Tolkien Transactions XIII

May 2011

Good thing that I do not believe in unlucky numbers . . . ;)

This is, of course, actually the fourteenth or fifteenth issue of my extract of the most interesting Tolkien-related occurrences on the internet over the past period — it just happens to be the thirteenth bearing this particular name ;-)

May has come, and May has gone, and now I've collected what I think was the most interesting stuff for a Tolkien enthusiast to read in May. You should of course take as read all the usual disclaimers about newness, completeness and relevance (or any other implication of responsibility) :-)

= = = = News = = = =

JDR, Friday, 6 May 2011, ‘Run-up to Kalamazoo’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/05/run-up-to-kalamazoo.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/44wycbe
And
JF, Monday, 9 May 2011, ‘More Tolkien at Kalamazoo’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-tolkien-at-kalamazoo.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3ph3rx3
And an update
JDR, Tuesday, 10 May 2011, ‘Tolkien at Kalamazoo 2011 (revised schedule)’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/05/tolkien-at-kalamazoo-2011-revised.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3htd8v9
John Rateliff and Jason Fisher supplement each other in pointing out all the Tolkien-related presentations, round-tables, panels, discussions and other events at this year's Kalamazoo Medieval Congress. Attending the congress is likely to remain forever just a dream (and I suspect that I would be like a fish out of the water if I ever did manage to go), but the list of events is certainly always intriguing.

Ben Yakas, gothamist, Sunday, 8 May 2011, ‘Is This The Greatest NY Times Correction Of All Time?’
http://gothamist.com/2011/05/08/is_this_the_greatest_ny_times_corre.php
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3ttzq98
Linked to by David Bratman on his Calimac blog under the title, ‘They'll know better than to %&!* with Tolkien fans next time.’, this is the story of the NY Times running afoul of some basic Tolkieniana and having to correct.

Co.Design, Tuesday, 10 May 2011, ‘Infographic Of The Day: The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Plotted’
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663803/infographic-of-the-day-the-lord-of-the-rings-trilogy-plotted
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3cyomj9
A nice plot, and though it is based on the Peter Jackson films, I think that, at this level of portrayal, they follow the plot of the books close enough for us to ignore the differences if we will (yes, it would be nice to have the minutes run-time translated to dates in the Shire Reckoning of the book, and to remove Aragorn's small private detour in the middle of Two Towers, but I have no problem living with these).

Mythopoeic Society, Tuesday, 17 May 2011, ‘Mythopoeic Awards: 2011 Finalists Announced’
http://www.mythsoc.org/news/awards-finalists-2011/
Of particular interest in this special context is that four of the five finalists for the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies are on Tolkien, while the last is on C.S. Lewis Narnia books. I also see that I lack two of the four Tolkien-related finalists, so I had better free up some room in my Tolkien budget ;)
JF, Tuesday, 17 May 2011, ‘2011 Mythopoeic Award Finalists’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/2011-mythopoeic-award-finalists.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3v3r4vb
Jason Fisher follows up on the announcement of the finalists here.

Associated Press, Wednesday, 18 May 2011, ‘Hobbits beware! To test emergency broadcast system, Hungary says severe floods in Middle-earth’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hobbits-beware-to-test-emergency-broadcast-system-hungary-says-severe-floods-in-middle-earth/2011/05/18/AFLgPP6G_story.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/67mfcua
Belonging in the light section of this month's news is the story that the Hungarian authorities have been using Middle-earth locations when testing their emergency broadcast system.

Josh Vogt, Monday, 23 May 2011, ‘Families celebrate Middle Earth Weekend in Birmingham, UK’
http://www.examiner.com/tolkien-in-national/families-celebrate-middle-earth-weekend-birmingham-uk
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6doeyaa
A brief report from the Middle-earth Weekend in Birmingham.

JDR, Tuesday, 24 May 2011, ‘Doug's New Tolkien Blog’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/05/dougs-new-tolkien-blog.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6zmwzvf
Doug Anderson's new blog http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com.

PC, Thursday, 26 May 2011, ‘The Hobbit Facsimile First Edition to celebrate its 75th Anniversary’
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/997-The_Hobbit_Facsimile_Edition.php
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5rvf52p
It appears that HarperCollins is serious about publishing a facsimile of the first edition of The Hobbit on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the book.

