A review of Henry Gee's The Science of Middle-earth: Explaining the Science Behind The Greatest Fantasy Epic Ever Told, second edition for Kindle.
I am, by education and general interest, a physicist, and by literary predilection (or idiosyncrasy) a Tolkien enthusiast, so I am naturally sold on a title like The Science of Middle-earth — just how good can the world be to me?
Some years ago, I read Roger Highfield's The Science of Harry Potter in which he uses various magical phenomena as a starting-point for a discussion of how modern science might reproduce the various effects. While the science is certainly interesting, this approach, however, does nothing to illumine the literary work from which it takes it outset. However, having seen a number of Henry Gee's articles in Mallorn, I didn't really worry on that account about Gee's Science of Middle-earth and I wasn't disappointed.
The Science of Middle-earth (2nd, Kindle, edition), starts and ends with science — the role of science in modern society and how we get people interested in studying science, and I was rooting enthusiastically when Gee, in the final chapter, asserts that science is essentially a creative and imaginative endeavour (I usually say that the natural sciences are the most creative pursuits available to man-kind — that Tolkien's creative genius is expressed more clearly in his work in comparative philology than in his story-making, but that my be just my idiosyncratic perspective).
From the general theme of science in modern society, Gee moves to the more particular theme of Tolkien and science. Comparative philology such as Tolkien learned and practised it was a hard science — more so, as Gee points out, than contemporary evolutionary biology, and we should expect a basic sympathy for science in Tolkien's writings, though not necessarily for all applications of science.
The first chapter, ‘Space, Time and Tolkien’, dives into Tolkien's time-travel story, The Notion Club Papers, looking into the familiarity with contemporary science fiction (or, as it is termed in the story, ‘scientifiction’) that is displayed within the story, and discussing how Tolkien, in his fiction, is dealing with the moral dilemmas of science. This leads naturally into Tolkien's own science, philology, which is discussed in some detail in the second chapter, ‘Inside Language’. It is here that Gee makes the comparison with the development of evolutionary biology in the twentieth century, showing how the sciences dealing with the evolution of species and the evolution of language shows many parallels, but also how philology was the more rigid and methodological of the two sciences until changes in evolutionary biology happening circa 1950-70. In this chapter Gee also addresses the perception of Tolkien's stance as anti-scientific, showing that such a position would be self-contradictory for Tolkien, despite Gandalf's anti-reductionist comment to Saruman (as given in LotR II,2 ‘The Council of Elrond’).
Chapter 3, ‘Linguistic Convergence’ deals with linguistic parallels, both between Primary World languages, between Tolkien's invented languages, and between these two groups, moving from simple comparisons to both reasons and stylistic considerations.
Naming in Tolkien has seen considerable interest over the years, not least in the eight years since the first edition of The Science of Middle-earth was released in 2004, but Gee's elegant way of tying ‘Tolkienymics’, the study of names in Tolkien's works, with biological taxonomy is still refreshingly different, and his list of biological names (maintained by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) that are inspired by literature in general (such as “the fish Bidenichthys beeblebroxi”) and Tolkien in particular (a long, but nonetheless incomplete, list including the weevil Macrostyphlus Gandalf, and the fossil mammal Ankalagon Saurognathus). The anecdotes on the invention of false names are not only amusing, but also highlight the power of a name even in the Primary World. This theme of naming carries over into the following chapter with the naming of the submerged Rockall Plateau in the Atlantic Ocean, which is the result of continental drift.
Reaching chapter 6, ‘Inventing the Orcs’, the reader is met with a change of focus. From discussions of aspects of Tolkien's work (professional or sub-creational) leading to discussions of points of science and back again, we now encounter a discussion of story-internal aspects of Tolkien's sub-created world informed by science. Chapter 6 deals first with the linguistic roots of Tolkien's Orcs, which are nowhere as ambiguous and enigmatic as the story-internal origin and reproduction of the Orcs. Gee uses his extensive knowledge to inform his discussion of how Orcs ‘in the wild’ (i.e. not under the immediate control of Morgoth or Sauron) might reproduce, considering industrial manufacture, sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis (a kind of virgin-birth where the mother-animal gives birth to a clone of herself).
This is followed up in chapter 7, ‘Armies of Darkness’, with a discussion of how Melkor, and later Sauron, created their vast armies of Orcs. The discussion here of early competitors to Darwin's theory of evolution, especially Larmarckism, is highly illuminating, and Gee's point that Tolkien's approach to evolution is Lamarckian rather than Darwinian is well made. I was, at this point, also strongly reminded by the article, ‘Legend and History Have Met and Fused’, in Tolkien Studies VIII by Philip Irving Mitchell in which Mitchell discusses the rejection of cultural Darwinism by Barfield, Dawson, Chesterton and Tolkien. Tolkien's own philosophical considerations on the nature of the Orcs (in particular as published in Morgoth's Ring) are neatly contextualised by being put in perspective with examples from both Wells' The Island of Dr Moreau and Swift's Gulliver's Travels (particularly the Yahoo's of the fourth voyage).
The discussion of the biology of the Ents in chapter 8, ‘The Last March of the Ents’, and in particular of their encroaching extinction, is also informed by Gee's impressive knowledge of biology. Discussing various reproductive strategies of plants, Gee opens new possibilities without forcing the reader to accept or reject a specific position. In the same way, the discussion of mycorrhizae as a ‘wood-wide web’ opens new possibilities for our understanding of the influence of Old Man Willow on the trees in the Old Forest.
Another of the ‘great debates’ that Shaun Gunner lamented the disappearance of in an article in Amon Hen (see my post Glorfindel(s), I miss you! from August '12) is the discussion of Balrog wings. Gee's approach is typically scientific and after investigating relevant textual passages he discusses the physics and biology of flying creatures. Since he reaches the same conclusion as I do, I can, of course, only applaud a well-made argument :-)
After Balrogs, the dragons are inevitably next in line, and the discussion of how fire-breathing dragons can be imagined by assuming a gland to produce and store diethyl ether is both interesting (as a scientist) and amusing (as good science should be!). The problem about dragons, according to Gee, is not so much their fire-breathing, but rather that they are vertebrates with six limbs (giving the title of this, the tenth chapter, ‘Six Wheels On My Dragon’), but with a bit of scientific imagination, even this can be resolved, and the exhaling of much rarefied ether fumes can explain the hypnotic powers of a dragon (it's not a spell — it's merely a mild anaesthetic).
The optics of vision is in focus for the chapter on ‘The Eyes of Legolas Greenleaf’, which explains physical optics as well as the workings of the eye (and the image-processing capacity of the brain), together with asides on other solutions to the perception of light (with Gee acknowledging that “Elves, though, did not have the multifaceted eyes of moths.”). This discussion ranges through many aspects of the superior eyesight of the Elves, which is possibly why, in the end, I think the explanation is not entirely satisfying.
The discussion ‘Of Mithril’ in chapter 12 gives us an introduction to modern metallurgy with introduction of an array of highly interesting metallic materials, especially alloys and intermetals. Strangely Gee seems to overlook that neither the letters above the West Door of Khazad-dûm nor the rings of Frodo's mail are made of pure mithril, but rather of metals that the Dwarves made of mithril (“the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel” — LotR II,4 ‘A Journey in the Dark’), and the Elves used it to make Ithildin. Remembering this might have made the discussion a bit easier, as there doesn't seem to be any metallic material known that has all the properties of mithril and the mithril-derivates.
Continuing the tour of material science, Gee next turns to the materials used for the Palantíri and the Silmarilli — materials found in ‘The Laboratory of Fëanor’. Invoking quantum entanglement as well as exotic properties of lithium niobate and beta carbon nitride gets us a part of the way and the discussions of these topics (as well as explaining Moh's scale of hardness) are interesting in their own right.
Coming from two chapters discussing material science, I was expecting this to continue when I met the title of chapter 14: ‘The Gates of Minas Tirith’. Instead I was met with a truly excellent discussion of the theme of loss in Tolkien's Ardaic writings — spiritual loss, intellectual loss, technological loss, linguistic loss: they all combine in this discussion, which also makes the connection with our modern world and modern science. For me, this chapter alone is well worth the price of the book!
Loss leads seamlessly to death and decay, and a thorough discussion of the process of ageing (senescence) is of course necessary before one can discuss the immortality of Elves and the longevity of the Númenóreans. In this is also emphasised our loss of our cousins: that it is actually a rather unique situation in the history of humanity that there is only one human species.
The focus of the book is, naturally, on biological science, and this is also evident in the chapter on oliphaunts and giant spider-like creatures (chapter 16, ‘Giant Spiders and Mammoth Oliphaunts’). Interestingly Gee concludes that Tolkien's oliphaunts might just be remotely possible, but the huge creatures in Peter Jackson's films are not, just as the huge spider-like creatures are impossible. Possibilities and impossibilities are also in focus of chapter 18, ‘In the Matter of Roots’ in which Gee discusses the appearance of such plants as tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco in Tolkien's books, though the interesting part is rather his discussion of how Tolkien uses the naming of plants to set a scene more forcefully; something he does particularly in the Shire to create a sense of homeliness for an English reader by mentioning trees familiar in the English fauna, and in Ithilien by listing a more southern fauna (mainly Mediterranean trees, herbs and shrubs).
In the intervening chapter, chapter 17, Gee takes his outset in the author Arthur C. Clarke's claim (known as Clarke's Third Law) that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic to advance the idea that there is really no such thing as Elvish magic, and that all we see can be explained by an advanced, organic technology. Gee makes many interesting points in his discussion, and though I think his approach is in some ways appropriate, it also fails to explain everything, as well as contradicting some of Tolkien's own explanations.
Even more exotic is the penultimate chapter, in which Gee invokes both string theory and the associated idea of branes in an attempt to explain the One Ring, though he must, in the end, give up the attempt, though, as he says, this is not “reason for despair” because, to a scientist, “the existence of the inexplicable is a challenge, and a reminder that science always has more to achieve.” Well said! And I might add, a call for the scientist be at his most creative.
Throughout The Science of Middle-earth the science is kept at a level where it remains in interesting and engaging dialogue with Tolkien's writings. Specialised scientific vocabulary is always explained, and the language in general is inviting curiosity. The book displays that essential feature of science, the creativity, and some of the explanations are certainly imaginative.
A bit roughly, I have noticed at least four ways in which the scientific content is being used in relation to the Tolkienian analysis:
First and foremost the scientific explanations and the analysis of Tolkien's writings can be in a dialogue: both offering new perspectives on the other without trying to explain each other. This is, for instance, the case in the chapter ‘The Gates of Minas Tirith’ in which discussion of the loss of textual evidence within Tolkien's own field, and the history of human evolution are used to inform the discussion of the theme of loss in Tolkien's writings, which again is allowed to inform our perception of these scientific themes. This is in general the points where the book, in my view, works best.
We also meet cases where the science content is used to open up possibilities for understanding Tolkien's writings such as the discussion of real world extinction of plant species opening up new routes for us to understand the situation of Tolkien's Ents.
Then there are the scientific asides — the tangential discussions that result from an enthusiastic desire to communicate a topic you love. While usually tangential to the topic, these are carried by the obvious enthusiasm for the science. As a scientifically minded reader, I enjoy these, though I also have to admit that they don't much progress the book overall.
Finally there attempts to explain aspects of Tolkien's sub-created world by means of science. When I view these as attempts to showcase the creativity of science, they do work, but as a Tolkienist, I am inclined to take the attempt at explaining perhaps a bit too seriously, and when that happens (as it did e.g. with the explanations for palantíri and the longevity of the Elves), these parts are where the book is, for me, the weakest.
In a short section at the start, we are treated to some of the praise for the first edition of the book. Here we learn that Tom Shippey called it “the most unexpectedly Tolkienian book about Tolkien that [he had] ever come across.” In most ways, I will say that this still holds, eight years after the first edition. Henry Gee displays a solid knowledge not only of science (which is both his education and his job), but also of Tolkien, and a great capacity for explaining both together and in an interesting language.
At times I miss reference to some more obscure writings of Tolkien, such as e.g. the essay ‘Ósanwe-kenta:
“Enquiry into the Communication of Thought”’ which I think is crucial in a discussion of the thought-transferring powers of the palantíri or the letters in which Tolkien makes clear that the difference between the magic of the Elves and the magic of Sauron is more a difference of intention than a difference of kind (except that the Elves did hold it as evil to use necromantic practices and never used these themselves).
Mostly, however, the book makes me want to engage with its arguments, either in the ‘yes, and . . .’ or in the ‘no, but . . .’ mode, but in either case because it inspires my own creative desire to find explanations. For when Henry Gee says that “All science that is enjoyable and worthwhile, rather than routine or directed in pursuit of some unconnected goal, starts when a person of vision looks outwards beyond the wall of what is known and asks the question ‘What If?’” I think he forgets that other question, the question that has inspired my own fantastic quest of science, ‘Why?’
Showing posts with label Tolkien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tolkien. Show all posts
Thursday, 13 December 2012
Friday, 7 December 2012
Source Criticism II
I found this lying about in my drafts, where it had lain idle for a goodly while, so I went through it, changed a few bits here and there, and here goes. The approach is perhaps a bit circumlocutory, but please bear with me — it does become relevant :-)
For the past 9 years I have been working with mobile phones — particularly with their wireless performance (the ratio of erroneously received bits to the total number of transmitted bits) in a variety of situations. When I have analysed the performance of two phones, the inevitable question has always been ‘which is best?’ After I have carefully explained how one is better under some circumstances while the other is better in other circumstances, the next question has always been, ‘yes, but which one is best . . . overall?’
But how are we supposed to compare?
Should we compare the very best that one phone is capable of to the very best that another is capable of? Or perhaps we should compare the worst to the worst — for which phone does the largest fraction of test scenarios fail completely? Or should we perhaps compare the bulk of the data? In statistical terms the median[1] or the mode[2]? If we want a definitive answer, we can only compare one set of numbers.
I start with this illustration of a professional problem because it is, to my scientifically conditioned mind, very similar to the problem of saying something about the value of source criticism of Tolkien's work.
Based on the argumentation in Tolkien and the Study of His Sources edited by Jason Fisher, it is my impression that many would wish to dismiss source criticism as a legitimate critical approach because Tolkien himself disliked it, but I have never agreed with this argument: there are many points where I would disagree with Tolkien; in some cases I even appreciate Tolkien's views as an integral part of his sub-creation and despite disagreeing with him, I wouldn't have any adaptation that took a different position on it (this was my main complaint against the New Line Cinema adaptation of The Lord of the Rings). If new technology and new machines appear to make my life easier, I don't really care if it is at the cost of a few trees . . ..
There is, of course, the question of purpose: if we wish to do source studies, it is fair to ask why, and what we would wish to achieve by it. Verlyn Flieger, at the panel debate on source criticism at the Return of the Ring conference in Loughborough this August, suggested that the purpose was to understand the mind of the author (an endeavour I find no less daunting than Kristine Larsen's wish to “improve our individual chances of holding our own, if only for a brief moment, in a lively discussion with the Good Professor in whatever version of the Eagle and Child awaits the Second Born beyond the Walls of the World.”) In the panel, the conclusion was that we should do source criticism in order to better understand the “mental landscape” of the author. As landscapes can be understood in various levels of detail and abstraction (just play around for a bit with Google maps), I have no problem with that definition, and I would agree that it is a worthwhile effort: even if you wish to understand the story-internal origin of the Orkish race, you will need to understand Tolkien's mental landscape, and understanding it ever better can only help us in our pursuits to also achieve a better understanding of his sub-creational work.
