Who was J.R.R. Tolkien’s eldest son and literary executor?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s eldest son and literary executor was Christopher Tolkien.

Christopher Tolkien was born in 1924 and became deeply involved in his father’s literary work. He helped prepare maps for The Lord of the Rings and later edited, organized, and published substantial amounts of his father’s unfinished and posthumous writing.

After J.R.R. Tolkien’s death in 1973, Christopher edited The Silmarillion, which appeared in 1977. He also published Unfinished Tales and the twelve-volume History of Middle-earth, preserving drafts, revisions, commentary, and linguistic material that documented the development of Tolkien’s mythology.

Christopher was not simply a publisher of new novels written by his father. His editorial work involved comparing manuscripts and presenting incomplete or variant material, especially in The Silmarillion. His role is therefore distinct from that of Tolkien’s other sons, John and Michael, and from his grandson Simon Tolkien, who became a novelist.