Tolkien Gleanings #110.

* A new book collection of work by David Bratman, Gifted Amateurs and Other Essays: On Tolkien, the Inklings, and Fantasy Literature (2023). Available now as a $10 Kindle ebook from Mythopoeic Press. Among others, essays on…

   – The Artistry of Omissions and Revisions in The Lord of the Rings.
   – Smith of Wootton Major and Genre Fantasy.
   – Yes, There Is Religion in Middle-earth.
   – The Making of a Tolkien Fan: A Personal Reminiscence.

* Freely available online, “Tolkien and Comparative Historical Linguistics: Some insights from the earliest works on Elvish languages” (2022). “This paper aims to identify the influence of Tolkien’s academic background in the field of linguistic studies on the creation of his Elvish languages.”

* A 130+ minute podcast on Tolkien’s Letters On Anarcho-Monarchy (May 2023) with Professor Rachel Brown (medieval history at the University of Chicago).

* At the University of Oxford, “How to write The Lord of the Rings”. Being… “a series of free seminars [starting in early October 2023] aimed at those who have read Tolkien’s work but are interested in gaining a bit more insight into his life, career, and writings.” Includes Simon Horobin on “J.R.R. Tolkien: The Making of a Philologist” on 22nd November 2023. Face-to-face with limited auditorium capacity, booking now. Those in Oxford may be also interested in the Oxford Seminars in Cartography Conference, which is to include what sounds like the introductory talk “Artful maps: exploring the visual culture of cartography” on 26th September 2023.

* Slowly being scanned and freely placed online, Green Dragon (1966-1972), the ‘zine of the early Tolkien Society of America. Another new issue was added last week. If you own any of the still-missing issues or similar rare early ‘zines, I’m sure they’d be glad to have a set of scans.