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304. Pipe Smoking in Middle Earth Drops Today!

“In the far South it is said that men drink smoke, and wizards I have heard do so. But always I had thought it was part of their incantations or a process aiding in the weaving of their deep thoughts.”
“My lord,” said Merry, “it is rest and pleasure and the crown of the feast.”
—The War of the Rings, 36-37I am pleased to announce the release later today of the new edition of Pipe Smoking in Middle Earth.  Per Andy Wike at SPC: “We’re releasing/featuring the PSME book this Thursday as part of our regular website update (so 9/29, around 3:30 pm ET).”

While PSME is a little book and perhaps doesn’t even justify the name at only a hundred pages, it’s still dear to my heart. C. S. Lewis taught me early on that we write the books we want to read, and that was certainly the case with this one. I could never fathom why there was nothing about pipes and tobaccos in The Lord of the Rings when so many from my generation began smoking a pipe precisely because of it, and apparently my generation isn’t alone in this. Steve Mawby (Customer Service Manager) and Andy Wike (Marketing Director) at Smokingpipes (both considerably younger than myself) have told me Tolkien was also a big factor in their own pipe pilgrimages.

Over the years as I read and reread LOTR, I only became more intrigued with the unobtrusive yet foundational nature of pipe smoking in Tolkien’s world. In 2006, when I opened the saga to read it again, several sheets of notebook paper fell out with handwritten notes for a concordance of every mention of this crucial subject. At the time, I was hopeful my nephew was taking up the pipe, so I prepared the concordance and wrote a few short essays to accompany it, placing everything in a chapbook.

Five years later in 2012, as my work life became more intolerable, my thoughts slipped back to the chapbook. The Peterson book was just beginning to take up my spare time and with the rise of self-publishing, I thought I’d revise the chapbook and give it a shot. I got my old friend Charles Mundungus to create some suitably primitive illustrations and waited to see if anyone else was interested in the subject. As it turns out, they were. In 2015, Tolkien Studies even ran a short review of it in one of their literature roundups:

“In Pipe Smoking in Middle Earth: The Fellowship of the Smoke Ring Mark Irwin gathers every reference he can find to pipes in Middle-earth, both in Tolkien’s novels and in Peter Jackson’s films (wisely separating the two). Accompanying two thorough concordances are several short essays on pipes, pipemen, leaf, and related subjects, along with a dozen drawings of the various pipes discussed. It is a short exploration of a niche subject, but Irwin manages some worthwhile observations.” *

After I became fully immersed in the Peterson book project, I never dreamed I’d come back to this one.  With about 500 copies being sold between 2012 and 2016, I thought it had probably reached its audience and I could let it go. As soon as I let it lapse, however, I began getting emails, sometimes two or three a month, asking me where a copy might be found, which surprised me.

When the 20th anniversary of Peter Jackson’s film adaptations came around last December I began to think about a thorough revision and rewrite, in part because I’d get been getting an email every three months or so from CPG John Coatney. When I heard shortly afterwards about Amazon’s five-season The Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power (which has been out for a few weeks now) I thought the time was right and set to work.**

Marie Irwin stepped in to do the layout and design chores, which was an immediate improvement over the original (like night and day). I’m convinced she could design a lawnmower manual and make it a NY Times bestseller. I also cajoled Charles Mundungus into creating some new illustrations as well as freshening up his originals.  Just as important, the concordances have been updated to include references to all six of Jackson’s films, as The Hobbit trilogy hadn’t yet been released when the last edition came out.

Most important to me, however, was the chance to take a fresh look at Tolkien’s own understanding of the role of pipes and tobaccos in his personal life as well as the world he created.  As I look back at my own life, his work is obviously one of the reasons I did my graduate studies in the interdiscipline of religion & literature, convincing me that there is a deep religious understanding in every great work of literature.  While enthusiasts of LOTR often dismiss the “niche” importance of pipe smoking, I believe pipes and tobacco are actually as crucial to his self-understanding as his passions for illustration, ecology and Marian devotion.

Like the blog and the Peterson book, it’s in hopes of sharing what I’ve learned with others that I launch this little book out in the world yet again. If you’ve loved the books, the films or both, I think you’ll find something here to pass a few evenings with your favorite pipe.

Pipe Smoking in Middle Earth: The Fellowship of the Smoke Ring, by Mark Irwin. With illustrations by Chas. Mundungus. Layout & Design, Marie Irwin. 3rd edition, July 2022. Xiii+87pp. $16.95, Smokingpipes.com.

The book is available exclusively at SPC. If you know fans of Middle Earth who are also pipe smokers, do let them know the book is out as it will only be available there.

Nai aistalë Eldaron hilya le!
“May the blessing of the Elves go with you!”

