News release from the Tolkien Society.
To celebrate Tolkien’s twelfthty-fifth (125th) birthday on 3 January 2017, the Tolkien Society invites all Tolkien fans to raise a toast to the Professor. After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo toasted his uncle’s birthday each year on 22 September.
J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein on 3 January 1892, and we invite you to celebrate the birthday of this much loved author by raising a glass at 9pm your local time.
The toast is simply:
The Professor!
All you need to do is stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words “The Professor” before taking a sip (or swig, if that’s more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of your drink.
Note that we do not condone drinking alcohol if it endangers the health or safety of the drinker or others, or contravenes the law.
If you go to the Tolkien Society site, there are a number of Tolkien gatherings listed for today.
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About Brenton Dickieson
“A Pilgrim in Narnia” is a blog project in reading and talking about the work of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, the Inklings, L.M. Montgomery, and the worlds they created. As a "Faith, Fantasy, and Fiction" blog, we cover topics like children’s literature, myths and mythology, fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, poetry, theology, cultural criticism, art and writing.
This blog includes my thoughts as I read through my favourite writings and reflect on my own life and culture. In this sense, I am a Pilgrim in Narnia--or Middle Earth, or Fairyland, or Avonlea. I am often peeking inside of wardrobes, looking for magic bricks in urban alleys, or rooting through yard sale boxes for old rings. If something here captures your imagination, leave a comment, “like” a post, share with your friends, or sign up to receive Narnian Pilgrim posts in your email box.
Brenton Dickieson (PhD, Chester) is a father, husband, friend, university lecturer, and freelance writer from Prince Edward Island, Canada. You can follow him:
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Many thanks for this reminder, Brenton. I will most certainly toast the Professor’s memory at that time. I used to smoke a pipe from time to time. I found it impossible to do anything else when I did and so it really was a time of stillness. My wife and daughters eventually discouraged me from doing it. They seemed convinced that it would damage my health. Probably right, but I do miss it and would love to have a pipe in hand and a glass in the other when I toast the great man. May the coming year be one in which his beneficial influence grows ever wider.
And may the coming year be one of joyous prosperity for you and your family!
Funny, I set this out on the wrong year, so it was supposed to come out on Tuesday! Oh well, I’ll raise a glass anyway.
I wonder if one can have a pipe-smoking ish spirituality, even without the pipe in hand…
I do my best to do that (the pipe smoking spirituality, I mean) but I confess that I still miss the pipe!
I just drank a toast to The Professor! at 9.00pm GMT with the aid of a glass of Dalwhinnie, a Speyside single malt whisky of excellent quality and the gift of my father in law, Professor Geoffrey Pugh, formerly a President of the British Mycological Society, may he rest in peace. Each of his sons and sons in law received a share of his excellent cellar and it was good to remember him as I remembered the great Professor.
Oops, this slipped by! I’m glad to hear your memory. Single Malt is becoming a rarer reality–of any age.