The main issue that I have had with source criticism of Tolkien's work has been that so much of it has been so very badly conducted. I have, in my earlier post about source criticism, listed a number of the problems I have encountered in such studies and I will not expand on that here. One thing that Jason Fisher's book has done for me has been to open my eyes also to those few excellent to perfect examples of source studies that are also there while the bulk of the source studies are still poor. I've tried to illustrate this with a figure — the majority of source studies of Tolkien's work lie between the abominable and the tolerable (with most being merely poor), but a small fraction are good, excellent or even better. In the top we have a few studies such as Verlyn Flieger's Splintered Light.
The following paragraph is inserted after first publication in response to Jason's insightful comments below:
I should add that this represents my personal impression of “Tolkien Source Criticism” alone. As Jason Fisher points out in comments below, this is likely to also be true of other approaches, or indeed of all approaches (I do believe I could find other approaches for which I would say that the same picture to be true). This is also based on what is, after all, a limited sample (I have not read all Tolkien source studies) which may of course not be representative, and it is based on my personal ideas and preferences. I have targeted source studies specifically in response to reading Jason Fisher's book in which he sets out to improve on Tolkien source studies, not because I find that this approach shows particular problems compared to other approaches.
Looking at this, the big problem is upon what we should base our evaluation of source studies as a method for Tolkien criticism. Should we base it on the fact that a select few can use this approach for sublime results? I would venture that this is probably the result of the people rather than the method. Similarly I would claim that those conducting the abominable studies would probably do so regardless of the method. On the other hand, why should we judge the method on what the average guy can make of it?
When we realise that the quality of the resulting study will depend at least as much on the scholar and the specific topic as it does on the chosen method, why should we expect to be able to say anything general about the method at all? As in so many situations, the only answer is, ‘It depends!’
Jason Fisher's book, and in particular his own contribution to it, ‘Tolkien and Source Criticism: Remarking and Remaking’, gives a set of rules and sets up a standard that may help shift the distribution towards something less bottom-heavy — wouldn't it be wonderful if the bulk of Tolkien source-studies were good rather than poor? Certainly in Fisher's book itself the skew is the other way around and the bulk of the essays are better than tolerable.
While I shall probably still approach source studies with a certain degree of scepticism (so as to avoid disappointment), I will also do so with the small hope that this one might be one of the excellent studies, knowing that such studies do exist and are possibly not quite as rare as I had previously thought.
Oh! I do hope to have more to say about Fisher's book at a later point — this is not meant to be a review, but rather some further thoughts on my personal perception of source studies as a critical approach to Tolkien's work.
[1] The point where exactly half the results are better and half are worse. Somewhere between ‘Poor’ and ‘Tolerable’ in the figure.
[2] The point where the most results are concentrated — where the function peaks at ‘Poor’ on the figure.
For the past 9 years I have been working with mobile phones — particularly with their wireless performance (the ratio of erroneously received bits to the total number of transmitted bits) in a variety of situations. When I have analysed the performance of two phones, the inevitable question has always been ‘which is best?’ After I have carefully explained how one is better under some circumstances while the other is better in other circumstances, the next question has always been, ‘yes, but which one is best . . . overall?’
But how are we supposed to compare?
Should we compare the very best that one phone is capable of to the very best that another is capable of? Or perhaps we should compare the worst to the worst — for which phone does the largest fraction of test scenarios fail completely? Or should we perhaps compare the bulk of the data? In statistical terms the median[1] or the mode[2]? If we want a definitive answer, we can only compare one set of numbers.
I start with this illustration of a professional problem because it is, to my scientifically conditioned mind, very similar to the problem of saying something about the value of source criticism of Tolkien's work.
Based on the argumentation in Tolkien and the Study of His Sources edited by Jason Fisher, it is my impression that many would wish to dismiss source criticism as a legitimate critical approach because Tolkien himself disliked it, but I have never agreed with this argument: there are many points where I would disagree with Tolkien; in some cases I even appreciate Tolkien's views as an integral part of his sub-creation and despite disagreeing with him, I wouldn't have any adaptation that took a different position on it (this was my main complaint against the New Line Cinema adaptation of The Lord of the Rings). If new technology and new machines appear to make my life easier, I don't really care if it is at the cost of a few trees . . ..
There is, of course, the question of purpose: if we wish to do source studies, it is fair to ask why, and what we would wish to achieve by it. Verlyn Flieger, at the panel debate on source criticism at the Return of the Ring conference in Loughborough this August, suggested that the purpose was to understand the mind of the author (an endeavour I find no less daunting than Kristine Larsen's wish to “improve our individual chances of holding our own, if only for a brief moment, in a lively discussion with the Good Professor in whatever version of the Eagle and Child awaits the Second Born beyond the Walls of the World.”) In the panel, the conclusion was that we should do source criticism in order to better understand the “mental landscape” of the author. As landscapes can be understood in various levels of detail and abstraction (just play around for a bit with Google maps), I have no problem with that definition, and I would agree that it is a worthwhile effort: even if you wish to understand the story-internal origin of the Orkish race, you will need to understand Tolkien's mental landscape, and understanding it ever better can only help us in our pursuits to also achieve a better understanding of his sub-creational work.
The main issue that I have had with source criticism of Tolkien's work has been that so much of it has been so very badly conducted. I have, in my earlier post about source criticism, listed a number of the problems I have encountered in such studies and I will not expand on that here. One thing that Jason Fisher's book has done for me has been to open my eyes also to those few excellent to perfect examples of source studies that are also there while the bulk of the source studies are still poor. I've tried to illustrate this with a figure — the majority of source studies of Tolkien's work lie between the abominable and the tolerable (with most being merely poor), but a small fraction are good, excellent or even better. In the top we have a few studies such as Verlyn Flieger's Splintered Light.
The following paragraph is inserted after first publication in response to Jason's insightful comments below:
I should add that this represents my personal impression of “Tolkien Source Criticism” alone. As Jason Fisher points out in comments below, this is likely to also be true of other approaches, or indeed of all approaches (I do believe I could find other approaches for which I would say that the same picture to be true). This is also based on what is, after all, a limited sample (I have not read all Tolkien source studies) which may of course not be representative, and it is based on my personal ideas and preferences. I have targeted source studies specifically in response to reading Jason Fisher's book in which he sets out to improve on Tolkien source studies, not because I find that this approach shows particular problems compared to other approaches.
Looking at this, the big problem is upon what we should base our evaluation of source studies as a method for Tolkien criticism. Should we base it on the fact that a select few can use this approach for sublime results? I would venture that this is probably the result of the people rather than the method. Similarly I would claim that those conducting the abominable studies would probably do so regardless of the method. On the other hand, why should we judge the method on what the average guy can make of it?
When we realise that the quality of the resulting study will depend at least as much on the scholar and the specific topic as it does on the chosen method, why should we expect to be able to say anything general about the method at all? As in so many situations, the only answer is, ‘It depends!’
Jason Fisher's book, and in particular his own contribution to it, ‘Tolkien and Source Criticism: Remarking and Remaking’, gives a set of rules and sets up a standard that may help shift the distribution towards something less bottom-heavy — wouldn't it be wonderful if the bulk of Tolkien source-studies were good rather than poor? Certainly in Fisher's book itself the skew is the other way around and the bulk of the essays are better than tolerable.
While I shall probably still approach source studies with a certain degree of scepticism (so as to avoid disappointment), I will also do so with the small hope that this one might be one of the excellent studies, knowing that such studies do exist and are possibly not quite as rare as I had previously thought.
Oh! I do hope to have more to say about Fisher's book at a later point — this is not meant to be a review, but rather some further thoughts on my personal perception of source studies as a critical approach to Tolkien's work.
[1] The point where exactly half the results are better and half are worse. Somewhere between ‘Poor’ and ‘Tolerable’ in the figure.
[2] The point where the most results are concentrated — where the function peaks at ‘Poor’ on the figure.
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Tolkien Transactions XXIV
April 2012
Another month has passed, and it is yet again time to list all the things that have caught my attention in relation to Tolkien, and which I have found interesting enough to include in this summary. You may disagree with my priorities, or find that the limits of your sympathies are different than mine (probably the limits of your sympathies are much wider than mine), so feel free to add anything in comment that you think ought to have been included (but don't expect the limits of my sympathies to change as a result).
This month it has suited my purposes to sort the contents under the following headlines:
1: News
2: Essays and Scholarship
3: Book News
4: Other Stuff
5: Rewarding Discussions
6: In Print
7: Web Sites
8: Sources
http://www.ipbrief.net/2012/04/01/hobbit-pub-gains-support-from-actors/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7bdtj6l
Following up on last month's story about English pubs being contacted by the Saul Zaentz Company (SZC) over alleged copyright and trademark infringements, this piece agrees that the settlement is also an implicit agreement that the pub (possibly with more to come) have been infringing on the rights of the SZC. I would have liked to see that claim tested, but with the support the pub has seen, I presume that they have at least been able to consult with a good lawyer before they decided to take the offered license fee of $100.- pro annum.
Ledbury Reporter, Thursday, 12 April 2012, ‘Choir brought Tolkien to life’
http://www.ledburyreporter.co.uk/news/9640454.Choir_brought_Tolkien_to_life/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c7f3xq7
Reporting from the ‘West of the Moon’ show by the choir at Somer Park school, which contained a performance of songs by Tolkien, set to music by the school's co-ordinator, David Cowell. The performance reportedly ‘wowed crowds’.
Michael Noer and David M. Ewalt, Forbes, Monday, 23 April 2012, ‘The Forbes Fictional 15’
http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/fictional-15-12/fictional-15.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6tsp9af
The richest fictional character according to Forbes? Smaug the dragon!
Eric Lochridge, Rapid City Journal, Friday, 13 April 2012, "Youth troupe gets to the heart of ‘The Hobbit"’
http://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/youth-troupe-gets-to-the-heart-of-the-hobbit/article_be1f5676-8579-11e1-8c90-001a4bcf887a.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d2mhdcn
A theatrical production based on The Hobbit and played by the Cherry Street Players, children aged 9 to 17. The journalist has spoken with the director who has read The Hobbit in preparation for putting on the play (I should bloody well think so!) as well as various criticism of Tolkien (which is, of course, less obvious and thus also more interesting).
John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier, Saturday, 14 April 2012, ‘Tolkien epic inspires Rivendell garden centre name’
http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/News/Tolkien-epic-inspires-Rivendell-garden-centre-name-13042012.htm
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bu3epor
The story of a new garden centre named Rivendell that has opened in Caithness (far northern Scotland) — one wonders whether the esteemed Saul Zaentz Company will be on their backs.
Altaira, Saturday, 14 April 2012, ‘One Man LOTR coming to The Return of the Ring event this Summer’
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/04/14/55055-one-man-lotr-coming-to-the-return-of-the-ring-event-this-summer/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bs29bsy
What the headline says, basically . . .. Charlie Ross will be performing his One Man LotR at the Return of the Ring conference in Loughborough this August.
Unknown, Failblog, Wednesday, 18 April 2012, ‘WIN!: Sauron Cake WIN’
http://failblog.org/2012/04/18/epic-win-photos-win-sauron-cake-win/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/79bkqgy
Now, I am most definitely not a fan of the fallacious misrepresentation of Sauron in the New Line Cinema films (the great flaming . . . eye), but this cake, on the other hand, deserves a round of applause: whatever the source (and faults) of the imagery, turning it into a cake is a clear win :-)
James Ward, Thursday, 19 April 2012, ‘'The Hobbit' brought to life on College of the Sequoias stage’
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20120419/ENTERTAINMENT05/120419014
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7yps4cd
One should probably not be surprised that The Hobbit is being set up in theatres all over the place by school or student troupes that are appearing on stage. Here is one more company who has made their own choices and thus creating their own vision and version of Tolkien's story. This article also has a video attached which allows the reader to get a better impression of what they are trying to achieve with the play.
Deutsches Tolkien Gesellschaft, Monday, 23 April 2012, ‘Tolkien Seminar 2012 — Tolkien's Influence on Fantasy’
http://www.openpr.com/news/218760/Tolkien-Seminar-2012-Tolkien-s-Influence-on-Fantasy.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/csr2cqr
Writing this on the thirtieth of April, the DTG seminar will have been held this past weekend, and so the announcement of the seminar is probably irrelevant now, but I hope that some kind of report will be forthcoming, so that we can get an idea of what is going on in this particular branch of Tolkien scholarship.
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243419
Another excellent contribution to the Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza's (LotR-Plaza) ‘Scholars Forum’ in which Risden argues that the myths about King Arthur in some ways informed Aragorn's character. I admit that I approached this essay with a great deal of scepticism towards its central claim, but reading it, I have to acknowledge not only that it is well-written (which has nothing to with whether the hypothesis is believable or not), but also that there is probably something to it.
Tom Holland, Friday, 30 March 2012, ‘The fall of the Roman empire and the rise of Islam’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/30/fall-roman-empire-rise-islam
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6uxm295
Seeing the effects of the fall of the Roman empire in subsequent history (e.g. the rise of Islam) and in art, and so coming, in the penultimate paragraph, to Tolkien. If you want to read only the parts that relate to Tolkien, you should read the last four paragraphs, but the whole piece is well worth a read (being largely ignorant of the subject matter, I can offer no opinion on the quality of the historical scholarship displayed in the article).
JM, Sunday, 1 April 2012, ‘Under Grace that Will Do Good’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/under-grace-that-will-do-good/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d8ou96x
Part 2 of a series of posts with the common sub-title of ‘Tolkien’s theology of forgiveness’. Jonathan McIntosh continues his investigation into Tolkien's ideas on offence vs. pain based on Tolkien's letter to C.S. Lewis.
BC, Sunday, 1 April 2012, ‘Why doesn't Eru just eradicate the evil of Middle Earth?’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-doesnt-eru-just-eradicate-evil-of.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cblo25f
Bruce Charlton here asserts that the answer to the titular question is that such an eradication would destroy all of Arda due to the marring by Melkor. However, as I understand Tolkien it is rather the other way around: the marring is possible because Eru will not merely eradicate the evil.
JM, Monday, 2 April 2012, ‘Rational vs. Radical Evil’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/evil-to-rationalize-or-to-reify/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bvkullk
The twelfth of McIntosh' series on ‘Tolkien's Metaphysics of Evil’ in which McIntosh further discusses Tolkien's works in relation to Augustine, Kierkegaard and others.
