| Contents | Recollection and Remembrance | Sources and Influences | The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | Linguistics and Lexicography | Response and Reaction | Tolkien Studies | Middle-earth Studies | The  Inklings | Flights of Fancy | Other Writers |
| Tolkien Society Home Page |

    The Tolkien Centenary Conference was held at Keble College, Oxford, from August 17th - 24th, 1992, to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Professor J.R.R. Tolkien.  The conference was run by the Tolkien Society and the American Mythopoeic Society, and incorporated the annual conferences (Oxonmoot 1992 and Mythcon XXIII) held in that year.  The published Proceedings are available (see prices below) and abstracts of the Document's Contents are listed further down this page.

Proceedings

Currently out of print. Individual articles can be ordered from the British Library. Use Mallorn as your initial search term, then click on "request" to the far right of the listing for the proceedings.

The Centenary Conference Souvenir Book

• Sorry, the Conference Souvenir Book is now out of print.

Proceedings of the Tolkien Centenary Conference 1992
(Mallorn 33 / Mythlore 80)

edited by Patricia Reynolds and Glen H. GoodKnight
1995, Milton Keynes and Altadena

     Eleven themed sections contain papers which address all aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien's life and work.

     With a comprehensive index, it includes 9 black and white photographs and 43 other black and white illustrations, diagrams and maps.

Proceedings Contents

(Click on the title of a paper to display its Abstract.)

• Unpublished contributions
• Editorial
• Opening Address

Section 1:  Recollection and Remembrance

• Vera Chapman, Reminiscences: Oxford in 1920, Meeting Tolkien and Becoming an Author at 77.
• Glen H. GoodKnight, Tolkien Centenary Banquet Address.
• Fr. Robert Murray, Sermon at Thanksgiving Service, Keble College Chapel, 23rd August 1992.
• George Sayer, Recollections of J.R.R. Tolkien.
• Rayner Unwin, Publishing Tolkien.

Section 2:  Sources and Influences

• Nils Ivar Agøy, Quid Hinieldus cum Christo? - New Perspectives on Tolkien's Theological Dilemma and his Sub-Creation Theory.
• Verlyn Flieger, Tolkien's Experiment with Time: The Lost Road, "The Notion Club Papers" and J.W.Dunne.
• Deirdre Greene, Higher Argument: Tolkien and the tradition of Vision, Epic and Prophecy.
• Virginia Luling, An Anthropologist in Middle-earth.
• Charles E. Noad, Frodo and his Spectre: Blakean Resonances in Tolkien.
• Gloriana St. Clair, An Overview of the Northern Influences on Tolkien's Works.
• Gloriana St. Clair, Volsunga Saga and Narn: Some Analogies.
• Chris Seeman, Tolkien's Revision of the Romantic Tradition.
• Tom Shippey, Tolkien as a Post-War Writer.
• Norman Talbot, Where do Elves go to? Tolkien and a Fantasy Tradition.

Section 3:  The Lord of the Rings

• Marjorie Burns, Eating, Devouring, Sacrifice and Ultimate Just Desserts.
• Jane Chance, Power and Knowledge in Tolkien: The Problem of Difference in "The Birthday Party".
• Joe R. Christopher, The Moral Epiphanies in The Lord of the Rings.
• Patrick Curry, "Less Noise and More Green": Tolkien's Ideology for England.
• Gwenyth Hood, The Earthly Paradise in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
• Gloriana St. Clair, Tolkien as Reviser: A Case Study.
• Christina Scull, Open Minds, Closed Minds in The Lord of the Rings.

Section 4:  The Silmarillion

• Alex Lewis, Historical Bias in the Making of The Silmarillion.
• Eric Schweicher, Aspects of the Fall in The Silmarillion.

Section 5:  Linguistics and Lexicography

• Peter M. Gilliver, At the Wordface: J.R.R. Tolkien's Work on the Oxford English Dictionary.
• Christopher Gilson and Patrick Wynne, The Growth of Grammar in the Elven Tongues.
• Deirdre Greene, Tolkien's Dictionary Poetics: The Influence of the OED's Defining Style on Tolkien's Fiction.
• Natalia Grigorieva, Problems of Translating into Russian.
• Bruce Mitchell, J.R.R. Tolkien and Old English Studies: An Appreciation.
• Tom Shippey, Tolkien and the Gawain-poet.

Section 6:  Response and Reaction

• Vladimir Grushetskiy, How Russians See Tolkien.
• Wayne G. Hammond, The Critical Response to Tolkien's Fiction.
• Jessica Yates, Tolkien the Anti-totalitarian.

Section 7:  Tolkien Studies

• Helen Armstrong, Good Guys, Bad Guys, Fantasy and Reality.
• Christine Barkley, The Realm of Faërie.
• Christine Barkley, Point of View in Tolkien.
• Joe R. Christopher, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Clerihew.
• Edith L. Crowe, Power in Arda: Sources, Uses and Misuses.
• Chris Hopkins, Tolkien and Englishness.
• Carl F. Hostetter and Arden R. Smith, A Mythology for England.
• Nancy Martsch, A Tolkien Chronology.
• Tadeusz Andrzej Olszanski, Evil and the Evil One in Tolkien's Theology.
• René van Rossenberg, Tolkien's Exceptional Visit to Holland: A Reconstruction.
• Anders Stenström, A Mythology? For England?
• Dwayne Thorpe, Tolkien's Elvish Craft.

