15-03-2011, 21:43
Effectivement, je suis peut-être le fautif ;-)
« “I look East, West, North, South, and I do not see Sauron ; but I see that [301] Saruman has many descendants. We Hobbits have against them no magic weapons. Yet, my gentlehobbits, I give you this toast: To the Hobbits, May they outlast the Sarumans and see spring again in the trees” »
Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien, A Biography, Part VI, Chapter III, « Cash or Kudos », citant la fin d'un discours que Tolkien donna au cours du printemps 1958, dans une librairie de Rotterdam (Harper Collins, 2002, p. 300-301)
« Tolkien once remarked (in 1959 [sic]) that “I look East, West, North, South, and I do not see Sauron ; but I see that Saruman has many descendants.” »
Patrick Curry, « Modernity in Middle-earth », dans Tolkien, A Celebration, Ignatius Press, 2001 ; renvoie en note à Patricia Reynolds and Glen H. Goodknight, eds., Proceedings of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference, Milton Keynes: The Tolkien Society, and Altadena:The Mythopoeic Press, 1995, pp. 307-308.
Patrick Curry renvoie dans la même note aux Lettres :
« Je ne suis “socialiste en aucun sens du terme, étant opposé à la “planification » (comme cela doit se voir clairement), principalement parce que les “planificateurs », quand ils parviennent au pouvoir, deviennent si mauvais ; mais je ne dirai pas que nous avons eu à souffrir ici de la malveillance de Sharcoux et de ses Ruffians. Même si l’esprit d’“Isengard », si ce n’est celui du Mordor, affleure bien entendu en permanence [Though the spirit of “Isengard”, if not of Mordor, is of course always cropping up]. Le projet actuel de destruction d’Oxford au bénéfice des voitures en est un exemple. »
Lettres, p. 333 = Letters, p. 235
Le séjour à Rotterdam a bien eu lieu en 1958. Le discours a été prononcé le 28 mars de cette année :
« ? End of November 1957 Cees Ouboter of Voorhoeve & Dietrich writes to Tolkien, asking him to visit Rotterdam to attend a literary luncheon in January. (...)
January-Mid February 1958 Tolkien and Cees Ouboter continue to correspond about arrangements for Tolkien's proposed visit to Rotterdam. In his letters Tolkien shows “considerable anxiety about travelling alone” (René van Rossenberg, “Tolkien’s Exceptional Visit to Holland: A Reconstruction”, p. 303).
(...)
?20 February 1958 Tolkien writes to Cees Ouboter. He confirms that he will attend a reception in Rotterdam on 28 March.
(...)
18 March 1958 Tolkien write to Voorhoeve & Dietrich with various questions about his visit.
19 March 1958 Rayner Unwin sends Tolkien the tickets and reservations for the visit to Holland.
(...)
28 March 1958 The SS Duke of York arrives at the Hook of Holland early in the morning. Tolkien travels by train to Rotterdam Central Station, arriving at 7.28 a.m. in sunshine. Cees Ouboter of Voorhoeve & Dietrich, waving a copy of The Lord of the Rings to identify himself, meets him on the platform. (...) Ouboter introduces Tolkien to Mr Jo van Rosmalen, head of the publicity department of the Dutch publishers Het Spectrum, who will look after him. Rosmalen offers Tolkien coffee, but Tolkien prefers Dutch cold beer. Wanting to see Rotterdam, they walk through the city, which still shows the scars of the Second World War, together with (as Tolkien will describe it) much “gigantic and largely dehumanised reconstruction” (letter to Rayner Unwin, 8 April 1958, Letters, p. 265). He asks Rosmalen the Dutch names of the trees and flowers they see during the walk. At about 1.00 p.m. they arrive at the bookshop of Voorhoeve & Dietrich. Tolkien has something to eat and talks with the staff and with customers. In mid-afternoon he is taken to his hotel to rest for half an hour, then he and Rosmalen again walk through the streets until it is time for the “Hobbit Maaltijd” at 5.30 p.m. at the Flev-restaurant. All 200 places have been booked. The proceedings begin at 6.00 p.m. when everyone is seated, Tolkien and other special guests at a high table. [523] During the evening, interspersed between courses, there are nine speeches, all in English and each restricted to five minutes. The courses have been given names inspired by The Lord of the Rings: “Egg-salad à la Barliman Butterbur”, “Vegetables of Goldberry”, “Ice and Fruits of Gildor”, “Maggot soup” (which causes some confusion and hilarity). Although it is a Friday, the organizers have obtained a dispensation from the Roman Catholic diocese of Rotterdam for the guests to eat meat: “Fricandeau à la Gimli”. The hall is hung with posters advertising “Pipe-weed for Hobbits” supplied by the Dutch tobacco company Van Rossem, which has also provided “free tobacco in beautiful Delft blue porcelain jars and old-fashioned clay pipes to all the gentlemen present” (Rene van Rossenberg, [ibid.], p. 307). Tolkien signs autographs. At the end of the banquet he makes a speech, starting with a greeting in Dutch, and continuing with a parody of Bilbo's speech at the “long-expected party”, including some phrases in Elvish. After answering questions and talking with some of the attendees, Tolkien returns to his hotel. »
Christina cull & Wayne Hammond, The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, t. I, Chronology.
S.