Tolkien Gleanings #145.

* A Rome Reports two-minute TV-news style video takes cameras inside the Italian National Gallery for a peep at the successful new Tolkien exhibition there, and interviews Oronzo Cilli. Be sure to turn on YouTube’s auto-subtitles.

* The Athrabeth podcast interviews Thomas P. Hillman. His new book is due just before Christmas from Kent State University Press, titled Pity, Power, and Tolkien’s Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many. The publisher’s blurb has…

“Instead of turning his interpretation [of LoTR] to allegory or [Christian] apologetics, Hillman demonstrates how the story works metaphorically, allowing Tolkien to embrace both Catholic views and pagan mythology.”

* Seemly newly up for auction, Tolkien’s hand-written 25th September 1954 letter to someone who had given The Lord of the Rings an attentive and positive review on publication of Fellowship. In the New Statesman magazine, of all places. Presumably British armchair leftists had no idea what was coming, given that only the first volume of LoTR had by then appeared, or they might have had a more hostile reviewer lined up. My guess would be that the editor simply nodded it through.

The item up for auction appears to be Letter 154 in the Letters.

* I found the site of L’Arco e la Corte, an Italian publisher offering Tolkien scholarship including a journal. This gave me the Italian journal’s Minas Tirith #23 (May 2023) contents in Italian, which includes among others…

    – Tolkien the philologist and Armand Berger’s Res germanica.
    – At the Origin of the Elvish Languages: Early Quendian and Proto-Indo-European.
    – Elvish language trees according to various later conceptions of J.R.R. Tolkien.
    – The French ‘Library’ of J.R.R. Tolkien.

A Tolkien page in their catalogue also revealed interesting items (though again, published in Italian). Among which are, here given in English title-translation…

Glimmers of things higher, deeper, or darker than its surface (conference proceedings); Travelling to Isengard: Tolkien and European traditions (multi-author, scholars from widely differing disciplines); J.R.R. Tolkien, philologist and poet between antiquity and the 20th century (a short primer for Italians on Tolkien’s Philology and his wider academic interests); and a two-volume The Languages ​​of the Elves of Middle-earth – History and development of the Elvish languages ​​of Arda.

* And finally, An Unexpected Journal has the new essay “Melchizedek, Bombadil, and the Numinous in The Lord of the Rings”. A new long and Bible-aware essay, which suggests a possible Biblical source / influence for Bombadil. One that’s new to me.

Tolkien Gleanings #144.

“Together we score one hundred and forty-four.” (Bilbo in LoTR).

* A starter list of errors found in the new book of Tolkien letters…

“most of them are OCR errors. Obviously the publishers didn’t have a native digital file for a decades-old book, so they used OCR. … Hundreds of similar typos can be found in [recently published OCR’d] Tolkien books.”

I’d guess that finding and flagging OCR errors is probably a good task for an AI, and I’d hope someone’s already working on that one — if it isn’t already built-in to the better professional OCR engines.

* “J.R.R. Tolkien Offers an Antidote Against New Forms of Paganism”… “This article is an adaptation of a lecture, “Tolkien, Heroic Christianity and the Dangers of Neo-Paganism”, delivered at the Sept. 17-19 EWTN Gotland Forum in Sweden.” The video version was previously noted here, but the heavily accented English of the speaker may mean that the text transcript is welcome.

* The Colorado Catholic Herald has a long and glowing review of Holly Ordway’s new book Tolkien’s Faith.

* The G.K. Chesterton Society has a new podcast interview with Holly Ordway.

* A thoughtful consideration of “Tolkien & [R.E.] Howard: similarities in literature & life”. R.E. Howard being the creator of Conan and progenitor of the commercial sword & sorcery sub-genre. To perhaps save some readers time after reading the article, note that my 2019 Tentaclii examination into the question ‘Did Tolkien read R.E. Howard?’ found…

“it all boils down to what L. Sprague de Camp remembered in 1983 of a snatch of conversation had with Tolkien in a garage in 1967, so it’s pretty slim as evidence goes.”