Section 8:  Middle-earth Studies

• Jenny Coombs and Marc Read, A Physics of Middle-earth.
• David A. Funk, Explorations into the Psyche of Dwarves.
• William Antony Swithin Sarjeant, The Geology of Middle-earth.
• Lester E. Simons, Writing and Allied Technologies in Middle-earth.

Section 9:  The Inklings

• Charles A. Coulombe, Hermetic Imagination: The Effect of The Golden Dawn on Fantasy Literature.
• David Doughan, Tolkien, Sayers, Sex and Gender.
• Colin Duriez, Tolkien and the Other Inklings.
• Lisa Hopkins, Female Authority Figures in the Works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams.
• Diana Lynne Pavlac, More than a Bandersnatch: Tolkien as a Collaborative Writer.
• Stephen Yandell, "A Pattern Which Our Nature Cries Out For": The Mediæval Tradition of the Ordered Four in the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Section 10:  Flights of Fancy

• John Ellison, Baggins Remembered.
• Hubert Sawa, A Short History of the Territorial Development of the Dwarves' Kingdoms in the Second and Third Ages Of Middle-earth.
• Angela Surtees and Steve Gardner, The Mechanics of Dragons.. An Introduction to The Study of their 'Ologies

Section 11:  Other Writers

• Madawc Williams, Tales of Wonder - Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Age of Jane Austen.
• J.R. Wytenbroek, Natural Mysticism in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.
• J.R. Wytenbroek, Cetacean Consciousness in Katz's Whalesinger and L'Engle's A Ring of Endless Light.

Index

Papers presented at the Conference and not submitted for publication

• Helen Armstrong, How Dare You Call Me That! William Cater Interviewing Tolkien
• Michael Foster Easter in Middle-earth
• Paul Nolan Hyde, The Language of Children: A Vocabulary Contest Between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
• Stephen Medcalf, The Language Learnt of Elves
• Ned Raggett, An Unread Classic? Tolkien and Today's Reading Audience
• John D. Rateliff, The Lost Road, The Dark Tower and "The Notion Club Papers": Tolkien and Lewis' Time Travel Triad
• Brian Sibley, The Radio and the Ring: Thirty-seven Years of Broadcasting Tolkien
• Michael Tiedemann, Manwë's Mistake: An Approach to the Reasons for the Flight of the Noldor

Panel discussions

• Fantasy Role-playing and Tolkien's World Moderated by Chris Seeman, panelists: Andrew Butler, Glenn Kuring, Brian Murphy, Eric Rauscher, Madawc Williams
• Illustrating Tolkien Moderated by Christina Scull, panelists: Denis Bridoux, Sylvia Hunnewell, Ted Nasmith, Susanne Stopfel, Patrick Wynne
• Immortal Love? Moderated by Angela Surtees, panelists: Ruth Lacon, Jeremy Morgan, Catherine Thorn
• Music and Tolkien's World Moderated by Alex Lewis, panelist: Alisdair Roberts
• A Not-So-Secret Vice: Tolkienian Linguistics Moderated by Carl F. Hostetter, panelists: Jenny Coombs, David Doughan, Paul Nolan Hyde, Nancy Martsch, Arden Smith, Patrick Wynne
• The Relationship between Tolkien's Academic and Middle-earth Works Moderated by Pat Reynolds, panelists: Verlyn Flieger, Deirdre Greene, Gloriana St. Claire, Tom Shippey
• Tolkien and the Inklings Moderated by Glen H. GoodKnight, panelists: Joe Christopher, Colin Duriez, Verlyn Flieger, Diana Pavlac, John Rateliff
• Tolkien and Oxford University Moderated by Christina Scull, panelists: Dierdre Greene, Stephen Medcalf, Bruce Mitchell, Tom Shippey
• Tolkien's Precursors Moderated by John D. Rateliff, panelists: Rikki Breem, Marjorie Burns, Verlyn Flieger
• The Value of "The History of Middle-earth " Series Moderated by Ned Raggett, panelists: Helen Armstrong, David Bratman, Paul Nolan Hyde, Brian Murphy

Slide presentations

• Wayne Hammond, Pauline Baynes, Illustrator
• Joy Hill, Tolkien's Fan Mail Presented by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond
• Gary Hunnewell, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Commercialism of J.R.R. Tolkien
• Ted Nasmith, The Tolkien Art of Ted Nasmith: A Chronological Review
• Christina Scull, Illustrating Tolkien
• Philip Smith, Creative Bindings of Tolkien's Works
• Michael Underwood, Artwork Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien

Conference logo © Marian Haas 1991.

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