Tolkien Transactions L

June 2014

All the usual disclaimers apply about newness, completeness and relevance (or any other implication of responsibility) :-)

These transactions are posted on my blog, Parma-kenta (Enquiry into the books) and on the Tolkien Society web-site.

This month it has suited my purposes to sort the contents under the following headlines:
Beowulf
News
Essays and Scholarship
Commentary
Reviews and Book News
Tolkienian Artwork
Other Stuff
Rewarding Discussions
Web Sites
The Blog Roll
Sources

= = = = Beowulf = = = =

BC, Sunday, 1 June 2014, ‘Review of JRR Tolkien - Beowulf: a translation and commentary’
As idiosyncratic a review as one could expect, but not without virtues. The idea that Tolkien's commentary on Beowulf shows Tolkien at work as philologist is intriguing, though Charlton appears to forget — or chooses to ignore — that the old-fashioned philology that Tolkien practiced was close to being an exact science: it was a matter of rules and predictability; indeed the predictability is at the very heart of the so-called asterisk-forms, which Shippey has emphasised.

Ken Raymond, NewsOK, Sunday, 1 June 2014, ‘Tolkien's 'Beowulf' battles critics’
Fortunately I do not have to try to assess the impact of Tolkien's Beowulf translation and commentary on modern Beowulf scholarship. At a guess, the new book will probably be cited more than most (if not all) other Beowulf research published in 2014, though that is, of course, not necessarily a good measure of its impact. It would seem rather unfair to expect it to revolutionise the field like his 1936 Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics – few scholars get to completely revolutionise their field twice within the same sub-branch (I've tried to think of an example in physics, but failed, though I can come up with a couple that revolutionised their field in two different sub-branches). Though this review by Ken Raymond is generally positive, it does repeat some of the misunderstandings about Tolkien's own view of his transation that also Kevin Kiernan has propounded. For an intelligent answer to these misunderstandings, I recommend reading the ‘Beowulf - Reactions and Reviews’ thread linked in the discussions section.

Medievalist.net, Monday, 2 June 2014, ‘Eight Videos about Beowulf’
It would probably take quite an effort to completely convince me that the timing of this post on Medievalist.net featuring eight videos (ranging from 1'28" to 18'30") has nothing to do with the recent release of Tolkien's Beowulf, but it doesn't really matter, does it – the videos are quite interesting. The one with professor Patrick Brian McGuire shows him in Lejre, not far from where the photos from my May transactions were taken.

MM, Tuesday, 3 June 2014, ‘In the Grokking of the Beowulf’
Some interesting notes on the dating of various lecture notes in the new Beowulf and the relation (in terms of time of composition) between various material from Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary and material from the composition of The Lord of the Rings published in The History of Middle-earth volumes VI—IX

Jim Beckerman, Wednesday, 4 June 2014, ‘New Tolkien translation music to the ears of Ramapo teacher’
Not so much a review as an interview with Yvette Kisor abour her impression of the book (I presume that most of the facts that are not in direct quotations are nonetheless supplied by Kisor). I do wonder, though, if Kisor really intends to assign all of Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary to her spring 2015 class.

Jeff Sypeck, Sunday, 8 June 2014, ‘‘Bless with a hard heart those who surround me…’’
A frank and intelligent review of the new book. Jeff Sypeck, at least as I read it, seems to suggest that Tolkien was too obsessed with conveying the meaning of the poem, and thereby lost some of its other qualities – “lest some beloved philological pebble be lost,” as he says.

Dimitra Fimi, Tuesday, 10 June 2014, ‘Dr Dimitra Fimi on Sellic Spell and Folktales’
From the Tolkien Society and Middle-earth Network Launch Party for Tolkien's Beowulf, Dr Dimitra Fimi talks about the story Sellic Spell and its character as a folk-tale.

Ben Gardiner, Harper Collins, Tuesday, 10 June 2014, ‘Designing Beowulf’
A short description of the visual design of the dust-jacket for Tolkien's Beowulf and the process leading up to it, this provides an interesting insight into one of the many processes that take place in the publishing of a book like this.

‘Greendragon’, Wednesday, 11 June 2014, ‘Tolkien's Beowulf – a review’
A review of Tolkien's translation of the Beowulf poem and of Christopher Tolkien's preface and notes (the author has not completed the rest of the book yet).

Almudena Nido, Medievalist.net, Saturday, 14 June 2014, ‘Grendel: Boundaries of Flesh and Law’
Though not related to Tolkien's Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, this article (a paper from a 2012 conference) diving into Grendel would still belong here, I think. We know how Tolkien championed the monsters of the poem as essential, and this article, takes an even closer look at Grendel, specifically.

