Visit the birthplace of 'The Lord of the Rings'

Collier explains that the Tolkien Society is reluctant to comment on the new film. "Our president is J.R.R. Tolkien. He was president when he was alive, and after he died, his family agreed he could stay on in his job. So, our official opinion is 'wait and see.' Very bland. Very politically correct. But it saves us so much trouble. Personally, I'm quite keen on the idea [of not voicing an opinion]."

Tolkien himself endured listening to a BBC radio adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings."

When an American filmmaker inquired about making an animated version, Tolkien was resignedly practical: "I should welcome the idea of an animated motion picture, with all the risk of vulgarization; and that quite apart from the glint of money, though on the brink of retirement that is not an unpleasant possibility. I think I should find vulgarization less painful than the sillification achieved by the BBC."

A later British cartoon version was not much better. "Gollum is a frog, and all the elves appear to have been on very strange drugs," says Collier, laughing.

What would Tolkien think of the new, high-budget film? No doubt, the spectacular computer-generated effects would impress. But in the end, Tolkien would probably prefer his own private vision of Middle-earth.

Wolvercote Cemetery lies several miles past Tolkien's old home on Northmoor Road. A few low stone markers point the way to the grave of Tolkien and his wife, Edith.

It is a simple rectangle of rough Cornish granite. Delicate white lady's slippers are planted over the grave. Visitors have draped small pendants over one of the corners of the tombstone: a Celtic cross, a fairy, a kneeling archer, and a crucifix.

Romance is noticeably scarce in Tolkien's works. Yet "Luthien" is carved below Edith's name, and "Beren" below Tolkien's.

The love story between Luthien, an immortal elf maiden, and Beren, a mortal man, is at the heart of Tolkien's "The Silmarillion," a collection of Middle-earth legends.

Tolkien died at age 81, less than two years after his wife.

He explained to his son after Edith's death in 1971: "I hope none of my children will feel that the use of this name is a sentimental fancy ... but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of the Silmarillion ... for ever (especially when alone) we still met in the woodland glade, and went hand in hand many times to escape the shadow of imminent death before our last parting."

Oxford is an easy one-hour train ride from London's Paddington Station. The Oxford Tourist Centre distributes a "Tolkien in Oxford" guide written by Ian Collier of the Tolkien Society. You can also find more information through the center's website, www.oxfordcity.co.uk/guide/infocent.html.

A detailed guide to Tolkien sites around Oxford, complete with photographs and a map, is online at: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~tolksoc/TolkiensOxford.

Blackwell's Bookshop (telephone 01865-333606) is a few blocks from the Tourist Centre, on Broad Street across from Old Ashmolean. Once a week (usually Wednesdays), it offers an "Inklings" literary walking tour.

Blackwell's also sells detailed Oxford maps that are essential in finding Tolkien sites on the edge of town, such as Northmoor Road and Wolvercote Cemetery. When visiting former Tolkien homes, remember to be respectful of the current residents' privacy.

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