Parma-kenta: 2011

Monday, 5 December 2011

Tolkien Transactions XIX

November 2011

November has been scouting month: with three weekends to plan, prepare, execute and evaluate since the last issue of my transactions, I have had preciously little time for reading up on Tolkien matters, and no time to participate in on-line discussions — alas!

= = = = News = = = =

Failblog, Tuesday, 1 November 2011, ‘WIN: If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my Ford!’
http://failblog.org/2011/11/01/epic-fail-photos-win-if-by-my-life-or-death-i-can-protect-you-i-will-you-have-my-ford/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/66ufuhn
Just for fun . . . :)

Pat Reynolds, The Return of the Ring , Sunday, 6 November 2011, ‘The Adventures of Tom Bombadil’
http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/4338.html
A notification that 2012 will see the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, and a call for attendees of The Return of the Ring to be inspired by this fact to submit papers based on one or more of these poems.

H&S, Wednesday, 9 November 2011, ‘Geek Out!’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/geek-out/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cktflwv
Christina and Wayne write that they have been interviewed (by e-mail) for a blog appearing on the CNN blog Geek Out!, and they post here their full answers to the questions they were asked.

Anika Chin, CNN Geek Out!, Wednesday, 9 November 2011, ‘2012, the year of the Hobbit’
http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/09/2012-the-year-of-the-hobbit/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/87z23j7
The blog post that Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond mention in their own blog post listed above. The blog post focuses on their new book, The Art of the Hobbit and the reception of new posthumous Tolkien material in the ‘fan’ community in particular.

Pat Reynolds, The Return of the Ring, Sunday, 13 November 2011, ‘Mr Bliss’
http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/4397.html
At ‘The Return of the Ring’ we'll also be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Mr. Bliss

Beth Staples, Kennebec Journal, Monday, 21 November 2011, ‘Play inside Hobbit Hole’
http://www.kjonline.com/news/playinsidehobbithole_2011-11-20.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6r7bzhq
Mostly in the group of curiosities, this is a piece about a man who builds and sells hobbit-hole-inspired wooden huts.

Zoe Chamberlain, Sunday Mercury, Wednesday, 23 November 2011, ‘Nostalgia: Tolkien's Birmingham’
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2011/11/23/nostalgia-tolkien-s-birmingham-66331-29805902/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cqbe7fr
While little of what is in this article will be news to anyone familiar with Carpenter's Biography or Garth's book on Tolkien's early life and much less to anyone familiar with Maggie Burns' work on Tolkien's relationship with Birmingham, it is nonetheless nice to see a reasonably accurate article on this subject in a general news-outlet.

Journal Pioneer, Thursday, 24 November 2011, ‘Lord of the Rings presented in symphony’
http://www.journalpioneer.com/Arts/2011-11-24/article-2814296/Lord-of-the-Rings-presented-in-symphony/1
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cb7m7j2
The Dutch composer Johan de Meij’s Symphony No. 1, ‘The Lord of the Rings’, will be performed in Charlottetown, Nove Scotia, on December 1st. by the UPEI Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Karem J. Simon. Does anyone know this symphony (incidentally it is available on Spotify which has become available in Denmark now)? Or what about any reviews? I hope that the Journal Pioneer will be so kind as to provide a review after the concert, but it would be great to hear from others as well.

Craig Fraser, West Edmonton Local, Saturday, 26 November 2011, ‘Last Alliance spends evening in Rivendell, talk with 'Tolkien Professor'’
http://westedmontonlocal.ca/2011/11/last-alliance-spends-night-in-rivendell-talk-with-tolkien-professor/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bsoglsg
It sounds as though the ‘Last Alliance’ student group of the University of Alberta in Edmonton had a tremendous day.

Adam Godnik, Barnes and Noble, Monday, 28 November 2011, ‘The author and critic on the impossible choice of reading favorites.’
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Guest-Books/Adam-Gopnik/ba-p/6333
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cy2o6jg
Author and critic, Adam Godnik, lists The Lord of the Rings among his three most favourite books, but the poor man seems to be rather ashamed of it. Is he so thoroughly brain-washed with the ideas of what Shippey calls the ‘literati’ that he doesn't dare trust his own tastes?
David Bratman responds to Godnik's article on his blog, here:
http://kalimac.blogspot.com/2011/12/tolkien-reconstructed.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/buotnsv

= = = = Essays, Scholarship and Criticism = = = =

David B. Hart, First Things, Friday, 12 November 2010, ‘Anarcho-Monarchism’
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2010/11/anarcho-monarchism
http://preview.tinyurl.com/375zlmy
David B. Hart is, as far as I know, not known as a Tolkien scholar (he is a theologian), and it is perhaps not surprising that a piece on Tolkien's political views — in particular one connecting them to contemporary politics — come from outside the realm of established Tolkien scholars. Whether one agrees or disagrees (the quotations are correct, but the interpretation of them may not be) it is an interesting piece regardless.

David Oberhelman, The Mythopoeic Society, Monday, 7 November 2011, ‘Mythopoeic Awards: Call for Nominations’
http://www.mythsoc.org/news/awards-call-for-nominations-2012/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cdweca3
Perhaps not scholarship in itself, but awards for, among other things, scholarship in Inklings studies. What work deserves an award in Inklings Studies?

