Middle-earth Journeys

I tried Ensuite rooms were over-booked LOL.

Elegaer, your photos are wonderful! I love the goldcrest. And the leaves . . . . here is my own contribution to Iolanthe’s parts 2 & 3:
Saturday’s weather was glorious, right from the start. And, as Iolanthe has described, so was breakfast (you weren’t imagining Jonick with a Danish Pastry on his bacon. He didn’t have room on his tray for a side plate because it was stacked with juice, tea, and a bowl of cereal . . . ).

The more I find out about Tolkien’s Aunt Jane the more I like her. I was thrilled that she took photos of cows. Who’s to say they are meaningless ? She also gave all her cows names. In fact, the name of things seems to have been quite important to her : when she changed the name of Dormston Manor back to Bag End she was reverting to the name of the general area on the deeds in 1731 (this is a house that was mentioned in the Domesday Book and was extensively RE-built as far back as 1582 . . . ). Andrew Morton also made the point that the French ‘cul-de-sac’, which is often mentioned in connection with ‘Bag End’, did not come into usage until the early 1800’s. So ‘Bag End’ is a far older term, possibly stemming from the agricultural practice of ‘bagging’.

Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of Ruth’s other painting either. Perhaps Elegaer can?? There was a wonderful range of work in the Art Room, as well as the paintings and embroidery there was some truly beautiful jewellery - a version of the necklace of Girion in green stones (I’m assuming not really five hundred emeralds, given the absence of security guards) and another necklace (Nauglamir? I can’t remember, I really must start writing everything down!) of clear Swarovski crystals set in gold, cut so beautifully that if you moved even a few inches all the colours in the necklace changed. It was gorgeous!
By now Jonick was suffering from Book Deprivation so we left Iolanthe in the Art Room and headed for the Dealers. I really shouldn’t leave Jonick to his own devices on these occasions - I turned my back for five minutes and he bought a copy of Tolkien the Mediaevalist once owned by John Garth, plus three others, and had made friends for life with at least two of the booksellers . . .

Mid-morning we went to a very well-attended talk by Colin Durie - who has written various books on Tolkien - entitled The Inklings in Wartime. This again was in the Old Library, which was an interesting room in itself. Colin started with a bit of a quiz: which pub did the Inklings frequent? (Eagle & Child/Kings Arms/White Horse/Lamb & Flag). The answer of course was all four! And which of these four was the most influential? (Tolkien, Lewis, Barfield, Williams) Yes, all of them again!! He made the point that they talked and debated at the Eagle &Child, but did not read their works aloud there - that was reserved for their rooms in college. During the war Tolkien was an Air Raid Warden while CSL lectured to RAF personnel. And of course it was the war which brought Williams to Oxford in the first place.

Colin read from a 1939 letter from Lewis to his brother Warnie, describing a typical Inklings meeting at that time : at which Tolkien read from LoTR’, which he’d just restarted after a break - picking up somewhere around the Council of Elrond. Durie made the point that it’s the part of the book where themes of power and domination start to surface, along with a portrayal of evil as ‘reflected perverted science’ . At the same meeting Williams read from a nativity play whose major theme was that pride is the motivator of sin, perverting good (referring to the Third Reich) and Lewis from The Problem of Pain, a theoretical treatise on evil, pain & suffering with immediate application to the war.

