News Items
Tolkien Illustrator Pauline Baynes dies
Wayne Hammond reports that Pauline Baynes, long-time friend and favorite illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien, just passed away at her home in Surrey. She would have turned 86 next month. (From Tolkienguide.com)
There is an obituary well worth reading on Brian Sibley's blog.
Article about Tolkien
Proceedings of the 5th Unquendor Lustrum Conference in Lembas Extra
The proceedings of the 5th Unquendor Lustrum Conference 2006 are now available, published in a special Lembas Extra issue. The 2006 Lustrum celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Dutch Tolkien Society Unquendor. Ron Pirson PhD and Dorine Ratulangie MA invited several scholars who contributed to studies or art in a Tolkien context: Professor Cor Blok, guest of honour of the Lustrum Conference, Professor Arne Zettersten, Renée Vink MA, Professor Nils Ivar Agøy, and Johan Vanhecke MA. The papers they presented are included in this Lembas Extra.
As a tribute we have included one of the papers Ron Pirson PhD wrote in Dutch on Tolkien. He initiated the organisation of the Lustrum Conference. His illness and his passing in 2006 saddened us all. This Lembas Extra is dedicated to him.
Lembas Extra is available at the Dutch Tolkien Society Unquendor (www.unquendor.nl) and the Tolkienwinkel (www.tolkienwinkel.nl).
Movie of The Hobbit announced.
Theonering.net reports that Peter Jackson is to make two movies based on The Hobbit.
Cair Andros: A moot in Greece
On October 5th the Prancing Pony, the Greek Tolkien Society, has celebrated their fifth anniversary with a gathering over the weekend to discuss and share experiences about Tolkien. Read the report that Circi sent us from Greece.
Beowulf
Now that the animated movie Beowulf is out, (read a review of the movie here) this may be the time to remind readers of JRR Tolkien’s ground-breaking essay Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics. This solidly scholarly essay took issue with stone-faced academics who believed that the monsters in the story were a trashy side-issue and put them back at the heart of the poem. This may serve as a reminder to anyone who has forgotten that Tolkien understood and believed in the creative and imaginative heart of stories, not just an analysis of them. The essay also contains one of Tolkien’s finest allegories. Read a review of Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics here.
You can find this and several of Tolkien’s other scholarly essays in the very readable paperback The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays by JRR Tolkien (HarperCollinsPublishers). From TS Trading, large bookstores on and off line, or to order from smaller bookstores.
Ent leaf appeal
"Leaves from the Ent" are being sold on EBay to pay for the erection of a sculpture to be located near Birmingham's Tolkien Trail.
Lord of the Rings Musical
Several members of the Tolkien Society have seen the Lord of the Rings Musical, and have reported that it was well worth going. Here is a review of the musical by Tolkien Society Chairman, Chris Crawshaw, and another review by former treasurer Rachael Livermore. Here is the website for the show.
Books by Owen Barfield
Sophia Perennis Publications has just brought back into print eight books by Owen Barfield, colleague of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, who has been acclaimed one of the most original minds of the 20th century; his Saving the Appearances remains a universally recognized classic. The titles newly available are:
- The Rediscovery of Meaning and Other Essays
- Romanticism Comes of Age
- Speaker's Meaning
- Worlds Apart
- History, Guild and Habit
- Owen Barfield on C. S. Lewis
- Unancestral Voice
- What Coleridge Thought
Alliance of literary societies
The Tolkien Society is a member of the Alliance of Literary Societies (ALS). The first issue of the ALS's new Journal "ALSo..." on the subject of censorship and copyright is now available on-line to all members of the Tolkien Society. Please go to the members section of this site for instructions.
The Children of Húrin: reviews
The Daily Telegraph has published a review of The Children of Húrin by John Garth.
Spanish Hobbit reader's guide announced
Spanish publishing house Espasa Calpe is going to publish The Hobbit Reader's Guide for Students (in Spanish), as part of the relaunching of their "Colección Austral", dedicated to the republishing of classical authors of universal literature. For the first time in this collection, Espasa will publish works of contemporary authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien.
This edition of The Hobbit contains, apart from the story of Bilbo Baggins and the map of Thrór, a biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, chronology and bibliography, a reader's guide for students with activities and a glossary Middle-earth terms.
It is the first time that a reader's guide to a Tolkien work has been published in Spanish. The guide has been edited by Paola Castagno (co-author of J.R.R. Tolkien: Preguntas Frecuentes (y no tan frecuentes), a book answering some FAQs about Middle-earth and Tolkien's work and life) and Leandro Pascual (webmaster of www.elfenomeno.com, a Spanish site devoted to J.R.R. Tolkien's work).
The book will be released in October 2006 in Spain.
MGM 2006 - Tolkien ring tops list of NT favourites
National Trust curators singled out the ring that inspired Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as their favourite item in a new online exhibition organised for Museum and Galleries Month 2006.
Librarians Poll
The Lord of the Rings has come in at 3 in a poll of books, chosen by librarians, that "every adult should read before they die". More here: Tolkien highly rated by librarians.
