poniedziałek, 31 maja 2021

Flowers for John Benjamin Tolkien I (1752-1819)


[From Wikipedia:] 
Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. (...) It was first in devoted use as a burial ground from 1665 until 1854, in which period approximately 123,000 interments were estimated to have taken place. Over 2,000 monuments remain, for the most part in concentrated blocks. It was a prototype of land-use protected, nondenominational grounds, and was particularly favoured by nonconformists who passed their final years in the region. It contains the graves of many notable people, including John Bunyan (died 1688), author of The Pilgrim's Progress; Daniel Defoe (died 1731), author of Robinson Crusoe; William Blake (died 1827), artist, poet, and mystic; Susanna Wesley (died 1742), known as the "Mother of Methodism" through her education of sons John and Charles; Thomas Bayes (died 1761), statistician and philosopher; and Isaac Watts (died 1748), the "Father of English Hymnody"

As I explain in this short movie, John Benjamin Tolkien I (1752, Gdansk - 1819, London), our Professor's great-great-grandfather is buried in the same part of the cemetery, where we can find other members of Lady of Huntingdon Connexion (Calvinistic Methodists) and the members of the London Missionary Society, The Bible Society etc. Close to the Tolkiens' grave you can find the burial place of Ann Erskine, who was Lady of Huntingdon successor. 

Bunhill Fields Burying Ground
(Faden's 1819 revision of Horwood)

British History Online has good texts about this form of Christianity in London. See especially here (their history) and here (their articles of faith). 

John Tallis's Georgian London (see the Tolkiens' White Lion St)

sobota, 29 maja 2021

Spread the word!

I have prepared new infographics for you (take, copy, share!), and also prepared a new presentation, which will premiere today at the webinar "Tolkien in Poland"

I promise to present the results of my research in several webinars due to a whole host of new discoveries.


 




piątek, 28 maja 2021

Demi-griffin from Murrells to Tolkiens?

Before you read it, read this post: "The Tolkien Heraldry | Demi-Griffin as a sign of the Tolkien Family!". 

This theory explains why the griffin tradition is not known to the descendants of Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien and is only present among the descendants of George Tolkien.

Griffin's head, wings addorsed
of the Murrell family (according to Fairbairn's armorial)

The Tolkiens were not nobility, so they could not have a coat-of-arms. Meanwhile, J. R. R. Tolkien's great-grandfather, George Tolkien (1784-1840), in 1805 married Miss Elyza Lidia Murrell (1787-1863). House Murrell had a coat-of-arms, and in it a crest in the form of... a griffin head! Eliza's ancestors can be traced back to the 15th century in Norfolk.

And remember, heraldic griffin is always or ('golden') and only female griffin has wings!


House Murrell in the Fairbairn's armorial
 
Eliza Lydia Tolkien, nee Murrell in my Tolkien Family Tree

Because Elyza's parents died when she was very young (in 1802-1803) and she married George Tolkien in her 18, maybe the descendants of George and Elyza Tolkien (the family of J. R. R. Tolkien and of other English Tolkiens) became the descendants of the heraldic tradition of the Murrell (rather poor) nobility with the griffin crest?

And by the way the parents of Eliza Lydia belonged to the Countess of Huntindon Connexion (Calvinits Methodists - see here) and, as the family of John Benjamin Tolkien, they attended the sermons in Spa Fields Chapel (they lived very close, at Bradford Street, Holborn). There was still a time when faithful Christians settled close to their churches and chapels, and their priests and pastors (see Mabel Tolkien's later fate).

Plan of London (Faden's 1819 revision of Horwood)

środa, 26 maja 2021

The Tolkien Heraldry | Demi-Griffin as a sign of the Tolkien Family!

This is one of my greatest discoveries in 2021 (another one is the identification of the first Tolkien ever in 1356 - see here)! Find out more about the heritage of the Tolkien family that is kept in Hastings, England. Text about the Tolkien family sign, a great emblem to be used by today's descendants of John Benjamin Tolkien from Gdańsk and London. The text requires concentration and looking at the given links.

From Fairbairn's armorial

__________________________________

Mrs. Linda West from Brisbane, Australia is J. R. R. Tolkien's 2nd cousin 2x removed. Her father was Richard Leslie Tolkien (1922-2015) whose great-grandfather was Henry Tolkien (1814-1885). As you remember (see here), Henry Tolkien was a great-uncle of J. R. R. Tolkien, brother of his grandfather, John Benjamin Tolkien (1807–1896). He was a music dealer and he had his shop at 28 King William Street, London (more on him at "London Street Views"). He was a freemason in the United Grand Lodge of England.

Mrs. Linda West is the benefactor of my genealogical research of the Tolkien family. When I started creating the Tolkien Family tree, I was in touch with Linda. Now, as part of Ancestry.com, we work together to build the most complete genealogy possible. Thanks to my correspondence with her and the Tolkien family from the USA I have something new which - I hope - will be of interest to you. The descendants of Henry Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien's granduncle) from Hastings are in the possession of three items, the heirloom as J. R. R. Tolkien would write, from the beginnings of the Tolkien family in England:

Published with permission of Mrs. Linda West

The photo above was taken in Hastings, East Sussex in 2007, in the family house of Linda West. We can see here: 
  1. a plaque with the crest of the Tolkien family, 
  2. The Bible (KJV) from c. 1761 belonging to Mary Tolkien (née Wall, 1746-1837), the wife of John Benjamin Tolkien (born in 1752 in Danzig/Gdańsk, Poland - died in 1819 in London),
  3. a brush with the Tolkien crest and with the letters A&C which signify Advance With Courage. 

The Tolkien crest
 
Ad 1. Crest: "out of a ducal coronet a demi-griffin or". This demi-griffin confirms what we have alredy known about the Tolkien family arms. See "The Tolkiens' Heraldry tradition...". The demi-griffin is almost identical to J. R. R. Tolkien's drawing from The Book of Ishness (unpublished drawing by J. R. R. Tolkien from the Bodleian Library - for its copy by Nimwen see below). Professor Tolkien also wrote in an unknown 1951 letter that I published that "The crest is given from an impression of my father’s seal" (see here).

