Tolkien Gleanings #67.

* On YouTube, a “Christopher Tolkien interview compilation 2022” (September 2022). This is over an hour of segments otherwise stuck in other videos. Also includes some clips of Priscilla Tolkien remembering her father, and one section in French with hard-coded subtitles.

* Doxacon (May 2023) has its presentations from the conference on “Orthodox Faith and Fandom” online, in streaming audio. No downloads, although UBlock Origin | ‘Inspect’ link | open the DIV will find the code with the .MP3 link you need. Tolkien items include…

  – Tolkien Panel (discussion panel)

  – “Biblical Typology in The Lord of the Rings”

  – “Spiritual Portraits from the Tolkien Legendarium”

  – “J.R.R. Tolkien and Flannery O’Connor on Christians”

  – “Middle-earth, Writing About the Real, and the Theology of Community”

* In French from 2020, a Radio France audio tour with Vincent Ferre, curator of the Tolkien exhibition at the BNF [French national museum], and astrophysicist Roland Lehoucq, among other contributors, on “Tolkien and the sciences”. Seems to be a topic-focused tour of the vast Middle-earth exhibition recently staged in Paris?

* A new ebook (short, at 80 pages in paper) from an expert British faerie-folklore blogger. I’ve been following his blog for some years now. His No Earthly Sounds: Faery Music, Song & Verse is…

“on their music and song … to try to provide a comprehensive statement as to why the faeries sing and play instruments — and what exactly those tunes sound like.”

* A Masters dissertation for Washington University, “Legends of Light: Crafting middle-grade fantasy in the tradition of Catholic philosophy and medieval visual culture”. It’s a Fine Arts dissertation, which implies encouraging things about the department. Makes reference to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, among others, for…

“the writing and illustrating of middle-grade literature that mirrors the wonder-inducing experiences of leafing through an illuminated manuscript and stepping into a Gothic cathedral.”

… and the PDF is designed as if a professional book. “Middle-grade” is an American school-system term that means middle childhood, ages 8-12.

* And finally, over in Germany I see that there’s an adult education course in Duisburg on Tolkien’s art and calligraphy…

“‘The Art of Middle-earth — J.R.R. Tolkien as Visual Artist and Calligrapher’ is the title of the last Jour Fixe in the spring semester of 2023. Axel Voss leads the program.”

Yes, I can see that Tolkien and calligraphy would be a good and natural choice for an adult education evening-course. And easy to market and get local press/blog coverage for.