Pronouncing
TOLKIEN

One surprising question that is raised about one of the most famous and popular writers of the 20th century is how to pronounce his name. That seems strange since the names of most other authors - Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Austen, Ferber, Smith, and Jones - seem to cause no difficulty.

But in the case of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the proper rendering seems to be a point of considerable debate. The suggested pronunciations are mostly taken down to three possibilities:

	TOL-KIN
	TOL-KINE
	TOL-KEEN

You can if you wish seek out various chat rooms, postings, and debates¹. His name, some say, is of Germanic origin and so should be pronounced in the Germanic fashion (Ronald's mom spoke German). On the other hand, Ronald was English and born in South Africa. And we know that many foreign names achieve new pronunciations when adopted by English speakers.

Yet for some reason few people seem to seek out the best source - Ronald himself. And believe it or not, the answer has been public and documented for nigh on fifty years.

On December 17, 1972, Ronald responded to a letter from a reader who had some questions on the linguistic details of Ronald's books. The reader, Richard Jeffery, had first written Ronald in 1955 and had continued corresponding over the years.

At one point the topic turned to variations in spelling. Ronald remarked:

An instance of how difficult it is to keep books correct - mine & the index are full of mistakes - you sign yourself Jeffery, but Jeffrey is the spelling in the [University] Residents' List.

And Ronald continued:

I am nearly always written to as Tolkein (not by you): I do not know why, since it is pronounced by me always - keen.

So there you are direct. The pronunciation of Tolkien is

TOL-KEEN

As far as the accent, that seems to have been on the first syllable.

References

"J. R. R. Tolkien to Richard Jeffery", December 17, 1972, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien, (Humphrey Carpenter, Editor), Houghton Miflin, Boston, 1981.

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