In 1991, a television adaptation of “The Lord of the Rings” entitled “Khraniteli” (translated “The Guardians”) was broadcast on Soviet television. The two-hour work, the only “Lord of the Rings” adaptation that was made in the Soviet Union, was considered lost. But now this version of the saga has reappeared on YouTube.
It is a low budget production that aired ten years before the first part of Peter Jackson’s 2001 film trilogy was released.
“Khraniteli” looks like something from another time: the costumes and sets are only hinted at, the special effects are simple, and many of the scenes are more reminiscent of a theater production than a Hollywood-style movie. The music of the production, by Andrei Romanov from the rock band Akvarium, gives the production a distinctly Soviet touch; nobody will think of comparing this “Lord of the Rings” with Jackson’s films.
“Khraniteli” has more than a million clicks
After the broadcast in 1991 on Leningrad television, the adaptation disappeared into oblivion, as reported by the British newspaper The Guardian. Leningrad TV’s successor, 5TV, posted the film on YouTube last week, where it received more than 800,000 views in just a few days.
According to The Guardian, the Leningrad TV station broadcast not only Tolkien’s trilogy “Lord of the Rings”, but also an adaptation of “The Little Hobbit” in 1985.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
JRR Tolkien shaped the fantasy genre
The works of the British writer and linguist John Ronald Reuel Tolkien are among the most successful in literary history. Since their publication, the stories from Middle-earth have fascinated millions of people – whether on paper or on canvas.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
Childhood full of blows of fate
Little John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (right) is just eleven months old in this picture. It originated in South Africa where he was born. After his father’s death, his mother moved to England with him and his younger brother. Eight years later – Tolkien was only twelve – she died too. The brothers were orphaned in the care of a priest who was friends with the family.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
Template for the Shire
Tolkien grew up in a rural suburb of the English industrial city of Birmingham. The idyllic landscape in which he spent his childhood and youth served him later as a template for the Shire. He was an excellent student, interested in languages, literature and poetry. In Birmingham he also met his future wife Edith, whom he married in March 1916.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
Language genius and language inventor
While studying at Oxford, Tolkien deepened his interest in languages and Old English literature. He spoke Latin and Greek fluently, while studying Gothic, Welsh and Finnish. His enthusiasm for languages went so far that he began to invent his own languages during his studies.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
Inspiration of horror
Newly married, Tolkien had to go to the front in July 1916 and fought in the greatest battle of the First World War on the Somme. For months he fought at the front, was close to the misery of the soldiers and death. When he fell ill with trench fever, he was taken to the hospital. Shaken by the atrocities of the war, he finally began to write in the infirmary.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
From a hobby author to a writer of the century
After the war, Tolkien worked as a lecturer and later as a professor of linguistics and literature. He wrote on the side. In 1937 his fantasy novel “The Hobbit” was published and was a huge success. Shortly afterwards, the hobby author began work on the novel that made him the writer of the century.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
Outstanding success with “The Lord of the Rings”
For around 15 years Tolkien wrote his “Lord of the Rings”, a complex story about a ring, good hobbits, elves and dwarves, evil forces, dangerous orcs and trolls, all set in the fantasy realm of Middle-earth. The novel is one of the best-selling books of all time. The film adaptations of the material were awarded a total of 17 Academy Awards and grossed billions of US dollars.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
The last story appears posthumously
In the last years of his life, Tolkien worked on the “Silmarillion”, the prelude to his great novels. But death was quicker. Tolkien couldn’t complete the collection. At his request, it was posthumously revised, completed and published by his son Christopher.
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125 years of JRR Tolkien – The moving life of the creator of Middle-earth in pictures
Last rest in Oxford
Tolkien died in 1973, two years after his wife. The couple is buried together in an Oxford cemetery. The names Beren and Lúthien can be read on her tombstone. They are the names of lovers from Tolkien’s fantasy world. Tolkien once said that his love for his wife inspired these two characters.
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