Durie reminded us that one of the central themes of LoTR & the Sil is death, and that Tolkien wrote Leaf by Niggle in 1942, referring to it as ‘my purgatorial story’ - the soul made ready for heaven. Other Inklings took up similar themes at this time; Lewis in particular wrote a lot about purgatory. He also said that Tolkien and Lewis regarded ‘technological devilry’ as a plot against mankind (in a 1944 letter to Christopher, Tolkien wrote that this was the first war of the machines and that “we will turn elves into orcs.” Interestingly, the Inklings are only now being acknowledged in the UK as a literary force; having been regarded as such in the US for many years.
After the Music in Middle Earth talk and the stupendous lunch Jonick and I took a look around the LMH chapel. They have a fabulous triptych there by Burne-Jones, I’m hoping Iolanthe got a good shot of it because I didn’t . . .
Then we headed for the University Parks in our hunt for Tolkien’s memorial bench and the Two Trees. The sun was beating down and we walked for ages, checking each bench whether people were sitting on them or not (they must have thought we were mad!). Several times we found likely-looking trees but no appropriate bench nearby. We toured virtually the whole park, with no success. Still, I did get some good photos:
It was such a lovely day we decided to skip the first lectures after lunch and headed into the LMH gardens where I sat and painted on the Iris Murdoch bench for a while and Jonick strolled about. We could hear the applause for Caspar Reiff’s talk drifting out over the garden. One or two other people were also playing hookey and enjoying the sunshine.
Well, for the second year running Charles Bressler’s talk made me cry. He is such an excellent communicator, as Iolanthe has described. He wanted his audience to think and feel Tolkien’s vision for living, loving and believing, and cited a quote from Cardinal Newman that “the most personal is the most universal” ie that Tolkien’s work provides a permanent object of contemplation that is different for each person. He defined sociologists’ reasons why people become friends (physical, mental, emotional, desire) and discussed Sam & Frodo’s friendship in the light of these: eating, walking, sleeping and suffering together; sharing beliefs and goals such as destroying the Ring; shared memories of the Shire; brotherly love and a relationship with the universe. He also pointed out that any definition of friendship is vague and intangible at its basic core.

Bressler went on to say that people can’t enjoy life to the full without friends; it’s hard to laugh alone. Apparently there are more than 1200 instances of laughter in LoTR! He also said that friendship is a matter for spirit, involving the heart as well as the intellect, and there is also an element of reciprocity: one will be greater and one lesser than the other in certain ways; in other ways that position will be reversed. He also referred to my own favourite moment in the movies (where Sam picks Frodo up on the slopes of Mount Doom and carries him) as “this is what it means to be a friend”. My hankie came out at this point because that bit of the films always makes me cry . . .

He reminded us that from a linguistic point of view the passive voice is used in pivotal key moments throughout the text of LoTR eg Gandalf’s “Bilbo was left to find the Ring”. This resonated a lot with me because it conveys a sense of destiny which was one of the things that drew me into the book when I first read it. He posed the question “who is doing this action? Who is the Lord of the Rings? Could it be Iluvatar?” He described Sam in terms of Faith (Sam believes in the mission), Hope (Sam encourages Frodo) and Love (his actions go beyond self interest) and said that Sam becomes a model of grace, service and forbearance. It’s easy to love folk in a book but harder to be a Sam for folk, say, in the workplace. We all need a Sam and we all need our lives controlled by a force for good, like Sam.

Then Bressler spoke about tears. The tears when Sam and Frodo part. Gandalf’s:”Not all tears are evil”. There can be tears of shared vision, blessed realm, shared experience. How he hopes people will want to cry at his funeral because “oh how he loved” - that’s a life worth living. He said “Let me be like Sam - wholly loved”. (I could have howled by now. As Iolanthe mentioned, all three of us have recently lost a Sam in our lives . . . ). He finished by saying “In a world that believes you should go for gold, that there’s no right or wrong and no Iluvatar . . . there’s Sam.”

In the Q&A somebody made what I always think of as a journalist’s remark: that Sam didn’t always behave well (eg in his treatment of Gollum, his behaviour during the Scouring of the Shire). Bressler quite rightly replied that Tolkien had made Sam a rounded character, not perfect. (Personally, I think that encourages us to identify with Sam).

He also said that Sam refers to ‘Master Frodo’ throughout the book. The only time he calls him ‘Frodo’ is when he thinks he’s dead . . .

. . . . I really should have taken along more than one hankie !

Ah, another successful squirrel photographer! I feel quite a failure now! And even more so because I didn't take a photo of the marvelous Burne-Jones Triptych in the Chapel either . I suppose when I went into the Chapel I was thinking that I'd taken everything last time and never got my camera out . I love all the things you've caught in the photos, especially the beautifully back-lit tree. The light really was glorious!

I'm glad you mentioned the incredible jewellery in the Art Room. It was absolutely stunning and I think any Valinorian elf would have been proud to wear them.

Durie's talk sounds really interesting. I wish I'd gone to it really. And it's great to have more of Bressler's talk - there's always a lot you miss when you take notes so it's great to have two reporters!