Part 13: 4th of April, ‘“That will settle the Manichees!”: Thomas’s doctrine of evil in context’ (more about St. Thomas' position)
Part 14: 6th of April, ‘“Every Creature Must Have Some Weakness”: Tolkien’s Hierarchy of Evil’ (beginning the more specific analysis of Tolkien as writing in a Thomistic tradition)
Part 15: 8th of April, ‘From Creation to Annihilation: the beginning and end of evil’ (expanding on the previous post, McIntosh here discusses some details of particularly Morgoth's evil nature)
Part 16: 10th of April, ‘“To Bring into Being Things of His Own”: The Primal Sin of Satan and Melkor’ (a further investigation into the nature of Morgoth's evil)
Part 17: 11th of April, ‘“Thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren”: Melkor’s Second Fall’ (this discusses Melkor's sub-creative Fall in the Music of the Ainur and generally ‘the “evil” of defective sub-creation’)
Part 18: 13th of April, ‘Tolkien and the problem of God’s causality with respect to evil’ (raising the question of why Eru / God allows evil, and promising us an investigation of St. Thomas' answer, which McIntosh believes also to be Tolkien's)
Part 19: 15th of April, ‘Divine “unshatterable” action and human “shatterable” activations’ (investigating how evil can be caused without God being in any way a cause)
Part 20: 17th of April, ‘Evil and a greater good’ (arguing that St Thomas believed that evil exists that greater good may come in the end)
Part 21: 19th of April, ‘Could God have willed that there be no evil while still leaving the human will to be free?’ (dealing with a scholar contending the claim of the previous post)
Part 22: 21th of April, ‘“Evil labours with vast powers and perpetual success—in vain”’ (Tolkien's version of ‘evil exists for the greater good’)
Part 23: 23th of April, ‘Evil and “Preservation”: The Fainéance of the Valar’ (discussing the faults of possessiveness and preservation in the Valar)
Part 24: 25th of April, ‘Elvish Preservationism: The Correspondence of Sub-creative Intellect and Will’ (discussing the particular weakness of the Elves, ‘preservationism’, and how it arises from their ‘greater correspondence between will and intellect’ — the greater strength of their fëar over their hröar)
Part 25: 27th of April, ‘Material Elves Living in a Material World’ (on the effect of being incarnate in a hröa of matter of Arda Marred who is using as the medium for your artistic sub-creation the matter of Arda Marred)
Part 26: 29th of April, ‘Elvish Escapism’ (the Elves as a mirror of the reader's possible desire to ‘escape’ into the story, or other, similar, stories)
The fifteen posts in the series this month have taken us far into Jonathan McIntosh' own, Thomistic, analysis of the nature of evil in Tolkien's sub-created Secondary World, investigating aspects such as Tolkien's (postulated) hierarchical model of Evil, various layers of this hierarchy, and the causes of Evil. The posts in this series are nearly all to be found in the category ‘Metaphysics of Faërie’:
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/category/j-r-r-tolkien/metaphysics-of-faerie/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cgv9ptc
acrackedmoon, Tuesday, 3 April 2012, ‘Lord of Neckbeards — Tolkien rape/suicide/pedestal watch’
https://requireshate.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/lord-of-neckbeards-tolkien-rapesuicidepedestal-watch/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bmvf2rq
This reading of Tolkien's presentation of women is so biased that I find it impossible to call it scholarship, but on the other hand it is also good to sometimes have a bit of provocation. While I agree to a large extent with the neutral reading of Tolkien's texts, I also find some of the conclusions drasn here from that reading to be, frankly, ludicrous. This, however, doesn't change the fact that Tolkien's view of women was, even for his own time, not just old-fashioned, but archaic (with a healthy dose of romanticism added to the archaism). There are reasons for this in Tolkien's personal history, I agree, but that still doesn't change the facts. For a more balanced take on Tolkien's rape narratives, I heartily recommend Lynn Whitaker's paper in Mythlore 111/112, ‘Corrupting beauty: rape narrative in _The Silmarillion_’:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Corrupting+beauty%3A+rape+narrative+in+The+Silmarillion.-a0242509658
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c46ga2k
JM, Tuesday, 3 April 2012, ‘"You Read Too Much’: Tolkien to Lewis on the Critic vs. the Writer"
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/you-read-too-much-tolkien-to-lewis-on-the-critic-vs-the-writer/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/dyqrhqo
The third part of McIntosh' analysis of Tolkien's theology of forgiveness looks into Tolkien's views on literary criticism (and the critic) vs. writing (and the author), which Tolkien, according to this letter, saw as working against each other in a man.
Miryam Librán-Moreno, Saturday, 14 April 2012, ‘The Father's Star. Some echoes from Virgil's _Aeneid_ in _The Lord of the Rings_’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243743
A very well-written and well-argued essay in the Scholars Forum series at the LotR-Plaza by Tolkien scholar Miryam Librán-Moreno, who sees some echoes from Virgil in particular in the image of the Elendilmir and generally in the character of Aragorn. Ultimately I cannot walk the full nine yards with her, but I still recommend this essay warmly: it is well-written and presents the evidence in a clear way that gives the reader a good overview and, I feel, a good basis for evaluating the strength of the evidence and thus agreeing or disagreeing with Librán-Moreno.
JDR, Wednesday, 18 April 2012, ‘T. H. White, Inkling’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/t-h-white-inkling.html
John Rateliff has found a letter from C.S. Lewis to T.H. White in which Lewis, among other things, invited White to attend a meeting of the Inklings. Rateliff speculates a bit about the possibilities in such a meeting (which probably never took place), ending with the idea that White and Tolkien ‘wd have had plenty to talk about.’
JM, Sunday, 22 April 2012, ‘Feänor, Tolkien's (Dantean) Ulysses’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/feanor-tolkiens-dantean-ulysses/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cq3x2vs
A comparison of Feänor with Ulysses (Odysseus) as he is portrayed in Dante's Divina Commedia that seems based mainly on a comparison of Feänor's speech to the Noldor in Tirion in which he urges them to leave for Middle-earth with Ulysses' speech to his crew in which he convinced them to sail on west and south. I have never read Dante, so I might be completely wrong, but based on McIntosh' presentation, it seems to me that one important difference is that Feänor believed strongly in his own words, whereas Dante's Ulysses (to me) appears not to have been entirely sincere with his men.
Michael Noer, Forbes, Monday, 23 April 2012, ‘How Much is a Dragon Worth, Revisited’
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/04/23/how-much-is-a-dragon-worth-revisited/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/blzkaph
Perhaps a more fun that actual scholarship, but the explanation of how Michael Noer of Forbes reached the staggering figure of $62 billion for Smaug's riches is both fun and actually interesting.
JDR, Monday, 23 April 2012, ‘The Impossibility of Writing Fantasy in 1937’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/impossibility-of-writing-fantasy-in.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cc47yld
By a twisting road, John Rateliff reaches a statement from 1937 about the impossibility of writing fantasy at that time — the year when Tolkien had The Hobbit published and when he sat down to start out on The Lord of the Rings. Make sure also to read David Bratman's comment.
JM, Thursday, 26 April 2012, "Tolkien's "Divine Comedy": Purgatory as Faërie-land"
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/tolkiens-divine-comedy-purgatory-hell-and-heaven-in-his-early-writing/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6rebwqz
I suppose that it is quite common for those of us who study Tolkien's work to see resonances with that work in other works that we read: it is natural in later fantasy fiction because Tolkien has so strongly influenced that genre, and it is also natural in earlier works because Tolkien's work, even despite a large extent of original invention, did not arise in a vacuum, but draws from the great Pot of Tales. McIntosh is re-reading Dante's Divine Comedy and is commenting on some of these resonances, though he keeps it as a comparitive comment rather than claim a source (that may, of course, follow, but will require a much stronger apparatus of evidence than is normal in a blog post). In this post he compares the purgatory of the Divine Comedy to the set-up in Tolkien's earliest legendarium writings.
JDR, Thursday, 26 April 2012, ‘Tolkien and Waugh’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/tolkien-and-waugh.html
On the contentious subject of English authors' reactions to the totalitarian regimes arising in Europe in the 1930s. In this case the most interesting to a Tolkien enthusiast is the comparison to (and comments upon) Tolkien's views on Hitler and Franco respectively.
MT, Monday, 30 April 2012, ‘Prof. Tolkien's Whimsical Talk’
http://mythoi.tolkienindex.net/#post5
The ‘Whimsical Talk’ is one that Tolkien gave at the opening of the Deddington Library on 14 December 1956. Morgan Thomsen recaps the general circumstances, and has transcribed the parts pertaining to Tolkien from the original report in the Banbury Advertiser.
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/art-of-the-hobbit-american-edition/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/codzo9m
Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond announce that their book, The Art of the Hobbit will be released in an American edition by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt this coming 18 September.
Josh Vogt, Examiner, Friday, 6 April 2012, ‘J.R.R. Tolkien biography released through limited-edition comic’
http://www.examiner.com/article/j-r-r-tolkien-biography-released-through-limited-edition-comic
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bonja69
On the issue, exclusively in brick-and-mortar comic book stores, of a comic-book biography of J.R.R. Tolkien. On one hand, I admit to being very intrigued by the idea, but I am doubtful whether this is going to reveal any new information though it may, of course, present some clever new perspectives.
See also
David Bentley, Sunday, 15 April 2012, ‘Special edition comic book for JRR Tolkien, plus Middle-earth weekend at Birmingham's Sarehole Mill’
http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2012/04/special-edition-comic-book-for.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7kcx9ac
Where you will also find announcement of a Middle-earth weekend at Sarehole Mill on 19-20 May.
AW, Sunday, 8 April 2012, ‘Hand-bound Silmarillion’
http://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1832&forum=9
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cvgkql8
Andrew Wells has posted some links to a story of an exceptionally beautiful binding of The Silmarillion . . . deep sigh!
Janet Brennan-Croft, Tuesday, 10 April 2012, ‘Mythlore 117/118 Table of Contents’
http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore/117-118/
The table of contents are announced for issue 117/118 of Mythlore. Based on the table of contents alone there are at least three Tolkien-related contributions to this issue (in addition to some reviews): Steven Brett Carter writes about ‘Faramir and the Heroic Ideal of the Twentieth Century: Or, How Aragorn Died at the Somme’, while Alexander M. Bruce takes a look at ‘The Fall of Gondor and the Fall of Troy: Tolkien and Book II of The Aeneid’, and another medievalist topic, ‘The Myths of the Author: Tolkien and the Medieval Origins of the Word Hobbit’ is covered by Michael Livingston.
Laura Mell, HarperFiction, Friday, 13 April 2012, ‘HarperCollinsPublishers To Publish Official Tie-ins To The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey And The Hobbit: There And Back Again Films’
http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/40111
‘HarperCollinsPublishers has acquired exclusive worldwide publishing rights from Warner Bros. Consumer Products for tie-in books to the two highly anticipated films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, directed by Peter Jackson and productions of New Line Cinema and MGM.’
I suppose this relates to the ‘the making of the films’ kind of books, as HarperCollins are already the publishers of Tolkien's books, and don't need to agree with other than the JRR Tolkien Estate to continue that (I suppose they'll need to agree with the films' copyright holders to produce an edition of The Hobbit that has images from the films as their illustrations, but that's another issue).
DAA, Sunday, 22 April 2012, ‘Publishing Mordor-style’
http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com/2012/04/publishing-mordor-style.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c79pll7
The sad news that Douglas Anderson is leaving the Tolkien Studies journal due to a financial disagreement with the publisher. Not that he wanted to get paid for his work — he merely had the audacity to ask for reimbursement of his expenses as review-editor for purchasing review copies and mailing them to reviewers . . ..
See also
JDR, Tuesday, 24 April 2012, ‘A Parting of the Ways’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/parting-of-ways.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ch2xfss
In which John Rateliff comments on these news.
David Bratman, Mythprint, Wednesday, 25 April 2012, ‘Screwtape On Stage’
http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/screwtape-on-stage/
‘[This review originally appeared in Mythprint 49:2 (#355) in February 2012.]’
From Bratman's review, this sounds like a very interesting take on how Lewis' book can be translated — or adapted — to the stage.
Yorkshire Post, Monday, 30 April 2012, ‘Tolkien Tour proves East Yorkshire can be Hobbit forming’
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/tolkien-tour-proves-east-yorkshire-can-be-hobbit-forming-1-4499022
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cevybs5
Phil Mathison has written a book, Tolkien in East Yorkshire 1917 - 1918: An Illustrated Tour, which ‘guides fans round “The Tolkien Triangle” of East Yorkshire’.
http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2012/04/01/new-particle-spotted-on-tristan-da-cuhna-island/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7hazlhg
A report by experimental physicist working on the ATLAS collaboration, Pauline Gagnon, on the discovery on ‘the remotest place on Earth’ of the new particle, the foolion. Surely this is the particle that gives wings to fools, allowing them to obey Gandalf's order to fly . . .
JDR, Friday, 6 April 2012, ‘LeoCon (TOLKIEN IN TEXAS)’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/leocon-tolkien-in-texas.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/75nyqhb
The story (also related last month by Jason Fisher) that Rateliff appeared, together with Jason Fisher and Doug Anderson, at the LeoCon in Texas on the 14th of April.
H&S, Saturday, 7 April 2012, ‘Farewell to Borders’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/farewell-to-borders/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cqqkgq8
A kind of obituary for Borders — perhaps not quite a eulogy, but still mostly fond memories. My own Houghton-Mifflin hardcover LotR (with the large fold-out maps) was bought in a Borders bookshop along with about as many other books as my flight weight-allowance would allow the first time I was sent abroad on a business trip.
Scott S Smith, Investor's Business Daily, Friday, 13 April 2012, ‘J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Novels’
http://news.investors.com/article/607681/201204131417/tolkien-refused-to-compromise-while-writing-novels.htm
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d2nkbje
A combined biography of Tolkien and history of The Lord of the Rings. The author does get many details wrong (despite quoting both Carpenter's biography and Shippey's Author of the Century), but starting on the second page, it turns more into a list of comments by various scholars about the reception of Tolkien's work, and there are some interesting comments in that part.
Thomas Morwinsky, Tuesday, 10 April 2012, ‘Other Minds, Issue 13 published’
http://www.othermindsmagazine.com/news/other-minds-issue-13-published1
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bnzatjo
Though the focus of the Other Minds magazine is specifically role-playing in Tolkien's sub-created Secondary World, the various issues often contain interesting story-internal analyses and discussions of various points. This issue also contains an overview of all the articles in the thirteen issues so far.
John DiBartolo, The Examiner, Tuesday, 17 April 2012, ‘Chi Rho in LOTRO: Tolkien's Foundation of Faith’
http://www.examiner.com/article/chi-rho-lotro-tolkien-s-foundation-of-faith
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cekrlx8
The artist and designers behind the massively multi-player on-line role-playing game (MMORPG) The Lord of the Rings On-line (LOTRO) have included the ancient Christian symbol ‘Chi-rho’ in the game. This is, I think, quite appropriate and an example of how Tolkien's statement about ‘the religious element’ being ‘absorbed into the story and the symbolism’ can be interpreted in a visual manner appropriate to a computer game. This works when pointed out discreetly, but it is, for me, destroyed when turned (as, I am sorry to say, here) into precisely the kind of preaching that Tolkien wanted to avoid.
