Monday, September 21, 2009

Code-Cracking Pipeweed Smoker

The last line is perplexing, but see the article Tinker, Tailor, Hobbit, Spy.

The respected linguist J.R.R. Tolkien was sought after to crack Nazi codes, and in March, 1939 he spent three days in training with the top-secret British Government Code and Cypher School. Although keen to the idea, Middle Earth's chief chronicler eventually declined a £500-a-year offer to become a full-time recruit.

1 comment:

Patti Petersen said...

The last line of the article suggests that the historian who gave the statement must have read The Lord of the Rings without understanding in the least the symbolism of Mordor. Go figure...