* A new review of the book Beowulf as Children’s Literature. Paywalled at Project MUSE, but the mention of a chapter on Tolkien is part of the free sample…

“Amber Dunai tackles the monumental and imposing figure of J.R.R. Tolkien and his relationship with Beowulf within the context of his theory of fairy stories, focusing on his use of Beowulfian themes and motifs in the two versions of The Lay of Beowulf, his effort to reconstruct the fairy tale ur-text of Beowulf in Sellic Spell, and his use of the skin-changer Beorn in The Hobbit as an analogue for Beowulf.”

* Call for Papers: Tolkien Society Seminar 2024 on “Tolkien’s Romantic Resonances”. By which they mean not the fluttering hearts and heaving bosoms of the fan-fiction, but the broad historical movement called Romanticism and its aesthetics and histories.

Tolkien Gleanings #143.

* Erm, about that new and expanded volume of Tolkien letters that recently arrived on your doormat? Perhaps not so complete, after “An Unexpected Discovery”…

“whilst checking the bundles of letters ahead of a researcher’s visit […] I came across an unpublished letter from the author J.R.R Tolkien to [the British folklorist] Katharine Briggs. [… The newly uncovered] letters from Katharine Briggs to J.R.R. Tolkien are part of the uncatalogued family archives and not currently available for research.”.

* New on Archive.org to borrow, a scan of the b&w book The Tolkien family album (1992). Early items I’d not seen: a picture of Birmingham’s Samson Gamgee; the frontage of Edith’s house in Warwick; the homes in Leeds at St. Mark’s Terrace and Darnley Road.

* My ideal book, being a scholar of both Tolkien and Lovecraft, but… it’s in Italian and I can’t read Italian. Urg. Tolkien e Lovecraft: Alle origini del fantastico is newly published in what appears to be series titled Historica Edizioni. There’s a listing page at Amazon Italy, which has a 28th November 2023 publication date — though Amazon thinks the book is not currently shipping.

J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft: the gods of fantastic writing. Co-founders of a genre that is both deeply ancestral and very modern. The conventional view would place them at opposite ends of the fantastic ecosystem: light and shadow, black and white, Tolkien synonymous with airy fantasy and Lovecraft with deep horror. Yet in the epic of Tolkien’s Middle-earth there is no shortage of flashes of darkness and terror, just as in the dark Lovecraftian cosmos, populated by unspeakable entities, fairy-tale horizons of enchantment and wonder are also found. By analysing their masterpieces, and the reading that inspired both men, this book aims to read the two great architects of the imagination from a more flexible perspective, one which attempts to frame and understand them within their authentic complexity.

* A new repository record-page suggests a new book in French, Tolkien et l’Antiquite. Passe et Antiquites en Terre du Milieu (2023). Probably the proceedings of the conference of the same name at the Sorbonne in 2022, on Tolkien and antiquity. Though at present Amazon France knows nothing about the book… perhaps expect it in 2024?

* Thoughts on “Hedgerows, coppices, and the economy of the Shire”.

* And finally, news that the National Gallery exhibition in Rome, “Tolkien. Man, professor, author”, has proved popular enough to spur a national tour…

“Rome will be the first stop on a journey that will continue in 2024 in other Italian cities. Conceived and promoted by the Ministry of Culture with the collaboration of the University of Oxford, under the curatorship of Tolkien scholar Oronzo Cilli and the co-curatorship and organization of Alessandro Nicosia.”

The National Gallery is said to have seen “numbers never seen before, and many young people” for the show. Even with a hefty entrance-fee. Collectors might also note that… “The catalog that accompanies the exhibition” is also said to be partly “composed of unpublished [Tolkien] materials”.

Tolkien Gleanings #142.

* Tolkienists.org returns to offer a new post, after a very long break. It sounds like editor Erik hopes to “de-mothball Tolkienists” sometime in 2024.