The Ring of Words
When Tolkien came back from the Great War, his first employment was as an assistant on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary, and he later said that he had 'learned more in those two years than in any other equal part of [his] life'. His work as a lexicographer is explored in this forthcoming book, The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, and Edmund Weiner, due for UK publication in April 2006. The authors are all senior editors of the OED.
The book relates Tolkien's lexicographical experiences to a broader consideration of his use, revival, and creation of English words. The main section is made up of individual 'word studies' which explore words found in Tolkien's fiction in terms of their origins, development, and significance in his fictional world, with entries on such words as 'hobbit', 'mathom', 'dwarf', 'Middle Earth', 'attercop', 'precious', 'Smeagol', and 'waybread'. The Ring of Words offers a new angle on Tolkien's creative world, and also includes illustrations of some of his own dictionary slips from the archives of Oxford University Press.
Tolkien Society Archives
Podcast interview with Tolkien Society archivist Pat Reynolds, by Xan P Phillips.
Calling all tourists to 'Middle-earth'
Durham University doctoral student Danielle Smith is undertaking an ESRC- funded project into the experiences of tourists to mythical and fantastic locations, through two case studies- the landscapes of New Zealand/ Middle Earth, and Arthurian sites in the South West of Britain.
Through working with tourists at these sites, she hopes to illuminate how locations from fiction or legend are important to us, and the ways in which we experience these landscapes. What does it feel like to 're-live the magic' of your favourite scenes, or to 'walk in the footsteps' of mythical heroes? Danielle has a research website, at www.durham.ac.uk/d.e.smith, with further information on the project. She is also currently looking for individuals who have been influenced to visit New Zealand by the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, whether on a specific themed tour, or independently, visiting some of the locations as part of a broader itinerary. Please contact her by e-mail at d.e.smith@durham.ac.uk
George Sayer
The Telegraph reports the death of George Sayer, biographer of CS Lewis, on 20 October 2005 at the age of 91. The obituary deals mainly with Sayer's friendship with C S Lewis, remarking in passing that he was a friend of Tolkien's. George Sayer did two very important things in the history of JRR Tolkien's writings. In 1952, when Tolkien was very low due to ill-health and his impending retirement (likely to be impoverished), Sayer found a diversion in the form of a tape-recorder. After some initial nervousness, Tolkien became enthusiastic and recorded a number of poems and passages from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (then substantially finished but not yet published). These recordings eventually became the collection "JRR Tolkien reads from The Hobbit and LotR", still in print today. Tolkien proved to be a clear and effective reader, despite his reputation for inaudible lecturing. Sayer also offered much-needed encouragement at a time when Tolkien felt that The Lord of the Rings would never be published and, if it were, would not be read by anyone. Sayer was as a teacher and friend a man who inspired people, and will be remembered by everyone who benefited from that inspiration with affection and gratitude. His 1992 talk about his friendship with Tolkien is printed in Tolkien: A Celebration edited by Joseph Pearce. (HarperCollins or Ignatius Press) and The Proceedings of the 1992 Tolkien Centenary Conference (Tolkien Society/Mythopoeic Society). Both publications appear to be out of print at present, but can be found second hand.
A Reader's Companion
Now in the shops, The Lord of the Rings - A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. Long in the making, this useful volume explains, cross references and provides historical information about The Lord of the Rings as you read it. Misprints and other updates are also listed, and there is some previously unpublished material, including a further portion of Tolkien's letter to Milton Waldman in 1951, extra notes to his Nomenclature of the Lord of the Rings, and notes from material written for 'The Hunt for the Ring' (What were the Nazgul up to on the way to Crickhollow, and why was the Witch King nervous?). There is much cross-referencing to facts scattered throughout the Histories and Unfinished Tales. Out in hardback, and, usefully, in paperback; matching the 2005 white cover editions with Tolkien's 'ring' design on the covers.
Dutch Tolkien books
The Tolkien Library has announced publication of the complete bibliography of all Dutch Tolkien books on line.
Tolkien 2005
The Tolkien Society and many other international societies joined forces to stage a 5-day event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the complete publication of The Lord of the Rings. The event, held between 11 and 15 August 2005, was a great success. Here is a press release on Tolkien 2005. There are also reports from the New York Times, The Telegraph, and The Guardian (audio).
Funding for e-learning or other Tolkien based projects
Are you a teacher or LEA advisor with a Tolkien-based e-learning, programme or other project that you'd like to develop? Funding of up to £1,000 is available for you to spend 3 days or more working with the Tolkien Society Archive to make it more accessible, in or out of school hours.
White Tree Fund
Formed by the Tolkien/Lord of the Rings community initially to respond to the need of victims of the tsunami disaster, now for other disasters. White Tree Fund homepage.
Legal battle over the use of the word "shire".
The Register, http://www.theregister.co.uk/ reports that Warner Brothers, New Line Productions and The Saul Zaentz Company claim a right to any domain name containing the word "shire". In particular, they wish to take the domain name "shiremail.com" from the email business that currently uses it. More about the "shire" legal wrangle here.