Mythlore, Monday, 7 November 2011, ‘Mythlore 115/116 Available’
http://www.mythsoc.org/news/mythlore-115116-available/
Hopefully by the time I publish these transactions, this issue of Mythlore will have wound its way to my address. The announcement also includes links to the contents of issue 115/116 and to a downloadable supplement to the index, this supplement covering issues 101/102 through 115/116.

BC, Tuesday, 8 November 2011, ‘What did Charles Williams bring to The Inklings?’
http://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2011/11/charles-williams-and-unseen-warfare.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cskqg2o
I'll admit up front to being out of my depth here — I am not much of a student of Plato, and I am completely unfamiliar with the work of Charles Williams. However, given Tolkien's comments in his letters about Charles Williams' work (and his resentment of the perceived influence of Williams on Lewis' work), I think there is a heavy burden of argumentation to lift in order to make the case for Tolkien to adapt an idea from Williams.

MM, Wednesday, 16 November 2011, ‘Who was Narvi, the Maker of the Doors of Durin?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/11/16/who-was-narvi-the-maker-of-the-doors-of-durin/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cljj4to
Interesting piece with some background on the Norse name, Narvi. I am not sure that one can infer from the seeming import of the name in Old Norse myths to the fame of Tolkien's Dwarven craftsman, but I do agree that Narvi of Khazad-dûm must have been the best skilled craftsman (in stone-work) at the time the doors were made, and probably of very great skill if we believe the note that Celebrimbor befriended him especially.

JF, Wednesday, 16 November 2011, ‘Beware the Neekerbreekers’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/11/beware-neekerbreekers.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bwcgfsu
On the possible roots of the Neekerbreekers of the Midgewater Marshes — apart, of course, from the possibility that Tolkien had actually experienced something of the kind: for my own part I remember a particularly mosquito-plagued trek through some marshes on our way to Kebnekaise in Swedish Lapland — I'm willing swear that some of the mosquitos were the size of small sparrows. Otherwise I am, of course, predisposed towards the second part: making the Neekerbreekers related to our ‘Nøkke’ is just too good to dismiss ;-)

DAA, Monday, 21 November 2011, ‘Dale Nelson's Summation on Tolkien in pre-1970 blurbs’
http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com/2011/11/dale-nelsons-summation-on-tolkien-in.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6tkj6jd
Dale Nelson has sent a summation of his research into the question of pre-1970 blurbs that mention Tolkien, and Douglas Anderson adds some comments, including a 1955 comment by Basil Davenport on Naomi Mitchison's blurb for The Fellowship of the Ring calling it ‘super science-fiction.’

DAA, Tuesday, 22 November 2011, ‘Tolkien and the Newman Association’
http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com/2011/11/tolkien-and-newman-association.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7debp82
Tolkien was a member of the ‘Newman Society’ — a society of Catholic professors and other graduates of British universities named for the founder of the Birmingham Oratory, John Henry Newman, and Tolkien co-signed, as Honorary Vice President, a letter in 1949 registering protest over the the arrest of the Cardinal Primate of Hungary by the Hungarian government.

CO, Wednesday, 23 November 2011, ‘Bilbo Builds His Resume 2’
http://www.tolkienprofessor.com/lectures/hobbit_series/hobbit_5.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/84ugzx4
After nearly two years, Professor Olsen is back with new episodes in his series of podcasts on The Hobbit. This one covers chapters 9 and 10 (‘Barrels out of Bound’ and ‘A Warm Welcome’).

JF, Monday, 28 November 2011, ‘Tolkien's translation conceit — new evidence?’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/11/tolkiens-translation-conceit-new.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d5cd5am
Having discovered some interesting inscriptions on some of the Hobbit artwork published in Hammond & Scull's new book, The Art of the Hobbit, Jason goes on to analyse this, and has, I think, two main threads of investigation / discussion going on in this very interesting blog post.
- That Tolkien's translation conceit originated far earlier than
might otherwise be thought — i.e. that is was a part of _The
Hobbit_ before this book was published.
- The wording of the moon letters from Thrór's map in Old Norse
Not being a linguist (not even in the ancient forms of my native tongue), I am afraid that there is little I can do with respect to the latter, but with respect the former Lingwë seems to me to be on solid ground with his claim that Tolkien was using this conceit already prior to the publication of The Hobbit. This, in my opinion, would be quite natural for him, and it ties in well also with Rateliff's claims that The Hobbit originally was more closely tied up with The Silmarillion (more closely, at least, than Tolkien's later comments might lead us to believe).

MM, Tuesday, 29 November 2011, ‘Is There a Source for the Tale of the Two Trees?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/11/29/is-there-a-source-for-the-tale-of-the-two-trees/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bu9nono
Very interesting. If you are already familiar with The Silmarillion and the history of the Two Trees, then you might want to read the first paragraph and then move on to read just the last four paragraphs. I don't remember hearing, before this, about the Persian folklore/myth about the two Trees of the Sun and Moon.