The arms of the Tolkien family according to J. R. R. Tolkien.
Drawing by Nimwen, modeled on J.R.R.T.'s one, today in the Bodleian Library

 
I put forward the theory that the demi-griffin tradition is the only true heraldic heritage of the Tolkien family and that it dates back to George Tolkien (see here): the common ancestor of J. R. R. Tolkien (who knew the tradition of the coat-of-arms) and the father of Linda West (Linda wrote to me: "My father Richard Leslie Tolkien had a tattoo of the shield design on his arm, with the words Advance with Courage; The words Advance with Courage could be linked to my father’s army connections – he had the tattoo done while he was in Germany 1944-1946? My grandson’s name is Griffin..."), was exactly George Tolkien! 

There are also differences between the tradition preserved in the descendants of Henry Tolkien and the descendants of his brother John Benjamin Tolkien. A common tradition is an identical half-griffin. Different traditions are the shield (the tradition of the J. R. R. Tolkien's family) and the motto: for John Benjamin Tolkien's descendants it is Fest und Treu (German for 'Steadfast and Faithful'), and for Henry Tolkien's descendants it is Advance with Courage.
 
It seems that Professor Tolkien assembled his coat of arms from three elements. He wrote about it in his letter from 1951:
"(...) and he [Professor's eldest uncle, John Benjamin Tolkien, 1845-1883] had tradition of the family arms. The latter was said to be or have been – a blue shield with two gold chevrons and 5 gold stars three above and 2 below. The crest a half-griffin. I do not describe them in technical heraldic language as they are uncertain (and German in any case). The crest is given from an impression of my father’s seal; The motto is said to have been ‘Fest und Treu.’" (see the full text of this letter)
The Tolkiens were certainly not descended from the German nobility (see here). Maybe you can help me find other examples of English pseudo-heraldry from the 18th and 19th centuries? Perhaps similar crests were used by other craftsman families in England?
 
demi-griffin (unidentified stamp, see here)
 
A similar demi-griffin (according to Fairbairn) can be found as the sign of:
  • Besney [or Bestney of Hertfordshire]; 
  • Connocke of Cornwall; 
  • Coppin of Norfolk; 
  • Griffin of London; 
  • Lane of County Roscommon in Ireland; 
  • Page; 
  • Powell of Hinton in Herefordshire, 
  • of St Alban’s, 
  • of London and of Herefordshire; 
  • Rowles of Surrey; 
  • Royden of Devon; 
  • Vidler.

The Bible of Mary Tolkien (c 1761)

Ad 2. The Bible (KJV) from c. 1761 belonging to Mary Tolkien (née Wall, 1746-1837), the wife of John Benjamin Tolkien (born in 1752 in Danzig/Gdańsk, Poland - died in 1819 in London). Mary was J. R. R. Tolkien's great-great-grandmother. The first English Tolkiens from John Benjamin Tolkien's line were the Calvinist Methodists from the Lady of Huntingdon Connexion (see here, here, and here). Calvinist Methodist like other Evangelical Christians used King James Version (KJV). You can see a similar Bible here. Maybe you can help me find the exact same edition?

In the Bible of Mary Tolkien you can see the dates of birth and of baptism of three sons
of John Benjamin and Mary: Benjamin (1782-1787), George (1784-1840),
and John Benjamin (1788-1859)

(3) A brush with the demi-griffin crest and the motto letters A. C. or Advance with Courage according to the tradition of this line of the Tolkien family. Perhaps the Tolkien family crest brush was some kind of gift for a family member?


Do you know similar lettering from other examples? This would help date the brush.
 
Update (May 27, 2021):
 
Has the Mystery of the Tolkien coat of arms been solved? The Tolkiens were not nobility, so they could not have a coat-of-arms. Meanwhile, J. R. R. Tolkien's great-grandfather, George Tolkien, married Miss Elyza Lidia Murrell. House Murrell had a coat-of-arms, and in it a crest in the form of a griffin head! 
__________________________________

Take a look at http://PayPal.me/Galadhorn or http://Patronite.pl/Galadhorn - you can support my research! I am collecting funds for my travels to the archives in Berlin and Gdańsk, and for the DNA tests of the Tolkien Family. All contributors receive the updated Tolkien Family Tree in PDF

wtorek, 25 maja 2021

Fritz Tolkien i jego niemieckie maszyny

Tajemnica urodzonego w 1900 Fritza Tolkiena jest rozwiązana. Znam jego ojca Rudolfa z Pillau w Prusach Wschodnich, znam jego gdański adres, mam nawet fragmenty jego pracy dyplomowej i rysunki techniczne. Materiały te znalazłem w Archiwum Państwowym w Gdańsku w sierpniu 2019 roku.

Dyplom Fritza Tolkiena (Technische Hochschule der Freien Stadt Danzig)
Archiwum Państwowe w Gdańsku

Wiecie już, że Tolkienowie z Prus to były dwa rody, natangijski (do tego należeli też przodkowie Profesora J. R. R. Tolkiena z Oksfordu albo prof. Johannesa Tolkiehna z Królewca) oraz sambijski (do tego należy mój kolega, prof. Günter-Ulrich Tolkiehn z Wildau). Na razie nie umiem połączyć tych rodów, nie wiem czy w ogóle są spokrewnione, choć XVIII-wieczni Tolkienowie z Sambii i Natangii pełnili te same urzędy sołtysów i zarządców dóbr królewskich. Namawiam na badania DNA Tolkienów sambijskich, bo geny natangijskich już stopniowo poznajemy (patrz tutaj).

W XX wieku w Hannowerze istniała firma Wülfel-Pumpen G.m.b.H., produkująca między innymi pompy powietrzne typu Tolkien (niem. Bauart Tolkien). Zabawne, bo Profesor Tolkien tyle razy narzekał na świat maszynerii ("Oto obnażona tragedia i rozpacz związana z wszelką maszynerią", list nr 75), a tymczasem możecie spotkać takie pompy do wielkich maszyn, na których widnieje nazwisko Tolkien:

Pompa powietrzna typu Tolkien

Ich pomysłodawcą był dyplomowany inżynier Fritz Tolkien. Pełne jego imię i nazwisko to Fritz Rudolf Tolkien. Urodził się w wierze ewangelicko-augsburskiej 14 grudnia 1900 roku w Pillau (Pilawa) w Prusach Wschodnich. Jego rodzicami byli Friedrich Rudolf Tolkien (ur. 1863) oraz Anna Maria Beutner (ur. 1866).