DAA, Monday, 30 May 2011, ‘News and Notes’
http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com/2011/05/news-and-notes.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6hec7tp
Doug Anderson comments a bit on some of the comments about Tolkien Studies vol. 8 (including the length of one of the reviews), and adds a few news, at least one of which has a clear Tolkien interest.

JF, Tuesday, 31 May 2011, ‘My book is moving forward’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-book-is-moving-forward.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ylww3f
Some news on the progress of Jason's forthcoming collection (as editor and contributor), Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays. The book deals with source criticism in a Tolkien context, and I am looking forward to having some of my preconceptions challenged. In general I see little or no use for source criticism that does nothing more than note a plausible source — but when source criticism goes on to explore what it might mean for our understanding of Tolkien's text, then my mood tends to change (in some ways one of my favourite books of Tolkien criticism, Verlyn Flieger's Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World, can be seen as an extended exploration of the source critical point that Tolkien was inspired by Owen Barfield's ideas, particularly those expressed in Poetic Diction).

= = = = Essays and Scholarship = = = =

BC, Sunday, 1 May 2011, ‘An Experiment with Time by J.W Dunne and the Inklings’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/experiment-with-time-by-jw-dunne-and.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/42yyd4l
Bruce Charlton raises the interesting idea that Lewis, Tolkien and other of the Inklings were so fascinated by Dunne's basic idea (regarding foresight in dreams, not regarding the nature of Time) that they tried it out themselves and found similar effects that satisfied them that it worked. I am fascinated with this idea, though I also remain rather sceptical (too much of the physicist, I suppose): I would like to see some better evidence that could suggest that the Inklings, both as a group and / or as individuals, had experimented with Dunne's ideas — I cannot think of any evidence with respect to Tolkien in particular that would, in my opinion, necessarily suggest more than fascination with the idea (i.e. evidence that cannot be fully and satisfyingly explained by the claim that Tolkien was fascinated with the idea at a literary level).
Charlton follows up on the idea with a later blog post here:
BC, Wednesday, 25 May 2011, ‘C.S Lewis as dreamer’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/cs-lewis-as-dreamer.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6kctszt
Not being a Lewis expert, I find it hard to comment either way. The timing of the episode mentioned could be important: would this be before or after Charlton thinks Lewis experimented with Dunne's ideas — if after, I think the omission of that in this context would be important.

BC, Friday, 6 May 2011, ‘Anti-dwarf prejudice - justified?’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/anti-dwarf-prejudice-justified.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/44tyx44
I was rather surprised to find Bruce Charlton arguing that general prejudice against Dwarves should be justified: this really does go against my reading of The Lord of the Rings, but that is precisely one of the things that I enjoy about Charlton's blog — whether I agree or not, his posts usually do force me to think at least twice, and I generally learn something from that.

BC, Sunday, 15 May 2011, ‘Dom Jonathan Markison OSB = Gervase Mathew OSB’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/dom-jonathan-markison-osb-gervase.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3evm5hz
Just a brief note from Charlton that he agrees with the identification of the character Dom Jonathan Markison in The Notion Club Papers with Gervase Mathew. The evidence is, I think, compelling, but I can't help ask if this can tell us more about the fictional character and his role in the Notion Club, or if it can possibly tell us more about the role of Mathews in the real club, the Inklings.

BC, Monday, 16 May 2011, ‘John Wain versus C.S. Lewis and the nature of The Inklings’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/john-wain-versus-cs-lewis-wrt-inklings.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3t79n9u
Very interesting piece on the cultural agenda of the Inklings and whether they, as a group, were conscious of this agenda.

JF, Friday, 20 May 2011, ‘A new collective plural?’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-collective-plural.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3grwe7b
A discussion of Tolkien's use of the word valour in the sentence ‘leading a great valour of the folk of Lebennin and Lamedon and the fiefs of the South’ from the arrival of Aragorn with the Dúnedain and the people from the lower Anduin to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Remember to read also the comments, which provide new angles and possibilities.

