The schedule for the 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies has been released and this year will again feature a series of special sessions on Tolkien.

Session 38 – Tolkien and His Medieval Sources

• “Tolkien Grammaticus: The Influence of the Gesta Danorum on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings” – Leigh Smith
• “Approaching ‘Se Uncuthaholm’: Tolkien’s Early Study of Anglo-Saxon Poetry and Prose as a Source for the Invention of Ottor Waefre” – Andrew Higgins
• “Create Corrections: Tolkien’s Response to Beorhtnoth’s Ofermod” – Colin Pajda
• “Tolkien’s Man in the Moon and Medieval Complaint Literature” – Brad Eden
• “Hrolfr Kraki in Tolkien’s Middle-earth” – Brent Landon Johnson

Session 83 – Tolkien’s The Fall of Arthur

• “That seems fatal to me”: Pagan and Christian in The Fall of Arthur” – John D. Rateliff
• “Mapping the Grammatical Margins of Middle-earth: How the Geography of The Fall of Arthur fits in Tolkien’s Legendarium” – Robin Anne Reid
• “‘Double-Hearted’: Psychomachia in The Fall of Arthur” – John R. Holmes
• “Tides of Time in The Fall of Arthur” – Robert Tredray
• “Where Is Avalon? Tolkien’s Otherworld in the West and The Fall of Arthur” – Dimitra Fimi

Tolkien’s Natural World and Science

• “The (Nearly) Discarded Image: Tolkien’s Later Tinkerings with His Medieval Cosmology” – Kristine Larsen
• “You Must Remember This: Time Dilation in Middle-earth” – Michael Wodzak
• “Litany of the Ents: Treebeard’s Priesthood and the Sacred Nature of Tolkien’s Natural World” – Victoria Holtz Wodzak

The full schedule.

About the Author: Daniel Helen

Daniel is an Officer without Portfolio and Trustee of The Tolkien Society. Elected in 2014, he is mainly responsible for the Society's digital operations, including this website.