Adam Godnik, The New Yorker, Tuesday, 29 December 2011, ‘The Dragon's Egg’
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011/12/05/111205crat_atlarge_gopnik
http://preview.tinyurl.com/79a27xd
Adam Godnik has previously (see above) listed The Lord of the Rings among his three most favourite books, but here he seems to repeat many of the usual criticisms (imperceptive criticisms, in my view) that are usually levied against Tolkien's book, while still acknowledging its power to captivate the readers.

= = = = Book News = = = =

AH, Mythprint, Tuesday, 1 November 2011, ‘J.R.R. Tolkien's Double Worlds and Creative Process’
http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/double-worlds-creative-process/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5vltco5
‘This review originally appeared in Mythprint 48:8 (#349) in August 2011.’
Andrew Higgins gives Arne Zettersten's book a warm review. Attempting to summarize a summary, Andrew gives me the impression of a warm biography from a colleague of Tolkien's whose focus is mainly on Tolkien's professional side, but who has inevitably also experienced the author. Zettersten's book is approaching the top of my wish list, though I am still undecided whether to buy it in English or in the Swedish original, Min vän Ronald och hans världar.

JDR, Wednesday, 2 November 2011, ‘The New Arrival: A TOLKIEN TAPESTRY’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-arrival-tolkien-tapestry.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/66r5gob
Given Rateliff's well-known (at least to those who follow his blog) dislike of Blok's art, the review of Pieter Collier's book seems to me very fair. Rateliff repeats the adage that ‘In the end there truly is no arguing about taste,’ but I am not sure that this is entirely true: certainly the reviews of the 2011 Tolkien Calendar by Ruth Lacon (in Amon Hen #228 and on the Tolkien Library web-site) have helped me appreciate Blok's art better.

PC, Sunday, 6 November 2011, ‘The 2012 Beyond Bree Calendar is now available’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1015_Beyond_Bree_Calendar_2012.php?438
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6qygbdn
What it says, basically. The calendar is illustrated by different people (eleven are mentioned ‘plus more’ so presumably each month has a new illustrator).

H&S, Sunday, 6 November 2011, ‘_Art of The Hobbit_ Published’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/art-of-the-hobbit-published/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cb5k2qk
The other news about the release of Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull's The Art of the Hobbit belongs to last month's Transactions, but short as it may be, this entry by Wayne and Christina also provides a charming, albeit all to brief, glimpse into the mind of the author or editor who has just released their work to the scrutiny of the public. With authors so well known for their devotion to verifiable fact and the rooting out of mistakes and imprecision, it must of course have been frustrating to see the many . . . shall we call them ‘artistic liberties’ . . . taken by some of the journalists reporting on their book.

JDR, Monday, 7 November 2011, ‘THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT, second edition’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-of-hobbit-second-edition.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ordold
John Rateliff takes a look at the second edition of his History of the Hobbit, noting what has been changed (and what hasn't) and asserting that the weight (it's a one-volume edition) is only 1.29 kg . . . :-) I am having an extended internal debate whether the 32 pages of new material is enough to warrant buying the new edition — which is mainly a question of what other Tolkien-related book it will push out of my limited buying list.

Carina, ‘Carina's Craftblog’, Thursday, 10 November 2011, ‘The Art of The Hobbit’
http://carinascraftblog.wardi.dk/2011/11/art-of-hobbit.html
High praise for, and some photos of, Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull's The Art of the Hobbit.

JDR, Saturday, 12 November 2011, ‘The New Arrivals: ART OF THE HOBBIT and MR. BLISS’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-arrivals-art-of-hobbit-and-mr-bliss.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/8yfjvvn
Not very much about The Art of the Hobbit this time, and more about the new edition of Mr. Bliss that was released in September. Rateliff praises the layout and calls the story a ‘minor but amusing little bit of Tolkien’ though he also admits to never having ‘really warmed to _Mr. Bliss_’.

H&S, Sunday, 13 November 2011, ‘Harper Insider’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/harper-insider/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c5sdtlk
Perhaps mainly interesting for the completist collector, Wayne and Christina note that ‘the Harper Insider article includes the first publication [...] of the verso of the picture Death of Smaug.’

JDR, Sunday, 13 November 2011, ‘THE ART OF THE HOBBIT’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/11/art-of-hobbit.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/crljzr4
So, Rateliff got round to writing about his second new arrival, Hammond and Scull's The Art of the Hobbit, which he praises highly.

TheOneRing.net, Tuesday, 22 November 2011, ‘'The Hobbit' Released for First Time on Enhanced Ebook’
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/11/22/50516-the-hobbit-released-for-first-time-on-enhanced-ebook/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7l4x8bt
What it says . . .

JDR, Friday, 25 November 2011, ‘My Newest Publication: Volume 258’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-newest-publication-volume-258.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d8uu2p4
One of John Rateliff's old essays, ‘A Kind of Elvish Craft: Tolkien as Literary Craftsman’, which was previously published in Tolkien Studies vol. 6 (2009) has now been published in volume 258 of Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. The occasion being that this volume includes a section on the Inklings collecting a number of essays on Inklings subjects. I find it somewhat odd that in the list of suggested readings, Tolkien is represented with his ‘Middle English Vocabulary’ but not with ‘On Fairy-Stories’, ‘Beowulf and the Critics’ or other of his professional work.

