Tolkien Transactions III
Troels Forchhammer
June - July 2010
I have just realised that I haven't posted a new version of this
since May, so this may grow a bit. I have also gone a bit beyond the
usual 'collected from around the 'net' concept in this issue.
Regardless of how much time I (mis)spend reading blogs and other
stuff, I will never be able to find everything, so please chime in
with interesting stuff that you have found elsewhere!
= = = = Sources = = = =
John D. Rateliff (JDR) - "Sacnoth's Scriptorium"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com>
Jason Fisher (JF) - "Lingwė - 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), "Calimac"
<http://calimac.livejournal.com/>
Larry Swain (LS), "The Ruminate"
<http://theruminate.blogspot.com>
Pieter Collier (PC), "The Tolkien Library"
<http://www.tolkienlibrary.com>
_Mythprint_ -- 'The Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society'
- and others
= = = = News = = = =
(JDR) Monday, May 31, 2010 "HOBBIT film delayed?"
http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/05/hobbit-film-delayed.html
John Rateliff seems to follow news about the Hobbit film closely.
Given his personal interest in the book, this should probably not
surprise me (or anyone else).
JDR, Tuesday, June 8, 2010, "More on the Hobbit Movie"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/more-on-hobbit-movie.html>
An update on the Hobbit film
JDR, Friday, June 25, 2010, "Peter Jackson's HOBBIT"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/peter-jacksons-hobbit.html>
Another update . . .
JDR, Sunday, June 20, 2010, "Tolkien Reference on THE DAILY SHOW"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/tolkien-reference-on-daily-show.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/34vxp65>
What it says . . .
JF, Tuesday, July 6, 2010, "Tolkien Studies 7 - table of contents announced!"
<http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2010/07/tolkien-studies-7-table-of-contents.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/34m3pwh>
Another one for my ever-increasing wish-list . . .
DAA, Tuesday, July 6, 2010, "Tolkien Studies Volume 7 (2010) goes to the printer!"
<http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2010/07/tolkien-studies-volume-7-2010-goes-to.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/2wjr64g>
What it says . . .
JF, Thursday, July 22, 2010, "Bengali, by golly!"
<http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2010/07/bengali-by-golly.html>
_The Hobbit_ in Bengali? What's next?
JDR, Saturday, July 24, 2010, "Conan Doyle"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/07/conan-doyle.html>
I'm not sure how serious John Rateliff intends his parallels between
Doyle and Tolkien -- certainly not all of it seems entirely serious
(and it is mostly parallels of reception), but still I love his
parting shot:
Still, I'm glad I'm a Tolkien scholar rather than a Doyle
scholar. I'd rather defend "Goblin Feet" over THE COMING
OF THE FAIRIES anyday.
JDR, Wednesday, July 28, 2010, "An Offer, Rescinded"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/07/offer-rescinded.html>
It has not much to do with Tolkien, but I was rather surprised to
read about the administration of the Marquette University -- perhaps
most surprised at the natural way that John Rateliff dismisses the
explanations of the president.
= = = = Essays and Scholarship = = = =
On the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, Dimitra Fimi is
giving two on-line Tolkien-related courses this semester: "Tolkien
and Fantasy Online Courses"
<http://www3.uwic.ac.uk/english/education/enterprise/courses/pages/tolkienfantasy.aspx>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/2u2bsmb>
I wish I could afford the GBP 310 (or 340) needed to enrol -- but
perhaps once the kids start moving out from home I will be able to
better afford self-indulgence (I'm sorry if I do a bad job at hiding
my yearning . . .)
JDR, Friday, June 4, 2010, "Hiawatha Earendil"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/hiawatha-earendil.html>
From Longellow's _The Song of Hiawatha_ to Tolkien's Straight Road
to the Blessed Realm in a blog post. Parallels between Longfellow
and Tolkien -- and a discussion of whether 'influence' is possible.
