Transcript[]
Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby
A robot, Moby, approaches the bedroom of a boy, Tim. A sign on the closed door reads: Tim's room, enter. Loud crashing and banging comes from within. Moby opens the door. Tim is on his knees digging through a pile of his old toys and other belongings
TIM: Where is it? It must be here. It must be, ah-ha.
Tim picks up a ring. It glows magically. Tim's voice changes creepily to that of Gollum's.
TIM: My Preciousssssss...
TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, What can you tell me about J.R.R. Tolkien? From, Elisha
TIM: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer, scholar, and professor.An image shows J.R.R. Tolkien smoking a pipe in a study.
TIM: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer, scholar, and professor. He's best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, two of the most influential works of fantasy ever written!
An image shows hardcover copies of Tolkien's The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The last three books comprise The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
TIM: Stories in the genre usually take place in imaginary lands filled with sword-wielding heroes, creatures like elves and dragons, and plenty of magic.
An animation shows a hardcover book called The Elf Chronicles. The pages open as Tim speaks, showing images of a knight fighting a dragon and an elf shooting an arrow.MOBY: Beep.
Moby is dressed as a wizard from Tolkien's work. He is holding a wizard's staff.TIM: No, Tolkien didn't invent fantasy, but he did make it respectable! Before him, fantasy was viewed as childish entertainment, not serious literature. But the depth and quality of Tolkien's writing almost singlehandedly changed people's minds. He built an entire world from scratch, complete with the histories of various kingdoms and the unique traits of races like dwarves and goblins.
An animation shows Tolkien in his study, typing at his desk. He imagines the magical world and magical beings he is writing about.TIM: He even invented different languages for his characters to speak! Tolkien called his world Middle-earth, an imaginary period in Earth's history when magical beings lived alongside people.
An image shows a map of Tolkien's Middle-earth, featuring several regions in which his stories occur. Regions include Forlindon, Shire, Arnor, Rhudaur, Enedwaith, Rohan, Gondor, Mordor, Eriador, and Rhovanion.MOBY: Beep.
TIM: Tolkien was born in 1892. He grew up with a passion for reading and a love of languages.
An animation shows Tolkien reading books and growing from childhood to young adulthood.TIM: He especially liked the myths and legends of other European cultures and wished England had more of its own.
Tolkien imagines the Norse god Thor and the Greek monster Medusa, who has snakes for hair.
TIM: He began his life's work of filling that gap during World War I, when he served as a soldier. While recovering from a serious illness, Tolkien wrote down his earliest story ideas, which later became the basis for his Middle-earth mythology.An animation shows Tolkien in a hospital bed, writing in a notebook.TIM: After the war, he became a professor of Old English, an early form of English spoken more than 1,000 years ago.An animation shows Tolkien teaching a college class Old English.TIM: He was also an expert on Old English literature like Beowulf, the story of a king who fights a dragon and other scary monsters.
An animation shows a hardcover copy of Beowulf, which opens to reveal images of the warrior Beowulf fighting a fire-breathing monster and the monster Grendel.
TIM: These influences found their way into Tolkien's fantasy tales, which he continued to work on in his spare time.MOBY: Beep.
TIM: His big break came in 1937, when he published his children's book The Hobbit.An image shows a hardcover copy of The Hobbit.
TIM: In it, a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins sets off on a quest to recover treasure from an evil dragon.An image shows Bilbo Baggins standing in front of his home, which has a round front door and is built into a mound of earth.TIM: He's accompanied by the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves.
An animation shows Bilbo Baggins along with the characters Tim describes. Gandalf is dressed the same way Moby is, with a staff that glows magically.MOBY: Beep.
TIM: No, hobbits aren't just short humans. They're, well, they're hobbits, a fictional race known for their love of nature, big appetites, and, um, hairy feet.An image shows two hobbits dancing together as a third hobbit plays a squeezebox. They look as Tim describes.TIM: Bilbo is an especially likable hero, a simple fellow who relies on his courage and wits to get home!