Studiował w okresie międzywojennym w gdańskiej szkole technicznej ("Technische Hochschule der Freien Stadt Danzig"). Potem przeniósł się do Berlina, gdzie 24 marca 1928 roku ożenił się z Margarete Anna Kessel (ur. 1903). 

Z rodziną zamieszkał w Hannowerze w Dolnej Saksonii przy Lister Kirchweg nr 18. Jego biuro techniczne znajdowało się w tym samym mieście przy Am Schiffengraben nr 10. Ogłosił wiele patentów. W 1933 na przykład patent na "Bezkorbowy rozrząd suwakowy do obustronnie działających tłokowych silników parowych bez koła zamachowego" opis patentowy nr 18936) w Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej. Tutaj znajdziecie opis jednej z jego pomp. Ostatni zapis na jego temat znajduję w książce adresowej Hannoweru z 1965 roku. Nie wiem, kiedy zmarł i czy miał potomstwo. 

Oto fragment jego życiorysu z pracy dyplomowej, przechowywanej w Archiwum Państwowym w Gdańsku:

Archiwum Państwowe w Gdańsku

Być może kiedyś zdobędę więcej informacji na jego temat...

Filmy o szczególnych wartościach religijnych, moralnych i artystycznych

Scena Pasji z "Andrieja Rublowa"
 
W 1995 roku z okazji stulecia narodzin kina watykańska Kongregacja do spraw Środków Masowego Przekazu ogłosiła listę 45 filmów fabularnych, które zdaniem komisji zawierają szczególne wartości religijne, moralne i artystyczne. Listę podzielono na trzy kategorie podkreślając, że wybór filmów ma charakter subiektywny.

Filmy o szczególnych walorach religijnych
 
Andriej Rublow - reż. Andriej Tarkowski (1966)
Misja - reż. Roland Joffe (1986)
Męczeństwo Joanny d'Arc - reż. Carl Teodor Dreyer (1928)
Widowisko pasyjne - reż. Ferdynand Zecca i Lucien Nonguet, Francja (1902-1905)
Franciszek, kuglarz Boży - reż. Roberto Rossellini (1949)
Ewangelia wg św. Mateusza - reż. Pier Paolo Pasolini (1964)
Teresa - reż. Alain Cavalier (1986)
Słowo - reż. Carl Teodor Dreyer (1955)
Ofiarowanie - reż. Andriej Tarkowski (1986)
Św. Franciszek z Asyżu - reż. Liliana Cavani (1972)
Ben Hur - reż. William Wyler (1959)
Uczta Babette - Gabriel Axel (1987)
Nazarin - Louis Buňuel (1958)
Monsieur Vincent - Maurice Cloche (1947)
Oto jest głowa zdrajcy - Fred Zinnemann (1966)

Filmy o szczególnych walorach moralnych
 
Gandhi - Richard Attenborough (1982)
Nietolerancja - David Wark Griffith (1916)
Dekalog - Krzysztof Kieślowski (1987)
Do widzenia chłopcy - Louis Malle (1987)
Dersu Uzała - Akira Kurosawa (1975)
Drzewo na saboty - Ermanno Olmi (1978)
Rzym, miasto otwarte - reż. Roberto Rossellini (1945)
Tam, gdzie rosną poziomki - reż. Ingmar Bergman (1958)
Siódma pieczęć - reż. Ingmar Bergman (1956)
Rydwany ognia - reż. Hugh Hudson (1981)
Złodzieje rowerów - reż. Vittorio De Sica (1949)
Życie jest cudowne - reż. Frank Capra (1947)
Lista Schindlera - reż. Steven Spielberg
Na nabrzeżu - Elia Kazan (1954)
Harfa Birmańska - Kon Ichikawa (1955)
 
Filmy o szczególnych walorach artystycznych
 
Odyseja kosmiczna 2001 - reż. Stanley Kubrick (1968)
La Strada - reż. Federico Fellini (1954)
Obywatel Kane - reż. Orson Welles (1941)
Metropolis - reż. Fritz Lang (1926)
Dzisiejsze czasy - reż. Charles Chaplin (1936)
Napoleon - reż. Abel Gance (1927)
8 1/2 - reż. Federico Fellini (1962)
Towarzysze broni - reż. Jean Renoir (1937)
Nosferatu - reż. Wilhelm F Murnau (1922)
Dyliżans - reż. John Ford (1939)
Lampart - reż. Luchino Visconti (1963)
Fantazja - reż. J. Algar (1940)
Czarodziej z Oz - reż. Victor Fleming (1939)
Szajka z Lawendowego Wzgórza - reż. Charles Crichton (1951)
Małe kobietki - reż. George Cukor (1933)
 
Czy znacie filmy, które pojawiły się od 1995, a można by je tutaj dodać?

Coat-of-arms | Brayton and Tolkien

See also: "The Tolkiens' heraldry: tradition and reality"

In preparation for the announcement of a new amazing genealogical-heraldic discovery, today I would just like to show the English coat-of-arms of the Brayton family, which is the most similar English heraldic device to the alleged coat-of-arms of the Tolkien family.

Blazon: "Azure, two chevronels between as many mullets or, is borne by the name of Brayton" (source)

And coincidence, the Tolkien coat-of-arms according to Professor Tolkien:

Blazon:

Arms – "Azure, two chevronels between five mullets or, is borne by the name of Tolkien"
Crest – "A demi-griffin [or]"
Motto – "Fest und Treu"

piątek, 21 maja 2021

Profesor Tolkien i język polski

Po raz pierwszy poznać możecie fragmenty listów Tolkiena do Mroczkowskiego, gdzie Profesor pisze o języku polskim. Zapraszam do lektury!

