There's no way Tolkien was speaking English here

[dryden]

"Let me say at once that owing to the casualties in the war and various other things, there were very few people to elect. It's a pity you couldn't be here in the springtime when that tree there wouldn't look sad, but it'd be covered with leaves, you see. It would look old but not sad. And these, with all the limes obviously, however old they are, they're a lovely green in spring. I suppose. I have actually, in some simple-minded form of longing, actually would like to. I should've liked to be be able to make contact with a tree and find out what it feels about things.

"I first began to seriously invent languages about when I was 13 or 14. I've never stopped really."

[DougWIngate]

He is speaking perfect English. When Tolkien mutters something, it automatically becomes an official part of the Oxford Dictionary

[DamianSzajnowski]

Having worked at a pub in the UK, I assure you, he is more understandable here than 90% of my clients; drunk or sober.

[Guyledouche]

A writer is never wrong, nor does he mumble. He says precisely what he means to.

[calebgilbreath]

He sounds like the sweetest jolly old man ever. I could listen to him talk for hours.

[DSprich]

I worked at a pharmacy before and got to read doctors' handwriting, but this is the first time I've heard it.

[SnakeWasRight]

It seems incredible that this man is captured on film, he seems like a primordial legend to me, from a time before technology.

[paulpenfold]

"Let me say at once, that errr... due to the casualties in the war and various other things there were very few people to elect [to the professorial chair]" - "It's a pity you couldn't be here in the springtime then that tree there wouldn't look sad, it'd be covered with leaves you see, it'd look old but not sad, and these errr [cut-off mid-sentence]" - "In 1972, however old they are, they're a lovely green in the spring" - "I s'pose... I have actually in some simple-minded form of longing, actually would like to... I should've liked to make contact with a tree and find out what it feels about things!" - "I first began seriously to invent languages... about when I was 13 or 14, I've never stopped really". Tolkien was renowned for mumbling lol.

[intjdragon]

When you've become such a connoisseur of Old English that you forget how to speak regular modern English.

[scottanderson]

Came across a lovely old gentleman in emergency work a few years back. A 999 call which was coded as a stroke and that patient is stuck somewhere. On arriving at scene it soon became apparent that this posh speech pattern had been misinterpreted as stroke symptoms and that he was simply caught up in his own clothing and too weak to remove the offending jumper, hence " I'm stuck ". He'd correctly used his community alarm to ask for assistance but this is Perthshire in Scotland and that way of speaking is quite rare. A replicated call some weeks later had me radio our control to tell them he's not having a stroke he just speaks like Rex Harrison. He was again caught in cardie 😅

[coolhandluke]

Tolkien was known to be difficult to understand even among his friends. Biographies of him mention that this was likely a reason his lectures were not well attended. Also, it is the reason why his son Christopher, when he was old enough, would attend meetings of the Inklings so that he could read excerpts of the Lord of the Rings to the group. He was much easier for them all to understand.

[protype]

This man's word choice and his way of speaking are very eloquent.

He should write a book.

[Dave-ksfi]

That's how most old people talked when I was a kid, he's perfectly understandable.

[lizziewicked]

He’s definitely speaking English. It’s just British English. I understand every word

[vytas]

I’m Australian and I can understand him fine. He just speaks in fragments because his mind moves faster than his words.

[thefairhairedboywiththered]

He sounds fine. He just sounds like a very intelligent man sometimes struggling to articulate his thoughts in a clear way.

[ltsch]

His flow of speech is unusual to many ears, like a stuttering car engine or a scratched CD. He reminds me of Winston Churchill or William Shatner. He stops or emphasizes where you don't normally, and then pick up the pace again, speaking quickly, almost swallowing words like French, then pausing again very briefly and so on. This way of speaking is rare and peculiar. I guess that's why it's not that easy for everyone to understand everything the first time.

[Dnichols]

As an American, this sounds like British Boomhauer

[KlaraL-_-]

Loved what he said about trees. If you´ve ever read Tolkien, you know that nature (and especially trees) has an important part in his works. ❤🌳 Love you Tolkien, you´ve given me the best fictional world ever.

[chezzyboy]

0:01 “Let my say it once, but uhh, dwosidkdmrmtnfndjsjemrrn” very inspirational