SM, Saturday, 14 June 2014, ‘First Saturday in June’
The Southampton Tolkien Reading Group has started reading Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary in June. As usual the comments arising from their discussions are well worth reading, including a likely error in the translation (they where thy should have been).

= = = = News = = = =

Please refer to the news section of the Tolkien Society web-site: news for June 2014
News appearing on that site will only be reported here if I have something to add beyond what is said there.

Eriq Gardner, Hollywood Reporter, Tuesday, 10 June 2014, ‘Warner Bros. Wants to Disqualify Tolkien Lawyers in “Hobbit” Fight’
I suppose it will be no surprise to anyone reading this that I would like to see the rights of Saul Zaentz Co. and Warner Bros. reduced and limited at much as at all possible, and preferably revoked entirely. Reading about these incessant legal battles, however, is tiring – how on earth can it be a problem that anyone wishes for the people who know best to be heard in a case?

David Emerson, The Mythopoeic Society, Wednesday, 11 June 2014, ‘Mythopoeic Awards finalists announced’
Ooohh! Exciting! As usual I focus on the scholarly awards, and particularly the one in Inklings studies. I don't know the two books on Lewis that are among the finalists, but the Tolkien books look good. While I think that not all of the contributions to Jason Fisher's book meet the standards he sets out in his own paper, I would still say that this book is a very welcome contribution to Tolkien studies. The same is, I would say, the case with Mark Atherton's book, though I have not yet finished it. Corey Olsen's book seems to me to be aimed more at an introductory level – but it is undoubtedly a great resource for drawing in younger students who need a taste of how one can approach a beloved text with respect that increases one's appreciation rather than lowering it (as was, unfortunately, often the case with the literary criticism I was supposed to do when I went to school).

Joe Gilronan
Lake Town (13 Dwarves and a Hobbit named Bilbo)

Adi Bloom, TES Connect, Wednesday, 11 June 2014, ‘Tolkien: 'The Hobbit goes down well at school, but teaching is depressing'’
The story of a letter sent to teacher Anne Mountfield from J.R.R. Tolkien in response to a letter from one of her fourth-graders that she had forwarded to Tolkien with a covering note, thanking him for helping her (throught the means of The Hobbit) to keep her class silent and attentive. To the typed response, Tolkien added a more personal response to the teacher, showing his desire to go back and tell his own teachers of long ago what impact they had made on him. An image of the whole letter can be viewed at the auction site: Bonhams – lot 277
See also Alison Flood, The Guardian, Thursday, 12 June 2014, ‘JRR Tolkien called teaching 'exhausting and depressing' in unseen letter’ and Peter Jacobs, Business Insider, Wednesday, 18 June 2014, ‘J. R. R. Tolkien Has A Touching Message For His Former Teachers In Newly Discovered Letter’

Lynn Maudlin, Mythopoeic Society, Saturday, 21 June 2014, ‘Mythcon 46 Dates & Location Announced’
Hoping to go to the 46th MythCon next year? Then see here where you might find yourself as July turns to August in 2015 ... See also the Progress Report 2 for this year's Mythopoeic Society Conference (June 27)

Kris Swank, Mythgard Institute, Tuesday, 24 June 2014, ‘CFP: Tolkien at Kalamazoo 2015’
In this call for papers, you can also learn what the paper sessions on Tolkien will be at the 2015 Kalamazoo International Medieval Congress:

• Tolkien's Beowulf (no big surprise there ...)
• Tolkien and medieval Victorianism (nice title – inviting curiosity)
• Tolkien as linguist and medievalist (thinking set theory, I wonder if they mean the union or the intersection here ...)

See also Kris Swank, Mythgard Institute, Wednesday, 25 June 2014, ‘Sneak Peek @ K'zoo 2015 includes Tolkien panels’ as well as the more detailed information from Anna Smol below.

Trish, Mythgard Institute, Tuesday, 24 June 2014, ‘Mythmoot III: Ever On…. Registration is open!’
On the third Mythmoot to be held in January 2015.

Idan Schneider, C-Section Comics, Friday, 27 June 2014, ‘Politically Incorrect Tolkien’
This one has been making its rounds in Tolkien circles, and it's a good enough joke to share. But though most of these more stupid accusations (Tolkien being misogynist, racist, anti-semitic, etc.) can be easily refuted and summarily rejected, we also do need to keep in mind that Tolkien did hold some views on the importance of biology (both in terms of inheritance and sex) that would be very controversial today (and which science would have severe issues with), though he was very moderate, possibly even progressive, eighty years ago.

