{"id":17418,"date":"2025-04-11T19:33:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T18:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potbanks.wordpress.com\/?p=17418"},"modified":"2025-04-11T19:33:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T18:33:33","slug":"tolkien-gleanings-297","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/2025\/04\/11\/tolkien-gleanings-297\/","title":{"rendered":"Tolkien Gleanings #297"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tolkien Gleanings<\/a> #297<\/p>\n

* In issue number 21 of Symbolism: An International Annual of Critical Aesthetics<\/em> (2021) ($ paywall), “Tolkien\u2019s Dragons: Sources, Symbols, and Significance”<\/a>…<\/p>\n

“I examine some of the more neglected sources that may have inspired Tolkien\u2019s conception of these creatures, focusing on classical mythology, the Bible, and medieval English literature.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Originally listed as a talk for the strand ‘Tolkien and the Medieval Animal’ at the 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies. But omitted from the Journal of Tolkien Research<\/em> special-issue on Tolkien’s Animals<\/a> (2023).<\/p>\n

* From Italy, the book Miscellanea in onore di Dora Faraci<\/em><\/a> (2025) (‘Miscellanea in honour of Dora Faraci’). Includes in English, among others, “Allusive name forms in Cynewulf’s poems”, “Starcraeft<\/em> and the Interface Between Faith and Science in Anglo-Saxon England” (observation of stars and constellations), “English and Norse Dragons, Ancient and Modern” (inc. concise appendix on themes, listing of the distribution of tales in the British Isles), “Runick Antiquities in the European debate and Renaissance England” (on the rediscovery of runes in England). Freely available in open-access and under Creative Commons.<\/p>\n

* The British Fantasy Society plans a themed BFS Journal<\/em> issue on ‘War in Fantasy’<\/a>, and is calling for proposals. They welcome biographical items on Tolkien and his wartime experiences and influences, among other suggestions. Deadline: 31st August 2025. The issue is pencilled in to appear around Christmas 2025. <\/p>\n

* 2025 C.S. Lewis Summer Institute<\/a> calls for 20 minute papers around the theme of “Returning Home: C.S. Lewis, Roots, and Transformation”. To be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 24th-30th July 2025.<\/p>\n

* Lingwe<\/em> discovers that Wisconsin Public Radio profiled Karen Wynn Fonstad<\/a>, the Middle-earth map maker…<\/p>\n

“Along with the printed article, there\u2019s a 15-minute public radio piece you can listen to with Fonstad\u2019s son, Mark [who] is working on a new project to digitize all of Fonstad\u2019s original maps of Middle-earth”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* The Parish Catechist<\/em> blog briefly reviews the book J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s Sanctifying Myth<\/em><\/a> (2002) and notes that…<\/p>\n

“when Tolkien\u2019s son Christopher enlisted [in the Second World War, on the RAF enlistment form] he listed his father\u2019s occupation as ‘wizard’.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* Exeter College’s magazine Exon<\/a><\/em> (Winter 2024\/25, download titled #24, but cover says #27) has “The clans will strive and gory writhe upon the field to-day”, a student analysis of Tolkien’s early poem “The Battle of the Eastern Field”. Freely available online.<\/p>\n

* Here in the UK, Wormwoodania<\/em> considers the question “Do Charity Bookshops Drive Out Other Second-Hand Bookshops?”<\/a> Not the ubiquitous charity shops (their stock of books is almost always dreadfully naff), but specialist charity-run bookshops. I had no idea such things existed in the High Street, not living in “decent places where there is tea-time” (Sam Gamgee). But, as the article states…<\/p>\n

Charity bookshops have continued to increase [in the UK]. The Book Guide<\/a> now lists about 150 Oxfam Bookshops, together with a further 40 of its general shops with a book room or significant stock. It also lists 11 for Amnesty, 7 for the Red Cross, 6 for Age UK, and 17 named as \u2018Community Bookshops\u2019 (there are more of these, with a variety of names). There are many others for national or local good causes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* And finally, from Denmark comes the statistical article “‘I only read it for the plot!’ Maturity Ratings Affect Fanfiction Style and Community Engagement”<\/a> (2025). This crunches the numbers on three large sets of fan fictions available at a key website, one of which centres around the characters in The Lord of Rings<\/em>. Coyly discovers (who knew?) that sexually… “explicit fanfiction is a genre of its own with a conventional focus on descriptions, actions, and here-and-now orientation”. Sounds like it’s straightforward porn fiction then, just dressed up in LoTR<\/em> clothing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tolkien Gleanings #297 * In issue number 21 of Symbolism: An International Annual of Critical Aesthetics (2021) ($ paywall), “Tolkien\u2019s Dragons: Sources, Symbols, and Significance”… “I examine some of the more neglected sources that may have inspired Tolkien\u2019s conception of these creatures, focusing on classical mythology, the Bible, and medieval English literature.” Originally listed as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tolkien-gleanings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}