Tolkien’s last friend in Oxford when the world went to war

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John Garth

Colin Cullis and JRR Tolkien Colin Cullis and J.R.R. Tolkien at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1912 (courtesy of L.L.H. Thompson, R.F. Thompson and H.D.L. Thompson)

‘Not a single man I know is up except Cullis,’ Tolkien lamented at the start of his final year as an Oxford student. It was 1914, war had just broken out, and their friends had left in droves to enlist in the army.

Cullis died one hundred years ago this month – not a victim of war, but as young as many who were. Outside my own books, nothing new has been written about him since Humphrey Carpenter published the snippet above in his 1977 biography of Tolkien. He is not one of the T.C.B.S. – the ‘immortal four’ who play a central role in my Tolkien and the Great War. Yet Cullis was a good friend to Tolkien, and he was one of the few people on hand…

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LotRFI Pt.46–​Éomer

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Luke Shelton PhD

I mentioned Éomer’s first encounter with the protagonists in Pt. 22. Like many other characters, I mistrusted him at first, but then came to respect his demeanor and his bravery. The reader is reintroduced to Éomer at Edoras. Here he is reinstated as one of Théoden’s top commanders. From this point on, Éomer plays the part of a stout warrior, and steadfast advisor on military matters. He is impressive in this role, and takes after his uncle with his tenacious spirit.

wotr-eomer-port Image copyright John Howe

As I read through LotR for the first time, I really liked Éomer. He struck me as a kind of balance between Strider as he appears in the beginning of the book and Aragorn as he is revealed as king in the end. He was unapologetically of high birth in his society, but was unpolished and even plain in his manner. This allowed him to…

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Becky Dillon’s Experience–Tolkien Experience Project (43)

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This is a great blog to discover for any Tolkien student, fan, or scholar.

Luke Shelton PhD

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Becky and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Becky Dillon’s responses:

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FLUFF AGAIN

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Well, my poor old cat Fluff has got cystitis again. Our vet has given him another dose of antibiotics and will check him again in a couple of days. He seems much better today but apparently it can be dangerous in male cats as the urethra can become blocked. Trying to keep calm. This information online is not very cheering though:

Why do cats get cystitis?
There are a number of possible causes of cystitis, but the majority of young cats which develop cystitis do so as a result of stress. Sometimes an obvious reason for the underlying stress can be identified, such as the house being decorated or another cat or a dog moving in, but often it is difficult to recognise the actual cause of the stress. Once cats have developed this type of cystitis, they are very prone to having further bouts of it in the future and in some cases management of some variety is necessary to prevent further episodes.

A smaller proportion of cats, especially elderly individuals or those with chronic problems, such as kidney disease, develop cystitis due to infection, generally by bacteria.

Fluff tongue