Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a scholar of medieval literature, including that of Anglo-Saxon England, and of modern fantasy and science fiction, in particular the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, about whom he has written several scholarly studies. He is widely considered one of the leading academic scholars on Tolkien. Shippey retired from the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities at Saint Louis University's College of Arts and Sciences in 2008.
His work and life cross paths in many ways with that of Tolkien; like Tolkien, he attended King Edward's School in Birmingham and taught Old English at Oxford University. He occupied Tolkien's former chair at the University of Leeds.
Under the pseudonym of "Tom Allen" he has written two stories that were published in anthologies edited by Peter Weston. The first published was the fantasy story "King, Dragon" in Andromeda 2 in 1977; the second was the science fiction novelette "Not Absolute" in Andromeda 3 in 1978.[1]
Under the pseudonym of John Holm, he is also the co-author (with Harry Harrison) of The Hammer and the Cross trilogy of alternate history/fantasy novels.
In 2009, he wrote a scholarly 21-page introduction to Flights of Eagles,[2] a collection of James Blish works.
In addition to writing books of his own, he has edited both The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories, and The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories. As of 2003[update] he is the editor of the journal Studies in Medievalism. He serves on the editorial board of Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review, and he reviews science fiction for the Wall Street Journal. [3]
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Many commenters have noticed the parallels between his life and Tolkien's: born in a colony, moved to Birmingham at a young age, followed by an academic career in Oxford and Leeds.
Shippey was born in India, where his father worked as a bridge builder. He spent the first several years of his life there.[4] His father then sent him to a strict boarding school in England, and when his father came back, Shippey was transferred to King Edward's School in Birmingham, where he studied from 1954 to 1960.[5]
Here he was introduced to science fiction, and The Hobbit, which was lent to him when he was 14 years old.[6] Shippey quickly developed an affinity for Old English, Old Norse, German and Latin (like Tolkien) and playing rugby (like Tolkien), and he was able to afford The Lord of the Rings when he won a school contest.[4]
Shippey did not immediately pursue an academic career after graduation, as the British economy in the early 1960s did not offer much work. Not until the mid-sixties did he enroll in Cambridge.[6] His first academic work on Tolkien was from late 1969 or early 1970. Shippey, a junior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, was asked to speak at a Tolkien day organised by a student association. That lecture, "Tolkien as philologist", would form Shippey's view of Tolkien - a philologist - for years to come. Unbeknownst to him, Joy Hill, the private secretary of Tolkien, was in the audience. After the lecture, she asked him for the script, for Tolkien to read. Tolkien wrote to Shippey on April 13, 1970 with what first seemed like a formal reply.[5]
The first meeting between Shippey and Tolkien took place in 1972. Norman Davis, successor of Tolkien at the Merton Chair of English Language, invited Shippey over for dinner. Shippey, then a Fellow of St. John's College, taught Old and Middle English with Tolkien's syllabus, and his meeting with Tolkien at the dinner left him full of professional piety.[5]
After Tolkien's death, Shippey's admiration only grew. His first printed essay, "Creation from Philology in The Lord of the Rings", was much of an elaboration of his 1970 lecture. In 1979, he was elected to the Chair of English Language and Medieval English Literature at the University of Leeds, a former position of Tolkien. He published his first book, the famed The Road to Middle-earth, in 1982. At this time, Shippey shifted from the view of Tolkien as a philologist to a view of a post-war writer, or what he called "traumatised authors", like Vonnegut and Golding.[5]
After 14 years at Leeds, Shippey moved to the Saint Louis University, where he was elected to the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities. Here, he could focus in teaching, research and publishing, rather than administrative work.[4]
Being considered the foremost expert on Tolkien, Shippey appeared in several documentaries surrounding The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. He also assisted the dialect coaches[6] and is personally thanked in the closing credits.[7] He later recollected his experiences:
"The funny thing about interviews is you never know which bits they're going to pick. It always feels as if they sit you down, shine bright lights in your eyes, and ask you questions till you say something really silly, and that's the bit they choose. At least they didn't waterboard me. But it was good fun, and I'd cheerfully do it again."[8]