"Pan Tadeusz" wzmiankowany przez Tolkiena w liście z 1960

Wbrew obiegowej, pełnej polskiej nadziei, opinii, Profesor Tolkien nigdy nie opanował języka polskiego. Nadzieję budował ten fragment z listu Profesora do syna, Christophera z 1944 roku:

Nr 55. Do Christophera Tolkiena

Northmoor Road 20, Oksford, 18 stycznia 1944

Fæder his þriddan suna
(1) Mój najdroższy! (...) Nie potrafię pisać po rosyjsku, a w polskim czuję się jeszcze dość niepewnie. Spodziewam się, że niedługo biedny stary Poptawski [zapewne Jerzy Popławski - patrz tutaj] będzie się zastanawiał, jak mi idzie. Upłynie dużo czasu, zanim będę mógł mu pomóc w ułożeniu nowego słowniczka technicznego!!! Taki słown[ik] i tak powstanie (jeśli ocaleją jacyś Polacy i Polska)...

Polacy i Polska ocaleli, choć okupację niemiecką zastąpiła okupacja sowiecka. Wiele lat później Tolkien zaprzyjaźnił się z żyjącym w cieniu Mordoru profesorem Przemysławem Mroczkowskim. Pisałem o Mroczkowskim wiele razy na blogu, szczególnie w związku z cudownym spotkaniem z Córkami Profesora i poznaniem listów Tolkiena do Mroczkowskiego (zajrzyj tutaj, tutaj i tutaj). Oto, co w listach do Mroczkowskiego pisał Tolkien o swojej znajomości polszczyzny (uwaga - nie będzie optymistycznie!):

W liście z 22 listopada 1960 Tolkien pisał:

Mam wielkie poczucie winy, że nigdy nie potwierdziłem, że doszedł do mnie bezpiecznie wspaniały egzemplarz Pana Tadeusza, który mi przesłałeś (bez mojej zasługi). I choć rozbudziło to we mnie znowu chęć poznania języka polskiego, to niestety nie znalazłem czasu, żeby się za to zabrać. Jak to zwykle w moim wieku (u tych, którzy są przyzwyczajeni do nauki języków) szybko się uczę, ale zapominam jeszcze szybciej, więc przerywana nauka przynosi niewielki skutek. Oczywiście nie mogę nawet zacząć oceniać wartości tłumaczenia Hobbita, który niedawno się u mnie pojawił: Mam nadzieję, że jest dobry. Wysłano mi hojnie kilka egzemplarzy. (...)

W liście z 28 grudnia 1961 Profesor Tolkien pisał: 

To bardzo miłe, że relacjonujesz mi tłumaczenie na język polski. Niestety, języki słowiańskie były (czego teraz żałuję) jedną z ważnych rzeczy, które zaniedbałem w czasach, gdy umysł był bardziej bystry i umiałem się lepiej skupić. I obawiam się, że nie ma teraz już nadziei, że kiedykolwiek będę mógł ocenić, czy tłumaczenie moich dzieł jest dobre, czy nie - z wyjątkiem najbardziej fundamentalnych spraw, takich jak pominięcie całych zdań (czego dokonał [tłumacz] Holender).

I jeszcze ciekawostka z archiwów wydawnictwa George Allen & Unwin (dziś w archiwum HarperCollins; cytat z książki Ch. Scull i W. G. Hammonda, The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide) - 3 lipca 1959 Tolkien pisał w sprawie polskich przekładów, że:

tłumaczenie na taki język, jak polski, zupełnie obcy angielskiemu... to dość trudna sytuacja w stosunku do tej, którą znamy z przekładu na niderlandzki.

 

Ludy Europy w epoce tolkienowskiego Ælfwine

czwartek, 20 maja 2021

Why are we doing Tolkien DNA testing?

Source: Wikimedia Commons

There are quotes from Tolkien that show his dream to know the prehistoric roots of his male lineage. Today we make this dream come true by researching the Tolkien Y-DNA

 J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lost Road" (a fragment of The History of Middle-earth, V):

I wonder what kind of people lived in Portugal and Spain and Ireland and Britain in old days, very old days, before the Romans, or the Carthaginians. Before anybody else. I wonder what the man thought who was the first to see the western sea.' (...)

And after all, language goes back by a continuous tradition into the past, just as much as the other two. I often think that if you knew the living faces of any man's ancestors, a long way back, you might find some queer things. You might find that he got his nose quite clearly from, say, his mother's great-grandfather; and yet that something about his nose, its expression or its set or whatever you like to call it, really came down from much further back, from, say, his father's great-great-great-grandfather or greater.

Anyway I like to go back - and not with race only, or culture only, or language; but with all three. I wish I could go back with the three that are mixed in us, father; just the plain Errols, with a little house in Cornwall in the summer. I wonder what one would see.'

'It depends how far you went back,' said the elder Errol. 'If you went back beyond the Ice-ages, I imagine you would find nothing in these parts; or at any rate a pretty beastly and uncomely race, and a tooth-and-nail culture, and a disgusting language with no echoes for you, unless those of food-noises.'

About Audoin and Alboin Errol from The Lost Road Christopher Tolkien wrote in his commentary: 

Alboin's biography sketched in these chapters is in many respects closely modelled on my father's own life - though Alboin was not an orphan, and my father was not a widower. Dates pencilled on the covering page of the manuscript reinforce the strongly biographical element: Alboin was born on February 4, (1891 >) 1890, two years earlier than my father. Audoin was born in September 1918. 

Thanks to the research that is still ongoing, we already know this (see below). And I think Professor Tolkien himself would be very interested in this research process of the male lineage of his ancestors (English < Germans < Prussians < Balts < Proto-Balto-Slavs < Proto-Indo-Europeans < etc. < Y-DNA "Adam"). I am very thankful to his cousins who share the same Y-DNA with Professor Tolkien.

According to the STRs of two Tolkiens we may predict
that the final result will show R1a-YP270 or its descendants (eg. YP350)

We will probably wait until summer for the results in FamilyTreeDNA:


 

wtorek, 18 maja 2021

J. R. R. Tolkien, "Król Sheave"

Sheaf, or Shield Sheafing, 
can actually be made out as one 
 of the remote ancestors of the present Queen
 
J. R. R. Tolkien, "The Lost Road" (HoMe V)
 
 
Fragment tekstu Tolkiena z Notion Club Papers (cytat z "Zapisków Klubu Mniemań" w Simbelmynë w tłumaczeniu Joanny Drzewowskiej, "Adaneth"; fragment HoMe IX). O bohaterze tego opowiadania pisałem już tutaj. Przypominam go w związku z finalizacją badań genetycznych Tolkienów (wyniki poznamy latem 2021). A jako ilustrację przedstawiam fragment komiksu o Thorgalu. Ja Tolkiena poznałem trochę przez Thorgala, bo komiksy były u mnie przed książkami, a gdy spotkałem Tolkiena, uderzyło mnie to, że znam już przecież Gandalfa - okazało się, że innego Gandalfa...

