Tolkien Transactions XVII
Troels Forchhammer
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 v�n Ronald och hans v�rldar_ (My friend
Ronald and his worlds).
PC, Sunday, 18 September 2011, "Tolkien, le fa�onnement 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 _M�n 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
N�men�rean 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" = =
These are the blog-entries of the "Tolkien Month" at the blog "The
World's Strongest Librarian". Some of them are excellent while
others are less so, but for the sake of completeness, I list all the
posts.
JH, Friday, 2 September 2011, "Some Very Brief Background on What
Led to Bilbo The Hobbit"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12085/bilbo-the-hobbit-origins/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/64zh6so>
JH, Wednesday, 7 September 2011, "Writing and Publishing The
Hobbit"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12119/writing-and-publishing-the-hobbit/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/66lqlg7>
JH, Friday, 9 September 2011, "Reading Too Much Into The Hobbit?
Themes, Symbolism, Characters, and Academics"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12122/reading-too-much-into-the-hobbit-themes-symbolism-characters-and-academics/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/62es3uk>
JH, Monday, 12 September 2011, "Juvenile Trash! Two Critics That
Hated The Lord of the Rings and One Other Essay Worth Reading"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12133/juvenile-trash-two-critics-that-hated-the-lord-of-the-rings-and-one-other-essay-worth-reading/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/5smf63o>
JH, Tuesday, 13 September 2011, "How To Invent A Language -- Tolkien
and Philology"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12150/how-to-invent-a-language-tolkien-and-philology/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/66gbmfr>
JH, Wednesday, 14 September 2011, "Some Names From The Lord of the
Rings That Tolkien Wisely Changed"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12156/some-names-from-the-lord-of-the-rings-that-tolkien-wisely-changed/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/6zjwaxz>
JH, Monday, 19 September 2011, "Who Is the Hero of The Lord of The
Rings?"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12160/who-is-the-hero-of-the-lord-of-the-rings/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/6kmvt6l>
JH, Tuesday, 20 September 2011, "Does Faddism Make It Harder to Take
Something Seriously?"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12170/does-faddism-make-it-harder-to-take-something-seriously/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/6y55wj3>
JH, Thursday, 22 September 2011, "The Lord of The Rings �" Book Vs.
The Movies?"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12178/the-lord-of-the-rings-books-vs-the-movies/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/6da8ut7>
JH, Monday, 26 September 2011, "Tips For Reading The Silmarillion?"
<httphttp://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12187/tips-for-reading-the-silmarillion/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/64glebv>
JH, Tuesday, 27 September 2011, "Beowulf: The Monsters and the
Critics"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12192/beowulf-the-monsters-and-the-critics/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/6eocjaz>
JH, Wednesday, 28 September 2011, "The End of Tolkien Month"
<http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/12203/the-end-of-tolkien-month/>
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/5s2luhx>
= = = = 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...@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...@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....@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 clich�s 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) -- "Lingw� -- 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 Il�vatar"
<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
--
Troels Forchhammer <troelsfo(a)googlewave.com>
Valid e-mail is <troelsfo(a)gmail.com>
Please put [AFT], [RABT] or 'Tolkien' in subject.
People are self-centered
to a nauseous degree.
They will keep on about themselves
while I'm explaining me.
- Piet Hein, /The Egocentrics/