Edward Wyke Smith
Encyclopedia
Edward Augustine Wyke-Smith (1871–1935) was an English author, mining engineer and adventurer. He is the author of The Marvellous Land of Snergs
, now particularly noted as an inspiration for Tolkien's creation of hobbits.
and sailed to Australia and the west coast of the United States. In the American West, he worked as a cowboy. Back in England, he studied mine engineering and later managed mines in Mexico, the Sinai, South America, Spain, Portugal and Norway. During the 1913 revolution in Mexico
, he rescued his wife from the capital. He built a pontoon bridge across the Suez canal during the First World War.
He wrote his first book, Bill of the Bustingforths, at his children's request, and went on to write several others, both for children and adults.
, author of The Hobbit
and Lord of the Rings is known to have read The Marvellous Land of Snergs to his children. He said: "I should like to record my own love and my children's love of E. A. Wyke-Smith's Marvellous Land of Snergs, at any rate of the snerg-element of that tale, and of Gorbo the gem of dunderheads, jewel of a companion in an escapade."
The similarities between the races of snergs and hobbits have led to speculation that the book was a major inspiration. They are similar in their physical descriptions, their love of communal feasting, and their names, particularly Gorbo and Bilbo. In all the books there are also journeys through dangerous forests and underground caverns.
The Marvellous Land of Snergs
The Marvellous Land of Snergs is a children's fantasy, written by Edward Wyke Smith and published in 1927. It was illustrated by the Punch cartoonist George Morrow. It is noted as an inspiration source for Tolkien's The Hobbit.-Plot summary:...
, now particularly noted as an inspiration for Tolkien's creation of hobbits.
Biography
After a time in the Horse Guards at Whitehall, Wyke-Smith joined the crew of a windjammerWindjammer
A windjammer is the ultimate type of large sailing ship with an iron or for the most part steel hull, built to carry cargo in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century...
and sailed to Australia and the west coast of the United States. In the American West, he worked as a cowboy. Back in England, he studied mine engineering and later managed mines in Mexico, the Sinai, South America, Spain, Portugal and Norway. During the 1913 revolution in Mexico
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
, he rescued his wife from the capital. He built a pontoon bridge across the Suez canal during the First World War.
He wrote his first book, Bill of the Bustingforths, at his children's request, and went on to write several others, both for children and adults.
Influence on Tolkien
J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, author of The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
and Lord of the Rings is known to have read The Marvellous Land of Snergs to his children. He said: "I should like to record my own love and my children's love of E. A. Wyke-Smith's Marvellous Land of Snergs, at any rate of the snerg-element of that tale, and of Gorbo the gem of dunderheads, jewel of a companion in an escapade."
The similarities between the races of snergs and hobbits have led to speculation that the book was a major inspiration. They are similar in their physical descriptions, their love of communal feasting, and their names, particularly Gorbo and Bilbo. In all the books there are also journeys through dangerous forests and underground caverns.
Sources
- The Tolkien Collector review
- Tolkien's sources
- Douglas A. Anderson (annotations), J. R. R. Tolkien , The Annotated Hobbit (2002)
- Douglas A. Anderson Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy (2003)
- Old Earth Books reprints 'Snergs' after nearly 70 years