4 ms·

You make it sound like they are doing it for free.

• nabeelam 5y ago
  To dedicate your life to your father's work, to forgo carving your own path, and at great risk of carrying blame for tarnishing Tolkien's legacy, and still earning praise for it -- I don't think the money offsets it by much.
  • iancmceachern 5y ago
    Exactly, Tolkien also got paid, but no one could claim he did it for the money. Both hid and the work of his son to preserve and share his legacy were labors of love. For something completely different, but the same here is a YouTube clip of Billy Strings playing with his dad, a very similar dynamic here: https://youtu.be/_6U6NCvOfl8 https://youtu.be/_6U6NCvOfl8
  • fmajid 5y ago
    I doubt the sum total of royalties for the work released by Christopher Tolkien amounts to even a single percent of those for the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, even if you include The Silmarillion. He could just have leaned back and counted the checks incoming.
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• wolverine876 5y ago
  Because you make money from something doesn't mean it's your only, primary or a necessary motivation. Also, they might not earn as much as you imagine: They sold the movie rights in 1969 for £100,000. https://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/my-father039s-quotevisceratedquot-work-son-of-hobbit-scribe-jrr-tolkien-finally-speaks-out https://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/my-father039s-qu...
  • morepork 5y ago
    £100,000 in 1969 is nearly £2 million today, so while little compared to the billion dollar adaptations in the 2000s, still a tidy sum
    • Wildgoose 5y ago
      It was needed to pay a large tax bill. Taxes were much higher then. In the UK they peaked at 98%, made up of 83% Income Tax and a 15% surcharge for income not directly earned.