JDR, Monday, 28 November 2011, ‘The New Arrivals’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-arrivals.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bv39ehr
John Rateliff comments briefly on two new books — and on a third book that he didn't receive. One is War of the Fantasy Worlds by Martha C. Sammon, which sounds promising, and the other is Oliver Loo's A Tolkien English Glossary. Rateliff's comments about this book being more helpful to readers to whom English is a second language obviously hit a nerve, and I wondered if perhaps Mr Loo was not himself a native speaker, but I haven't found any biographical information on Mr Loo even at the website associated with the glossary. http://www.tolkienenglishglossary.com/index.html

= = = = Interviews = = = =

MM, Friday, 4 November 2011, ‘An Interview with Michael D.C. Drout’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/11/04/an-interview-with-michael-dc-drout/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5s7tcxe
Another interesting interview, this time with Michael Drout, who says, for instance, that Gergely Nagy's essay, ‘The Lost Subject of Middle-earth’, from Tolkien Studies vol. 3 is, in Drout's mind, probably the best article in the Tolkien Studies series so far.

MM, Friday, 11 November 2011, ‘Christopher Tolkien, the Silmarillion, and the Machine’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/11/11/christopher-tolkien-the-silmarillion-and-the-machine/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c3xd9wr
Thanks to Michael Martinez for pointing out these YouTube video clips of interviews with Christopher Tolkien

MM, Friday, 18 November 2011, ‘An Interview with Douglas Charles Kane’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/11/18/an-interview-with-douglas-charles-kane/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ce2loof
An interview with Doug Kane, author of Arda Reconstructed. This long interview obviously focuses on The Silmarillion and Doug Kane's own work on it. Instead of trying to summarize all of this interview in a few sentences, I will merely give my strong recommendation to read it for yourself.

Urulókë, The Tolkien Collector's Guide, Monday, 21 November 2011, ‘An Interview with Elwë at Telperion Books - new Tolkien bookstore launch’
http://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/wordpress/archives/233
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d7shxa5
An interview with Steve, a.k.a. Elwë, about his new on-line bookstore, Telperion Books, and on his career as a Tolkien collector.

= = = = Other Stuff = = = =

MM, Monday, 7 November 2011, ‘Was Beorn in the Hobbit a Were-bear?’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/11/07/was-beorn-in-the-hobbit-a-were-bear/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c59kmxs
One of the good qualities for me about many of Michael's blog posts is that I find them thought-provoking. Not so much because I disagree, but because I often find that I think there is more to say about the subject. Such is also the case here, where I should have loved to come all the way around the wearg (criminal / outlaw) that got somehow transformed in Nordic languages to vargr meaning wolf, and also the use of Werwolf as a proper name, the origin of the Greek word (Anglicized in lycanthropy) as, probably, a name for a disease and pelt-wearing viking warriors (Berserkir and Úlfhéðnar). So thanks to Michael for setting in motion a long train of thought.

MM, Wednesday, 9 November 2011, ‘The Captains Crazy of Middle-earth’
http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/11/09/the-captains-crazy-of-middle-earth/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cjhzsx2
An example of Michael Martinez when he is, in my humble opinion, at his best. In this case an investigation of the strategic blunders of the Elves and Men, and in the Noldor, in the Wars of Beleriand in the last years of the First Age.

Katy Steinmetz, Time Entertainment, Wednesday, 16 November 2011, ‘Elvish, Klingon and Esperanto — Why Do We Love To Invent Languages?’
http://entertainment.time.com/2011/11/16/elvish-klingon-and-esperanto%E2%80%94why-do-we-love-to-invent-languages/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bs28m45
An interview with Michael Adams who has edited the book Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages investigating some of the questions regarding invented languages. The comments are a bit amusing, actually — apparently a number of the Esperanto speakers do not like to be lumped with the students of Klingon or Sindarin.

H&S, Saturday, 19 November 2011, ‘A Working Library, Part One’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/a-working-library-part-one/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bmcurcu
Christina Scull has written this first part on the Tolkien library of herself and Wayne Hammond — on how they have collected the items in their Tolkien collection and how it is organized. To any serious student of Tolkien's work, this is stuff of which dreams is made ;-)

H&S, Monday, 21 November 2011, ‘A Working Library, Part Two’
http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/a-working-library-part-two/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/74ladk5
In this second part of her article on their ‘working library’ on Tolkien and related issues, Christina Scull writes about their books on these related issues. One begins to understand the work and dedication that has led to Christina and Wayne being recognized as pre-eminent Tolkien scholars and probably the top scholars in Tolkien facts.

Jon Michaud, The New Yorker, Tuesday, 29 November 2011, ‘Tolkien: Tedious or Tremendous?’
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/backissues/2011/11/tolkien-tedious-or-tremendous.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d9964hm
In comment to Adam Godnik's critical article (see above), Jon Michaud takes a look at the history of Tolkien reviews and criticism in The New Yorker.

= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =

LotR Plaza: ‘A Strong Sense of 'Place'’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=242613&PID=7443857#7443857
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cvdggk4
I have mentioned this thread before, but it has continued with new perspectives on the subject. Well worth reading!