AS, Sunday, 29 June 2014, ‘Tolkien and medievalism sessions, K'zoo 2015’
The most detailed break-down of Tolkien and related sessions at the 2015 K'zoo congress that I have seen so far. As always I regret that I am unlikely to be able to attend ... some day, perhaps.

= = = = Essays and Scholarship = = = =

Medievalist.net
Highlights from June:
“Viking Nicknames” (1 June), — Thorinn Eikinskjaldi, anyone? I wonder if a Dunlending could be called Ulf? At least one of the examples mentioned is ‘Ulf the Squint-Eyed’, which of course reminds me of the squint-eyed southener in Bree. Tolkien's work is full of nicknames, many of which follow the old Germanic forms.
“‘Warrior-women’ in Viking Age Scandinavia? A preliminary archaeological study” (3 June), — Not quite Éowyn, but almost ...
“Quid Tacitus . . . ? The Germania and the Study of Anglo-Saxon England” (6 June), — OK, so I'm a bit slow, but reading Deborah Higgens' book on Tolkien and Anglo-Saxon culture has brought it home sharply how much of our knowledge of the early Germannic tribes we owe to Tacitus.
“Anglo Saxon and Viking Ship Burial – The British Museum” (9 June), — A report from a talk at the British Museum by Norwegian archaeologist, Jan Bill, who talked about “various Viking burials and attempted to compare and contrast English and Norwegian funerary methods.”
“Demonic Magic in the Icelandic Wizard Legends” (25 June), — Oooh!
“The effects of Viking activity on Scandinavian society” (29 June), — more Troels than Tolkien, I admit, but still. It might be highly interesting also to see some research on how the popular image of Viking mythology and society influences contemporary Scandinavian societies – this might actually have a more Tolkienian angle as the presence of the old mythology in contemporary culture in the Scandinavian countries was one of the things that Tolkien mentions as something he missed in his own England.

Michael Flowers, The Tolkien Society, Monday, 9 June 2014, ‘A Hemlock by any other name…’
An excellent piece of research by Michael Flowers into the possible dating of the 1917 event that led to the fictional event where Lúthien and Beren meet and she danced for him in the woods. Looking at the flowering periods of some likely species of white umbellifers in the most likely spot (Dent's Garth by Roos), Michael Flowers argues that the event must have taken place in the latter half of May (roughly). As the conclusion is based on a number of assumptions regarding the specific species of umbellifer, the specific spot, and the exact correspondence of flowering periods in 1917 and 2014, I cannot share Flowers' confidence in the strength of his evidence, and at this time I would say that his argument opens possibilities, but that it is not strong enough to refute other possibilities.

JDR, Tuesday, 24 June 2014, ‘Lithe’
A nice little personal discovery by John Rateliff – it may be that many people knew this already, but I knew as little as John Rateliff.

DF, Friday, 27 June 2014, ‘Mythgard classes, Tolkien's Beowulf, JTR, Tolkien Companion and Kalamazoo’
Yay! Dimitra Fimi is blogging – for real! This blog-entry summarises a lot of recent news from Dimitra Fimi on Tolkienian matters, including a video of a Mythgard lecture from Fimi's course on ‘Celtic Myth in Children's Fantasy’.

= = = = Commentary = = = =

Ralph C. Wood, Monday, 2 June 2014, ‘“Sad, but Not Unhappy”: J.R.R. Tolkien's Sorrowful Vision of Joy’
Despite a few errors (a couple of which touch, I admit, fairly sore spots with me), and despite the obvious Christian agenda making me cautious, I found this opinion piece quite interesting. Filing it under ‘opinion’ emphasises the nature of applicability in this piece, which is an advantage, not least because the author's interpretation differs from Tolkien's interpretation on a number of specific points (some of which are quite central to the piece). Overall I would say that the piece, despite the inclusion of Tolkien's description of The Lord of the Rings as ‘a fundamentally religious and Catholic work;’, clearly shows that the author is unfamiliar with The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, which I think is quite a shame as that might have enabled the author to enter into a more informed dialogue with Tolkien himself on the interpretation of the text. If you read this, you should be aware that it does not agree with Tolkien's own interpretatation of his story on a number of points, but with that in mind, it is still an interesting reaction to a couple of Tolkien's stories.

MB, Sunday, 8 June 2014, ‘Not a Tolkien quote: You can only come to the morning through the shadow’
I agree wholeheartedly with Marcel that “You can only come to the morning through the shadow” is not merely incorrect, it is a distortion of what Tolkien actually wrote. So, now remember it!