J. R. R. Tolkien

 

KRÓL SHEAVE


W dawnych dniach się zdarzyło, że z głębin Oceanu przypłynął okręt ku siedzibom Longobardów, którzy zamieszkiwali wyspy na północy. Okręt zbudowano z lśniącego drewna, a nie miał on wioseł ani masztów, lecz unosił się na wodzie, płynąc na wschód. Za nim, rozpalając płomieniem bezbarwną wodę, zachodziło słońce. Obudził się wiatr. Gdzieś poza granicami świata wspinały się z wolna w górę ołowiane chmury, rozciągając szeroko szare skrzydła, nachylone nad ziemią jak mocarne orły, zwiastuni złych nowin szybujący gdzieś na wschód. 

 

Zdumiewali się ludzie, stojący we mgle ciemnych wysepek, w głębinach czasu. Nie znali oni, co śmiech, nie wiedzieli, co światło ani co mądrość. Panował nad nimi cień, a zło zamieszkiwało urwiste góry wznoszące się za nimi, srogie i pozbawione życia. Wschód był pogrążony w ciemnościach. 

 

A okręt, który przypłynął do brzegu, lśnił blaskiem. Unoszony na falach, wpłynął na plażę, gdzie spoczął wśród piasku i żwiru. Słońce zaszło, chmury zakryły zziębłe niebo. Ludzie o sercach wypełnionych smutkiem pospieszyli na plażę, ku bezbarwnym wodom, w poszukiwaniu łodzi, co wciąż lśniła w szarości zmroku. Zajrzeli do środka – a tam, śpiąc, leżał chłopiec o pięknym obliczu i miłym dla oka wyglądzie. Oddychał spokojnie, a jego krucze włosy, przepasane złotem, odbijały czernią od białej skóry. Drewno, z którego zbudowano statek, pokrywały rzeźby i złocenia. Obok chłopca w złotym naczyniu stała woda, dalej, przy jego ręce, leżała złota harfa o srebrnych strunach. Głowę oparł o snop zboża, który także lśnił delikatnym blaskiem, jak lśni blade złoto z dalekich krain, położonych na zachód od Angol. I zdumiewali się ludzie. 

 

Przyciągnęli łódź i przywiązali wysoko, poza zasięgiem fal, a potem na rękach przenieśli cały jej ładunek. Chłopiec spał. Razem z posłaniem zanieśli go między swe czarne, ponure domy, w mroczną krainę między pustkowiem a morzem. Ponad domami wznosiła się tam drewniana hala, pusta i zapomniana. Stała tak już długi czas, nie znając żadnego gwaru, nie widząc światła – czy to nocą, czy za dnia. Tam go położyli do snu w ciemności i pustce, zamknęli drzwi i postawili straż. Mijała noc, potem – jak zawsze na ziemi – wczesnym świtem obudził się nowy dzień. Otwarto drzwi i ludzie weszli do hali, i stanęli w zdumieniu, napełnieni podziwem i strachem. W domu nie było nikogo. Hala była pusta. Ani śladu po leżącym na podłodze człowieku – tylko w kurzu przy opuszczonym posłaniu stało złote naczynie po wodzie, próżne już i suche. Gość odszedł. 

 

Zasmucili się. Szukali go z żalem, aż z niebieskich wzgórz wzeszło słońce, przynosząc światło do ludzkich domostw. Spojrzeli wzwyż – a tam, wysoko, na zszarzałym, bezdrzewnym pagórku zalśnił blask złota. Tam stał ten, którego szukali – z głową podniesioną, z rozpuszczonymi na wietrze włosami. Spod jego rąk płynęły dźwięki harfy, u stóp jego leżał bladozłoty snop zboża. Potem czystym głosem zaśpiewał pieśń – słodką, nieziemską, dziwnie mieszając muzykę ze słowami w nieznanej mowie. Stały milczące drzewa, a ludzie zamarli w zdumieniu, nasłuchując. 

 

Środkowa Ziemia od wielu wieków, od dni swej młodości nie znała pieśni ni pieśniarza, oczy śmiertelników nie widziały tak pięknego widoku jak ten – w owej zapomnianej krainie smutku, gdzie lud nie miał nad sobą pana ani króla, ani Wielkiej Rady, a rządził nimi jedynie zimny strach, co pochodził z bezludzia, czarny cień, który mieszkał po wzgórzach i po zszarzałych lasach, a ich panem było Przerażenie. Długo czekała w ciszy pusta królewska hala, ciemna, cicha, zapomniana, opuszczona, bez ognia, bez uczty. 

 

Wybiegli ludzie ze swych ciemnych domów, otwarli drzwi, rozgrodzili wrota. Budziła się radość. Tłumnie pospieszyli ku wzgórzu i podnosząc głowy, spojrzeli na swego gościa. I skłonili się przed nim siwobrodzi mężowie, błogosławiąc go, iż przybył za ich dni, by przynieść uleczenie. Witali go młodzieńcy i dziewczęta, kobiety i dzieci. A on, skończywszy pieśń, spoglądał na nich w milczeniu. Obwołali go swoim władcą, uczynili go swym królem, ukoronowali wieńcem ze złotej pszenicy. Bielą lśnił jego królewski płaszcz, a harfa była mu berłem. W jego domu zapłonął ogień, odbywały się uczty, tam zamieszkała mądrość, a nie miał przystępu strach. I tak dożył wieku męskiego, w potędze i chwale. 

 

Nazwano go imieniem Sheave – Snop, który przywiózł im okręt, a imię to stało się odtąd sławne w krainach Północy, brzmiące w pieśniach. Prawdziwe jego imię pozostało tajemnicą – ukryte imię w nieznanej mowie jakiegoś dalekiego kraju, gdzie na zachodzie zapadające się morze obmywa brzeg lądu, gdzieś poza szlakami ludzkich wędrówek, odkąd upadł świat. Zapomniano słowo, zagubiono imię. 