LotR Plaza: ‘A one-man twentieth century alliterative revival’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=242254&PID=7447075#7447075
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bmaokj6
A revival of an earlier thread — very interesting to read, and with some expert information on Germanic alliterative poetry.

LotR Plaza: ‘Kill count’
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=242775
From humble beginnings, this thread moves on to offer some interesting perspectives.

= = = = In Print = = = =

Mythprint Vol.48 no.10, whole no.351
From a purely Tolkien perspective, the highlight of this issue of Mythprint was a short piece by Mark T. Hooker on ‘The Name Bolger’, which is another of these little word-studies that I so love. In this case I was interested to find that the Danish ‘bælg’ (these days only used in the compound ‘blæsebælg’ - a bellows (lit. a ‘blow-bag’), but it can also be found in archaic contexts as a word for a sword scabbard) is cognate with the proud hobbit name.

Amon Hen 232
Highlights this time are a short piece by Maggie Burns on Tolkien's uncle Roland Suffield, and the new column, ‘Christopher's Clippings’ (neat alliteration there!) which takes over from ‘Jessica's Corner’ in listing media and literary references to Tolkien.

Mallorn issue 52
From a very self-centred perspective, the important fact of this issue of Mallorn is of course my review of Phelpstead's Tolkien and Wales. However, of actual interest I found Nancy Martsch's editorial, ‘Consider the Context’, in which she carefully advices us to always consider the context in which Tolkien wrote or said something, and that ‘Tolkien's words aren't the Gospel. Tolkien wasn't a prophet.’ Well said! There are other articles that look promising, but as I haven't had a chance to read them all, any commentary on my part will have to wait.

Mythlore 115/116
This is another arrival that I haven't had time to look at yet beyond scanning the list of contents. There are at least three essays that look very promising, and I'm looking forward to finding the time to read this Mythlore (hopefully some time between Christmas and New Year).

= = = = Web Sites = = = =

Telperion Books
http://www.telperionbooks.com/
A new on-line book-shop focusing on Tolkien books and collectibles, but also with items by other authors.

Michael Tolkien
http://www.michaeltolkien.com
Whether or not one likes Michael Tolkien's writings as, I should say, preciously little to do with whether one likes his grandfather's. He is, however, J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson, and on his website are some essays with personal memories of his grandfather.

Oxford University Podcasts
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Numerous podcasts and podcast series from the University of Oxford. Among these several of interest to a Tolkien student — e.g. the ‘Tolkien at Oxford’ series:
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/tolkien-oxford

= = = = 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

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.

= = = = 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 Martinez
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.

= = = = Sources = = = =

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Tolkien Transactions XVII

Tolkien Transactions XVII September 2011 September has been a rather busy month, both with respect to on-line content relating to J.R.R. Tolkien and his works, but also with respect to my work and other off-line obligations: I've barely had time (in my own eyes) to participate in the many interesting discussions.

= = = = News = = = =

JDR, Friday, 2 September 2011, ‘Farewell, FRODO FRANCHISE’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/farewell-frodo-franchise.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6fmua6e
John Rateliff laments the stop of Kristin Thompson's blog, The Frodo Franchise, which has focused mainly on the Peter Jackson films (the subject of her eponymous book). I haven't had time to look into the past posts, but of course the loss of any intelligent Tolkien-related blog is a loss to be lamented.

PC, Saturday, 3 September 2011, ‘Online course: J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth and Middle-earth in Context starts again in October’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1003-Tolkien_Online_Course.php?426
http://preview.tinyurl.com/66eqpwq
Another deep sigh — I have neither the time nor the money to follow Dmitra Fimi's on-line course, but I would dearly love to do so.

PC, Monday, 5 September 2011, ‘On October 8th the Tolkien Shop in Leiden celebrates its 25th Anniversary’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1005-Tolkien_Shop_25_Years.php?428
http://preview.tinyurl.com/62ekfrj
What it says . . . celebrations ensue :-)

Pat Reynolds, Return of the Ring, Tuesday, 6 September 2011, ‘A Year of Celebrating 'The Hobbit'’
http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/2489.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5r9s7gb
A whole year of celebrations up to the 75th anniversary of the first publication of The Hobbit — and more information on The Return of the Ring conference next year (finally something that does not elicit a sigh on my part, but an expectant smile).

Pat Reynolds, Sunday, 11 September 2011, ‘Special Guest: Colin Duriez’
http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/2573.html
Well, what it says: Colin Duriez will be one of the special guests at The Return of the Ring.
Sunday, 18 September 2011, ‘Green Dragon’
http://returnofthering.livejournal.com/3048.html
Another special guest, La Compagnie du Dragon Vert, which is a French group doing what might best be termed secondary historical re-enacting.

BBC News, Saturday, 24 September 2011, ‘Tolkien fans hold annual Oxonmoot in Oxford’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-15038836
http://preview.tinyurl.com/64xu6h8
A rather nice little piece about the Oxonmoot.

AH, Sunday, 25 September 2011, ‘On A Sunny Saturday and Monday Morning.....’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-sunny-saturday-and-monday-morning.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5vwdj7s
A rather more personal and interested piece on the Oxonmoot — and the Charles Williams book that Andy Higgins bought while there.