DB, Thursday, 19 April 2012, ‘who are we?’
http://kalimac.blogspot.com/2012/04/who-are-we.html
An introduction, such as it is, to the Mythopoeic Society and Mythcon, and why it is OK that the appeal of either may not be within the range of sympathies for all fantasy fans.
JDR, Sunday, 22 April 2012, ‘Illustrating the Hobbit’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/illustrating-hobbit.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bpz58jg
Taking his outset in having seen Doug Anderson's presentation of Hobbit art, Rateliff speculates on which artists would make great illustrations for The Hobbit.
JM, Tuesday, 24 April 2012, ‘Minas Tirith and Dante's Mnt. Purgatory’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/minas-tirith-and-dantes-mnt-purgatory/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cyd9zvz
On visual representations . . .
‘why not talk about the three?’
news:uzwdnsyf8qogsuhsnz2dnuvz_hgdnz2d@insightbb.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/-Go9xlVN_yQ/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cv4occ7
‘at the moment of truth ....’ (Why Sauron sent the Ringwraiths toward Sammath Naur instead of going himself)
news:simdnro4h5fllbvsnz2dnuvz_hidnz2d@insightbb.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/u1AW71Hwuls/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cq3o5n9
‘did just touching the chain confuse the Ringwraith in Woody End?’
news:4pedntjjxpvmexlsnz2dnuvz_rodnz2d@insightbb.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/_KwKN8M17Uc/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d2vm4wu
‘The Hobbit - On the Doorstep 1 (HRT 11)’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243654
In discussion of this chapter relating to the dating of Durin's Day user ‘Lord of the Rings’ adds some very interesting facts, with reference to Pliny, about the seasons as they were reckoned in Roman calendars.
‘The Hobbit - Inside Information (HRT 12)’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243700
An interesting discussion of this chapter in The Hobbit
‘The Only Power?’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243730
Starting from a discussion of whom Gandalf refers to in I,2 as ‘only one Power in this world that knows all about the Rings and their effects’, this turns into an interesting discussion of Sauron's own ‘addiction’ (to use Shippey's metaphor) to the Master Ring.
‘Interesting Quote from Tolkien’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243775
Discussing the intended meaning of Tolkien's statement that ‘The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.’ (Letters no. 142 to Robert Murray, 2 December 1953)
"Gothic, ‘Bagme Bloma,’ and ‘lindos"’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243814
On the meaning of lindos in Tolkien's Gothic poem, Bagme Bloma — with some interesting philological information (even for those of us who don't understand a word of Gothic).
This issue of Beyond Bree has an interesting article by Mark Hooker on ‘Matrilineal Hobbits’ investigating matrilineal patterns (based on matrilineal patterns in Welsh mythology) in the otherwise patrilinear Hobbit society. Mark Hooker also reviews Hobbit Place-names: A Linguistic Excursion through the Shire by Rainer Nagel, which he finds excellent. Dale Nelson has two pieces about the early Tolkien ‘fandom’, investigating early receptions of The Lord of the Rings (‘Days of the Craze No.5: The Two Trees’) and one about other references to Tolkien's works in the sixties and early seventies. Brad Eden calls for responses to a survey on women enjoying Tolkien's work for a presentation he is sponsoring for Kalamazoo 2012. See
http://robin-anne-reid.dreamwidth.org/45806.html
Nancy Martsch, the editor of Beyond Bree reviews Lembas Extra 2011 from the Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor, which she finds ‘an interesting and thought-provoking issue’. As usual the journal carries numerous letters as well as a list of Tolkien events and other smaller items.
Andrew Dickson, Wednesday, 25 April 2007, ‘The Pagan Tolkien’
http://dicksonland.blogspot.com/2007/04/pagan-tolkien.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cy9xnyo
As a reaction against some overly Christian readings of Tolkien, this suffers from going too far in the opposite direction: it is simply not correct to claim that Tolkien's ‘attempts to recreate the pre-Christian myths of England seem to be entirely separate from [Tolkien's Catholic] faith.’ I come across both views, and it is a testament to Tolkien's versatile applicability that you can have people inveterately and savagely defending both extremes, but personally I think that my appreciation and understanding of Tolkien's work flourishes best with a position somewhere in-between.
Jeremy Pryor, Saturday, 2 August 2008, ‘Gandalf the Grey — Tolkien's Apostolic Archetype’
http://jeremypryor.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/gandalf-the-grey-tolkiens-apostolic-archetype/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d6qoqep
This could have been one of the posts that Andrew Dickson reacted against in the piece above, had this not appeared more than a year later than Dickson's. The apostolic resonances in Gandalf may very well be right, but leaving out all the other resonances — notably Tolkien describing Gandalf as an ‘Odinic wanderer’ — creates what is, in my opinion, a skewed presentation of Gandalf.
The Chronological Tolkien Page
http://www.chronology.org/tolkien/
Another ‘oldie’ that deserves to be mentioned from time to time — if nothing else, then for the sheer amount of work that has gone into creating the elaborate tables behind the paragraph-by-paragraph chronology of the primary Middle-earth books (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The Children of Húrin).
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com
Jason Fisher (JF) — ‘Lingwë — Musings of a Fish’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com
Michael Drout (MD) — ‘Wormtalk and Slugspeak’
http://wormtalk.blogspot.com/
Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull (H&S) — ‘Too Many Books and Never Enough’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/
Pieter Collier (PC) — ‘The Tolkien Library’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/
Douglas A. Anderson (DAA) et Al. — ‘Wormwoodiana’
http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com
Corey Olsen (CO), ‘The Tolkien Professor’
http://www.tolkienprofessor.com
David Bratman (DB), ‘Kalimac’
http://kalimac.blogspot.com/
and the old home:
http://calimac.livejournal.com/
Larry Swain (LS), ‘The Ruminate’
http://theruminate.blogspot.com
Andrew Wells (AW), ‘Musings of an Aging Fan’
http://wellinghall.livejournal.com
Various, ‘The Northeast Tolkien Society’ (NETS), ‘Heren Istarion’
http://herenistarionnets.blogspot.com
Bruce Charlton (BC), ‘Tolkien's The Notion Club Papers’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/
Andrew Higgins (AH), ‘Wotan's Musings’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com
Various, The Mythopoeic Society
http://www.mythsoc.org
Henry Gee (HG) ‘cromercrox’, ‘The End of the Pier Show’
http://occamstypewriter.org/cromercrox/
Jonathan S. McIntosh (JM), ‘The Flame Imperishable’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/
Morgan Thomsen (MT), ‘Mythoi’
http://mythoi.tolkienindex.net
John Howe (JH)
http://www.john-howe.com
David Simmons (DS), ‘Aiya Ilúvatar’
http://www.aiyailuvatar.org/
Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Tolkien Studies Blog’
http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/
Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Middle-earth’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/
Troels Forchhammer (TF), ‘Parmar-kenta’
http://parmarkenta.blogspot.com
Mythprint — ‘The Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society’
http://www.mythsoc.org
Amon Hen — the Bulletin of the Tolkien Society
http://www.tolkiensociety.org/
Beyond Bree — the newsletter of the Tolkien Special Interest Group of the Americal Mensa
http://www.cep.unt.edu/bree.html
- and others
--
Troels Forchhammer
One who cannot cast away a treasure at need is in fetters.
- Aragorn ‘Strider’, /Two Towers/ (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Another month has passed, and it is yet again time to list all the things that have caught my attention in relation to Tolkien, and which I have found interesting enough to include in this summary. You may disagree with my priorities, or find that the limits of your sympathies are different than mine (probably the limits of your sympathies are much wider than mine), so feel free to add anything in comment that you think ought to have been included (but don't expect the limits of my sympathies to change as a result).
This month it has suited my purposes to sort the contents under the following headlines:
1: News
2: Essays and Scholarship
3: Book News
4: Other Stuff
5: Rewarding Discussions
6: In Print
7: Web Sites
8: Sources
= = = = News = = = =
Alexander Dowd, Intellectual Property Brief, Sunday, 1 April 2012, ‘Hobbit Pub Gains Support from Actors’http://www.ipbrief.net/2012/04/01/hobbit-pub-gains-support-from-actors/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7bdtj6l
Following up on last month's story about English pubs being contacted by the Saul Zaentz Company (SZC) over alleged copyright and trademark infringements, this piece agrees that the settlement is also an implicit agreement that the pub (possibly with more to come) have been infringing on the rights of the SZC. I would have liked to see that claim tested, but with the support the pub has seen, I presume that they have at least been able to consult with a good lawyer before they decided to take the offered license fee of $100.- pro annum.
Ledbury Reporter, Thursday, 12 April 2012, ‘Choir brought Tolkien to life’
http://www.ledburyreporter.co.uk/news/9640454.Choir_brought_Tolkien_to_life/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c7f3xq7
Reporting from the ‘West of the Moon’ show by the choir at Somer Park school, which contained a performance of songs by Tolkien, set to music by the school's co-ordinator, David Cowell. The performance reportedly ‘wowed crowds’.
Michael Noer and David M. Ewalt, Forbes, Monday, 23 April 2012, ‘The Forbes Fictional 15’
http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/fictional-15-12/fictional-15.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6tsp9af
The richest fictional character according to Forbes? Smaug the dragon!
Eric Lochridge, Rapid City Journal, Friday, 13 April 2012, "Youth troupe gets to the heart of ‘The Hobbit"’
http://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/youth-troupe-gets-to-the-heart-of-the-hobbit/article_be1f5676-8579-11e1-8c90-001a4bcf887a.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d2mhdcn
A theatrical production based on The Hobbit and played by the Cherry Street Players, children aged 9 to 17. The journalist has spoken with the director who has read The Hobbit in preparation for putting on the play (I should bloody well think so!) as well as various criticism of Tolkien (which is, of course, less obvious and thus also more interesting).
John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier, Saturday, 14 April 2012, ‘Tolkien epic inspires Rivendell garden centre name’
http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/News/Tolkien-epic-inspires-Rivendell-garden-centre-name-13042012.htm
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bu3epor
The story of a new garden centre named Rivendell that has opened in Caithness (far northern Scotland) — one wonders whether the esteemed Saul Zaentz Company will be on their backs.
Altaira, Saturday, 14 April 2012, ‘One Man LOTR coming to The Return of the Ring event this Summer’
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/04/14/55055-one-man-lotr-coming-to-the-return-of-the-ring-event-this-summer/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bs29bsy
What the headline says, basically . . .. Charlie Ross will be performing his One Man LotR at the Return of the Ring conference in Loughborough this August.
Unknown, Failblog, Wednesday, 18 April 2012, ‘WIN!: Sauron Cake WIN’
http://failblog.org/2012/04/18/epic-win-photos-win-sauron-cake-win/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/79bkqgy
Now, I am most definitely not a fan of the fallacious misrepresentation of Sauron in the New Line Cinema films (the great flaming . . . eye), but this cake, on the other hand, deserves a round of applause: whatever the source (and faults) of the imagery, turning it into a cake is a clear win :-)
James Ward, Thursday, 19 April 2012, ‘'The Hobbit' brought to life on College of the Sequoias stage’
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20120419/ENTERTAINMENT05/120419014
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7yps4cd
One should probably not be surprised that The Hobbit is being set up in theatres all over the place by school or student troupes that are appearing on stage. Here is one more company who has made their own choices and thus creating their own vision and version of Tolkien's story. This article also has a video attached which allows the reader to get a better impression of what they are trying to achieve with the play.
Deutsches Tolkien Gesellschaft, Monday, 23 April 2012, ‘Tolkien Seminar 2012 — Tolkien's Influence on Fantasy’
http://www.openpr.com/news/218760/Tolkien-Seminar-2012-Tolkien-s-Influence-on-Fantasy.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/csr2cqr
Writing this on the thirtieth of April, the DTG seminar will have been held this past weekend, and so the announcement of the seminar is probably irrelevant now, but I hope that some kind of report will be forthcoming, so that we can get an idea of what is going on in this particular branch of Tolkien scholarship.
= = = = Essays and Scholarship = = = =
E.L. Risden, Thursday, 16 February 2012, ‘Aragorn and the Twentieth-Century Arthur’http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243419
Another excellent contribution to the Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza's (LotR-Plaza) ‘Scholars Forum’ in which Risden argues that the myths about King Arthur in some ways informed Aragorn's character. I admit that I approached this essay with a great deal of scepticism towards its central claim, but reading it, I have to acknowledge not only that it is well-written (which has nothing to with whether the hypothesis is believable or not), but also that there is probably something to it.
Tom Holland, Friday, 30 March 2012, ‘The fall of the Roman empire and the rise of Islam’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/30/fall-roman-empire-rise-islam
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6uxm295
Seeing the effects of the fall of the Roman empire in subsequent history (e.g. the rise of Islam) and in art, and so coming, in the penultimate paragraph, to Tolkien. If you want to read only the parts that relate to Tolkien, you should read the last four paragraphs, but the whole piece is well worth a read (being largely ignorant of the subject matter, I can offer no opinion on the quality of the historical scholarship displayed in the article).
JM, Sunday, 1 April 2012, ‘Under Grace that Will Do Good’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/under-grace-that-will-do-good/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d8ou96x
Part 2 of a series of posts with the common sub-title of ‘Tolkien’s theology of forgiveness’. Jonathan McIntosh continues his investigation into Tolkien's ideas on offence vs. pain based on Tolkien's letter to C.S. Lewis.
BC, Sunday, 1 April 2012, ‘Why doesn't Eru just eradicate the evil of Middle Earth?’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-doesnt-eru-just-eradicate-evil-of.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cblo25f
Bruce Charlton here asserts that the answer to the titular question is that such an eradication would destroy all of Arda due to the marring by Melkor. However, as I understand Tolkien it is rather the other way around: the marring is possible because Eru will not merely eradicate the evil.
JM, Monday, 2 April 2012, ‘Rational vs. Radical Evil’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/evil-to-rationalize-or-to-reify/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bvkullk
The twelfth of McIntosh' series on ‘Tolkien's Metaphysics of Evil’ in which McIntosh further discusses Tolkien's works in relation to Augustine, Kierkegaard and others.