I was amazed I'd noted down so much of Bressler's talk. I became quite emotional again as I wrote about it, too! His talk verged on the spiritual, whereas Durie's was far more academic. Both men obviously know their stuff in depth and I'll make sure to attend any future talks they have on offer!

NB the secret to truly successful squirrel photograpghy is to get one of the little blighters to pose for you. Mine was distracted by his nut, luckily, although he fled as soon as I'd taken a couple of snaps

Gorgeous gorgeous *gorgeous* photos!

I'm trying to think what Ruth pics there were:

- Niggle and the tree
- Frodo, Sam and Gollum somewhere around Mount Doom, with suspicious amounts of snow and a gorgeous border
- Raven and a lot of blue sky

That's it! It was the raven with the dwarves outside the secret entrance to the Lonely Mountain! I really loved it. I'm developing a memory like a sieve .

Iolanthe wrote:That's it! It was the raven with the dwarves outside the secret entrance to the Lonely Mountain! I really loved it. I'm developing a memory like a sieve .

At least yours is only a sieve, mine's a colander!

Part 4: We Bar-B-Q the Two and a half Trees. Just kidding.


After Charles Bresslers’ talk we headed off to the Artroom to take down our paintings. It’s one of the unwritten laws of exhibiting that no matter how generously you wrapped the pictures before you left home, whatever you had won’t go around it all again when you leave. It’s like the Great Mystery of the Unmatched Socks and the Vanishing Biro Conundrum. Somewhere – out there in the Twighlight Zone – there are swathes of Bubble Wrap floating around with the Odd Socks. After the take-down (always a bit sad) we decided to have another look for Tolkien’s Bench and the Two and a Half Trees. I was pretty sure I remembered where to find them, so we headed back out to the University parks in the last of the autumn sunshine. The light was absolutely beautiful – Laurelin and Telperion mingling - and I found the bench quite easily, guessing that there must have been someone inconveniently sitting on it when Marbretherese and Jonick were scouting the area. Just as we arrived a family of cute looking swans came up to investigate, but then started to look decidedly antsy when we stepped forward for photos, the youngsters lining up behind mum and dad who made a good fist of glaring us to death. Never provoke an antsy Swan…

We took it in turns to sit on The Bench and pose, then hunted for the Two and a Half Trees which were, obediently for Tolkien Trees, just where I’d left them. I must say I think ‘Laurelin 2’ was looking a bit sparse and peaky compared to when I saw it at the same time of the year in 2007. I think Ungoliant had been nibbling at it. Laurelin 1 (the Half-Tree) is still knee-high-to-a-Hobbit. Originally planted at the same time as ‘Telperion’, it never did very well and another tree ‘Laurelin 2’ was planted, which quickly outgrew it.

Then it was back to the Hall for the BBQ and a catch up with Becky, Fangorn, Mike Faith and a heap of others who we’d made friends with over the weekend. I discovered that my bid for Becky’s wonderful needlework was the highest and I was delighted because I’d worked out exactly where I wanted to put it! But the serious business was the food - which was all you’d expect from a BBQ along with some seriously waist-busting desserts. Jonick was in chocolate heaven. I had three desserts. I swear they were only tiny portions of each. Really.

After the BBQ we had the Ents, the Oxonmoot evening entertainments, which includes the costume parade (finished off by Fangorn and his group who always come up with something original). We were treated to a hilarious cartoon of the Life of Turin from the Slovenian contingent. I had never before considered that Turin’s life was full of comic potential but… really… it is. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to take Glaurung mesmerising Turin seriously again. At the end we had Alex Lewis singing some of his songs, including a most beautiful one which I loved about the Mariners who had sailed West.

Taking photos from where we were lurking in the gloom was hopeless. Marbretherese tried harder than me (another brownie point) so she might have something better, but I did get a good picture of my half of Guinness, which was really the most important thing:


The next day dawned bright and early for me because I didn’t read my Oxonmoot Information properly (I was probably dazzled by the fabulous cover) and thought we had to clear the rooms by 9am. After an elbow bruising frenzy in the bonsai bathroom followed by suitcase stuffing (why does nothing ever fit back in?) I finally checked the times and found that I could have had another hour’s kip. This left me sitting in my room for ages staring disconsolately at my bed with its interestingly uncomfortable knobbly spring arrangement. After another ginormous breakfast Marbretherese, Jonick and I went our separate ways. They were heading to The Oratory (which is where Tolkien attended) for a service and I was off to Enyalie at Tolkien’s grave. Luckily for me Becky was giving me a lift and then depositing me afterwards at the Park and Ride so I didn’t have to lug my paintings and suitcase across North Oxford. Phew.

