Tolkien Gleanings #262

* On YouTube, another apparently “rare audio … hidden for 50 years”, Tolkien sings “Chips the glasses” from The Hobbit.

* RR Auctions is shortly to sell a Tolkien letter dated 14th May 1955…

Tolkien reflects on the anticipated publication of The Return of the King [to] Mrs. L.C. Beckett Frost in Ravello, Italy. He expresses his hope that readers will not be disappointed, comparing his work to Homer’s epics and discussing the delays caused by his commitment to provide extensive appendices and information.”

* The J.R.R. Tolkien Manuscripts collection at Marquette University has posted their 2025 dates for free public showings.

* A new rolling issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research has begun, with a review of Parma Eldalamberon #23 (2024). The PE issue under review contains Tolkien’s own texts, his three descriptions of the Feanorian Alphabet, and his five texts on Eldarin Pronouns.

* The latest issue of the open-access journal RUDN: Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism is a special issue on ‘The Magical and Horrible in Literature’. Has the Russian-language article “Rhythmic prose in The Lord of the Rings“.

* In The European Conservative this week, “Rediscovering Our Wordhoard”, being a review of the book Ōsweald Bera: An Introduction to Old English (2024). The reviewer finds it…

“an exceptional work deserving of swift adoption by universities and independent scholars alike. Gorrie ditches the dry and difficult approach of learning a language’s rules almost independently of its vocabulary.”

* From 2016 and still available to buy, a special edition of the long-running French intellectual journal Europe, No. 1044: Lovecraft – Tolkien.