Happy Birthday, Professor Tolkien!

In honor of the great man's birthday, here is a toast in his own words (from a speech to a Dutch audience in 1958):

"I look East, West, North, South, and I do not see Sauron. But I see that Saruman has many descendants. We Hobbits have against them no magic weapons. Yet, my gentle hobbits, I give you this toast: To the Hobbits. May they outlast the Sarumans and see spring again in the trees."