A letter Tolkien wrote in 1966 has settled a long-running local debate. The Welsh town of Crickhowell, in Powys, really did inspire Crickhollow in The Lord of the Rings, and we now have it in Tolkien’s own hand.
The letter, addressed to a Jenny Hall of Headington, reads: “I have been in most parts of Wales, but the place names I used are made up from English models or borrowed from books, though Crickhollow was actually meant to resemble Crickhowell.” It is heading to auction at Christie’s on July 8, with a guide price of £5,000 to £7,000.
In The Lord of the Rings, Crickhollow is an isolated house in Buckland where Frodo pretends to be moving as cover for his real departure from the Shire. Merry, Pippin, and Fatty Bolger shelter there briefly while the real company takes the longer road through the Old Forest. The Nazgul eventually come for it. It’s a small but real moment in the story, and the name has always carried Celtic overtones. Tolkien’s letter makes the connection explicit.
Crickhowell isn’t the only local landmark with a claim on Middle-earth. The Sugar Loaf mountain near Bwlch is said to have inspired Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. Bwlch itself may be Bucklebury. The Llangynidr Bridge is a likely model for the Brandywine Bridge. Tolkien stayed in the area around Talybont-on-Usk during the 1940s, while writing much of The Lord of the Rings.
Now a local resident named Frank has launched a fundraiser to buy the letter before it goes to a private collector, with plans to display it permanently in the town. The campaign is live ahead of the July 8 Christie’s sale.