Enyalie was just as moving as ever. The reading from the Council of Elrond reminded us that Tolkien’s work and Oxonmoot is founded on fellowship and this draws us back time and time again. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we’ll be back again next year – especially if we are back at Lady Margaret’s for more First, Second, Third and Fourth breakfasts!

Sigh . . . . lovely, just lovely! Wish we all could have been there with you, but these wonderful reports are certainly the next best thing! Thanks so much!

You'd love Oxonmoot so much, Lindariel, it's great fun and Marbretherese and I try to make you feel as though you were all there with us!

You're so right about the Turin story being ripe for spoof! I would have liked to have seen that.

Thanks for the picture of the gravesite, too. It's interesting to see how the plantings change. And sad about the Trees not doing well. Yavanna would be unhappy. Are they varieties that aren't hardy there?

‘Laurelin’ is a variety which does very well over here as a rule, Merry, in fact there are some lovely specimens elsewhere in the University Parks - but not near Tolkien’s bench, unfortunately. ‘Telperion’ appears to be thriving, so that’s something!

And for the chance to see that Slovenian cartoon of Turin, read on . . .

Here’s my contribution to Part Four:

The paintings certainly came down faster than they went up - the Art Room became just a Room in a matter of minutes. I was so glad Iolanthe offered to help us find Tolkien’s Bench - of course, it turned out to be one we’d passed at least three times earlier the same afternoon! I’m happy to report it’s situated overlooking an absolutely beautiful stretch of river. I was in seventh heaven taking photos of swans - and punts - and then (my cup runneth over), swans and a punt together!!
You can see the state of the two-and-a-half-trees from Iolanthe’s photos - I was just thankful to have found them. I’ll be able to find them again, too (I marked the spot on my map of Oxford . . . geek!).

The barbecue for me was the social highlight of the weekend. Quite apart from the wonderful food it provided a great opportunity to chat to all sorts of people in a relaxed atmosphere - sharing benches or sprawled on the grass. I probably met more people in that hour than in the rest of the proceedings put together!

The Ents were great fun but unfortunately none of my photos came out well enough to show you. A combination of poor lighting and the participants’ inability to stand still resulted in a series of fuzzy blurs. I’ve found the wonderfully irreverent Slovenian cartoon of Turin’s adventures on YouTube if anyone wants to take a look: http://www.videoarhiv.com/trpljenje-mla ... ideo/39767 I particularly like Glaurung . . . . The fancy dress parade threw up a few surprises - in particular a very fetching and scantily-clad Legolas - and everyone won a prize.

Jonick and I had decided that the only way we would get to Mass on Sunday would be to forgo Enyalie (ironic, isn’t it? But we didn’t want to miss the barbecue on Saturday evening, either) so we duly attended the Oratory at 11am. It’s very grand and I find it slightly intimidating, but I did sneak one photo before the service to show you:
By the time Mass finished it was nearly lunchtime so we popped next door, to the Eagle & Child,, trying to work out whether we might manage the Saturday barbecue, Mass and Enyalie next year if we get up early and go to Mass at Blackfriars - might have to miss breakfast though! . The pub was full of Oxonmooters just back from Enyalie, and we had the chance to say proper goodbyes to some of them. We walked back to LMH through the parks, and I checked that I could still locate The Bench. As we waited outside LMH for our taxi I took one last photo. I think it’s very Oxford somehow:

Thanks for the wonderful picture of the Oratory, marbretherese. Tolkien, of course, is my favorite author and Gerard Manley Hopkins my favorite poet, and so the Oratory is sacred ground!

The YouTube will have to wait until tomorrow and my office computer, which has sufficient innards to watch video. Looking forward to it!

Amazing you found that video, Marbretherese! And the swans in the photo are just lining up into 'Don't mess with me' mode .

The Oratory looks beautiful in the photo.

OMG you found the video! I've been meaning to look and completely failing to remember anytime I've been near my laptop!