Tolkien Gleanings #240
* Holly Ordway takes “A First Look at The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien”, in Word on Fire. Freely available online.
* Lingwe blogs the question “Can generative AI help us analyze The Lord of the Rings?”. The answer is currently ‘no’, at least judging by the conclusion of his test with Google’s general AI. Which is a poor AI to choose, for several reasons that have been well publicised. But that aside, problems were found by the test. For instance the AI offered up the false notion that there is the word… “Windlestraw: a type of grass mentioned in the Shire”. There is, but not in the Shire. The word was old Scots, used by Robert Louis Stevenson in his short fable “The Song of the Morrow”. Stevenson has a mysterious hooded piper appear on a dismal Scottish beach, and the sound of his mournful and depressive playing of the wailing pipes is described as… “like the wind that sings in windlestraw”. My guess would be that someone once mentioned this word in a scholarly Tolkien paper on ‘Withywindle’, and thus the AI’s confusion arose?
* Another paper newly added to the latest rolling issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research, “Fallen Kingdoms and Ancient Monoliths: The Influence of Atlantis and Egypt in Tolkien’s Numenor”.
* A new book-chapter, “From Old English orcneas to George MacDonald’s Goblins with Soft Feet: Sources of Inspiration and Models for Tolkien’s Orcs from English Literature” ($ paywall, free footnotes). In English, to be found in a new predominantly German-language book on various ‘orcs’ in history and popular culture.
* New to me, Insolita: Revista Brasileira de Estudos Interdisciplinares do Insolito, da Fantasia e do Imaginario (‘Insolita: Brazilian Journal of Studies of the Unusual, Fantastic and Imaginary’). Freely available in open-access, currently with seven issues all in Portuguese. Appears to have a strong tilt toward screen culture, but it may interest some.
* A new small book, titled Recovering Consolation: Sam’s Enchanted Path in The Lord of the Rings, discussing what makes Sam the most beloved character for many readers. Just over 150 pages in paperback, and also available as a Kindle ebook.
* And finally, new on DeviantArt, a handy print-and-fold Silmarillion Guide made by a fan. At-a-glance help, for when your head is spinning due to all the names, peoples and places. Free as a 14Mb .PNG file.