Who was Edith Bratt? Millions saw Hollywoo d's fantasy version of J.R.R. Tolkien's one and only love\, Edith Bratt\, in the 2019 movie\, Tolkien. Fact\, though\, is stranger than fiction\, an d more interesting. Edith's story reveals a gallant heroine suffering unde r &ldquo\;The Shadow of the Past.&rdquo\; Edith was Ronald&rsquo\;s &ldquo \;lover\,&rdquo\; and much like her mother\, Edith risked all for the man she loved. New research finds a financially independent and strong woman w ho was not only John Ronald's equal\, but his muse\, his anchor of stabili ty in the present\, and his hope for the future. \;
\nThis prese ntation of Edith's life presents a new look at the previously censored dep th of her passion with Ronald Tolkien that was ignited in 1909 at the Faul kner boarding house in Birmingham. The blow of their separation from 1910 to 1913 is seen as the likely impetus to Ronald Tolkien's escape into Fant asy with his invented languages\, mythology\, and art. Their reunion and c ommitment to a life together was the incentive that saved Ronald Tolkien f rom his years of partying and pranks in Oxford. Tolkien then imagined a ne w life in enchanted Kortirion/Warwick with Edith\, lauded in poetry and bl essed by the Elves. When World War I threatened to void all they had waite d for\, they became for each other the promise of a seemingly impossible f uture. \;
\nAdmirers\, enthusiasts\, and students of Tolkien wil l find much new material to enrich their understanding and appreciation of Tolkien. Placing the development of John Ronald Tolkien's Elvish language s\, mythology\, and art during the crucial years of 1916-18 in a new biogr aphical context that includes the importance and significance of Edith Bra tt culminates in the pivotal story of Lú\;thien and Beren with new u nsuspected sources and the complementary artwork of The Fair Towns of Holy Tol Eressë\;a. A fresh awareness of the compelling and pervasive infl uence and effect of Tolkien&rsquo\;s biography on his oeuvre suggests new views and possibilities for further investigations.
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