J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle-earth
J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle-earth is a 1976 book by Pennsylvania journalist Daniel Grotta. A revised second edition was published in 1978 under the title The Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien ― Architect of Middle-earth. A new edition was published in 1992, containing a new preface and illustrations by The Brothers Hildebrandt.
History
Grotta came to England in 1975 to research the book, unaware that Humphrey Carpenter had already been comissioned to write an official biography by the Tolkien family, who instructed the people close to Tolkien not to talk to Grotta. Due to this, he mostly conducted his research in libraries and public record offices, managing only to talk to Owen Barfield and Fr. Anthony Gervase Matthew, as well as a few journalists who had met Tolkien. The book is notorious for containing some glaring errors and omissions. For instance, Grotta never mentions the T.C.B.S. and mistakenly concludes that Tolkien's "one friend" that survived the war was Allen Barnett, instead of Christopher Wiseman. A lot of these mistakes and omissions were corrected for the 1978 edition.
Grotta intended to revise and expand the book a third time and publish it digitally to coincide with the release of The Hobbit films, but this never materialized.
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 26/05/2026.