 

Wspomógł ich w potrzebie, przywrócił dawno zapomniane prawa, nauczył ich słów mądrości i piękna – za czasów króla Sheava ich język dojrzał, zrodził muzykę i pieśń. On im odsłaniał sekrety i wyjaśniał runy. On rozdawał bogate dary, nagrodę za trud, a z ziemi wzrosły bogactwo i dostatek. Mężczyźni zaorali akry ziemi, wiosną zasiali zboże w wielkiej obfitości, by we żniwa zebrać do spichrzów złoty plon, pożytek dla ludzi. W tym czasie zszarzały las cofnął się aż w ciemne góry, podniósł się cień, a tam, gdzie niegdyś były pustkowia, na wietrze szumiały lśniące zboża, podnosiły się srebrne kłosy pszenicy i kwitły drzewa. 

 

Z drewna budowano hale i domy, a z kamienia wysokie, strome wieże o złotych dachach, które wznosząc się, strzegły miasta. W królewskim dworze, także zbudowanym z drewna, rzeźbami pokryto ściany. Na zwisających ku ziemi zasłonach wymalowano postacie o pięknych barwach, lśniące srebrem, złotem i szkarłatem, by opowiadały o obcych krainach, jeśli patrzący miał mądrość, by w myśli przywołać legendę. U jego tronu mężowie szukali rady i pociechy, uleczenia i sprawiedliwego sądu. Ręką hojną rozdawał dary i rosła jego chwała. Sława jego niosła się daleko nad bezbarwną wodą, przez krainy Północy – echem pieśni o królu Sheavie, potężnym królu światła.

 

(...) Siedmiu synów spłodził król Sheave, ojciec książąt, mąż wielkiej mądrości i mocy, i wielkiego serca. Z jego rodu pochodzi siedmiu królów, jak uczą nas pieśni. Zanim w Dawnych Latach zmienił się świat, rządzili oni na ziemi, zakładali i nazywali królestwa Północy, i strzegli swego ludu. Tych spłodził Sheave: morskich Dunów i Gotów, Szwedów i Lud Północy, Franków i Fryzów, lud wyspiarski, lud miecza, Saksonów, Szwabów, Anglów i Longobardów, którzy dawno temu, daleko za Mircwudu zdobyli potężne królestwo w ziemi Walów, gdzie w Italii królował Ælfwine, syn Éadwina. Lecz wszystko to przeminęło!

 

Grzegorz Rosiński, "Thogral | Gwiezdne dziecko" (tom 7.)

Pamiętajmy też, że Longobardowie ruszyli na południe znad bałtyckich brzegów. Z Bałtykiem wiążą się też losy praprzodków rodziny Tolkienów...



sobota, 15 maja 2021

J. R. R. Tolkien's almost forgotten great-grandfather | George Tolkien (1784-1840)

 
In the years 1827–1838 George Tolkien was a member of the Drury Lane Company by Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. This is the same theatre where two hundred years later 
we could watch and listen to "The Lord of the Rings" musical!
 
I want to present now the information about J. R. R. Tolkien's great-grandfather. This information is the result of my many years of genealogical and historical research. George Tolkien is a very interesting Londoner who has almost been forgotten. I am glad that I was able to extract his character from the depths of the archives.
 
John Benjamin I’s second son George Tolkien (1784-1840; according to the documents he was George, not George William as other authors write), J. R. R. Tolkien’s great-grandfather, was a house-agent and an auctioneer, a tool producer, a music teacher and music seller, and also a theater bass singer in Covent Garden. Towards the end of his life he was also an organist in St Pancras church (see "The London Tolkiens: even more information!"). 
 
"He was born on 20 October 1784 in Pentonville, Islington"

He was born on 20 October 1784 in Pentonville, Islington (Greater London; see "The Tolkien Family London addresses" and "Sackville vs. Pentonville") and he was baptized in the Savoy Lutheran Chapel on 7 November of the same year. His younger brother was John Benjamin Tolkien II (1788–1859), a gentleman and an insurance agent in Norwich Union (John Benjamin II was probably a member of the Moravian Church or Unitas Fratrum, Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine) in Bristol. 
 
The Tolkien family (Mr. M. Tolkien) is in the possession of the Bible from the eighteenth century which belonged to Mary Tolkien, née Wall (J. R. R. Tolkien's great-great-grandmother, wife of Gdańsk-born Johann Benjamin Tolkien, 1752–1819). Mary made the records of the births and baptisms of her sons in her Bible: Benjamin Tolkien (born 28 January 1782, baptized 17 February [?] 1782), George Tolkien (born 20 October 1784, baptized 7 November 1784; JRRT's great-grandfather) and John Benjamin Tolkien (born 2 January 1788, baptized 27 January 1788). Benjamin died in 1787, George in 1840 and John Benjamin in 1859.
 
Source: Geni.com and Ancestry.com
  
George as a child attended the violin lessons of a Mr Dando in London. In 1799 he became an apprentice in the furrier manufacture of his uncle, Daniel where he was supposed to stay for seven years. He had to finish his learning in 1805. On 5 September 1805 George Tolkien married “by licence” Eliza Lydia Murrell (1787–1863) in St Bartholomew the Great church in London (marriage „by licence” was typical for Non-Conformists in England). 
 
"He was baptized in the Savoy Lutheran Chapel on November 7, 1784"
(source: Ancestry.co.uk)

 
First son of George and Eliza, George William Tolkien (1805–1877) was born on 31 October 1805, two months after his parents’ wedding. The Tolkiens had fourteen children during twenty seven years of their marriage. One of their sons was J. R. R. Tolkien’s grandfather, John Benjamin Tolkien III (1809–1896). George’s family lived first in the family house at 77 White Lion Street, Pentonville, London. In 1822 they moved to 4 High Street in Islington. In the beginning George Tolkien had the same occupation as his father: he was a clock- and watchmaker (1813), china and glass seller (1814), music teacher (before and after 1827). In 1830 he is described as a gentleman. His family’s addresses were: Park Street (1826), Grove Street (1831), and at last 25 Bidborough Street, St Pancrace, where George died in 1840. After his death his wife Eliza Lydia lived with the children at Upper Seymour Street. See also "Tolkiens poor or rich? (UK Land Tax Redemption, 1796-1822)".
 