* Tolkien scholar John Garth has a title for his next book, Tolkien’s Mirror, and there’s a short podcast with him this week. The book is currently finished and seeking a publisher able to do justice to it (picture licencing for illustrations etc), and is pencilled in for 2025.

* From Germany, the new scholarly journal issue Hither Shore #19 – ‘Raum und Zeit in Tolkiens Werk’ (‘Space and time in Tolkien’s work’). Partly in English. The publisher’s ‘Look Inside’ link is ‘404 not found’, but Google Books obliges with the table-of-contents…

* It appears that Mythprint, quarterly bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society is going online. Albeit with a very long open-access embargo. I assume it’s open-access. Since the new #405 will apparently be publicly available to non-members… “for download on Sunday, 15th June 2025”.

* A forthcoming book listed on Amazon UK, J.R.R. Tolkien: Christian Maker of Middle-Earth (December 2023, in paperback and Kindle ebook). “This biography is intended to show readers that Tolkien’s Christian faith was central to his life and work, personally, professionally, and — most importantly — creatively.” Does it say anything that Holly Ordway hasn’t already, in her accomplished and acclaimed new book? Possibly. The Canadian author is a contributor of essays to Barnabas magazine… and “a teacher of English and Classical Studies at Hillfeld Strathallan College and a professor of Communications at Mohawk College.” The book has a pleasing cover painting, which I assume is AI generated by the looks of it…

* Available now, the new book J.R.R. Tolkien: Tales for Our Times — Vol. 1: Art, Not Power. Weighing in at over 400 pages, this book is volume one of a…

two-volume study of the work and vision of J.R.R. Tolkien. Volume One, Art, Not Power, is an exploration of literary ecology, paying particular attention to Tolkien’s exploration of the imaginal realm. The companion volume Fellowship and Flourishing is a more philosophically detailed exposition of the moral ecology that underpins Tolkien’s writings. Premised on the recovery of ‘a clear view,’ both volumes address a number of key questions: power and its corrupting potentials; human creativity in the acceptance of boundaries; ‘the environment’ conceived in the sense of our inherited moral and social ecosystems as well as our natural ones. […] Tolkien’s ideal emerges as that of living artistically in tune with growing things.

A little digging finds that Vol. 2, Fellowship and Flourishing, is just as long and also available now. Though, due to Amazon’s abysmal search functionality, it didn’t show up on my search for new and forthcoming books.

Fellowship and Flourishing is about creating the habitus for the acquisition and exercise of the virtues, cultivating good character, and fostering ‘habits of the heart’ within communities of practice, all of which is essential to a free and self-governing society.

* And finally, local ‘citizen journalism’ online publication Yorkshire Bylines has a new article freely available online, “From trenches to treasures: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Yorkshire Odyssey”. Also mentioned is the nearby Tolkien exhibition in the former mill-town of Barnsley…

“Having been open to the public for over a month, the ‘Magic of Middle-earth’ has exceeded expectations, drawing 10,000 visitors to the museum.”

Tolkien Gleanings #141.

* Over 150 new Tolkien letters have now been published in the handsome expanded book of the Letters. There’s now a handy free guide to help the busy Tolkien scholar to quickly spot the new revelations.

* Word on Fire has the article “The Expanded and Revised Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: A First Look”.

* New at the Journal of Tolkien Research, the ‘Tolkien’s Animals’ special-issue is now available. Has “Tolkien’s Eagles: Aves ex machina” and “Foxes, dancing bears, and wolves”, plus “Tolkien’s Tevildo” (‘Prince of Cats’) among others, together with “Tolkien’s Animals: A Bibliography”.

* A special Tolkien issue of Brazilian journal Ipotesi, with a focus on landscapes, space and walking. Includes a number of Portuguese articles, and here are some of the titles in English…

    – “Martyrdom in Paradise: a symbolic representation of depression in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion.”
    – “From map to myth: the geography of Middle-earth.”
    – “Space as a secondary narrative in The Lord of the Rings.”
    – “About Hobbits and the Great War: The Journey of the Ordinary Hero.”
    – “Walking through elven and human spaces: an analysis of heterotopias and affective cartographies.”

