I love this guy. A true eccentric. I recommend his essay "Urne-Buriall" as an introduction to his writing. I suspect Tolkien, being a fellow Oxford eccentric, w

I love this guy. A true eccentric. I recommend his essay "Urne-Buriall" as an introduction to his writing. I suspect Tolkien, being a fellow Oxford eccentric, was at some level influenced by passages like this: "In sundry Graves and Sepulchres, we meet with Rings, Coynes, and Chalices; Ancient frugality was so severe, that they allowed no gold to attend the Corps, but only that which served to fasten their teeth. Whether the Opaline stone in this Urne were burnt upon the finger of the dead, or cast into the fire by some affectionate friend, it will consist with either custome. But other incinerable substances were found so fresh, that they could feel no sindge from fire." http://penelope.uchicago.edu/hydrionoframes/hydrion.html http://penelope.uchicago.edu/hydrionoframes/hydrion.html