Personally I find this kind of seeking sources a bit dubious: even
if there are individual elements in which there are closer parallels
between Tolkien and Longfellow than between either and _Kalevala_ or
the _Eddas_, I cannot think why we should go looking for a link
(though it does seem to me likely that Tolkien would have read
Longfellow's work)? For one thing parallel evolution is also a
strong possibility, and for another Rateliff's emphases also takes
focus away from clear deviations between the two.
LS, Monday, June 07, 2010, Untitled (on Cynewulf)
<http://theruminate.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-mentioned-some-time-ago-that-i-was.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/2g3wqsv>
We know how Cynewulf influenced Tolkien with his Earendel line, and
so I think that any kind of Cynewulf scholarship deserves to
mentioned here. I actually find the distinction useful (if I
understand aright what Larry is saying): as I understand it, the
'mash-up' is roughly the same as what it geology is called a
'conglomerate' -- a kind of rock that is formed by the fusion of
several other kinds of rock, but where each element is still
recognisable in its new context. This is distinct from the
transformation in which one mineral is transformed into another (as
coal is transformed to diamond), or the imprint where the shape of
one thing is filled with something else -- still leaving a
recognisable shape, but now with something different inside (as in
the petrification of e.g. sea urchins). As I understand it, with the
proposed 'mash-up' the influence of the individual author (or poet)
lies more in the selection and mixing of the elements than in
reforming and reinterpreting the individual elements?
JDR, Monday, June 7, 2010, "Haggard's Unwritten Novel"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/haggards-unwritten-novel.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/2v4uqjq>
Rateliff has been looking into Haggard's influences on Tolkien, and
this blog post is related to this, though it touches only on Haggard
and not on Tolkien.
JDR, Thursday, June 17, 2010, "Did Tolkien Read Steinbeck?"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/did-tolkien-read-steinbeck.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/2wmbaxt>
Pertaining to one of our current threads about Tolkien's reading
habits. It seems that Hammond and Scull's _Companion and Guide_ will
be the right place to start in order to continue that thread :)
LS, Monday, June 28, 2010, "Tolkien's Macbeth"
<http://theruminate.blogspot.com/2010/06/tolkiens-macbeth.html>
A discussion of parallels between Shakespeare and Tolkien -- and of
the scholarly discussions of them. In view of how much there is to
say about this, I think it is an even more grievous fault that the
essays in _Tolkien and Shakespeare_ (mentioned in an earlier issue
of _Tolkien Transactions_) according to one reviewer fails to
convince the reader that a study of these is necessary.
LS, Tuesday, July 20, 2010, "Tolkien's Macbeth Update"
<http://theruminate.blogspot.com/2010/07/tolkiens-macbeth-update.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/3ykt5hv>
An update on the above.
JF, Tuesday, June 29, 2010, "Attercops, coming soon!"
<http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2010/06/attercops-coming-soon.html>
Jason announces a piece of scholarship to appear in the next issue
of _Mythlore_
JDR, Monday, July 26, 2010, "The Darkness Beneath (More Nightmares for the Tolkien Children?)"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/07/darkness-beneath-more-nightmares-for.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/2woktm9>
Perhaps it'd be to go too far to say that John Rateliff explores
horror elements in Tolkien's writing, but that's the direction he's
taking here ;)
= = = = Reviews = = = =
JF, Saturday, June 12, 2010, "Middle-earth Minstrel Reviewed"
<http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2010/06/middle-earth-minstrel-reviewed.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/2u88s7n>
Can one review a review? Jason tells of reviews in _Beyond Bree_. At
least two of these books (_Middle-earth Minstrel_ and _Music in
Middle-earth_) are on my wish-list.