* And finally, a new free Librivox audiobook reading of G.K. Chesterton’s non-fiction book William Blake (1910, 1920), which may interest some due to the 1920 re-issue and Tolkien’s interest in Chesterton.

Tolkien Gleanings #140.

* Appearing on the latest Catholic Culture Podcast, Holly Ordway talking about “Tolkien’s hard-won faith” and her new book. Also available on YouTube.

* In Russian with a long English abstract, a freely available article on the translation of Tolkien’s ‘The Song of Earendil’ into Russian. This compares various Russian translations, with special reference to attempts to retain some of the original poetic form.

* The opening event of the Italian Tolkien exhibition in Rome now has a list of speakers, and the launch event will be webcast live on YouTube on 8th November 2023.

* Also in Italy, many Tolkien events at the big multi-day Lucca Comics 2023 festival:—

    – A panel talk and presentation on 1st November: “The history of Middle Earth. The translation into Italian of The History of Middle-earth continues apace. [Here] the Bompiani translators present the fifth volume, a particularly difficult work because it also contains essays on the languages ​​and dialects of Middle-earth and an ‘etymological dictionary’ with an extensive account of Elvish vocabularies.”

    – A workshop on 2nd November. An “in-depth study of the writer’s texts led to the creation of an artbook published by Eterea Edizioni, in which traditional, illustrated digital and 3D modelling techniques intertwine”, to depict the “White City, the hidden kingdom of the Elves of Gondolin. This meeting will explore digital painting and the software used to create the artbook, sculpted in 3D block-out and then digitally painted.” The technique of manually overpainting 3D renders from Blender has now been made somewhat obsolescent by AI, but it may still interest some. The authors say… “we have just opened pre-orders for this artbook.”

    – Then a Quenya speaking workshop; a calendar launch; a launch of another Middle-earth artbook (see the cover below); a panel on “Horror in J.R.R. Tolkien” followed by a workshop on “The representations of horror in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien”; and finally perhaps the ultimate horror… a look at a Disney-fied Tolkien, apparently soon set to become a graphic novel.

* A warm review of the premiere of the Lewis and Tolkien stage show in Los Angeles, USA…

“Author/director Dean Batali has crafted a fascinating ‘what-if’ scenario in which two literary luminaries [meet in later life and] get into rousing and humorous debate as they start to learn the value of their friendship, a friendship [by then] almost lost to time and situation. Kudos to Beattie and Crowley, who do an excellent job of portraying the famed writers, warts and all. Congratulations are also in order for the production team, including Joel Daavid for his outstanding set design, so cozy and pub-like. Vicki Conrad’s costumes, Martha Carter’s lighting, and Chris Moscatiello’s sound set the scene for this absorbing slice of history.”

* There’s also another review of Lewis and Tolkien at the Noho Arts website…

“The performances are exquisite. I felt as if I were genuinely in the presence of these magical men. I felt their connection, their regrets and their love for one another. Sitting in the darkness of this wonderful space, watching them move through their troubles, their relationship and the play was a rare delight.”

* And finally, a speaker in southern England is able to travel to give a two-part illustrated talk on the “Art of Tolkien: Artistic Interpretations of Middle-earth”.

Tolkien Gleanings #139.

* The new book Many Times & Many Places: C.S. Lewis and the Value of History (August 2023) examines the value that Lewis placed on the study of history, and on its established divisions. The book’s blurb suggests it may also discuss the scholarly methods used by Lewis and his generation in truth-sifting regarding the past, and the flipside of this in the form of their historical imagination. Thus the book may also be of some relevance to understanding Tolkien. Possibly even a shelf-companion to the forthcoming book The Literary Role of History in the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien (December 2023)?