 

 

* Tolkien Studies, Volume 12, 2015, pp. 199-247.

** Michael Drout’s guest editorial at the NYTimes on the new Amazon series is required reading for serious fans of the book.

 

BANNER

An Early Republic 307 Rustic System, c. 1965, atop the original 1965 Ace edition covers
of LOTR used on the earliest Ballantine Adult Fantasy paperback Authorized issue.

 

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Stephen
Stephen
2 years ago

Hi Mark!
What would Middle Earth be without pipes and LongBottom leaf?
Thanks for compiling this data for all CPGs and Tolkien afficianados.
One interesting aspect of smoking in ME–no cigars or cigarettes.
When will we see a ME Pete?
Cheers

Nevaditude
Nevaditude
2 years ago
Reply to  Mark Irwin

I would love a Tolkien & Lewis pipe set, celebrating two of my all time favorite writers. Mark, like you said, use the region name they loved hiking in as a way to circumvent those who live to litigate. Or maybe even an ‘Inklings’ set, complete with custom pint glasses for libations while enjoying a smoke! ha!
Fingers crossed!

Paul MacDonald
Paul MacDonald
2 years ago

I’ve been waiting for this day for quite some time!!! Can’t wait to place my order and get my copy – and just in time before the Fall of Númenor and illustrated Silmarillion drop in November!

Last edited 2 years ago by Paul MacDonald
Paul MacDonald
Paul MacDonald
2 years ago
Reply to  Mark Irwin

Mark, I just finished my first read of the book – job well done! I really enjoyed all the drawings of the pipes too (is that an army mount on Gimli’s lost pipe?). Thanks so much for making this book and releasing it again!

William Auld
William Auld
2 years ago

Really looking forward to this one, Mark! Thanks for all the effort to rerelease it, especially with Marie’s design/layout improvements. I’m just finishing the amazing Silmarillion so this is wonderful timing.

William Auld
William Auld
2 years ago
Reply to  Mark Irwin

The book arrived and I’m well into it. Love it – it’s wonderful! The illustrations are terrific – especially the Gandalf clay!

mike hagley
mike hagley
2 years ago

Not showing on smokingpipes.com

Eric B
Eric B
2 years ago

Congratulations on the book. I look forward to reading it. And I enjoyed the referenced article about the Rings of Power series. I watched three episodes to give it a fair chance before deciding it wasn’t for me. I thought the author did a great job identifying the problems with the new series.

Christopher Lauer
Christopher Lauer
2 years ago

I know you might find this hard to believe but I have never seen the LOTR movies. I have been waiting for this edition to come out and I have ordered my copy. I’m going to give this a thorough read through and then start watching the movies. Thanks Mark and congratulations on the book!!!

Nevaditude
Nevaditude
2 years ago

Congratulations Mark! It is exciting to have this new edition out. I have just now purchased 2 copies, one for myself and one for a friend & fellow pipe smoker. When showed, my copy of your Basil Rathbone’s pipe book. It was nice & “pretty interesting”, …but alas, he is not too much of a ‘Shelockian’. I on the other hand along with my wife continue working our way through the Jeremy Brett sleuth series. Yeah, … I know. 🙂 However, … knowing my friends great love for & appreciation the LOTR series printed and otherwise. (He even owned figurines… Read more »

Nevaditude
Nevaditude
2 years ago
Reply to  Nevaditude

Oh, yeah, I mustn’t forget to ask you to convey MANY MANY thanks to Marie Irwin for all her contributions in the publishing of your literary endeavors. They are duly noted!

David F M
David F M
2 years ago

Hi Mark
Congratulations on the new printing.

My copy is on the way. I’m very much looking forward to it. I like books with pictures.

Douglas Owen
Douglas Owen
2 years ago

Hi Mark: After reading your reply to Stephen on the Tolkien/Lewis set I could not help but think, accompanying the set should be a tin of Three Nuns with the Lewis pipe and a tin of Capstan for Tolkien. Also just on a side note, as you know I go way back in the retail tobacco trade and in the 1970’s and 80’s when I worked at the Tinderbox store in Portland, we sold about one or two churchwardens a year, they were really under the radar for our pipe customers. After the movie came out in 2002 (?) our… Read more »

John Coatney
2 years ago

Hooray!!! Long live Mark Irwin! Praise him with great praise!

I’m loving this book, and I’m glad and humbled to know that my obnoxious and persistent inquiries played some small part in its release! 🙂

Christopher Lauer
Christopher Lauer
2 years ago

My copy arrived today. Can’t put it down!! Now I have to try and find the time to read the trilogy. Thanks Mark!!

David F M
David F M
2 years ago

Mark can’t post this, but I can (and no, he didn’t ask me to do it!)

If you like this book, give it a five-star review on SPC.

’nuff said!