PC, Monday, June 21, 2010, "The Middle-earth Quiz Book is back"
<http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/942-Tolkien_Middle-earth_Quiz_Book.php>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/37xr68n>
Reprinted with permission of the Tolkien Estate, I wonder if the
quizzes in this book are more challenging than the ones that
Christopher Kreuzer used to post here ;-)
PC, Tuesday, June 22, 2010, "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
Paperback Editions"
<http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/944-Legend_of_Sigurd_Gudrun_paperbacks.php>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/35cndxz>
Now available in paperback -- I am still not finally decided whether
to buy this or not, but the paperback price is, I will admit, far
more attractive than the hardcover price . . .
JDR, Sunday, June 27, 2010, "Tolkien's Monsters (documentary)"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/tolkiens-monsters-documentary.html>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/3yvnwyf>
A review of History Channel's _Tolkien's Monsters_ documentary
starring professors Drout, Fimi and Olsen :) I really wish they'd
air this on History's European channel!
PC, Wednesday, July 14, 2010, "Books about Tolkien - Tolkien
biographies"
<http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/951-Tolkien_biographies.php>
Pieter Collier in an article about biographical works on Tolkien. It
is, perhaps, a little unfair to include the hard-to-get _Tolkien
Family Album_, but overall I quite agree with Pieter's choices and
his comments.
JDR, Friday, July 30, 2010, "THE LOST EXPLORERS"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/07/lost-explorers.html>
Based on the story that Tolkien gave a copy of Alexander MacDonald's
_The Lost Explorers_ to the King Edward's School library (where the
tea club part of the TCBS started . . .) the year after he finished
at the school, John Rateliff summarises the book and looks for
Tolkienian parallels, calling any such echoes 'disappointingly few'.
He concludes that Tolkien was not influenced by this book, and goes
on to express relief at that conclusion.
_Mythprint_ #335 (Vol. 47 No. 6, June 2010)
Douglas C. Kane, review of Verlyn Flieger's _Interrupted Music_
Kane is, in my opinion quite naturally, very positive in his review
of Flieger's book, claiming, among other things, that 'no one does
more to open new avenues of thought in examining Tolkien's work than
Verlyn Flieger.'
Jason Fisher, "An Interview with Simon Tolkien"
It is quite natural that an interview in _Mythlore_ focuses on Simon
Tolkien's grandfather, but I can't help feeling a bit sorry for the
man that there is so much focus on his grandfather and so little on
his own writings. Jason, however, does remember to ask if there was
'anything [Simon Tolkien] would like to say to _Mythprint_ readers
to interest them in [his] own novels?'
Jason Fisher, "Report on the 13th Annual C.S. Lewis and Inklings
Society Conference."
Of three award-winning papers, two were on Tolkien, including
Jason's own, "Dwarves, Spiders, and Murky Woods; J.R.R. Tolkien's
Wonderful Web of Words" which was also given the award for being
'best in show' -- see also above under 'news' for his announcement
that this paper will be published in the forthcoming issue of
_Mythlore_.
_Mythprint_ #336 (Vol. 47 No. 7, July 2010)
This issue of _Mythprint_ is entirely filled with reports from
Mythcon 41. There are some tantalizing references to papers and
panels relating Tolkien. These sessions seem to be get particular
positive mention:
- Denise Roper: "The Lord of the Horcruxes: The Immortal Soul and
the Eternal War Between Good and Evil in the Fiction of
J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling"
- Panel: "Tolkien and Source Criticism: Rewards and Pitfalls", with:
John D. Rateliff, David Bratman, Jason Fisher, and moderator
Merlin DeTardo
- John D. Rateliff: "She and Tolkien Revisited"
I'm sure that there were many other good things (Jason Fisher read a
paper titled "Horns of Dawn: The Tradition of Alliterative Verse in
Rohan" which, from the title, appears to carry on from his excellent
essay in _Middle-earth Minstrel_).
= = = = Conference Season = = = =
- From Kalamazoo to Mythcon -
The conference season is over us, and it's by no means finished yet.
