Open Culture:

When Tolkien visited a friend in August of 1952 to retrieve a manuscript of The Lord of the Rings, he was shown a “tape recorder”. Having never seen one before, he asked how it worked and was then delighted to have his voice recorded and hear himself played back for the first time. His friend then asked him to read from The Hobbit, and Tolkien did so in this one incredible take.

This is simply amazing. The original post (captured from a radio broadcast) is from 2012, so this has obviously been around a while, but Jason Kottke posted the link yesterday, couldn’t help but share it.

Here are the videos, parts 1 and 2. Enjoy.