Part 13: 4th of April, ‘“That will settle the Manichees!”: Thomas’s doctrine of evil in context’ (more about St. Thomas' position)
Part 14: 6th of April, ‘“Every Creature Must Have Some Weakness”: Tolkien’s Hierarchy of Evil’ (beginning the more specific analysis of Tolkien as writing in a Thomistic tradition)
Part 15: 8th of April, ‘From Creation to Annihilation: the beginning and end of evil’ (expanding on the previous post, McIntosh here discusses some details of particularly Morgoth's evil nature)
Part 16: 10th of April, ‘“To Bring into Being Things of His Own”: The Primal Sin of Satan and Melkor’ (a further investigation into the nature of Morgoth's evil)
Part 17: 11th of April, ‘“Thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren”: Melkor’s Second Fall’ (this discusses Melkor's sub-creative Fall in the Music of the Ainur and generally ‘the “evil” of defective sub-creation’)
Part 18: 13th of April, ‘Tolkien and the problem of God’s causality with respect to evil’ (raising the question of why Eru / God allows evil, and promising us an investigation of St. Thomas' answer, which McIntosh believes also to be Tolkien's)
Part 19: 15th of April, ‘Divine “unshatterable” action and human “shatterable” activations’ (investigating how evil can be caused without God being in any way a cause)
Part 20: 17th of April, ‘Evil and a greater good’ (arguing that St Thomas believed that evil exists that greater good may come in the end)
Part 21: 19th of April, ‘Could God have willed that there be no evil while still leaving the human will to be free?’ (dealing with a scholar contending the claim of the previous post)
Part 22: 21th of April, ‘“Evil labours with vast powers and perpetual success—in vain”’ (Tolkien's version of ‘evil exists for the greater good’)
Part 23: 23th of April, ‘Evil and “Preservation”: The Fainéance of the Valar’ (discussing the faults of possessiveness and preservation in the Valar)
Part 24: 25th of April, ‘Elvish Preservationism: The Correspondence of Sub-creative Intellect and Will’ (discussing the particular weakness of the Elves, ‘preservationism’, and how it arises from their ‘greater correspondence between will and intellect’ — the greater strength of their fëar over their hröar)
Part 25: 27th of April, ‘Material Elves Living in a Material World’ (on the effect of being incarnate in a hröa of matter of Arda Marred who is using as the medium for your artistic sub-creation the matter of Arda Marred)
Part 26: 29th of April, ‘Elvish Escapism’ (the Elves as a mirror of the reader's possible desire to ‘escape’ into the story, or other, similar, stories)
The fifteen posts in the series this month have taken us far into Jonathan McIntosh' own, Thomistic, analysis of the nature of evil in Tolkien's sub-created Secondary World, investigating aspects such as Tolkien's (postulated) hierarchical model of Evil, various layers of this hierarchy, and the causes of Evil. The posts in this series are nearly all to be found in the category ‘Metaphysics of Faërie’:
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/category/j-r-r-tolkien/metaphysics-of-faerie/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cgv9ptc
acrackedmoon, Tuesday, 3 April 2012, ‘Lord of Neckbeards — Tolkien rape/suicide/pedestal watch’
https://requireshate.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/lord-of-neckbeards-tolkien-rapesuicidepedestal-watch/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bmvf2rq
This reading of Tolkien's presentation of women is so biased that I find it impossible to call it scholarship, but on the other hand it is also good to sometimes have a bit of provocation. While I agree to a large extent with the neutral reading of Tolkien's texts, I also find some of the conclusions drasn here from that reading to be, frankly, ludicrous. This, however, doesn't change the fact that Tolkien's view of women was, even for his own time, not just old-fashioned, but archaic (with a healthy dose of romanticism added to the archaism). There are reasons for this in Tolkien's personal history, I agree, but that still doesn't change the facts. For a more balanced take on Tolkien's rape narratives, I heartily recommend Lynn Whitaker's paper in Mythlore 111/112, ‘Corrupting beauty: rape narrative in _The Silmarillion_’:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Corrupting+beauty%3A+rape+narrative+in+The+Silmarillion.-a0242509658
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c46ga2k
JM, Tuesday, 3 April 2012, ‘"You Read Too Much’: Tolkien to Lewis on the Critic vs. the Writer"
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/you-read-too-much-tolkien-to-lewis-on-the-critic-vs-the-writer/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/dyqrhqo
The third part of McIntosh' analysis of Tolkien's theology of forgiveness looks into Tolkien's views on literary criticism (and the critic) vs. writing (and the author), which Tolkien, according to this letter, saw as working against each other in a man.
Miryam Librán-Moreno, Saturday, 14 April 2012, ‘The Father's Star. Some echoes from Virgil's _Aeneid_ in _The Lord of the Rings_’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243743
A very well-written and well-argued essay in the Scholars Forum series at the LotR-Plaza by Tolkien scholar Miryam Librán-Moreno, who sees some echoes from Virgil in particular in the image of the Elendilmir and generally in the character of Aragorn. Ultimately I cannot walk the full nine yards with her, but I still recommend this essay warmly: it is well-written and presents the evidence in a clear way that gives the reader a good overview and, I feel, a good basis for evaluating the strength of the evidence and thus agreeing or disagreeing with Librán-Moreno.
JDR, Wednesday, 18 April 2012, ‘T. H. White, Inkling’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/t-h-white-inkling.html
John Rateliff has found a letter from C.S. Lewis to T.H. White in which Lewis, among other things, invited White to attend a meeting of the Inklings. Rateliff speculates a bit about the possibilities in such a meeting (which probably never took place), ending with the idea that White and Tolkien ‘wd have had plenty to talk about.’
JM, Sunday, 22 April 2012, ‘Feänor, Tolkien's (Dantean) Ulysses’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/feanor-tolkiens-dantean-ulysses/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cq3x2vs
A comparison of Feänor with Ulysses (Odysseus) as he is portrayed in Dante's Divina Commedia that seems based mainly on a comparison of Feänor's speech to the Noldor in Tirion in which he urges them to leave for Middle-earth with Ulysses' speech to his crew in which he convinced them to sail on west and south. I have never read Dante, so I might be completely wrong, but based on McIntosh' presentation, it seems to me that one important difference is that Feänor believed strongly in his own words, whereas Dante's Ulysses (to me) appears not to have been entirely sincere with his men.
Michael Noer, Forbes, Monday, 23 April 2012, ‘How Much is a Dragon Worth, Revisited’
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/04/23/how-much-is-a-dragon-worth-revisited/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/blzkaph
Perhaps a more fun that actual scholarship, but the explanation of how Michael Noer of Forbes reached the staggering figure of $62 billion for Smaug's riches is both fun and actually interesting.
JDR, Monday, 23 April 2012, ‘The Impossibility of Writing Fantasy in 1937’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/impossibility-of-writing-fantasy-in.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cc47yld
By a twisting road, John Rateliff reaches a statement from 1937 about the impossibility of writing fantasy at that time — the year when Tolkien had The Hobbit published and when he sat down to start out on The Lord of the Rings. Make sure also to read David Bratman's comment.
JM, Thursday, 26 April 2012, "Tolkien's "Divine Comedy": Purgatory as Faërie-land"
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/tolkiens-divine-comedy-purgatory-hell-and-heaven-in-his-early-writing/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6rebwqz
I suppose that it is quite common for those of us who study Tolkien's work to see resonances with that work in other works that we read: it is natural in later fantasy fiction because Tolkien has so strongly influenced that genre, and it is also natural in earlier works because Tolkien's work, even despite a large extent of original invention, did not arise in a vacuum, but draws from the great Pot of Tales. McIntosh is re-reading Dante's Divine Comedy and is commenting on some of these resonances, though he keeps it as a comparitive comment rather than claim a source (that may, of course, follow, but will require a much stronger apparatus of evidence than is normal in a blog post). In this post he compares the purgatory of the Divine Comedy to the set-up in Tolkien's earliest legendarium writings.
JDR, Thursday, 26 April 2012, ‘Tolkien and Waugh’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/tolkien-and-waugh.html
On the contentious subject of English authors' reactions to the totalitarian regimes arising in Europe in the 1930s. In this case the most interesting to a Tolkien enthusiast is the comparison to (and comments upon) Tolkien's views on Hitler and Franco respectively.
MT, Monday, 30 April 2012, ‘Prof. Tolkien's Whimsical Talk’
http://mythoi.tolkienindex.net/#post5
The ‘Whimsical Talk’ is one that Tolkien gave at the opening of the Deddington Library on 14 December 1956. Morgan Thomsen recaps the general circumstances, and has transcribed the parts pertaining to Tolkien from the original report in the Banbury Advertiser.
= = = = Book News = = = =
H&S, Wednesday, 4 April 2012, ‘_Art of The Hobbit_ American Edition’http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/art-of-the-hobbit-american-edition/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/codzo9m
Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond announce that their book, The Art of the Hobbit will be released in an American edition by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt this coming 18 September.
Josh Vogt, Examiner, Friday, 6 April 2012, ‘J.R.R. Tolkien biography released through limited-edition comic’
http://www.examiner.com/article/j-r-r-tolkien-biography-released-through-limited-edition-comic
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bonja69
On the issue, exclusively in brick-and-mortar comic book stores, of a comic-book biography of J.R.R. Tolkien. On one hand, I admit to being very intrigued by the idea, but I am doubtful whether this is going to reveal any new information though it may, of course, present some clever new perspectives.
See also
David Bentley, Sunday, 15 April 2012, ‘Special edition comic book for JRR Tolkien, plus Middle-earth weekend at Birmingham's Sarehole Mill’
http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2012/04/special-edition-comic-book-for.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7kcx9ac
Where you will also find announcement of a Middle-earth weekend at Sarehole Mill on 19-20 May.
AW, Sunday, 8 April 2012, ‘Hand-bound Silmarillion’
http://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1832&forum=9
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cvgkql8
Andrew Wells has posted some links to a story of an exceptionally beautiful binding of The Silmarillion . . . deep sigh!
Janet Brennan-Croft, Tuesday, 10 April 2012, ‘Mythlore 117/118 Table of Contents’
http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore/117-118/
The table of contents are announced for issue 117/118 of Mythlore. Based on the table of contents alone there are at least three Tolkien-related contributions to this issue (in addition to some reviews): Steven Brett Carter writes about ‘Faramir and the Heroic Ideal of the Twentieth Century: Or, How Aragorn Died at the Somme’, while Alexander M. Bruce takes a look at ‘The Fall of Gondor and the Fall of Troy: Tolkien and Book II of The Aeneid’, and another medievalist topic, ‘The Myths of the Author: Tolkien and the Medieval Origins of the Word Hobbit’ is covered by Michael Livingston.
Laura Mell, HarperFiction, Friday, 13 April 2012, ‘HarperCollinsPublishers To Publish Official Tie-ins To The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey And The Hobbit: There And Back Again Films’
http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/40111
‘HarperCollinsPublishers has acquired exclusive worldwide publishing rights from Warner Bros. Consumer Products for tie-in books to the two highly anticipated films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, directed by Peter Jackson and productions of New Line Cinema and MGM.’
I suppose this relates to the ‘the making of the films’ kind of books, as HarperCollins are already the publishers of Tolkien's books, and don't need to agree with other than the JRR Tolkien Estate to continue that (I suppose they'll need to agree with the films' copyright holders to produce an edition of The Hobbit that has images from the films as their illustrations, but that's another issue).
DAA, Sunday, 22 April 2012, ‘Publishing Mordor-style’
http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com/2012/04/publishing-mordor-style.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c79pll7
The sad news that Douglas Anderson is leaving the Tolkien Studies journal due to a financial disagreement with the publisher. Not that he wanted to get paid for his work — he merely had the audacity to ask for reimbursement of his expenses as review-editor for purchasing review copies and mailing them to reviewers . . ..
See also
JDR, Tuesday, 24 April 2012, ‘A Parting of the Ways’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/parting-of-ways.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ch2xfss
In which John Rateliff comments on these news.
David Bratman, Mythprint, Wednesday, 25 April 2012, ‘Screwtape On Stage’
http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/screwtape-on-stage/
‘[This review originally appeared in Mythprint 49:2 (#355) in February 2012.]’
From Bratman's review, this sounds like a very interesting take on how Lewis' book can be translated — or adapted — to the stage.
Yorkshire Post, Monday, 30 April 2012, ‘Tolkien Tour proves East Yorkshire can be Hobbit forming’
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/tolkien-tour-proves-east-yorkshire-can-be-hobbit-forming-1-4499022
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cevybs5
Phil Mathison has written a book, Tolkien in East Yorkshire 1917 - 1918: An Illustrated Tour, which ‘guides fans round “The Tolkien Triangle” of East Yorkshire’.
= = = = Other Stuff = = = =
Pauline Gagnon, Quantum Diaries, Sunday, 1 April 2012, ‘New particle spotted on Tristan da Cuhna island’http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2012/04/01/new-particle-spotted-on-tristan-da-cuhna-island/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7hazlhg
A report by experimental physicist working on the ATLAS collaboration, Pauline Gagnon, on the discovery on ‘the remotest place on Earth’ of the new particle, the foolion. Surely this is the particle that gives wings to fools, allowing them to obey Gandalf's order to fly . . .
JDR, Friday, 6 April 2012, ‘LeoCon (TOLKIEN IN TEXAS)’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/leocon-tolkien-in-texas.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/75nyqhb
The story (also related last month by Jason Fisher) that Rateliff appeared, together with Jason Fisher and Doug Anderson, at the LeoCon in Texas on the 14th of April.
H&S, Saturday, 7 April 2012, ‘Farewell to Borders’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/farewell-to-borders/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cqqkgq8
A kind of obituary for Borders — perhaps not quite a eulogy, but still mostly fond memories. My own Houghton-Mifflin hardcover LotR (with the large fold-out maps) was bought in a Borders bookshop along with about as many other books as my flight weight-allowance would allow the first time I was sent abroad on a business trip.
Scott S Smith, Investor's Business Daily, Friday, 13 April 2012, ‘J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Novels’
http://news.investors.com/article/607681/201204131417/tolkien-refused-to-compromise-while-writing-novels.htm
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d2nkbje
A combined biography of Tolkien and history of The Lord of the Rings. The author does get many details wrong (despite quoting both Carpenter's biography and Shippey's Author of the Century), but starting on the second page, it turns more into a list of comments by various scholars about the reception of Tolkien's work, and there are some interesting comments in that part.
Thomas Morwinsky, Tuesday, 10 April 2012, ‘Other Minds, Issue 13 published’
http://www.othermindsmagazine.com/news/other-minds-issue-13-published1
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bnzatjo
Though the focus of the Other Minds magazine is specifically role-playing in Tolkien's sub-created Secondary World, the various issues often contain interesting story-internal analyses and discussions of various points. This issue also contains an overview of all the articles in the thirteen issues so far.
John DiBartolo, The Examiner, Tuesday, 17 April 2012, ‘Chi Rho in LOTRO: Tolkien's Foundation of Faith’
http://www.examiner.com/article/chi-rho-lotro-tolkien-s-foundation-of-faith
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cekrlx8
The artist and designers behind the massively multi-player on-line role-playing game (MMORPG) The Lord of the Rings On-line (LOTRO) have included the ancient Christian symbol ‘Chi-rho’ in the game. This is, I think, quite appropriate and an example of how Tolkien's statement about ‘the religious element’ being ‘absorbed into the story and the symbolism’ can be interpreted in a visual manner appropriate to a computer game. This works when pointed out discreetly, but it is, for me, destroyed when turned (as, I am sorry to say, here) into precisely the kind of preaching that Tolkien wanted to avoid.
DB, Thursday, 19 April 2012, ‘who are we?’
http://kalimac.blogspot.com/2012/04/who-are-we.html
An introduction, such as it is, to the Mythopoeic Society and Mythcon, and why it is OK that the appeal of either may not be within the range of sympathies for all fantasy fans.
JDR, Sunday, 22 April 2012, ‘Illustrating the Hobbit’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/04/illustrating-hobbit.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bpz58jg
Taking his outset in having seen Doug Anderson's presentation of Hobbit art, Rateliff speculates on which artists would make great illustrations for The Hobbit.
