Tolkien's Icelandic au-pair
J.R.R Tolkien, author of Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit and more amazing tales, studied the Icelandic language and heard of the Trolls in Iceland from an Icelandic au-pair.
The interview appeared in Morgunbladid 1999 and the lady in question, named Arndis but known as 'Adda', was a doctor's daughter from the West Fjords ( Bíldudal), who
went to work with the Tolkiens in 1930, when she was twenty.
Tolkien collected her from Oxford station and greeted her in Icelandic. She then talks about her working conditions – she was meant to be one of the family, but she never had a holiday. The youngest of the children (presumably Priscilla) was in her second year.
She says that the Professor was a really lovely man, very easy and comfortable to be around, he loved nature, trees and everything that grew.
The oldest son, Johnny, was 14 and in the new house he had his own room. The rest (including Adda) kept themselves to the nursery.
The lady of the house (Edith) had a difficult nature, she wasn't sociable and disliked most people. Then Adda talks about how she was meant to come there to learn English and help Tolkien practice Icelandic but Edith got jealous if they talked in a language she didn't understand.
Tolkien was a lovely, comfortable man, didn't talk much. He always came home to lunch every day, and went into his study after the meal. He would have a bottle of beer and a dry biscuit.
Adda was very fond of the children. She took them fishing in a nearby canal, put them in the bath every night and put them to bed, they loved to hear Icelandic folk tales about trolls and such, and often Tolkien would come and listen too.
"He took lots of ideas from Icelandic folk stories...and he really believed that all of nature was alive. He lived in a kind of adventure/fantasy world."
Adda still loves reading the Hobbit (which he started writing at the time she was working for him).
Tolkien always wore a tweed jacket and pale grey trousers, but loved to wear colourful waistcoats. And he always wore white tie (tails) at the Oxford dinners.
He always wanted to go to Iceland but thought he couldn't afford it.
John, at 14, was more like his father. Michael, the next son, was such a beautiful child that people would stop his mother in the street to admire him.
His mother wanted him to be a priest and Christopher was often squabbled over by his parents. He was a rather whiny child, fussy with food. But his father adored him and realised that he needed different handling than the others.
"Tolkien had started writing the Hobbit while I was there but was really writing it for Christopher, reading him out chapters".
Adda had close contact through letters with the family until the war disrupted the correspondence. Her adult years Adda lived in Selfoss, in the South of Iceland.
其他有意思的博客
冰岛最浪漫的角落
对于很多人,遥远的冰岛有着世界尽头的神秘,有着区别于巴黎、马尔代夫、自成一体的浪漫。没有埃菲尔铁塔和蒂凡尼,没有热带沙滩,而是在冰川、火山、苔藓地的背景下蜜月旅拍、婚拍,甚至举办一场冰岛婚礼。来冰岛旅行,多是要跨千山万水、飞跃大洋大陆,很有一点“万水千山陪你走过”的史诗感。难怪很多人说,光是冰岛二字,就足够浪漫了。 冰岛虽然不大,但是地貌极其丰富,不同的自然景观自然有不同的气质。这一篇,就挑阅读详情从极光观测到摄影-到底该不该来冰岛看极光
很多朋友都想来冰岛看极光,但是冰岛到底适不适合看极光呢?几月、什么季节能看到极光?是不是一定要参加北极光旅行团?如何能拍摄出美丽的极光照片呢?在冰岛住了好几年了,从刚开始逢极光必出门,到如今家里阳台就能看极光,我对在冰岛看极光的了解和经验,也算得上大半个专家了,且听我娓娓道来吧。 到底该不该来冰岛看极光呢?最坦诚的答案是,不要只为了看极光而看极光。 极光原理 太阳活动→太阅读详情迷失冰岛的米湖游览推荐|不只有温泉的地热宝藏区
我在冬夏秋均到访过米湖,看过米湖的不同面。一直以来,米湖到底值不值得去是很多游客争论的问题。有些人觉得这里是来冰岛旅行的必去目的地,有些人则说米湖“太丑了”,连照片都不想多拍几张。那米湖到底值不值得来呢?到底怎么玩呢? 米湖的风景 北部的米湖,因地理位置相距首都雷克雅未克略远,很多来冰岛的短途游客选择放弃,其实米湖应该是和黄金圈、南岸沿线至冰湖齐名的冰岛景色,这里冷热相融,可谓最冰岛,尤其阅读详情
将冰岛最大的旅行平台下载到您的手机上,在一个App中管理您的整个行程
使用手机摄像头扫描此二维码,点击链接,即可将冰岛最大的旅行平台添加到您的手机中。添加您的电话号码或电子邮件地址以接收包含下载链接的短信或电子邮件。