"In the years 1827–1838 we can find George Tolkien
as a member of the Drury Lane Company by Theatre Royal, Covent Garden"
 
In the years 1827–1838 we can find George Tolkien as a member of the Drury Lane Company by Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (this is the same theatre where two hundred years later we could watch and listen to The Lord of the Rings musical!). George Tolkien died on 1 June 1840 at the age of 56 years. He was buried on 7 June at the cemetery of St George the Martyr, Queen Square, Camden in London. His grave does not exist any more. 
 
145 Saint John Street, Clerkenwell
 
Second son of George Tolkien was John Benjamin Tolkien III (1807-1896), J. R. R. Tolkien’s grandfather. Here I have collected information about him.

piątek, 14 maja 2021

Second English Tolkien and his very modest obituary (1819)

A fragment of my Tolkien Family Tree made on Ancestry.co.uk

John Benjamin Tolkien (1752-1819; J. R. R. Tolkien's 2nd great-grandather) had much shorter obituary than his richer brother Daniel. Daniel since 1794 was a naturalized English citizen. John Benjamin died in 1819 as a bankrupt and a foreigner. J. R. R. Tolkiens ancestor was described in the London documents as "native of Dantzic" and who "married a Native of this Country and has resided here ever since and where you Petitioner [J. B. Tolkien, the younger] was born" (see "Dantzic mentioned in the London documents")

Source: Google Books

In Marriages and Deaths in and near London, 1819 I have found only this short obituary of John Benjamin Tolkien (see the spelling Tolkien, like in the obituaries of Daniel Tolkien): 

"At Islington, 67, Mr. J. B. Tolkein, many years of the firm of Gravelle and Tolkein"

The "Tolkein" error occured long time before J. R. R. Tolkien complained about this in his letters, though it is not as improper as many think, because the original spelling of the Tolkien family name in Prussia was Tolkeim, Tolkeimer, Tolkein, Tolkin.

[If you want to support my research of the #TolkienAncestry see https://patronite.pl/galadhorn/ or here to the right, the Tolkien Ancestry Fund http://PayPal.me/Galadhorn | Jeżeli chcesz wesprzeć moje badania #TolkienAncestry zajrzyj na https://patronite.pl/galadhorn/ - albo popatrz tu po prawej, gdzie znajdziesz namiar na Fundusz Tolkien Ancestry]

First English Tolkien: Daniel Gottlieb (1746-1813)

Today I want to present Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien's obituary, written most probably by Rev. K. F. A. Steinkopff, a friend of the Tolkien family in the beginnings of their life in London. Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien was J. R. R. Tolkien's 2nd great-granduncle. The shorter version of this obituary was published in the Methodist Magazine from 1813 (here you can read about it on my blog). The longer text can be found in the Wesleyan-Methodist magazine, being a continuation of the Arminian or Methodist magazine first publ. by John Wesley (London 1813, p. 949-950):

Pastor Karl Friedrich Adolf Steinkopff (1773–1859)

OBITUARY

Died, in Hoxton-square, London, May 27, 1813, DANIEL G. TOLKEIN. He was born at Dantzic, in July, 1746, of respectable and religious parents. Coming to Amsterdam the age of twenty, he was providentially placed in a religious family, in which, by the instrumentality of social prayer and religious conversation, he was awakened to a sense of his guilt and danger. So painful were his convictions for sin, and so strongly was be tempted to despair of mercy, that he was ready to wish he had never been born. In this state of despondecy he remained, until be opened his mind to a religious friend, whose conversation and prayers the Lord blessed to his protif. Coming to London, in 1770, be attended on the ministry of Mr. Burgman, then minister of the German Lutheran church in the Savoy. The letters which he wrote at that time to his parents and brother, savoured much of the love of Christ, He attended the private meetings for prayer and edification, which Mr. Burgman encouraged; and he derived much profit from his pastoral counsels. Having acquired the knowledge of the English language, he began to visit some English churches and Chapels; and, conceiving a peculiar regard and affection for the people in the late venerable Mr. WesIey's connexion, he joined their society; and he gratefully acknowledged, to the latest period of his life, the spiritual blessings which he received in that connexion.


He was humble, because he was a strict self-observer. Far from resting in the externals of religion, he looked to the inner chambers of his heart, searched the secret motives of his actions, and made the word of God his rule. All who knew him must have observed, that he was a man of prayer. Whilst praying, he felt sensible of his speaking with God, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords; but he also felt that the God whom be addressed was his reconciled Father in Christ. Thus, whilst be prayed with a holy awe and reverence, he approached his God, with filial love and confidence. The word of God was very precious to him; to read it, and to hear it preached, he felt both his duty and privilege. So long as his health world permit, he visited the sanctuary of his God, and approached his altar, in order to have his faith strengthened by partaking of the memorials of the Redeemer's dying love.


He took the most tender interest in the temporal and spiritual prosperity of his family, and it was the constant wish and prayer of his heart, that every branch of it might be happy here hereafter. He loved the disciples of Christ, to whatever country or denomination they belonged, and cheerfully contributed to the extension of his kingdom, both among Christians and the of Heathen.


After having honourably carried on a considerable business for a number of years, he resigned it to his son, hoping to spend the last years of his life more than any of the former, to the glory of God. Scarcely had he began to taste the sweets of retirement, when it pleased his heavenly Father to visit him with tedious disorder, which gradually undermined his constitution, consumed his strength, and was attended with a depression of spirits, which was often painful to himself, his family, and friends. But in the midst of all, his painful exercises, he held fast the shield of faith, and could say of his heavenly Father, "Though he slay me, yet will í trust in him.". He often breathed out his soul to God in short ejaculations for mercy through the merits of Christ; and longed to drop the burden of flesh. The wished for happy period at last arrived, when be changed a state of suffering for that of heavenly felicity.


