Were it not for Christopher, we would not have had The Silmarillion of any of his Father’s other unfinished writings.
RIP. Or enjoy your trip to Valinor?
“Roads Go Ever On
Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on,
Under cloud and under star.
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen,
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green,
And trees and hills they long have known.
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone.
Let others follow, if they can!
Let them a journey new begin.
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
It could not have been easy to put together JRRT’s posthumous writings; from what I understand, Dad was brilliantly disorganized.
I also want to say (from vague memory) that while Christopher was serving in the RAF during WWII, JRRT was sending him draft chapters of Lord of the Rings to review as they were written. I wonder if Christopher’s letters back to his Dad during that period have been preserved. I bet there was some “Dad, it doesn’t make sense for Sam to do that,” or “Dad, you said this hill was north of Minas Tirith in chapter 4, but in chapter 7 you say it’s East” mixed in those letters.
Here is another obituary highlighting Christopher’s military service.