J.R.R. Tolkien, the lord of the ring road – my review of The Bovadium Fragments

Here’s my review of Tolkien’s Bovadium Fragments – a slight variant on the version published in The Times Saturday Review, 4 October 2025.

J.R.R. Tolkien arrived in Oxford as professor of Anglo-Saxon exactly a century ago. That year, Morris Motors, with factories in the medieval city’s Cowley suburb, became Britain’s biggest car maker. Given his view of machines, there is a certain inevitability that he would flourish a poison pen on the topic of Oxford and the car. 

[There’s also a certain inevitability that the Times sub-editor would come up with the headline. I’ve borrowed it here though undoubtedly Tolkien – not to mention Gandalf – would have stern words to say about how inappropriate it is. Anyway, my review continues below, or you can read it via The Times (Abre numa nova janela).]