Two funeral sermons, which were very numerously attended, were preached on the occasion of his death, one by the Rev. Mr. Steinkopff, June the 6th, in the Lutheran Church, in the Savoy, and other the next Lord's day evening, by the Rev. Mr. Benson, in the New Chapel, City-road. The Rev. Mr. Steinkopf, to whom we are chiefly indebted for foregoing short account, was intimately acquainted with Mr. Tolkein, who regularly attended his ministry on the Sunday mornings, for several years, at the Savoy Church. In the evenings he attended at the New Chapel, City-road.

A Fragment of my Tolkien Family Tree made on Ancestry.co.uk (1300 persons)

And this is my own biographical account about Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien (1746-1813):

First known English Tolkien was Daniel Gottlieb. In London he used only the name Daniel, sometimes shortening it to Dan, and he anglicized his second name to Godleip. He was born in Bischofsberg (today Biskupia Górka) in Danzig (today Gdańsk) in the so called Polish or Royal Prussia, being since the 15th century a part of Kingdom of Poland (later a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Born in July 1746 to the artillerist Christian Tolkien and his wife, Anna Euphrosina neé Bergholtz, he was baptized in the Lutheran church of St Salvator on 18 July of the same year. In 1766, at the age of twenty, he came to Amsterdam, where he not only learned his furrier craftsmanship but also met religious friend (or friends), probably someone from the circle of Rev. Johann Gustav Burgmann (1744–1795), a pastor of the Savoy Lutheran Chapel in London, who took part in his religious awakening. He brought his craftsmanship from Gdańsk and Amsterdam to London in 1770 and became a furrier (written sources call him "Master Daniel Tolkien of Cheapside, London Skinner and Furrier"). At the age of 36, on 7 April 1782 he married Ann Austin (1762–1828) in Holy Sepulchre church in Holborn. His best man was his younger brother John Benjamin Tolkien I (it did not take Johann long to make his name more English) who had married Mary Warner in the same church only a year earlier (and the bridesmaid was Ann, Daniel’s future wife). On February 14, 1794 Daniel, as the elder brother, applied for British citizenship. He succeeded 12 days later. It was supposed to help him get a firmer position in the business. In the years 1784–1800 children of Daniel and Ann were born: Maria (later Wotherspoon, 1783–?), Daniel George (1784–1815), Ann (1786–?), Martha (1788–1819), Charles (1789–1833; he was a Methodist missionary to Canada; Charles Tolkien's obituary can be found here), John Henry (1795–1820), Charlotte (1797–1817) and James (1800–1855; James Tolkien was a forefather of the family of the Canadian and American Tolkiens - about his courageous life you can read here). They were baptized in German Lutheran church in the former Savoy Palace. The family lived in the merchant and handicraft part of London, first at 27 Bedford Street (called also 27 New Street) in the parish of St. Paul in Covent Garden (data from the certificate of naturalization, 1794 and from the years 1796–1808), and meanwhile at 60 Cheapside Street close to St. Paul’s Cathedral (from at least 1794). 

In 1811 Daniel was the owner of houses at 12 Hoxton Square and at 7-9 Cumberland Street in Shoreditch (today’s Scawfell Street). In 1799 he accepted his nephew George Tolkien (1784–1840; he was J. R. R. Tolkien’s great-grandfather and he was not George William Tolkien as other scholars write. George William Tolkien, 1805–1877, was George’s oldest son) as an apprentice in his furrier manufacture. He was a member of the early Methodist community by the house of John Wesley and he attended the City Road Chapel (today Wesley’s Chapel). In 1810 he wrote the testament [see here and here], in 1813 he was among the benefactors of the British and Foreign Bible Society. He died on 26 May 1813 and had a modest funeral on 2 June. The family grave does not exist anymore (it was located at the back of Wesley’s Chapel where new buildings have been raised). Since some information on his life has been revealed and some more is in his last will, he will be remembered as a charitable and righteous man. In the last will he ordered his family to take care of his brother’s debt and to take it to court, and considering the good of his wife and children he did not cancel that claim.

The Tolkiens quickly forgot about their Eastern European, the "Easterling" descent. James Kenneth Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien's 3rd cousin 1x removed) wrote in his book from 1913: 

"On my father's side. I am descended from an old Alsace-Loraine family. Nearly two centuries ago two brothers, Daniel and Henry Tolkien, left the land of their fathers and settled in London, England, with a fairly good start, financially. Daniel chose, for his investment, the fur business, while Henry fancied he could get more notes out of the music business. Report has it that both made good, however, and today there is a piano in England bearing the name of Tolkien.

How many false information can be found here, you can read in my comments to the text by James Kenneth - "James Kenneth Tolkien (1881–1925) about his roots".

The most romantic (and most fantastic) story of the Tolkiens' descent is described later in the Carpenter's Biography of J. R. R. Tolkien (see here):

There was, however, Ronald’s Aunt Grace, his father’s younger sister, who told him stories of the Tolkien ancestors; stories which sounded improbable but which were, said Aunt Grace, firmly based on fact. She alleged that the family name had originally been ‘von Hohenzollern’, for they had emanated from the Hohenzollern district of the Holy Roman Empire. A certain George von Hohenzollern had, she said, fought on the side of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria at the Siege of Vienna in 1529. He had shown great daring in leading an unofficial raid against the Turks and capturing the Sultan’s standard. This (said Aunt Grace) was why he was given the nickname Tollkuhn, ‘foolhardy’; and the name stuck. The family was also supposed to have connections with France and to have intermarried with the nobility in that country, where they acquired a French version of their nickname, du Temeraire. Opinion differed among the Tolkiens as to why and when their ancestors had come to England. The more prosaic said it was in 1756 to escape the Prussian invasion of Saxony, where they had lands. Aunt Grace preferred the more romantic (if implausible) story of how one of the du Temeraires had fled across the Channel in 1794 to escape the guillotine, apparently then assuming a form of the old name, ‘Tolkien’. This gentleman was reputedly an accomplished harpsichordist and clock-repairer. Certainly the story -typical of the kind of tale that middle-class families tell about their origins - gave colour to the presence of Tolkiens in London at the beginning of the nineteenth century, making their living as clock and watch manufacturers and piano-makers. And it was as a piano-maker and music-seller that John Benjamin Tolkien, Arthur’s father, had come to Birmingham and set up business some years later.