An animation shows Bilbo threatening a large, scary spider with a short sword.
TIM: The book's tone is lighthearted, and the narrator speaks directly to the reader, almost like he's telling the story in person. But The Hobbit also deals with some serious themes. Bilbo is snatched from his tranquil, comfortable life and tossed into hostile surroundings.
An image shows Bilbo relaxing beneath a tree, smoking a pipe. A second image shows him preparing to scale a steep mountain at night.TIM: This could be a reflection of Tolkien's World War I experience, when he and his friends were sent far from home to fight on foreign battlefields.
An image shows a line of soldiers in a trench, firing at the enemy.
TIM: The Hobbit was such a huge success that the publisher asked Tolkien to write a sequel. It took him over 10 years to finish, but the epic novel The Lord of the Ringsfinally came out in 1954 and 55! It was actually published in three separate volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.An animation shows a hardcover copy of The Lord of the Rings, followed by the three separate volumes Tim describes.TIM: And, unlike The Hobbit, these were definitely not children's books! Instead, the story is much darker and more complex. It follows up on a small scene from The Hobbit,in which Bilbo met a skulking creature named Gollum.An animation shows Bilbo coming upon Gollum in a cave. Gollum holds a glowing ring.TIM: Bilbo won a magic ring from Gollum that can turn its wearer invisible.
An animation shows Bilbo putting on the ring and disappearing.
TIM: In The Lord of the Rings, we find out that it's the One Ring, a powerful weapon created by the villain Sauron to conquer all of Middle-earth.
An animation shows the One Ring. It has mystical writing on it, and it glows. Sauron appears next to the Ring, brandishing a spear. He is dressed in heavy armor.
TIM: The Ring passes to Bilbo's nephew Frodo, who sets out on a mission to destroy it before Sauron can reclaim it.An image shows Frodo with the Ring on a chain around his neck. Frodo is surrounded by various characters from the novel.TIM: But Gollum still lurks in the background, obsessed with getting his most precious possession back at all costs!
An animation shows an angry Gollum lurking in a patch of tall grass.TIM: As Gollum demonstrates, the ring is a symbol for the corrupting influence of power. Anyone who seeks to control it winds up falling under the spell of evil!
An animation shows Frodo staring obsessively at the Ring.TIM: The struggle between good and evil also plays out on a much bigger stage, as Sauron's army of monsters invades the kingdoms of Middle-earth.
An animation shows two monsters watching a castle burn.
TIM: Some scholars compare this to the fascist aggression that started World War II, which was raging while Tolkien wrote.An animation shows a newsboy selling newspapers on the street. Text of the newspaper headline reads: Evening Standard, September 1, 1939. Germans Invade and Bomb Poland. Britain Mobilises. Warsaw. Cracow. Nine Other Towns Bombed. Danzig is Annexed. France Declares State of Siege.TIM: The wartime destruction of Europe's great cities is echoed in Sauron's ravaging of Middle-earth.
An image shows a heavily damaged European city. An animation shows Sauron watching a town burn.TIM: So even though it's a fantasy, The Lord of the Rings is emotionally rooted in the real world.
MOBY: Beep.
TIM: That may explain why Tolkien's works continue to resonate after all these years! The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings rank among the most beloved books of the 20th century, and its characters have become pop culture icons around the world.An image shows graffiti that reads: Frodo Lives. A second image shows a campaign button that reads: Gandalf for President. A third image shows Lord of the Rings T-shirts, featuring Frodo and Gandalf on one, and the One Ring on the other.TIM: But Tolkien's legacy goes beyond his own work. He singlehandedly raised the profile of the fantasy genre, paving the way for future writers to be recognized as respected authors!
MOBY: Beep.
Moby holds Tim's ring.
TIM: Joke's on you. It's just a decoder ring.
Moby puts the ring on and disappears with an audible pop.
TIM: I knew it. The Ring of Power! Moby? Wait, come back!
Tim walks toward where Moby stood, feeling the air for him.