Section 9 Abstracts of the Proceedings of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference

Tolkien Society: 'a star shines on the hour of our meeting'

Tolkien Centenary Conference Proceedings Abstracts

Hermetic Imagination: The Effect of The Golden Dawn on Fantasy Literature.: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was an English expression of the Nineteenth-Century occult revival in Europe. Dedicated to such practices as ceremonial magic and divination, it valued these more as gateways to true understanding of reality than for their intrinsic merit. The Golden Dawn's essentially Neoplatonic world-view is reflected in the writings of such some-time members as W.B. Yeats, Arthur Machen and Charles Williams.

Tolkien, Sayers, Sex and Gender.: Tolkien's expressed "loathing" for Dorothy Sayers and her novels Gaudy Night and Busman's Honeymoon is remarkable considering that Sayers is generally considered to belong to the same milieu as the Inklings. Possible reasons for this are the contrast between the orthodox Catholic Tolkien's view of male sexuality as inherently sinful, requiring great mortification, and Sayers's frankly hedonistic approach. Another reason may be Sayers's depiction of an independent Oxford women's college getting by successfully without men, and her representation of marriage as a source of intellectual frustration for creative women.

Tolkien and the Other Inklings.: This paper looks at Tolkien's relationship with the other Inklings, especially Lewis, Williams and Barfield, in particular studying the affinities and differences between them and what Tolkien owes to them. "The Notion Club Papers" is discussed as an idealized portrait of the Inklings.

Female Authority Figures in the Works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams.: The powerful, learned woman is a figure of fear in the works of Williams, seen as transgressing her proper role. In Lewis, legitimate authority figures are male, illegitimate ones are female, and gender roles are strictly demarcated. Tolkien, however, not only creates powerful and heroic women, but also suggests that the combination of authority and femininity can be particularly potent and talismanic.

More than a Bandersnatch: Tolkien as a Collaborative Writer.: It is commonly argued that the Inklings had no influence on Tolkien. This paper will show that they had a profound influence, so much so, that Lewis and Williams should be considered co-architects of Middle-earth.

"A Pattern Which Our Nature Cries Out For": The Medieval Tradition of the Ordered Four in the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien.: This paper considers the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien and the other Inklings (specifically C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams) as being influenced by a set of shared ideas. First, Tolkien and the Inklings believed in a divine creator whose creation displays order. Secondly, Tolkien and the Inklings were familiar with the primarily Medieval notion that the matter of the world is inherently divided into groups of "four". And finally, Tolkien and his colleagues perceived the process of creation, whether by God or humans, to be similar.