressing the newborn esteem people had for Tolkien in the mid-Sixties. Mostly, the abrupt explosion of interest due J.R.R. Tolkien in 1965 was because the Lord of The Rings trilogy was available in paperback for the first time. "Now anyone with three dollars could buy a passport to Middle-earth." However, as the quote at the top would indicate, there were some other folk from England causing a stir in the states for the first time as well:

"As Phillip Norman first revealed in his Beatle history Shout!, in 1968 the two foursomes nearly fused when the Beatles planned producing a film version of The Lord of The Rings starring themselves. That idea was aborted when the chosen director, Stanley Kubrick, convinced John Lennon and Paul McCartney that a Tolkien film was 'unthinkable,' according to Denis O’Dell’s fascinating account in At The Apple’s Core."

Too bad, huh? We could have gotten a Beatles version of L.O.T.R. instead of A Hard Day’s Night or Help!. Well, I’m sure we’re all content in what came about either way...