JM, Tuesday, 24 April 2012, ‘Minas Tirith and Dante's Mnt. Purgatory’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/minas-tirith-and-dantes-mnt-purgatory/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cyd9zvz
On visual representations . . .
= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =
The Tolkien newsgroups have seen some interesting discussions of some story-internal questions: one might say that the discussions concern the inner consistency of reality as it is expressed in the causality of the tale: are there sufficient causes for the effects we see?‘why not talk about the three?’
news:uzwdnsyf8qogsuhsnz2dnuvz_hgdnz2d@insightbb.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/-Go9xlVN_yQ/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cv4occ7
‘at the moment of truth ....’ (Why Sauron sent the Ringwraiths toward Sammath Naur instead of going himself)
news:simdnro4h5fllbvsnz2dnuvz_hidnz2d@insightbb.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/u1AW71Hwuls/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cq3o5n9
‘did just touching the chain confuse the Ringwraith in Woody End?’
news:4pedntjjxpvmexlsnz2dnuvz_rodnz2d@insightbb.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/_KwKN8M17Uc/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d2vm4wu
‘The Hobbit - On the Doorstep 1 (HRT 11)’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243654
In discussion of this chapter relating to the dating of Durin's Day user ‘Lord of the Rings’ adds some very interesting facts, with reference to Pliny, about the seasons as they were reckoned in Roman calendars.
‘The Hobbit - Inside Information (HRT 12)’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243700
An interesting discussion of this chapter in The Hobbit
‘The Only Power?’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243730
Starting from a discussion of whom Gandalf refers to in I,2 as ‘only one Power in this world that knows all about the Rings and their effects’, this turns into an interesting discussion of Sauron's own ‘addiction’ (to use Shippey's metaphor) to the Master Ring.
‘Interesting Quote from Tolkien’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243775
Discussing the intended meaning of Tolkien's statement that ‘The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.’ (Letters no. 142 to Robert Murray, 2 December 1953)
"Gothic, ‘Bagme Bloma,’ and ‘lindos"’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=243814
On the meaning of lindos in Tolkien's Gothic poem, Bagme Bloma — with some interesting philological information (even for those of us who don't understand a word of Gothic).
= = = = In Print = = = =
Beyond Bree April 2012This issue of Beyond Bree has an interesting article by Mark Hooker on ‘Matrilineal Hobbits’ investigating matrilineal patterns (based on matrilineal patterns in Welsh mythology) in the otherwise patrilinear Hobbit society. Mark Hooker also reviews Hobbit Place-names: A Linguistic Excursion through the Shire by Rainer Nagel, which he finds excellent. Dale Nelson has two pieces about the early Tolkien ‘fandom’, investigating early receptions of The Lord of the Rings (‘Days of the Craze No.5: The Two Trees’) and one about other references to Tolkien's works in the sixties and early seventies. Brad Eden calls for responses to a survey on women enjoying Tolkien's work for a presentation he is sponsoring for Kalamazoo 2012. See
http://robin-anne-reid.dreamwidth.org/45806.html
Nancy Martsch, the editor of Beyond Bree reviews Lembas Extra 2011 from the Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor, which she finds ‘an interesting and thought-provoking issue’. As usual the journal carries numerous letters as well as a list of Tolkien events and other smaller items.
= = = = Web Sites = = = =
Some older blogs postings that have caught my attention in April:Andrew Dickson, Wednesday, 25 April 2007, ‘The Pagan Tolkien’
http://dicksonland.blogspot.com/2007/04/pagan-tolkien.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cy9xnyo
As a reaction against some overly Christian readings of Tolkien, this suffers from going too far in the opposite direction: it is simply not correct to claim that Tolkien's ‘attempts to recreate the pre-Christian myths of England seem to be entirely separate from [Tolkien's Catholic] faith.’ I come across both views, and it is a testament to Tolkien's versatile applicability that you can have people inveterately and savagely defending both extremes, but personally I think that my appreciation and understanding of Tolkien's work flourishes best with a position somewhere in-between.
Jeremy Pryor, Saturday, 2 August 2008, ‘Gandalf the Grey — Tolkien's Apostolic Archetype’
http://jeremypryor.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/gandalf-the-grey-tolkiens-apostolic-archetype/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d6qoqep
This could have been one of the posts that Andrew Dickson reacted against in the piece above, had this not appeared more than a year later than Dickson's. The apostolic resonances in Gandalf may very well be right, but leaving out all the other resonances — notably Tolkien describing Gandalf as an ‘Odinic wanderer’ — creates what is, in my opinion, a skewed presentation of Gandalf.
The Chronological Tolkien Page
http://www.chronology.org/tolkien/
Another ‘oldie’ that deserves to be mentioned from time to time — if nothing else, then for the sheer amount of work that has gone into creating the elaborate tables behind the paragraph-by-paragraph chronology of the primary Middle-earth books (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The Children of Húrin).
= = = = Sources = = = =
John D. Rateliff (JDR) — ‘Sacnoth's Scriptorium’http://sacnoths.blogspot.com
Jason Fisher (JF) — ‘Lingwë — Musings of a Fish’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com
Michael Drout (MD) — ‘Wormtalk and Slugspeak’
http://wormtalk.blogspot.com/
Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull (H&S) — ‘Too Many Books and Never Enough’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/
Pieter Collier (PC) — ‘The Tolkien Library’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/
Douglas A. Anderson (DAA) et Al. — ‘Wormwoodiana’
http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com
Corey Olsen (CO), ‘The Tolkien Professor’
http://www.tolkienprofessor.com
David Bratman (DB), ‘Kalimac’
http://kalimac.blogspot.com/
and the old home:
http://calimac.livejournal.com/
Larry Swain (LS), ‘The Ruminate’
http://theruminate.blogspot.com
Andrew Wells (AW), ‘Musings of an Aging Fan’
http://wellinghall.livejournal.com
Various, ‘The Northeast Tolkien Society’ (NETS), ‘Heren Istarion’
http://herenistarionnets.blogspot.com
Bruce Charlton (BC), ‘Tolkien's The Notion Club Papers’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/
Andrew Higgins (AH), ‘Wotan's Musings’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com
Various, The Mythopoeic Society
http://www.mythsoc.org
Henry Gee (HG) ‘cromercrox’, ‘The End of the Pier Show’
http://occamstypewriter.org/cromercrox/
Jonathan S. McIntosh (JM), ‘The Flame Imperishable’
http://jonathansmcintosh.wordpress.com/
Morgan Thomsen (MT), ‘Mythoi’
http://mythoi.tolkienindex.net
John Howe (JH)
http://www.john-howe.com
David Simmons (DS), ‘Aiya Ilúvatar’
http://www.aiyailuvatar.org/
Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Tolkien Studies Blog’
http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/
Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Middle-earth’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/
Troels Forchhammer (TF), ‘Parmar-kenta’
http://parmarkenta.blogspot.com
Mythprint — ‘The Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society’
http://www.mythsoc.org
Amon Hen — the Bulletin of the Tolkien Society
http://www.tolkiensociety.org/
Beyond Bree — the newsletter of the Tolkien Special Interest Group of the Americal Mensa
http://www.cep.unt.edu/bree.html
- and others
--
Troels Forchhammer
One who cannot cast away a treasure at need is in fetters.
- Aragorn ‘Strider’, /Two Towers/ (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Tolkien Transactions XVIII
October 2011
So, October. That's my birthday month, and I treated myself to a couple of new Tolkien books: The Art of the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Wayne G Hammond and Christina Scull, A Tolkien Tapestry: Pictures to accompany The Lord of the Rings by Cor Blok edited by Pieter Collier, and Parma Eldalamberon XV - 'Si Qente Feanor & Other Elvish Writings_. They have now all arrived, and I'm looking forward to get more acquainted with them (having so far only found time for a brief perousal of each). I've saved a little for Flieger's Green Suns and Faerie: Essays on J. R. R. Tolkien, but that was unavailable when I ordered.
Also, I have finished reading Jason Fisher's book, Tolkien and the Study of his Sources — another very good book overall (though also with a few examples of less excellent scholarship).
Reviews of all will be forthcoming here on Parmar-kenta when I find the time.
But the Tolkien Transactions is (mainly) about the internet and what is going on there that I have found interesting.
http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/3181.html
What it says . . .
Pat Reynolds, The Return of the Ring, Sunday, 9 October 2011, ‘Special Guest: Ted Nasmith’
http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/3515.html
Again, as per the headline.
Rene van Rossenberg, Wednesday, 12 October 2011, ‘25th Anniversary of Tolkien Shop Report’
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/10/12/48984-25th-anniversary-of-tolkien-shop-report/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6bxc7o3
A brief report from the silver anniversary of the Tolkien Shop: the only (physical) store in the world dedicated entirely to Tolkien. For the shop itself see http://www.tolkienshop.com/.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/J.+R.+R.+Tolkien's+creative+ethic+and+its+Finnish+analogues.-a0218950941
http://preview.tinyurl.com/69o3cx9
This brilliant source study investigates, as the title suggests, the influence of the Finnish Kalevala on Tolkien's writings, but does so at another level than much other source criticism. Bardowell looks into the thematic content by studying the ethics of creation that underlie the two works and comparing these, he concludes that Tolkien was indeed influenced by the Finnish epic. The beauty of this is that regardless of whether, or how far, you agree with Bardowell, you can probably learn something about Tolkien by reading this article: if nothing else, it can be read as an excellent example of comparative criticism.
AH, Sunday, 2 October 2011, ‘Across the Bridge of Tavrobel’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com/2011/10/trip-to-tavrobel.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6xesheo
Andy Higgins has been on a trip to Great and Little Haywood and Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire in search of Tolkien's Tavrobel from The Book of Lost Tales, and he claims to have stood on the ‘Bridge of Tavrobel’ though he is not sure that he really did see Gilfanon's house, the ‘House of the Hundred Chimneys’ when looking at Shugborough Hall.
MM, Monday, 3 October 2011, ‘Why is Middle-earth Segregated in The Hobbit?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/03/why-is-middle-earth-segregated-in-the-hobbit/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6f4737t
The segregation here seems to refer to the (relative) isolation of the communities that Bilbo and the Dwarves pass through: the Shire, Rivendell, Beorn's house, the Elvenking's halls and Lake Town. Of all these only the last two seem to have some kind of communication, whereas in The Lord of the Rings it is evident that these far-flung pockets of civilisation are all in communication, even if there is no regular post-service outside the Shire.
JF, Sunday, 9 October 2011, ‘The Poros and the Bosphorus’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/10/poros-and-borphorus.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6jy4d4g
Jason Fisher proposes a speculative Primary World derivation of the name of the Poros — the river that flows from the Ephel Duath into the Anduin and forms the southern border of Ithilien — by suggesting the Greet word Poros, the last element of Bosphorus. Jason's hypothesis certainly seems possible to me, but it will require stronger evidence to finally convince me (and even stronger evidence to convince me that it was a deliberate choice by Tolkien). The ensuing discussion in the comments to the blog is quite interesting as well, so be sure to read the comments also.
AH, Sunday, 9 October 2011, ‘Be Very Qwiet, I am Hunting Tolkienian Woodwoses’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com/2011/10/be-very-quiet-i-am-hunting-tolkienian.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6hrgd97
Andy Higgins is hunting Tolkien's use of woodwoses in his fiction — a very interesting study that includes occurences in the Anglo-Saxon sources that Tolkien worked with.
BC, Tuesday, 11 October 2011, ‘From Hobbit-sequel to Lord of the Rings - the role of The Notion Club Papers’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/10/lord-of-rings-mostly-equals-hobbit-plus.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6fybzyb
Bruce Charlton here argues that the Lewis / Tolkien agreement that led to the space trilogy for Lewis and to the Lost Road and the Notion Club Papers_ for Tolkien was, for both authors a turning point that led their mythopoeia in new directions. The further claim that The Lord of the Rings would never have become other than a new Hobbit — a book of the same style as The Hobbit — without the impetus from The Lost Road and The Notion Club Papers and that Tolkien's evolving Silmarillion mythology had less to do with the ‘growing up’ of the Hobbit sequel seems to me to require extraordinary evidence.
Lynn Forest-Hill, Wednesday, 19 October 2011, ‘Tolkien and Bevis: romancing the foundation of myth’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=242515
http://preview.tinyurl.com/655e7wq
Another excellent contribution to the ‘Scholars’ Forum' series at The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza website, Forest-Hill discusses the role of medieval romances in general as inspiration for Tolkien, and that of Bevis of Hampton in particular.
MM, Wednesday, 19 October 2011, ‘Were There Two Thrains in the Original Hobbit or Just One Thrain?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/19/were-there-two-thrains-in-the-original-hobbit-or-just-one-thrain/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6crn5e8
A discussion that has, at times, been conducted with some heat, Martinez here ends on the conclusion that ‘J.R.R. Tolkien accidentally created two Thrains in the first edition of The Hobbit and he had to both acknowledge this error and fix it in the next edition’. This seems to me a fair representation of my understanding also — I might have wished to stress the inadvertent nature of the accident, but that's mere dressing. Another way to have fixed the error could of course have been to remove the superfluous Thrain, but I think that Tolkien was more apt to invent a story that made the error not an error but an oversight: ‘Ooops, did I forget to tell you more about that other Thrain (whom I had no idea existed)? Sorry about that, but here goes:’ ;-)
http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/tolkien-and%C2%A0wales/
‘This review originally appeared in Mythprint 48:7 (#348) in July 2011.’
Damien Bador finds Phelpstead's book sligtly more academic in style than I did, but he, too, is generally positive about Tolkien and Wales.
JDR, Friday, 14 October 2011, ‘New Tolkien Calendar’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-tolkien-calendar.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6a3u7qd
John Rateliff still doesn't like Cor Blok's art, but nonetheless has bought the 2012 Tolkien Calendar in which it features.
JDR, Sunday, 16 October 2011, ‘The New Arrival: Ruud's Companion’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-arrival-ruuds-companion.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5uf3lg5
John Rateliff reviews Jay Rudd's Critical Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work ending ‘So, my initial impression: an impressive achievement, but to be used with some caution.’ At $75 it may be a little too expensive for most amateur enthusiasts such as myself: in particular with comments such as this (also John Rateliff's comment that the commentary on The Hobbit that follows the plot summary ‘is a bit eccentric’).
Benedicte Page, The Bookseller, Monday, 17 October 2011, ‘HarperCollins pre-empts Hobbit anniversary’
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/harpercollins-pre-empts-hobbit-anniversary.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6bjohxz
The big story is of course the publishing of The Art of the Hobbit edited Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull that contains many previously unpublished sketches and illustrations that Tolkien made for The Hobbit, but this is accompanied by the release of a single-volume revised edition of John Rateliff's The History of the Hobbit, a pocket-sized Hobbit and a 75th-anniversary boxed-set edition of The Hobbit along with The Lord of the Rings. All of this is to start the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of The Hobbit next year.
The news are taken up in several other news-outlets, a few of which are :
PC, Wednesday, 19 October 2011, ‘HarperCollins pre-empts The Hobbit anniversary’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1013-Pocket_Hobbit_JRR_Tolkien.php?436
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5tpjjux
The Tolkien Library story.