* New and freely available in the HCommons repository, “J.R.R. Tolkien at the University of Leeds”. Being… “the English-language original of the article published [in Japanese in the journal] Eureka: Poetry and Criticism” for November 2023.

* New and freely available in The European Conservative, “The Apocalypse According to J.R.R. Tolkien”, a long article focussing on the… “profound questions about the fate of the world” that troubled the Christians of Tolkien’s generation.

* Running online during November 2023, the Signum University short course Tolkien and the Romantics: Imagining and Dreaming.

* Two further “The History of Middle-earth Box Sets” have now appeared on Amazon UK as listing pages. It looks like the History re-issue will now be four, rather than two, sets of boxed hardcovers. Set 3 is pencilled in for September 2024, followed by Set 4 in November 2024.

* And finally, two weeks to the opening of the medium-sized Tolkien show at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome. The official website fails not only in its grinding slowness (over 100 x 1.8Mb background panel images arranged in a grid… what on earth are their web designers and museum managers thinking of?), but also fails to inform about the coming-soon Tolkien show. Yet one can at least determine that day-tickets for the museum are 13 euros per person. The price seems to include all shows and galleries.

Tolkien Gleanings #138.

* Announced via an Amazon listing, another Tolkien map book. To be titled Maps of Tolkien’s Middle Earth and currently set for 9th April 2024. No details, but my guess would be it’s an expanded re-issue of the Brian Sibley map-box/book The Map Of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth (1994) and his subsequent The Maps of Tolkien’s Middle-earth (2003). The latter was expanded and inside were… “Tolkien’s Maps of The Hobbit, Beleriend and Middle-earth beautifully presented in an exquisite box-set”. Its special edition also had “a unique map of Numenor”. So my guess is the forthcoming 2024 item will at least be a reprint and perhaps another expansion, possibly with a few more maps?

* Also noted on Amazon UK, The History of Middle-earth Box Set in hardcover, set for a staggered release in mid January and then in mid March 2024.

* A new Mythlore (Fall/Winter 2023) has appeared. Among other items of interest in the journal are…

   – “Otherworldly but not the Otherworld” (Tolkien may have drawn on Lanval and Sir Orfeo in building his depiction of Lothlorien).

   – “The Sun, the Son, and the Silmarillion“ (a new Kristine Larsen paper drawing as usual on astronomical lore and science, and interestingly noting Tolkien’s hints at life on other planets).

   – A review of the book ‘Uncle Curro’: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Spanish Connection (interesting to know that Hilary Tolkien served as a bugler in the First World War, re: “the horns of the morning”).

* The Imaginative Conservative briefly reviews the new Holly Ordway book Tolkien’s Faith (2023).

* On YouTube, a 30 minute conference talk on ‘Tolkien, Heroic Christianity and the Dangers of Neo-Paganism’ (September 2023). Makes many interesting points, not least that many inclined toward the mish-mash of neo-paganism might do well to investigate instead the many aspects of pagan beliefs and symbolism which were long-ago successfully absorbed by Christianity.

* New from Vernon Press, the academic book Weaving Words into Worlds (September 2023). Has the chapter “The Ecological Christian Labyrinth and the Significance of Trees in The Lord of the Rings”. This appears to try to link Tolkien’s uses of trees, within his labyrinthine LoTR narrative, with historical Christian uses of labyrinths and mazes.

* Call for papers: The Middle Ages in the 20th and 21st Centuries at the University of Stavanger in Norway. Deadline: 31st January 2024.

* And finally, a major joint three-society Literature and Science conference at the University of Birmingham, set for 10th-12th April 2024. The wide ‘literature and science’ theme is left open and thus suggests possibilities for a Tolkien topic, especially so in his home city of Birmingham. Tolkien was taken to the Great Hall of the University (then serving as a hospital) on being brought back from France, and this might suggest a paper on the Houses of Healing in LoTR and the value of traditional oral lore for rediscovering potent healing plants (“Ioreth, men will long remember your words”). The call for papers deadline is 1st December 2023.