The first of the conferences was the academic Kalamazoo (Medieval
Studies -- also usually has a Tolkien track) and the latest (that is
relevant here) was the Mythcon (the conference of the US-based
Mythopoeic Society. More conferences are due later this summer (for
instance the " in the Shire" which is held in Wales in two weeks).
LS, Wednesday, May 26, 2010, "Kalamazoo 2010"
http://theruminate.blogspot.com/2010/05/kalamazoo-2010.html
Unfortunately he doesn't mention Tolkien -- other, and possibly more
important, things were on his mind, I suppose :)
DB Monday, May 31, 2010, "more Baycon panels"
<http://calimac.livejournal.com/452317.html>
Admittedly Baycon is at best peripheral to our interests here, but I
thought I'd nevertheless mention David Bratman's report.
JF, Monday, June 21, 2010, "Mythcon 41 Schedule"
<http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2010/06/mythcon-41-schedule.html>
It's a hard season to be a poor Dane . . .. My budget for this kind
of things is not as large as I would like, but I do plan on
attending the Tolkien Society's “Return of the Ring” conference in
2012 -- I am just trying to find a bit more patience ;-)
PC, Monday, June 21, 2010, "Tolkien Thing 2010 will be held on 18
July in Hersfeld"
<http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/943-Tolkien_Thing_2010.php>
Even Germany was out of reach (and my German is not quite good
enough for this, though of course I might have enjoyed a talk in
Danish with Caspar Reiff of the Tolkien Ensemble . . .)
JDF, Tuesday, June 29, 2010, "Next Up: MYTHCON"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/next-up-mythcon.html>
CO, Monday, July 19, 2010 "Kalamazoo 2010"
<http://www.tolkienprofessor.com/lectures/podcast1.html>
Recordings of the papers prof. Corey Olsen gave on Tolkien at
Kalamazoo 2010. I haven't had time to get around to listen myself,
but I am looking forward to it, as I quite like Corey Olsen's
approach to Tolkien scholarship.
JF, Monday, July 19, 2010, "Mythcon 41 internet roundup"
<http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2010/07/mythcon-41-internet-roundup.html>
A list of on-line reviews of Mythcon 41. It's very likely that this
is far from complete, but instead of hunting down a lot of reviews
myself, this seems to be far the easiest. Unfortunately most of the
reporters/reviewers don't focus on the academic tracks, nor on
Tolkien.
= = = = Other Stuff = = = =
JF, Tuesday, June 1, 2010, "Not with a bang but a whimper"
<http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2010/06/not-with-bang-but-whimper.html>
Jason has obviously been quite busy as both editor of _Mythprint_
and organiser of Mythcon, and so he hasn't been very prolific over
the past couple of months (however, see the conference section), but
over the three years he has been writing his blog, he has posted
many interesting articles relating to Tolkien.
PC, Tuesday, June 22, 2010, "Tolkien signed letters and books at the
Tolkien Shop in Leiden, Holland"
<http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/945-Signed_Tolkien_Books_at_Leiden.php>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/2wcgxdv>
Pieter Collier advertising for The Tolkien Shop in Leiden -- I need
to find an excuse to go there at some point . . . :-)
CO, Tuesday, July 6, 2010, "Call-In Office Hours 3"
<http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2010/06/next-up-mythcon.html>
I hope you'll forgive me, but I couldn't help plugging this session
where I managed to get through on Skype to Corey Olsen for a
discussion (among other things) of Bilbo's luck in _The Hobbit_. I
see what he means, though I am not sure what was Tolkien's intention
when he was writing the early (before the death of Smaug) parts of
_The Hobbit_ . . .
--
Troels Forchhammer <troelsfo(a)googlewave.com>
Valid e-mail is <troelsfo(a)gmail.com>
Please put [AFT], [RABT] or 'Tolkien' in subject.
And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left
the path of wisdom.
- Gandalf, /The Fellowship of the Ring/ (J.R.R. Tolkien)