Tolkien Gleanings #71.

* J.R.R. Tolkien’s “On Fairy-Stories” (unabridged), as an audiobook reading of over two hours, from Catholic Culture Audiobooks. Currently free on YouTube, with a date of March 2023. Hat-tip for the news to Bruce Charlton who comments… “The superb performance is by [American] voice-actor James W. Majewski; who really seems to understand what he is reading, so that it is expounded with great clarity.” The voice is relatively neutral and soft, and at a guess is perhaps a New England accent?

* A May 2023 YouTube interview with Peter Grybauskas about The Battle of Maldon by J.R.R. Tolkien. Starts at 3:23.

* The March issue of the University Bookman had a scholarly and critical review of the new book The Fall of Numenor.

* This month’s Essential C.S. Lewis round-up brings news that Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal is now open access and has a new university repository URL. This long-running scholarly journal has a pony-load of Tolkien content, as you might expect, mostly to be found in the reviews.

* And finally, a two-hour stage version of The Hobbit, at the Oxford Playhouse at the end of June 2023. It seems to be a local youth production, judging by the rehearsal pictures. Booking now.