Nicki Thomas, Edmonton Journal, Monday, 26 September 2011, ‘University of Alberta clubs nothing if not eclectic’
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/University+Alberta+clubs+nothing+eclectic/5457944/story.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/68vc7kj
The various clubs and societies devoted to the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien have long played a pivotal part in the advancement of his writings. I even suspect that the ready-made audience of the societies may have helped pave the way for Tolkien studies in the academic world, as the base of organised fans has ensured the financial success of good books about Tolkien. In this piece about the on-campus clubs of the University of Alberta, the Tolkien club, ‘The Last Alliance’ is given a prominent place, and we are told of the embarrasment of the co-founder, Megan Engel, over not being able to speak fluent Elvish (though we are not told whether she means Sindarin or Quenya). Despair not, dear Megan — thou art not alone ;-)

The Orcadian, Thursday, 15 September 2011, ‘Danish frigate arrives at Hatston’
http://www.orcadian.co.uk/2011/09/danish-frigate-to-call-into-kirkwall/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/68sa856
A member of the Tolkien society referred to this piece of news asking ‘Are the Danes trying to take Orkney back?’ You just wait! Once we have dealt with the Swedes for stealing Scania in 1658, we will begin plotting revenge for all that the British have stolen from us — we'll steal every oak tree on the British Isles and then we'll rebuild the navy that Lord Nelson took and once more ravage the coasts of Britain! Or something ;-)

Kelsey Sheridan, Lexington Herald Leader, Thursday, 30 September 2011, ‘Tolkien-themed convention brings Middle Earth to Shaker Village’
http://www.kentucky.com/2011/09/29/1902683/tolkien-themed-convention-brings.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5s4pohx
A rather nice, in both length and angle, report from the Tolkien-themed convention, ‘There & Back Again’ (even if it is a local paper, I think it's quite good publicity).

= = = = Essays and Scholarship = = = =

BC, Monday, 19 September 2011, ‘Hierarchy, reverance and worship in Tolkien's work and life’
http://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2011/09/hierarchy-reverance-and-worship-in.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6c233ol
As you know my education is in physics and computer science, and I am certainly not well read in matters of Roman Catholic thought and practice — only through my interest for Tolkien's work have I begun to read a little here and there as it has become relevant. Thus I had not previously encountered this idea of the hierarchical mediation, but once encountered I can immediately see its relevance for Tolkien's writings. See also my comments directly to the blog.

BC, Wednesday 21 September 2011, ‘Abel Pitt as Adam Fox’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/09/abel-pitt-as-adam-fox.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5u4w34p
One should of course not trust Google completely, but it does appear that Bruce Charlton is just a few months too late with this identification, which also appears in the essay by Diana Glyer and Josh Long in Tolkien and the Study of his Sources (edited by Jason Fisher).
Rob Sharp, The Independent, Friday, 23 September 2011, ‘Why do adults read children's books? Blame modern life’
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/why-do-adults-read-childrens-books-blame-modern-life-2359349.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3pyml2h

Boyd Tonkin, The Independent, Friday, 23 September 2011, ‘This theory could have come from the Soviet era’
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/boyd-tonkin-this-theory-could-have-come-from-the-soviet-era-2359350.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6xf7zeb
Here we have couple of interesting pieces, not in themselves scholarship, but referring to a piece of scholarship that is underway, the study by Dr Louise Joy of the adult appeal of many children's books. I, too, find myself getting irritated over people's theories about what attracts me to certain children's books: usually, even though I don't doubt that it is honestly meant and well-intentioned, it merely reads as so much self-aggrandizing nonsense (not to use a stronger word). One of the things that fascinate me about good children's literature is the ability to take up some of the fundamental questions of the human situation without all the postmodern idiocy (pardon my expression) — and this is also a part of my fascination with Tolkien's more mature work: he dares take on such questions as death and mortality, ways of being good and ways of becoming evil, and he does so in a way that is not quite as simplified as that of the children's books, but still no more complex than he avoids getting lost in the grey slush of real-life complexity.

Edith Crowe, MythCon, Monday, 26 September 2011, ‘MythCon 43: Call For Papers’
http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/43/papers/
Though I won't be attending, I hope that some good and strong scholarship will come out also of next year's MythCon for us to enjoy in print later.

Jannet Brennan Croft, Mythlore, Wednesday, 28 September 2011, ‘Mythlore 115/116: Table of Contents Announced’
http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore/115/
At least a couple of Tolkien-related papers that look very promising.

