The Tolkiens and the strength of genes

By courtesy of Charlaine E. Tolkien from the USA I can show you two photographs of two 4th cousins. I want to show you the strength of genes in the Tolkien family.

The first one (below) is Charles Woodrow Tolkien called "Woody" (1915 South Dakota, USA - 2004 California, USA). He is better known as Wilson Wood, an American character actor during the middle of the twentieth century (he played in the Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961; for more see here). Woody is in a pose imitating J. R. R. Tolkien from a famous photo (see below). These were his parents, Charles Embury and Florence Tolkien, who received the previously unknown letter from J. R. R. Tolkien about the genealogy of his family (full letter by courtesy of the Tolkien family and The Tolkien Estate can be found on my blog - it is here).

Woody was Charles Embury Tolkien's son (1883 Ontario, Canada - 1961 California, USA), Charles Embury was Charles Edwin Cuthbert Tolkien's son (1852-1884, Ontario, Canada), Charles Edwin was James Tolkien's son (1800 London - 1855 Ontario, Canada), James was Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien's son (1746 Gdansk, Poland - 1813 London), and Daniel Gottlieb was Christian Tolkien's son (1706 Kreuzburg, Prussia - 1791 Gdansk, Poland).

Charles "Woody" Tolkien by courtesy of the Tolkien family in America

J. R. R. Tolkien (photo from the internet)

And the second cousin (above) is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892 Orange Free State - 1973 England). His father was Arthur Reuel Tolkien (1857 Handsworth, England - 1896 Orange Free State). Arthur Reuel's father was John Benjamin Tolkien (1807 Pentonville London - 1896 King's Norton). John Benjamin was George Tolkien's son (1884 Pentonville London - 1840 St Pancras London). George was John Benjamin Tolkien's son (1752 Gdansk, Poland - 1819 London). And John Benjamin was Christian Tolkien's son (1706 Kreuzburg, Prussia - 1791 Gdansk, Poland). 

So the most recent common ancestor of J. R. R. Tolkien and Woody Tolkien was Christian Tolkien from Prussia and Poland, whose both sons emigrated to England in ca. 1770.

Both cousins share the same Y-DNA. According to my best knowledge they both belong to the "Baltic" and "Viking" East European SNP clad R1a > Z92 > YP270 > YP351? found recently in two Baltic Vikings, in their ancient DNA (see here):

Sample: VK64 / Gotland_Frojel-03504
Location: Frojel, Gotland, Sweden
Age: Viking 900-1050 CE
Y-DNA: R-BY58559
mtDNA: I1a1

Sample: VK156 / Poland_Bodzia B4
Location: Bodzia, Poland
Age: Viking 10-11th centuries CE
Y-DNA: R-Y9081
mtDNA: J1c2c2a

 

Vikings from Bodzia, Poland

 

See also at the oldest photos of the members of the Tolkien family which are in our collection: (1) Henry Tolkien (1814 Pentonville London - 1885 London), the brother of J. R. R. Tolkien's grandfather John Benjamin, and (2) Charles Edwin Cuthbert Tolkien (1852-1884, Ontario, Canada). Both men were Christian Tolkien's great-grandsons (1 - line of John Benjamin and 2 -line of Daniel Gottlieb).

(1) Henry Tolkien

(2) Charles Edwin Cuthbert Tolkien

Can you see any resemblance between these two cousins? Or East European features? (write about your observations in the comments!).

As far as I know the Tolkien family in England and in Germany did not do any DNA tests so far (I have the test results of the American Tolkiens, of Woody Tolkien's family). I know that this is very personal data. But it would be so interesting to find connection between all branches of the Tolkien family in Europe and in America. At the moment I am doing even bigger Tolkien Family Tree including all Tolkiens - also these living in Germany. Because according to genealogy, to the church books and other documents all Tolkiens seem to be one big family. But the DNA tests would confirm it and would give us deeper view of the ancestry of this famous family, they could connect all Tolkiens with the Old Prussians, Yotvingians, and Vikings.

Yeah! Vikings was so important to J. R. R. Tolkien!

Dear Tolkiens, I think that best option for your genetic genealogy would be full genome sequencing at FamilyTreeDNA - Big Y-700* or not so expensive YSEQ. We could confirm that all Tolkiens are one big family!

And this is how our friend, an artist Nimwen, sees the "London Brothers", Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien and Johann (John) Benjamin Tolkien:

Two Tolkien brothers born in Gdansk, Poland who died in London
- by Nimwen