Paul Bignell, The Independent, Sunday, 23 October 2011, ‘Lost Hobbit images get first showing’
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/lost-hobbit-images-get-first-showing-2374676.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3b6oxap
This article contains a number of . . . shall we just say ‘dramatic exaggerations’ and leave it at that :-)
Alison Flood, The Guardian, Monday, 24 October 2011, ‘Tolkien's Hobbit drawings published to mark 75th anniversary’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/24/tolkien-hobbit-drawings-published
http://preview.tinyurl.com/4yqtzgh
Associated with this article from The Guardian is also a gallery of some of the pictures from the new book.
This is just a small sampling of the many articles on the beginning of the celebrations of next year's anniversary, most of them focusing on The Art of the Hobbit: congratulations to Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond for their achievement — the book is a delight (so far I have only had time to skim the book and enjoy the pictures).
AH, Sunday, 23 October 2011, ‘From Dragons and Swords to Motor Cars and Gaffers’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com/2011/10/from-dragons-and-swords-to-motor-cars.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3btbsqj
Andy Higgins makes me want to read _Mr Bliss_! His investigation into Tolkien's use of ‘Gaffer Gamgee’ draws on published letters (nos. 76 and 257 being the primarily relevant, but also nos. 144 and 184), but it is mainly his enthusiasm about the story itself that I find contagious (my immune system being particularly weak against that kind of contagion).
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/14/interviews-with-the-scholars/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/662dmmo
Michael Martinez here introduces his commendable new series of e-mail interviews with known Tolkien scholars.
MM, Friday, 14 October 2011, ‘An Interview with Janet Brennan Croft’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/14/an-interview-with-janet-brennan-croft/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5u2g9lc
A very interesting interview ranging in topics from the personal (first encounter with Tolkien) over reflections on the state of Tolkien scholarship today to the interpretative.
MM, Friday, 21 October 2011, ‘An Interview with John Rateliff’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/21/an-interview-with-john-rateliff/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6kb5dkk
An excellent interview that, naturally, focuses on The Hobbit along with the two editions of John Rateliff's book.
MM, Friday, 28 October 2011, ‘An Interview with Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/28/an-interview-with-wayne-hammond-and-christina-scull/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/66fhdeo
The interview with Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull is far-ranging and highly interesting. It obviously touches on the newest book from their hand, The Art of the Hobbit as well as the earlier J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator and a number of the other books, essays, papers and not least falsifications that they have contributed to the study of Tolkien.
http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2011/09/02/is-that-a-fact/
What I found particularly interesting in a Tolkien context about this blog (that has a completely different focus) is the description attributed to Carl Weiman about the different views of novices and experts. While the terms are, of course, debatable when applied to a wholly different field of study, I think there is a useful reminder in the distinction between those who seek ‘a catalogue of facts’ and those who ‘sees patterns, relationships and organization but has no catalogue of true statements.’ I argue that these views do exist also in Tolkien studies and that they are to some extent incommensurate (though I think also that it is a more gradual transition and only the end-points, which very few occupy, are truly incommensurate), and that it often useful in a discussion to realize what is the starting point, the perspective, of the other participants.
MM, Wednesday, 21 September 2011, ‘The Much Bemusing Bloggery of Online Tolkien Scholarli’
http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/2011/09/21/the-much-bemusing-bloggery-of-online-tolkien-scholarli/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6eahwqu
Martinez shares a list of various blogs and websites that he considers ‘people who, in [his] opinion, have something credible and interesting to say about J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle-earth, or some of his linguistic or other classical interests.’ There was a few blogs and sites there that I didn't have on my lists (thanks, Michael!), and though many of these seems to only occasionally have something to say that will appear here, some of them will doubtlessly eventually make the list of sources below (I follow many more blogs and sites than those listed: the listed ones are only those that I refer to regularly in this collection).
MM, Wednesday, 5 October 2011, ‘Did J.R.R. Tolkien Invent Orcs?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/05/did-j-r-r-tolkien-invent-orcs/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/64jyqep
I've been interested in the Orcs lately, and was interested to read Michael Martinez' take on this question. I would add that it does, of course, depend somewhat on what you mean by ‘invent’ and that The Hobbit wasn't the first time Tolkien mentioned Orcs. The Orcs of The Lord of the Rings derive elements from both the MacDonaldesque goblins of The Hobbit and the demonic Orcs of the Silmarillion.
BC, Saturday, 29 October 2011, ‘Native language?’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/10/native-language.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/68cvgg6
Charlton comments on the idea of native language as described in Tolkien's Notion Club Papers. See also the rewarding discussion about the strong sense of place below.
Jonathan McCalmont, Boomtron, Sunday, 30 October 2011, ‘DC: The New Frontier . . . Stripp'd’
http://www.boomtron.com/2011/10/darwyn-cooke-dc-the-new-frontier-strippd/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6hxrshw
Out of the depth of a review of two new DC comic books rise this passage:
Matthew Wright, Sunday, 30 October 2011, ‘Why Tolkien wouldn't be published today — and what that means for writers now’
http://mjwrightnz.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/why-tolkien-wouldn%E2%80%99t-be-published-today-%E2%80%93-and-what-that-means-for-writers-now/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6yzdx2n
While the blog post is interesting enough, there are, I think, two things that the author doesn't quite get right. The first thing is in the premise of the title — Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was extremely unlikely to be published also in the fifties, and while we might discuss degrees of ‘extremely unlikely’ I think the reasons that are listed are wrong: these things would also have prevented publishing in 1954 — if there is a smaller probability today of an author such as Tolkien to get published, this is, I believe, more due to changes in the company structure in the publishing industry: it is, I deem, more likely to find the kind of willingness to accept a loss in order to publish a prestige book in smaller, family-owned publishing houses than in the huge companies of today. The other thing that Wright, in my view, doesn't get quite right is the popularity of The Lord of the Rings prior to the release of the paperback editions. LotR was actually selling extremely well for its price and availability, and the main reason for the sales numbers to soar in the mid-sixties was, I believe, the dramatic changes in price and availability that associated the release of the Ace and Ballantine paperback editions.
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=242613
This thread investigates the strong sense of place in Tolkien's writings. This includes specific places, but it also takes off where Carl Phelpstead left in his investigation of Tolkien's general ideas of regional identity in Tolkien and Wales.
RABT & AFT: ‘Elrond remaining in Rivendell’
news:7bf12b41-9d9f-425a-894c-f4c41fb2d8b5@s7g2000yqd.googlegroups.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/alt.fan.tolkien/d3QM2EUvBHY/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6k3pute
This discussion has, as discussions in RABT & AFT are wont, wandered down every possible by-road and side alley, including discussions of the the One Ring, what Sauron knew and guessed about Aragorn (prior to Aragorn joining the Company of the Ring) and the early history of particularly the Three. Good stuff!
http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/
Sometimes you wonder how it could be that you had missed something — that is very much the case for me with Michael Martinez's blog on his tolkien-studies.com (which is, as far as I know, not affiliated with the scholarly journal in any way). Let that, then, be amended!
Middle-earth Blog, Michael Martinez
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/
Martinez runs a Tolkien-related blog also on the Xenite site. He is far too prolific for me to go through all the posts, and many of them are addressed mainly at Tolkien students that are not familiar with The History of Middle-earth, Tolkien's letters and other stuff. Still, many of the posts do contain rather interesting bits of information, and I can only recommend looking them over. In these transactions, however, I will focus on those of his posts that seem to me the most interesting.
Tolkien Index
http://www.tolkienindex.net/index/Main_Page
According to one of the creators, ‘Tolkien Index is nothing more (or less) than a page index of names for publications by J.R.R. Tolkien lacking an index (with a focus on Parma Eldalamberon and Vinyar Tengwar).’ Currently the index covers PE 17 and 19, VT 6, 26, 45, 46 along with some things from Quettar #13 and #14. Trusting that the authors will continue the work, this promises to be a very valuable index resource.
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com
Jason Fisher (JF) — ‘Lingwë — Musings of a Fish’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com
Michael Drout (MD) — ‘Wormtalk and Slugspeak’
http://wormtalk.blogspot.com/
Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull (H&S) — ‘Too Many Books and Never Enough’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/
Pieter Collier (PC) — ‘The Tolkien Library’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/
Douglas A. Anderson (DAA) et Al. — ‘Wormwoodiana’
http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com
Corey Olsen (CO), ‘The Tolkien Professor’
http://www.tolkienprofessor.com
David Bratman (DB), ‘Kalimac’
http://kalimac.blogspot.com/
and the old home:
http://calimac.livejournal.com/
Larry Swain (LS), ‘The Ruminate’
http://theruminate.blogspot.com
‘Wellinghall’, ‘Musings of an Aging Fan’
http://wellinghall.livejournal.com
Various, ‘The Northeast Tolkien Society’ (NETS), ‘Heren Istarion’
http://herenistarionnets.blogspot.com
Bruce Charlton (BC), ‘Tolkien's The Notion Club Papers’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/
Andrew Higgins (AH), ‘Wotan's Musings’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com
Various, The Mythopoeic Society
http://www.mythsoc.org
Henry Gee (HG) ‘cromercrox’, ‘The End of the Pier Show’
http://occamstypewriter.org/cromercrox/
David Simmons (DS), ‘Aiya Ilúvatar’
http://www.aiyailuvatar.org/
Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Tolkien Studies Blog’
http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/
Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Middle-earth’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/
Troels Forchhammer (TF), ‘Parmar-kenta’
http://parmarkenta.blogspot.com
Mythprint — ‘The Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society’
http://www.mythsoc.org
Amon Hen — the Bulletin of the Tolkien Society
http://www.tolkiensociety.org/
- and others
--
Troels Forchhammer
Valid e-mail is
Please put [AFT], [RABT] or ‘Tolkien’ in subject.
The idea that time may vary from place to place is a
difficult one, but it is the idea Einstein used, and it is
correct - believe it or not.
- Richard Feynman
So, October. That's my birthday month, and I treated myself to a couple of new Tolkien books: The Art of the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Wayne G Hammond and Christina Scull, A Tolkien Tapestry: Pictures to accompany The Lord of the Rings by Cor Blok edited by Pieter Collier, and Parma Eldalamberon XV - 'Si Qente Feanor & Other Elvish Writings_. They have now all arrived, and I'm looking forward to get more acquainted with them (having so far only found time for a brief perousal of each). I've saved a little for Flieger's Green Suns and Faerie: Essays on J. R. R. Tolkien, but that was unavailable when I ordered.
Also, I have finished reading Jason Fisher's book, Tolkien and the Study of his Sources — another very good book overall (though also with a few examples of less excellent scholarship).
Reviews of all will be forthcoming here on Parmar-kenta when I find the time.
But the Tolkien Transactions is (mainly) about the internet and what is going on there that I have found interesting.
= = = = News = = = =
Pat Reynolds, The Return of the Ring, Sunday, 2 October 2011, ‘Special Guest: Jef Murray’http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/3181.html
What it says . . .
Pat Reynolds, The Return of the Ring, Sunday, 9 October 2011, ‘Special Guest: Ted Nasmith’
http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/3515.html
Again, as per the headline.
Rene van Rossenberg, Wednesday, 12 October 2011, ‘25th Anniversary of Tolkien Shop Report’
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/10/12/48984-25th-anniversary-of-tolkien-shop-report/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6bxc7o3
A brief report from the silver anniversary of the Tolkien Shop: the only (physical) store in the world dedicated entirely to Tolkien. For the shop itself see http://www.tolkienshop.com/.
= = = = Essays and Scholarship = = = =
Matthew R. Bardowell, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, Friday, 1 January 2010, ‘J. R. R. Tolkien's creative ethic and its Finnish analogues’http://www.thefreelibrary.com/J.+R.+R.+Tolkien's+creative+ethic+and+its+Finnish+analogues.-a0218950941
http://preview.tinyurl.com/69o3cx9
This brilliant source study investigates, as the title suggests, the influence of the Finnish Kalevala on Tolkien's writings, but does so at another level than much other source criticism. Bardowell looks into the thematic content by studying the ethics of creation that underlie the two works and comparing these, he concludes that Tolkien was indeed influenced by the Finnish epic. The beauty of this is that regardless of whether, or how far, you agree with Bardowell, you can probably learn something about Tolkien by reading this article: if nothing else, it can be read as an excellent example of comparative criticism.
AH, Sunday, 2 October 2011, ‘Across the Bridge of Tavrobel’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com/2011/10/trip-to-tavrobel.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6xesheo
Andy Higgins has been on a trip to Great and Little Haywood and Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire in search of Tolkien's Tavrobel from The Book of Lost Tales, and he claims to have stood on the ‘Bridge of Tavrobel’ though he is not sure that he really did see Gilfanon's house, the ‘House of the Hundred Chimneys’ when looking at Shugborough Hall.
MM, Monday, 3 October 2011, ‘Why is Middle-earth Segregated in The Hobbit?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/03/why-is-middle-earth-segregated-in-the-hobbit/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6f4737t
The segregation here seems to refer to the (relative) isolation of the communities that Bilbo and the Dwarves pass through: the Shire, Rivendell, Beorn's house, the Elvenking's halls and Lake Town. Of all these only the last two seem to have some kind of communication, whereas in The Lord of the Rings it is evident that these far-flung pockets of civilisation are all in communication, even if there is no regular post-service outside the Shire.
JF, Sunday, 9 October 2011, ‘The Poros and the Bosphorus’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/10/poros-and-borphorus.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6jy4d4g
Jason Fisher proposes a speculative Primary World derivation of the name of the Poros — the river that flows from the Ephel Duath into the Anduin and forms the southern border of Ithilien — by suggesting the Greet word Poros, the last element of Bosphorus. Jason's hypothesis certainly seems possible to me, but it will require stronger evidence to finally convince me (and even stronger evidence to convince me that it was a deliberate choice by Tolkien). The ensuing discussion in the comments to the blog is quite interesting as well, so be sure to read the comments also.
AH, Sunday, 9 October 2011, ‘Be Very Qwiet, I am Hunting Tolkienian Woodwoses’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com/2011/10/be-very-quiet-i-am-hunting-tolkienian.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6hrgd97
Andy Higgins is hunting Tolkien's use of woodwoses in his fiction — a very interesting study that includes occurences in the Anglo-Saxon sources that Tolkien worked with.
BC, Tuesday, 11 October 2011, ‘From Hobbit-sequel to Lord of the Rings - the role of The Notion Club Papers’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/10/lord-of-rings-mostly-equals-hobbit-plus.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6fybzyb
Bruce Charlton here argues that the Lewis / Tolkien agreement that led to the space trilogy for Lewis and to the Lost Road and the Notion Club Papers_ for Tolkien was, for both authors a turning point that led their mythopoeia in new directions. The further claim that The Lord of the Rings would never have become other than a new Hobbit — a book of the same style as The Hobbit — without the impetus from The Lost Road and The Notion Club Papers and that Tolkien's evolving Silmarillion mythology had less to do with the ‘growing up’ of the Hobbit sequel seems to me to require extraordinary evidence.