DB, Wednesday, 25 June 2014, ‘Hwæt! am I going to talk about today?’
About a talk by Arden R. Smith on Tolkien's Beowulf – I'd have loved to have more details from the talk, but we can hope that they will come at some point anyway.

= = = = Reviews and Book News = = = =

JF, Tuesday, 3 June 2014, ‘New Book on Tolkien and Modernism’
An early (before reading the whole book) pre-review of Tolkien and the Modernists by Theresa Freda Nicolay. At this point Jason Fisher seems cautiously positive, with the main issue being the odd lack of earlier work on the topic in the bibliography.

H&S, Tuesday, 3 June 2014, ‘Aragorn, Part Two’
Christina Scull's review of Elizabeth M. Stephen's book on Aragorn, Hobbit to Hero: The Making of Tolkien's King. Coming after the review of Angela P. Nicholas' book, Aragorn: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Undervalued Hero in part one (see transactions for May), it is difficult not to compare the two reviews. Christina Scull seems a little less enthusiastic in this case, and uses more space to simply summarise the book's contents. In the end, I am, however, left with the impression of a book that will complement Nicholas' book quite well, for a reader who is willing to make the investment of time and effort.

The Telegraph, Tuesday, 3 June 2014, ‘Britain's best-loved children's book? Winnie-the-Pooh’
The relevant point here is of course that Tolkien's Hobbit comes in at fourth place after Winnie the Pooh, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar (perhaps I ought to get hold of the latter, which I haven't read). Personally I think Tolkien's book deserves a place on such a list mainly for its incredible suitability for reading out loud.
I agree with Tolkien's own assessment of the narrator, and with Flieger's assessment (‘Tolkien on Tolkien: ldquo;On Fairy-stories,” The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. In Green Suns and Faërie: Essays on J.R.R. Tolkien, pp. 54–64), and I think that Tolkien's greatest mistakes with the 1960 Hobbit was that he didn't go far enough, and that he didn't go through with it.

A. A. Nofi, Saturday, 7 June 2014, ‘Tolkien and the Peril of War, by Robert S. Blackham’
A short review of Bob Blackham's 2013 book on Tolkien in WWI. Judging by this very brief review, it would appear to cover a sub-section of the grounds covered by John Garth's Tolkien and the Great War, which Bob Blackham surely knows well, and it would have been good to have a discussion of what Blackham's book adds to the knowledge that is in Garth's book, but such a discussion would probably be more at home in a review for a periodical by one of the active Tolkien and Inklings societies.

JDR, Sunday, 8 June 2014, ‘TOLKIEN'S BEOWULF (First Impressions)’
As he says, some first impressions of Tolkien's Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary that does not go into details about the contents, but looks at it at an overview level – what is actually in the book, and what is not.

JF, Monday, 9 June 2014, ‘Another new Tolkien collection from McFarland’
About a new collection edited by Brad Eden, The Hobbit in Tolkien’s Legendarium: Essays on the Novel's Influence on the Later Writings. The collection does look promising, and with some very interesting contributions by leading scholars (and also a few that I would not normally seek out), but while the title suggests a very narrow topic field, it does not seem that it has been possible to stay within that topic – several contributions (even some of the promising looking ones) appear to wander rather far from the titular topic of how The Hobbit specifically influenced the later evolution of Tolkien's legendarium.

James Hamilton, Wednesday, 25 June 2014, ‘Book Review: The Hobbit – J.R.R.Tolkien’
A nice little review of The Hobbit – perhaps not such a bad thing to remind people that there is an actual story behind those films ...

= = = = Tolkienian Artwork = = = =

Lauren Davis, Tuesday, 3 June 2014, ‘These Medieval-Style Tolkien Illustrations Are Like Nothing We've Seen’
The Tolkien illustrations by Sergei Iukhimov are of course not new, but this collection is quite nice, and as Iukhimov does not appear to have a web-site of his own, I suppose this is a way to make his work better known.

Jenny Dolfen
Imbolc

JGi, Monday, 9 June 2014, ‘We are pleased to announce we sold this original of Joe's for £1000. This is the 4th original of his we sold in the last 30 days. Get one while you can!’
Congratulations to Joe Gilronan, and it really is a very good picture!

JGi, Thursday, 19 June 2014, ‘Lake Town (13 Dwarves and a Hobbit named Bilbo).’
A new charming picture by Joe Gilronan depicting the arrival of Bilbo and the Dwarves in the vicinity of Lake Town. A slightly different take than most, but it makes for a good composition.

