From 22 October to 16 February 2020, the National Library of France (BnF) in Paris hosts the largest exhibition ever on Tolkien, the brilliant Oxford professor who authored the world-famous saga of the Lord of the Rings .
The journey begins with County, the land of hobbits and ends in Mordor, the fief of Sauron, the lord of darkness. In the 1000m square space, nearly 300 pieces - some unpublished - are on display for a walk through "The Middle Land", the territory invented by the British writer.
"Frodo almost called himself bingo"
Invented a bit by chance, by the way. Tolkien told these stories of elves and hobbits to his children. To give them a little more realism, he drew the characters but also the places, as can be seen in particular on the writer's work card. "On this map, which dates from the late 1930s, we see how the journey unfolds," says Vincent Ferré, one of the curators of the exhibition.
And if we continue the journey, we come across some surprises. We are witnessing the process of creating the Lord of the Rings . "There are notes in which the author wonders about the name to give to the characters: we learn that the main character, Frodo, almost called Bingo," continues the commissioner. "Tolkien even wonders if the ring is going to be useful."
Gaëlle Lajugée is co-creator and owner of the Fantastic Round Stone Village on the shores of Lac de Chamboux, in Saint-Martin-de-la-Mer, Côte-d'Or. She recreated the entire Tolkien universe, thanks to crowdfunding.
>> She was the guest of Matthieu Belliard, Tuesday morning