Lynn Forest-Hill, Wednesday, 19 October 2011, ‘Tolkien and Bevis: romancing the foundation of myth’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=242515
http://preview.tinyurl.com/655e7wq
Another excellent contribution to the ‘Scholars’ Forum' series at The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza website, Forest-Hill discusses the role of medieval romances in general as inspiration for Tolkien, and that of Bevis of Hampton in particular.
MM, Wednesday, 19 October 2011, ‘Were There Two Thrains in the Original Hobbit or Just One Thrain?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/19/were-there-two-thrains-in-the-original-hobbit-or-just-one-thrain/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6crn5e8
A discussion that has, at times, been conducted with some heat, Martinez here ends on the conclusion that ‘J.R.R. Tolkien accidentally created two Thrains in the first edition of The Hobbit and he had to both acknowledge this error and fix it in the next edition’. This seems to me a fair representation of my understanding also — I might have wished to stress the inadvertent nature of the accident, but that's mere dressing. Another way to have fixed the error could of course have been to remove the superfluous Thrain, but I think that Tolkien was more apt to invent a story that made the error not an error but an oversight: ‘Ooops, did I forget to tell you more about that other Thrain (whom I had no idea existed)? Sorry about that, but here goes:’ ;-)
= = = = Book News = = = =
Damien Bador, Mythprint, Tuesday, 4 October 2011, ‘Tolkien and Wales’http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/tolkien-and%C2%A0wales/
‘This review originally appeared in Mythprint 48:7 (#348) in July 2011.’
Damien Bador finds Phelpstead's book sligtly more academic in style than I did, but he, too, is generally positive about Tolkien and Wales.
JDR, Friday, 14 October 2011, ‘New Tolkien Calendar’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-tolkien-calendar.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6a3u7qd
John Rateliff still doesn't like Cor Blok's art, but nonetheless has bought the 2012 Tolkien Calendar in which it features.
JDR, Sunday, 16 October 2011, ‘The New Arrival: Ruud's Companion’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-arrival-ruuds-companion.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5uf3lg5
John Rateliff reviews Jay Rudd's Critical Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work ending ‘So, my initial impression: an impressive achievement, but to be used with some caution.’ At $75 it may be a little too expensive for most amateur enthusiasts such as myself: in particular with comments such as this (also John Rateliff's comment that the commentary on The Hobbit that follows the plot summary ‘is a bit eccentric’).
Benedicte Page, The Bookseller, Monday, 17 October 2011, ‘HarperCollins pre-empts Hobbit anniversary’
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/harpercollins-pre-empts-hobbit-anniversary.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6bjohxz
The big story is of course the publishing of The Art of the Hobbit edited Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull that contains many previously unpublished sketches and illustrations that Tolkien made for The Hobbit, but this is accompanied by the release of a single-volume revised edition of John Rateliff's The History of the Hobbit, a pocket-sized Hobbit and a 75th-anniversary boxed-set edition of The Hobbit along with The Lord of the Rings. All of this is to start the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of The Hobbit next year.
The news are taken up in several other news-outlets, a few of which are :
PC, Wednesday, 19 October 2011, ‘HarperCollins pre-empts The Hobbit anniversary’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1013-Pocket_Hobbit_JRR_Tolkien.php?436
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5tpjjux
The Tolkien Library story.
Paul Bignell, The Independent, Sunday, 23 October 2011, ‘Lost Hobbit images get first showing’
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/lost-hobbit-images-get-first-showing-2374676.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3b6oxap
This article contains a number of . . . shall we just say ‘dramatic exaggerations’ and leave it at that :-)
Alison Flood, The Guardian, Monday, 24 October 2011, ‘Tolkien's Hobbit drawings published to mark 75th anniversary’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/24/tolkien-hobbit-drawings-published
http://preview.tinyurl.com/4yqtzgh
Associated with this article from The Guardian is also a gallery of some of the pictures from the new book.
This is just a small sampling of the many articles on the beginning of the celebrations of next year's anniversary, most of them focusing on The Art of the Hobbit: congratulations to Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond for their achievement — the book is a delight (so far I have only had time to skim the book and enjoy the pictures).
AH, Sunday, 23 October 2011, ‘From Dragons and Swords to Motor Cars and Gaffers’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com/2011/10/from-dragons-and-swords-to-motor-cars.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3btbsqj
Andy Higgins makes me want to read _Mr Bliss_! His investigation into Tolkien's use of ‘Gaffer Gamgee’ draws on published letters (nos. 76 and 257 being the primarily relevant, but also nos. 144 and 184), but it is mainly his enthusiasm about the story itself that I find contagious (my immune system being particularly weak against that kind of contagion).
= = = = Interviews = = = =
MM, Friday, 14 October 2011, ‘Interviews With The Scholars’http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/14/interviews-with-the-scholars/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/662dmmo
Michael Martinez here introduces his commendable new series of e-mail interviews with known Tolkien scholars.
MM, Friday, 14 October 2011, ‘An Interview with Janet Brennan Croft’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/14/an-interview-with-janet-brennan-croft/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5u2g9lc
A very interesting interview ranging in topics from the personal (first encounter with Tolkien) over reflections on the state of Tolkien scholarship today to the interpretative.
MM, Friday, 21 October 2011, ‘An Interview with John Rateliff’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/21/an-interview-with-john-rateliff/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6kb5dkk
An excellent interview that, naturally, focuses on The Hobbit along with the two editions of John Rateliff's book.
MM, Friday, 28 October 2011, ‘An Interview with Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/28/an-interview-with-wayne-hammond-and-christina-scull/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/66fhdeo
The interview with Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull is far-ranging and highly interesting. It obviously touches on the newest book from their hand, The Art of the Hobbit as well as the earlier J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator and a number of the other books, essays, papers and not least falsifications that they have contributed to the study of Tolkien.
= = = = Other Stuff = = = =
Byron Jennings, Friday, 2 September 2011, ‘Is that a fact?’http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2011/09/02/is-that-a-fact/
What I found particularly interesting in a Tolkien context about this blog (that has a completely different focus) is the description attributed to Carl Weiman about the different views of novices and experts. While the terms are, of course, debatable when applied to a wholly different field of study, I think there is a useful reminder in the distinction between those who seek ‘a catalogue of facts’ and those who ‘sees patterns, relationships and organization but has no catalogue of true statements.’ I argue that these views do exist also in Tolkien studies and that they are to some extent incommensurate (though I think also that it is a more gradual transition and only the end-points, which very few occupy, are truly incommensurate), and that it often useful in a discussion to realize what is the starting point, the perspective, of the other participants.
MM, Wednesday, 21 September 2011, ‘The Much Bemusing Bloggery of Online Tolkien Scholarli’
http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/2011/09/21/the-much-bemusing-bloggery-of-online-tolkien-scholarli/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6eahwqu
Martinez shares a list of various blogs and websites that he considers ‘people who, in [his] opinion, have something credible and interesting to say about J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle-earth, or some of his linguistic or other classical interests.’ There was a few blogs and sites there that I didn't have on my lists (thanks, Michael!), and though many of these seems to only occasionally have something to say that will appear here, some of them will doubtlessly eventually make the list of sources below (I follow many more blogs and sites than those listed: the listed ones are only those that I refer to regularly in this collection).
MM, Wednesday, 5 October 2011, ‘Did J.R.R. Tolkien Invent Orcs?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/10/05/did-j-r-r-tolkien-invent-orcs/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/64jyqep
I've been interested in the Orcs lately, and was interested to read Michael Martinez' take on this question. I would add that it does, of course, depend somewhat on what you mean by ‘invent’ and that The Hobbit wasn't the first time Tolkien mentioned Orcs. The Orcs of The Lord of the Rings derive elements from both the MacDonaldesque goblins of The Hobbit and the demonic Orcs of the Silmarillion.
BC, Saturday, 29 October 2011, ‘Native language?’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/10/native-language.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/68cvgg6
Charlton comments on the idea of native language as described in Tolkien's Notion Club Papers. See also the rewarding discussion about the strong sense of place below.
Jonathan McCalmont, Boomtron, Sunday, 30 October 2011, ‘DC: The New Frontier . . . Stripp'd’
http://www.boomtron.com/2011/10/darwyn-cooke-dc-the-new-frontier-strippd/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6hxrshw
Out of the depth of a review of two new DC comic books rise this passage:
In contrast, the world of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings supports the escapist fantasies of millions of adults because though Tolkien’s world is a world where magic exists and good triumphs over evil, Tolkien also infused his world with more ‘realistic’ thematic concerns such as the cost that the good must pay in order to rid themselves of evil. The departure of the elves and the scouring of the Shire echo with the losses of the Second World War and so make Middle Earth seem that much more real. By keeping one foot in the real world, Tolkien ensured his creation remained relevant to modern audiences in a way that Cinderella simply is not. Thus Tolkien’s work demonstrates the balancing act that modern myths must perform: Make a story simplistic and you make it irrelevant but make a story realistic and you run the risk that it will no longer provide a means of escape.The review has more to say about escapism, and I find it interesting though I do not agree with the view that ‘the popularity of escapist media derives from a deep-seated need to immerse ourselves in a world that makes sense to us’ (I believe the popularity derives from them being a natural and rational — perhaps even necessary — means of making the Primary World make sense to us).
Matthew Wright, Sunday, 30 October 2011, ‘Why Tolkien wouldn't be published today — and what that means for writers now’
http://mjwrightnz.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/why-tolkien-wouldn%E2%80%99t-be-published-today-%E2%80%93-and-what-that-means-for-writers-now/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6yzdx2n
While the blog post is interesting enough, there are, I think, two things that the author doesn't quite get right. The first thing is in the premise of the title — Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was extremely unlikely to be published also in the fifties, and while we might discuss degrees of ‘extremely unlikely’ I think the reasons that are listed are wrong: these things would also have prevented publishing in 1954 — if there is a smaller probability today of an author such as Tolkien to get published, this is, I believe, more due to changes in the company structure in the publishing industry: it is, I deem, more likely to find the kind of willingness to accept a loss in order to publish a prestige book in smaller, family-owned publishing houses than in the huge companies of today. The other thing that Wright, in my view, doesn't get quite right is the popularity of The Lord of the Rings prior to the release of the paperback editions. LotR was actually selling extremely well for its price and availability, and the main reason for the sales numbers to soar in the mid-sixties was, I believe, the dramatic changes in price and availability that associated the release of the Ace and Ballantine paperback editions.
= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =
LotR Plaza: ‘A Strong Sense of 'Place'’http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=242613
This thread investigates the strong sense of place in Tolkien's writings. This includes specific places, but it also takes off where Carl Phelpstead left in his investigation of Tolkien's general ideas of regional identity in Tolkien and Wales.
RABT & AFT: ‘Elrond remaining in Rivendell’
news:7bf12b41-9d9f-425a-894c-f4c41fb2d8b5@s7g2000yqd.googlegroups.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/alt.fan.tolkien/d3QM2EUvBHY/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6k3pute
This discussion has, as discussions in RABT & AFT are wont, wandered down every possible by-road and side alley, including discussions of the the One Ring, what Sauron knew and guessed about Aragorn (prior to Aragorn joining the Company of the Ring) and the early history of particularly the Three. Good stuff!
= = = = In Print = = = =
I was pleased to find, in Mythprint issue 351, a small piece by Mark T. Hooker on ‘The Name Bolger.’ Though I often find it difficult to believe that Tolkien was actually conscious of all that is suggested, I always like these word-games very much. In this case the Hobbit name Bolger is tied to the Anglo Saxon bælg which is again related to Latin bulga. This immediately attracted my attention as bælg is in contemporary use in Danish where it is used for pods (e.g. pea pods) and all such are called bælgfrugter (bælg fruits, pod fruits), and from the word for the bellows, blæsebælg (blowing bælg). It is also used for a sword scabbard, though this is considered archaic and is these days only used in poetry or deliberately archaisms. It would be a fine play on this to have, in the Danish translation, Fredegar, as he collapses on the doorstep of a house in the beginning of chapter 11 of The Lord of the Rings, gasp as a bellows.= = = = Web Sites = = = =
Tolkien Studies Blog, Michael Martinezhttp://blog.tolkien-studies.com/
Sometimes you wonder how it could be that you had missed something — that is very much the case for me with Michael Martinez's blog on his tolkien-studies.com (which is, as far as I know, not affiliated with the scholarly journal in any way). Let that, then, be amended!
Middle-earth Blog, Michael Martinez
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/
Martinez runs a Tolkien-related blog also on the Xenite site. He is far too prolific for me to go through all the posts, and many of them are addressed mainly at Tolkien students that are not familiar with The History of Middle-earth, Tolkien's letters and other stuff. Still, many of the posts do contain rather interesting bits of information, and I can only recommend looking them over. In these transactions, however, I will focus on those of his posts that seem to me the most interesting.
Tolkien Index
http://www.tolkienindex.net/index/Main_Page
According to one of the creators, ‘Tolkien Index is nothing more (or less) than a page index of names for publications by J.R.R. Tolkien lacking an index (with a focus on Parma Eldalamberon and Vinyar Tengwar).’ Currently the index covers PE 17 and 19, VT 6, 26, 45, 46 along with some things from Quettar #13 and #14. Trusting that the authors will continue the work, this promises to be a very valuable index resource.
= = = = Sources = = = =
John D. Rateliff (JDR) — ‘Sacnoth's Scriptorium’http://sacnoths.blogspot.com
Jason Fisher (JF) — ‘Lingwë — Musings of a Fish’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com
Michael Drout (MD) — ‘Wormtalk and Slugspeak’
http://wormtalk.blogspot.com/
Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull (H&S) — ‘Too Many Books and Never Enough’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/
Pieter Collier (PC) — ‘The Tolkien Library’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/
Douglas A. Anderson (DAA) et Al. — ‘Wormwoodiana’
http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com
Corey Olsen (CO), ‘The Tolkien Professor’
http://www.tolkienprofessor.com
David Bratman (DB), ‘Kalimac’
http://kalimac.blogspot.com/
and the old home:
http://calimac.livejournal.com/
Larry Swain (LS), ‘The Ruminate’
http://theruminate.blogspot.com
‘Wellinghall’, ‘Musings of an Aging Fan’
http://wellinghall.livejournal.com
Various, ‘The Northeast Tolkien Society’ (NETS), ‘Heren Istarion’
http://herenistarionnets.blogspot.com
Bruce Charlton (BC), ‘Tolkien's The Notion Club Papers’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/
Andrew Higgins (AH), ‘Wotan's Musings’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com
Various, The Mythopoeic Society
http://www.mythsoc.org
Henry Gee (HG) ‘cromercrox’, ‘The End of the Pier Show’
http://occamstypewriter.org/cromercrox/
David Simmons (DS), ‘Aiya Ilúvatar’
http://www.aiyailuvatar.org/
Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Tolkien Studies Blog’
http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/
Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Middle-earth’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/
Troels Forchhammer (TF), ‘Parmar-kenta’
http://parmarkenta.blogspot.com
Mythprint — ‘The Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society’
http://www.mythsoc.org
Amon Hen — the Bulletin of the Tolkien Society
http://www.tolkiensociety.org/
- and others
--
Troels Forchhammer
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