Tolkien in the News

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:21 pm

Thanks, RR. I did know about the maps being pulled from the 'net, but not about the use of words. So is Adam Christopher's son? Maybe he is introducing his dad to the joys of the Internet!

Iolanthe · Post by **Iolanthe** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:05 am

It's great they are finally doing this - great that they will presenting scholarship of general interest and....well......great that they are producing a platform for people to enjoy Tolkien's own less well know artwork! I think it's long overdue.

marbretherese · Post by **marbretherese** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:20 am

Christopher Tolkien mentions in the preface to The Children of Hurin that Adam Tolkien (who is his son, btw) was crucial to the electronic side of things. I work for a newspaper and magazine publisher, and virtually all our queries come by email these days - once they took the decision to publish the new book I reckon a website was inevitable. And a good thing too!!

Philipa · Post by **Philipa** » Mon May 07, 2007 12:58 am

A little late on the uptake but I wanted to add my thanks for finding this site. I'm excited to know there will be so much more 'official' information out there for us to digest.

It is encouraging to know Adam may (pretty please

) take up the steering of the great Tolkien ship.

Iolanthe · Post by **Iolanthe** » Sun May 13, 2007 2:38 pm

It is - it needs that kind of input and there must be a lot of work still to do with Tolkien's papers!

Philipa · Post by **Philipa** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:09 pm

Tolkien and Ireland

Tolkien inspired by Galway landscape

by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy

'Lord of the Rings' author JRR Tolkien spent time in Galway while writing his masterpiece, it has been revealed.

Tolkien was an external examiner of English at NUI, Galway (then UCG) on several occasions during the 1950s. While in Ireland he stayed at the home of his fellow Professor of English, Diarmuid Murphy, whose daughter Rose recently spoke fondly of the "gentle, observant man" who visited her family during the 1950s and became a close friend.

Rose was a teenager when Tolkien first visited, but during his later visits she would have been a student at NUIG, and it's possible that he marked her papers. Although she cannot remember many "serious conversations" with the Oxford don, Rose told the Galway Independent that he was very interested in nature, and hated any blot of industry on the landscape, a passion reflected in the last book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The fantasy writer and scholar of Old English was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the National University of Ireland in 1954, the same year his seminal work was published.

According to Professor Kevin Barry, Dean of Arts and a former Head of English at NUIG, Tolkien was well known as an "extraordinary storyteller", and he was always welcome, due to his "incredible fund of stories and gossip, not just about fantasy but also about his university colleagues".

Philipa · Post by **Philipa** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:10 pm

Oxonmoot 2007

What is an Oxenmoot

Oxonmoot is held in Oxford in September every year, usually on the weekend closest to the 22nd of September: Frodo and Bilbo's birthday. Most of the event is held in an Oxford college. There are usually around 100 to 200 in attendence.

The moot usually includes talks, a quiz, an art show, a masquerade and other entertainments, a visit to Tolkien's grave in north Oxford, and last, but not least, the chance to spend a weekend in the company of other fans of Tolkien's work.

For more information visit The Tolkien Society

Iolanthe · Post by **Iolanthe** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:45 pm

I booked a few weeks ago

. No idea what it will be like.....

. I'll take a couple of the paintings but there is no way I'm taking part in any masquerade!

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:18 pm

I can't wait to read your report!

Riv Res · Post by **Riv Res** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:09 pm

WooHoo! Iolanthe will be our MeJ on the spot reporter.

Can't wait!!

Iolanthe · Post by **Iolanthe** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:45 pm

You know I won't be able to produce a serious report, don't you

!

Philipa · Post by **Philipa** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:52 am

The Hobbit 70th Anniversary Edition

A bit in reporting this news however Harper and Row are planning to release a 70th anniversary edition of The Hobbit on September 16th.
Also, three more titles to look forward too.

Read about it at Baren's Tolkien Library.com.

Iolanthe · Post by **Iolanthe** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:30 am

This is great news - I want to replace my sadly dilapidated childhood hobbit and also want the History of the Hobbit volumes so getting it all as a bundle with an illustrated 70th edition is terrific

.

marbretherese · Post by **marbretherese** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:49 pm

Iolanthe wrote: getting it all as a bundle with an illustrated 70th edition is terrific .

I'll say! I have a fairly new Hobbit paperback but I'm starting to prefer hardcovers - and a Hobbit History would be fabulous. And the drawings are wonderful. Another item for the wishlist!!

Iolanthe · Post by **Iolanthe** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:59 am

Robert Hardy on Tolkien

Here is a great little Tolkien anecdote from actor Robert Hardy in today's Daily Mail:

Actor Robert Hardy, 81, talking at his Magdalen College, Oxford, 'gaudy' - reunion feast - said he was taught by Hobbit creator John Tolkien. 'In our first tutorial he summoned six of us to the pub, put his hands over his eyes, asked us to swap places and read out our essays. He then proceeded to tell us exactly where we were from in the country and what our background was - all from our voices. He got it exactly right with all of us.'

© Daily Mail

What a great anecdote, bringing in Tolkien's love of the english pub, ear for language and dialect, and his eccentricity all on one go!

Actor Robert Hardy is an interesting man himself being a historian and leading expert on the English Longbow

.