JF, Monday, 23 May 2011, ‘An apocryphal anecdote?’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/apocryphal-anecdote.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3ej4cag
The minutiae of Tolkien's life are also of interest to Tolkien scholars, so the question of whether Tolkien actually did take the time to show around an American visitor, and once student, to Merton during a very busy period in 1953 is relevant — did he even treat these American visitors, Stanley Vestal and friend, to Danish lager in his own room? The last bit is even more interesting — unless the quality of Danish lager has degenerated considerably in the past six decades, it would say nothing good about Tolkien's taste in beers if he kept Danish lager in his room . . . ;-)

JF, Thursday, 26 May 2011, ‘The ends of worms — and their beginnings’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/ends-of-worms-and-their-beginnings.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/67fvyoq
A curious observation on the ends and beginnings of worms in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Good catch, I say, though I am otherwise completely with N.E. Brigand in asking ‘what does it mean?’ I think that I am, personally, more inclined than many others to accept coincidence as at least a partial explanation (Tolkien being Tolkien would, as the rest of us are, be inclined to reproduce certain thought-patterns without conscious thought or connection), but I would still prefer a good explanation that could convince me that it was deliberate.

LS, Saturday, 28 May 2011, ‘And now for something completely different....’
http://theruminate.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-now-for-something-completely.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6h7roaj
The title might make one expect something reminiscent of Monty Python, but if such is your expectations, you will be disappointed. Instead we are treated to a piece of Beowulf scholarship: the paper that Larry read at this year's Kalamazoo. I do realize that there are more serious aspects of the discussion (I strongly suspect that the correct glossing of a single word in Beowulf would by itself be considered a worthy subject for a paper at Kalamazoo), but ultimately the paper discusses ‘where Grendel's hand is displayed after Beowulf's victory.’ A good and worthy story-internal question that differs from a discussion of Balrog Wings mostly by the age of the English upon which the reading hinges ;-) Oh, and do go and read the paper, it's actually quite interesting and of course it is written by a stapol of AFT & RABT; though I won't pretend to get every single hint and detail, I certainly have no problem following the discussion.

BC, Monday, 30 May 2011, ‘Tolkien speaks from the past to us now?’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/tolkien-speaks-from-past-to-us-now.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6gbcc5g
I am not sure that I can quite unravel all the multi-dimensional time-threads, both fictional, perceived, dreamed and real, that are involved here — or maybe I am trying too hard to think about it. There is something both attractive and repelling about the idea of Tolkien encoding a ‘message’ to the reader in this way. I remain intrigued, attracted even, but unconvinced.

= = = = Reviews and Announcements = = = =

Bethany Waugh, Mythprint, Tuesday, 10 May 2011, ‘The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films’
http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/music-lotr-films/
This review originally appeared in Mythprint vol. 48 no. 2 (whole no. 343) in February 2011.

Edward J. Kloczko, Monday, 16 May 2011, ‘Parma Eldalamberon 18’
http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/parma-eldalamberon-18/
This review originally appeared in Mythprint vol. 48 no. 2 (whole no. 343) in February 2011.

DAA, Tuesday, 17 May 2011, ‘Tolkien Studies volume 8 at the Printer’
http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com/2011/05/tolkien-studies-volume-8-at-printer.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3uj58uf
Along with the news implied in the headline, Doug Anderson also lists the contents of the eigth volume of Tolkien Studies. The essay section is dominated by names that I do not immediately recognize, which doesn't necessarily mean anything except that I am incredibly dense at times ;) On the other hand I am tempted to take it as a sign that the editors of Tolkien Studies are deliberately trying to promote a new generation of Tolkien scholars — a practice that I would agree strongly with.
This year it seems that the main body (if not all) of the previously unpublished source material is in John Garth's contribution, ‘Robert Quilter Gilson, T.C.B.S.: A Brief Life in Letters’ which focuses on a person in Tolkien's early life (a period that was also in focus in Verlyn Flieger's edition of Tolkien's retelling of the story of Kullervo and his Kalevala essays from volume 7). The ‘Notes and Documents’ section also includes a contribution by Janet Brennan Croft titled ‘The Hen that Laid the Eggs: Tolkien and the Officers Training Corps’ which I look forward to get a closer look at.
JF, Wednesday, 18 may 2011, ‘Tolkien Studies 8’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/tolkien-studies-8.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/43vj786
Jason Fisher follow up on Doug Anderson's announcement on his own blog.

TF, Thursday, 19 May 2011, ‘Thoughts on Reading about Ents’
http://parmarkenta.blogspot.com/2011/05/thoughts-on-reading-about-ents.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6dnpyzo
My review of an article in the recent Mythprint.

