Posted: April 05, 2000 at 03:06:03: by Michael Martinez
: If you were not required to sign a non-disclosure agreement,
: could you share the 'obscure questions' you were asked (you
: might already have done this, but I have not seen it). Did they
: give any hints at all to what they were after by asking them?Although the period of questioning is now long past, it was a matter of discretion on which I gave my word. I have gradually spoken more about the process as time passes by partly out a desire to say SOMETHING and partly to try and reassure people that all is not lost. The questions in general dealt with minutiae. As an example (and this is a question I was NOT asked, but it's similar to the questions I WAS asked), they might send me an email saying, "What sort of citations can you provide for Aragorn's belt buckle?" : Personally I find the presence of Tom Shippey on this project
: to be very reassuring. His 'Road to Middle Earth' is the best
: book on Tolkien I've read so far. I'm not really sure of how involved Shippey is, to be honest. His part in the whole affair may have been very brief. I was immediately reassured when I learned of his involvement myself, although I am on record as disagreeing with some of his conclusions (as used by online fans) concerning the Rohirrim's relationship to the Anglo-Saxons.
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