JD, Monday, 21 June 2014, ‘Thoughts about crowdfunding for graphic and written projects’
Upon the fully deserved success of Jenny Dolfen's Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for her Darkness over Cannae illustrated novel, Jenny Dolfen has collected a few thoughts.
Also, though it is not really Tolkien-related, make sure to check Jenny's wonderful picture, Imbolc, which she posted on 21 June on her blog!

Sergiu, Thursday, 26 June 2014, ‘Fire and Smoke’
I am not sure what Sergiu may have had in mind here, but to my eyes it would be a great illustration of Smaug – or perhaps even more of one of the dragons of the original Fall of Gondolin from The Book of Lost Tales.

= = = = Other Stuff = = = =

EJ, Saturday, 7 June 2014, ‘Character age at the time of the Hobbit’
Emil Johansson continues his commendable effort to plot and graph us through Tolkien's best-known works, here with a chart of the ages of the various characters at the time of the events of The Hobbt.

MB, June 2014, ‘Not a Tolkien quote’
In June Marcel Aubron-Bülles has added three more ‘Things J.R.R. Tolkien has never said, done, written or had anything to do with’ to his over-growing series. I am very grateful to Marcel for the work he puts into this, and I am only too happy to try to spread the word. These are all found in the quotes section of The Tolkienist's blog, as they include the non-Tolkienian quotations, ‘You can only come to the morning through the shadow’, ‘Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation’, and ‘It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit’. And let's take it one more time: THESE ARE NOT BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN! So stop passing them on as his work!

JGa, Tuesday, 17 June 2014, ‘Secrets of The Hydra: how Tolkien research uncovered lost Wilfred Owen magazines’
Though the Tolkien connection is rather tenuous (a sidetrack from his Tolkien research), the story that John Garth tells in this post is still captivating and heart-warming.

Jeanette Sears, Sunday, 29 June 2014, ‘In Tolkien's Footsteps in Switzerland’
The charming story of a journey to Switzerland following in the footsteps of Tolkien's famous 1911 trip.

= = = = Rewarding Discussions = = = =

User ‘Lord of the Rings’, The LotR Plaza, May – June 2014, ‘Beowulf - Reactions and Reviews’
A collection of intelligent responses to Tolkien's Beowulf and the reviews.

= = = = Web Sites = = = =

Dr Dimitra Fimi
Dimitra Fimi has redesigned her website, so that it now appears with a fresh and inviting look. More importantly (at least for those of us for whom contents are more important than form) there is also a blog – hopefully we will here get a bit more than just headlines for the papers and classes, perhaps even some of the insights that have earned Dr Fimi such great respect in the wider Tolkien community (nudge-nudge, wink-wink).

= = = = The Blog Roll = = = =

These are blogs you really should be following yourself if you're interested in Tolkien ...
I've just reduced the list to those who have posted in June (whether Tolkien-related or not), without giving details on the posts (beyond that which is given above).

Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (S&H), ‘Too Many Books and Never Enough’

Jason Fisher (JF), ‘Lingwë -- Musings of a Fish’

Dimitra Fimi (DF), ‘Dr Dimitra Fimi: Academic and Writer’

Pieter Collier (PC), ‘The Tolkien Library’

John D. Rateliff (JDR) -- ‘Sacnoth's Scriptorium’
NN (+NN) Tolkien-related posts in June 2014

Marcel Aubron-Bülles (MB), ‘The Tolkienist’
See archive for June 2014

David Bratman (DB), ‘Kalimac's Journal’

Jenny Dolfen (JD), ‘Jenny's Sketchbook’

Anna Smol (AS), ‘A Single Leaf’

Various, The Mythopoeic Society

Various, The Tolkien Society (TS)

Various, Southfarthing Mathom

Emil Johansson (EJ), ‘LotR Project Blog’

Michael Martinez (MM), ‘Middle-earth’

Bruce Charlton (BC), ‘Tolkien's The Notion Club Papers’

= = = = Sources = = = =

New sources in June 2014:

Dimitra Fimi (DF), ‘Dr Dimitra Fimi: Academic and Writer’
Now also with a blog, and a nice subscribable feed! Also see above.

James Moffett(JM), ‘A Tolkienist's Perspective’
Claiming to be ‘meant for beginners, and avid fans alike, to J.R.R. Tolkien’ this blog seems to me mostly directed towards the beginners (but then, I am not sure I know what would suit the ‘avid fan’).

For older sources, see http://parmarkenta.blogspot.com/p/sources.html