JDR, Monday, 23 May 2011, ‘MY LATEST PUBLICATION: Clyde Kilby Memoir’
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-latest-publication-clyde-kilby.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6f46ue3
John Rateliff announces the publication, edited by himself, of Clyde Kilby's speech at the 1983 Marquette Tolkien Conference (where Kilby was the guest of honour) in the latest volume of VII — the Wade Center's journal on their special-focus authors (Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, Sayers, Barfield, Chesterton, & MacDonald).

JF, Wednesday, 25 May 2011, ‘The first peek into Tolkien Studies 8’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-peak-into-tolkien-studies-8.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3rnz3y3
Having had time only to peek into the contents of the latest volume of Tolkien Studies we can hardly call Jason's report a review yet (though I hope that one is forthcoming). I am not sure that I am entirely happy with the idea that others can get the book in hand (or on screen) a month or two before I do, but it's nonetheless interesting to see what is being written. In this case the focus, both of the blog entry itself and of the comments, is mainly on the variations in the lengths of the reviews.

Edward J. Kloczko, Thursday, 26 May 2011, ‘Parma Eldalamberon 19’
http://www.mythsoc.org/reviews/parma-eldalamberon-19/
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3h8wyhw
This review originally appeared in Mythprint vol. 48 no. 2 (whole no. 343) in February 2011.

= = = = Other Stuff = = = =

Philip Normal, NY Times, Sunday, 15 January 1967, ‘The Prevalence of Hobbits’
http://www.nytimes.com/1967/01/15/books/tolkien-interview.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/69tz6km
This interview was pointed out here:
Trotter, Sunday, 22 May 2011, ‘Tolkien Interview’
http://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1528&forum=7
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5wvwra5
Where this is thought to be the ‘full text of an interview that Tolkien gave to Philip Norman for The Sunday Times on the 9th August 1966’.

BC, Sunday, 22 May 2011, ‘The Inklings were historians’
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/inklings-were-historians.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5skh8hf
This post is presented more in the nature of stating an opinion than as a careful analysis (such analysis may of course nonetheless underlie it). The concluding paragraph states that the Inklings ‘were engaged in trying to reconnect the modern mind with an historical mode of thought, a mythic mode of thought’. My own knowledge of the Inklings as a group is certainly insufficient to comment on that perspective, but though I essentially agree that this also applies with respect to Tolkien in particular, I can't help but think that this, while it certainly hits the target, still is not in the bull's eye. My problems is that at the moment this is a mere ‘feeling’ I've got — I have nothing to show in the way of suggesting what is missing and even less when it comes to actual evidence.

JF, Tuesday, 24 May 2011, ‘Lingwë is four years old today!’
http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2011/05/lingwe-is-four-years-old-today.html
http://preview.tinyurl.com/65d9wev
Congratulations to Jason Fisher!

= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =

Frodo's Illness (rec.arts.books.tolkien & alt.fan.tolkien)


http://preview.tinyurl.com/5w6yw7r
Having started in April, this discussion was re-invigorated in May by getting side-tracked into a discussion of when Frodo actually put on the One Ring for the first time.

= = = = Web Sites = = = =

I will try to present a couple of sites every month — if I've found a new site (of any kind) that I have found interesting, then I will add that, and then I'll throw in some oldies to keep things rolling ;-)

Douglas A. Anderson (DAA) — ‘Tolkien and Fantasy’
http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com
The top new ‘site’ is of course Douglas A. Anderson's new blog that focuses on Tolkien in particular and the fantasy genre in general.

O. Sharp, ‘The Tolkien Sarcasm Page’
http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/tolksarc.htm
Probably well known to all regulars of the Tolkien Usenet Newsgroups, this page nonetheless still deserves to be promoted. This is the home of many wierd things that have originated on AFT and RABT, including the E-text and a number of ‘crackpot theories’. Enjoy!

= = = = 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

Douglas A. Anderson (DAA) — ‘Tolkien and Fantasy’
http://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com

Corey Olsen (CO), ‘The Tolkien Professor’
http://www.tolkienprofessor.com

David Bratman (DB), ‘Calimac’
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

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

Smile
    a while
        ere day
            is done
and all
    your gall
        will soon
            be gone.
- Piet Hein, ‘Advice at Nightfall’