= = = = Taum's Aphorisms = = = =

John Rateliff continues posting Taum Santoski's ‘Aphorisms Towards a Poetics of Fantasy’.
No. 13, Sunday, 4 September 2011:
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/taum-santoski-xiii.html
No. 14, Monday, 5 September 2011:
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/taum-santoski-xiv.html
No. 15, Tuesday, 6 September 2011:
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/taum-santoski-xv.html
No. 16, Wednesday, 7 September 2011:
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/taum-santoski-xvi.html
No. 17, Friday, 9 September 2011:
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/taum-santoski-xviii.html
No. 18, Monday, 12 September 2011:
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/taum-santoski-xviii_12.html
No. 19, Saturday, 24 September 2011:
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/taum-santoski-xix.html

Commentary:
JDR, Friday, 2 September 2011, ‘Taum's Aphorisms, parts VII to XII’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/taums-aphorisms-parts-vii-to-xii.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3h2urhj

Rateliff admits to understanding this second half-dozen of the aphorisms even less than he did the first. Still, I find his thoughts valuable for setting a direction for my own attempt to understand the aphorisms.
TF, Tuesday, 27 September 2011, ‘Taum Santoski's Aphorisms 1 through 6’
http://http://parmarkenta.blogspot.com/2011/09/taum-santoskis-aphorisms-1-through-6.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/62j5dpy
Building on Rateliff's comments, and on the various comments to the aphorism posts, I try to share some of my own thoughts on the aphorisms - mostly in the hope that it may attract comments that will help me understand them better.

= = = = Book News = = = =

JF, Wednesday, 7 September 2011, ‘Read a free excerpt from my book’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/09/read-free-excerpt-from-my-book.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/69noz5z
Jason announces that you can freely read an excerpt of his book, Tolkien and the Study of his Sources, at the publisher's web-site.

AH, Sunday, 18 September 2011, ‘Wotan Has Returned!!!! Autumn Postings Shall Commence’
http://wotanselvishmusings.blogspot.com/2011/09/wotan-has-returned-autumn-postings.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6dncluu
Andy Higgins has read Arne Zettersten's book on Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien's Double Worlds and Creative Process and found it highly recommendable. My internal bying committee has still not decided on the question of whether to buy this book in English or in the Swedish original, Min vän Ronald och hans världar (My friend Ronald and his worlds).

PC, Sunday, 18 September 2011, ‘Tolkien, le façonnement d'un monde - volume 1, Botany and Astronomy’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1008-Le_Dragon_de_Brume.php?431
http://preview.tinyurl.com/65s5zer
Since I don't speak, read or understand any French I have little use of this book, though I would have preferred it to be otherwise . . . but perhaps some of you may be able to enjoy the French essays and share the good points with the rest of us.

PC, Monday, 26 September 2011, ‘Tolkien and the Peril of War by Robert S. Blackham’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1012-Tolkien_and_the_Peril_of_War.php?435
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5spdl74
From what I have heard, this book appears to be mainly the illustrations for John Garth's Tolkien and the Great War — nothing, or next to nothing, new in the text, but many images, both new and rare, to accompany the words. I suppose that this book will be a true treasure trove for people whose imagination is triggered by images more than by words (I am not trying to be supercilious here, it just so happens that my own empathy and identification is triggered more strongly by words). Still, I also do love a good picture, so this book may at some point reach my book-shelf also (depending on the reviews).

Henry Gee, Wednesday, 28 September 2011, ‘Conversations With My Agent About E-Books’
http://occamstypewriter.org/cromercrox/2011/09/28/conversations-with-my-agent-about-e-books/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6b6k2k6
Henry Gee, editor of the Tolkien Society's journal, Mallorn and senior editor for Nature, promises a new edition of his book, The Science of Middle-earth out as e-book in time for a projected December 2012 release of the first Hobbit film by Jackson.

= = = = Other Stuff = = = =

JH, Thursday, 1 September 2011, ‘Tolkien Month, Day One — My Introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien’
http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12075/tolkien-month-day-one-my-introduction-to-j-r-r-tolkien/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/67lt8p7
Josh Hangarne (JH) of The World's Strongest Librarian had dedicated his blog to talking Tolkien, Tolkien month. He starts out by telling of his introduction to Tolkien through an illustrated edition of The Hobbit. I am sure that most of us will recognize some parts of his experience — he seems to me to have encountered that enchanted state where the successful sub-creator induces Secondary Belief. Since I have failed to find an easily overviewed list of the Tolkien-related blog entries, I will provide one such below.

JH, Saturday, 3 September 2011, ‘On Fairy Stories — An Essay by Tolkien’
http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12093/on-fairy-stories-an-essay-by-tolkien/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6k79uvw
From a very brief background on The Hobbit to _On Fairy-Stories_? Well, I love to see Tolkien's essay get some more publicity, and getting more people to know it, or at least about it, is in my opinion a good thing, though the PDF version that Josh Hangarne links to may not, as Pieter Collier points out, be entirely legal (it appears to be put up by West Chester University as a service to their students — whether that is legal, and whether it is legal for non-students to access it is beyond me to tell).

BC, Monday, 5 September 2011, ‘Tolkien and Women - a word’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/09/tolkien-and-women-word.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/68kohl7
Charlton, in my opinion, has here a valid point about how we judge Tolkien's ethical position, and in particular about being careful to read what he says without cutting corners. It is, obviously, still possible to disagree with Tolkien (I often do so myself), but it is important to understand exactly where this disagreement arises, and to understand Tolkien's position.

