There's no way Tolkien was speaking English here

"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."

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

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

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

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

Perchance

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

His speech is fluent, his choice of pauses is just very unusual.

It's hard to believe that there was an entire fantasy world living in this man's head at one time. How lucky are we that he chose to share it with us all.

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

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

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.

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

"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.

No one understood his speech so he decided to become one of the best English writers of all time.

RIP J. R. R. Tolkien (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973), aged 81 You will be remembered as a legend.

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 😅

This man's word choice and his way of speaking are very eloquent. He should write a book.

"covered with leaves and shit"

As an American, this sounds like British Boomhauer