Tolkien Gleanings #454
* New from Marquette University, the Tolkien Fanzine Dataset, 1967-2017, with the bulk of material indexed being from 1969-79. Freely available, as a .CSV dataset and an accompanying .PDF fanzine titles list.
“This dataset reveals the heretofore hidden contents of fanzines […] it supplements the earlier Tolkien Fandom Review by S. Gary Hunnewell that discussed fanzines created through 1968. The dataset provides an item level index of the fanzines’ content and is intended to aid researchers in Fan Studies.”
* Now freely available, the schedule and PDFs/videos from Mythcon 54 (July 2026). Too many Tolkien and Inklings items to list, but don’t overlook “New Info on The Hunt for the Ring”…
“With Bill Fliss’s assistance, Chad plots the paths of all characters, including individual Nazgul, throughout Book 1 of The Lord of the Rings.”
The talk is also available as a YouTube recording. And, should you be considering Christmas presents already, Mythcon 54 also had a survey of “Middle-earth Inspired Chess Sets”.
* Westminster Abbey to honour J.R.R. Tolkien in Poet’s Corner…
“A major new memorial celebrating Tolkien’s creative vision and storytelling by artist Stephen Broadbent will be revealed at a dedication ceremony in Spring 2027”.
* The Beyond Bree Calendar 2027 is now pre-ordering. This year it… “celebrates the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Silmarillion”.
* Matej Cadil has posted his Oxonmoot 2026 impressions online.
* On the DiscipleDojo podcast, Holly Ordway sets about Debunking J.R.R. Tolkien Urban Legends (Part One). Part Two is due tomorrow.
* A YouTube recording of Bradley Birzer’s recent Tolkien Seminar: On Fairy Stories.
* Some details of an undergraduate final dissertation from eastern Europe, Female Figures and Their Impact in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Fall of Arthur (2026)
* A 20 minute YouTube documentary on The Sword of St. Michael, an Anduril-like flaming sword that Tolkien would have been aware of. This is St. Michael the Archangel, the leader of all angels, defender of the Catholic Church, patron saint of the sea.
* And finally, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford will shortly open a major exhibition on the history of the various incarnations of Aphrodite / Venus in antiquity.