BC, Saturday, 10 September 2011, ‘Humphrey Carpenter and Tolkien’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/09/humphrey-carpenter-and-tolkien.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6hc8pbo
I have never been much of a student of the Inklings as a group, nor of any of the other individual members than Tolkien, and so I have never read Carpenter's book on the Inklings, but the strength of this attack(?) surprises me. Speaking solely about the Tolkien biography, I agree that Carpenter does not seem to be at every point sympathetic to Tolkien's very personal ideas about ethics and aesthetics, but I don't get the impression that he is disloyal to his subject — I rather appreciate that he he lets it shine through that he disagrees, since that allows us to take that into consideration, whereas if the author would seem to agree with Tolkien about everything, I might (depending, of course, on the circumstances) suspect that the author was rather turning Tolkien into his own mouthpiece rather than the other way around. Carpenter, in my opinion, does a good job at portraying a person whose sole claim to greatness is in the works of his mind — and I think it is only right that he leaves the interpretation of that greatness (and of any intention or project associated with Tolkien's art) to others.

JDR, Monday, 12 September 2011, ‘Steig Larsson and Tolkien’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/09/steig-larsson-and-tolkien.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5vukwgy
Rateliff has found a couple of Tolkien references from Stieg Larsson's Män som hatar kvinnor (Men who hate women — English title The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). P.S. It's a little amusing that Rateliff does the e-i inversion in Stieg Larsson's name, but not in Tolkien's ;-)

BC, Monday, 26 September 2011, ‘A note on Hobbit government’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/09/note-on-hobbit-government.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6jy5cws
I am not sure that I agree with Charlton on the details of what is described as the idea rule of a nation in Tolkien's work: the Númenórean set-up appears to me rather to put the King, in terms of worship, first among equals and speaker on the behalf of the people rather than the King representing Eru to the people. I will need some time, which unfortunately I don't have at the present, to get my thoughts together, but it seems to me that Tolkien made much of the difference between governing and ruling, and that this difference is essential to understand his views on the rule of the people.

= = = = Tolkien-related entries on ‘The World's Strongest Librarian’ = = = =

= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =

These are a few of the discussions that I would have loved to have more time to contribute to . . .

Linguistic Archaisms
news:16eb5f8c-d135-472e-bc62-723b6c97bbd3@t29g2000vby.googlegroups.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/p2zNWDqjig4/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5urf93e

Elrond remaining in Rivendell
news:7bf12b41-9d9f-425a-894c-f4c41fb2d8b5@s7g2000yqd.googlegroups.com
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/d3QM2EUvBHY/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/633sm45

Was Narsil bronze?
news:mUedq.9702$Ol1.7921@newsfe07.iad
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.arts.books.tolkien/g60xqC2jFd4/discussion
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ce42r6

Proof that Sauron was Bombadil's "Dark Lord"?
http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=238593&PN=2&title=proof-that-sauron-was-bombadils-dark-lord
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5tuxq76

= = = = Web Sites = = = =

Is Tolkien Actually Any Good?
http://www.rilstone.talktalk.net/tolk.htm
This is an interesting piece of criticism that apparently fails to answer its own question, though it seems to me more a matter of the author being unwilling to fully acknowledge the quality inherent (IMO) in his experiences. I find it curious that he relates some of the ‘self-evident’ truths of literary criticism — e.g. that the use of clichés is bad (I've never understood why this is necessarily and immanently bad) — without questioning those, but questions whether his own desire to immerse himself in Middle-earth is indicative of good writing.

Colin Duriez
http://web.mac.com/colinduriez/inwriting/Home.html
The web-place of Colin Duriez, an excellent Tolkien scholar.

= = = = 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/
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

Regarding Pictures

All pictures that are displayed on this blog appear with the kind permission of the artist, for which I am exceedingly grateful. Please do not copy or reuse them without permission, and please recall to always give credit where it is due.

Pictures that are not my own photos, are linked to lead to the artist's page – please click through and visit their page. You support them already by showing an interest, but please consider supporting them also financially – buying some of their works, or otherwise.

The artists that have allowed me to use their images are

Tsvetelina ‘Elmenel’ Krumova

Katarzyna ‘Kasiopea’ Chmiel-Gugulska

Graeme Skinner

Before his untimely death in August 2015, I had a similar arrangement with Jef Murray.

Pages

Monday, 5 December 2011

Tolkien Transactions XIX

= = = = News = = = =

= = = = Essays, Scholarship and Criticism = = = =

= = = = Book News = = = =

= = = = Interviews = = = =

= = = = Other Stuff = = = =

= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =

= = = = In Print = = = =

= = = = Web Sites = = = =

= = = = Sources = = = =

Saturday, 5 November 2011

Tolkien Transactions XVIII

= = = = News = = = =

= = = = Essays and Scholarship = = = =

= = = = Book News = = = =

= = = = Interviews = = = =

= = = = Other Stuff = = = =

= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =

= = = = In Print = = = =

= = = = Web Sites = = = =

= = = = Sources = = = =

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Tolkien Transactions XVII

= = = = News = = = =

= = = = Essays and Scholarship = = = =

= = = = Taum's Aphorisms = = = =

= = = = Book News = = = =

= = = = Other Stuff = = = =

= = = = Tolkien-related entries on ‘The World's Strongest Librarian’ = = = =

= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =

= = = = Web Sites = = = =

= = = = Sources = = = =