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Don’t miss out on the best Tolkien event this summer

Every summer, The Tolkien Society hosts a seminar to showcase leading Tolkien scholarship from around the globe. This seminarthe Society’s 25thtakes place at the Leeds City Hilton on Sunday 3rd July. Book now so you don’t miss out!

The seminar is a day-long event and not only represents a fantastic opportunity to meet over 50 other Tolkien Society members and scholars, but also provides for some incredibly nourishing thought and debate in a valuable day of fellowship and scholarship. Previous speakers at Seminars include Tom Shippey, author of The Road to Middle-earth, and John Garth, author of Tolkien and the Great War. This year we have 13 speakers, including Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins, editors of A Secret Vice published earlier this year.

It is almost 100 years to the day since Tolkien went to the Somme, lost many of his friends, and saw untold horrors of the First World War. To commemorate this auspicious event, the theme of this year’s Seminar is “Life, Death and Immortality” looking at those issues within Tolkien’s legendarium as well as touching on Tolkien’s experiences in war. Come along to see hear talks including:

  • “Tolkien and disability: the narrative function of disabled characters in Middle-earth”
  • “The elven perspective of life, death and immortality, and its influence on humanity”
  • “Frodo and Saruman: euformation, dysformation, and immortality in The Lord of the Rings
  • “Tolkien and T.S. Eliot: the waste land and a fallen king”

Aside from the great talks, the Seminar also offers you the chance the meet and spend time with fellow members of the Society. We provide the space for members to enjoy each other’s company and share their love of Tolkien. Aside from the Seminar day itself, on the evening of the night before we will be gathering at the Black Swan pub from 6.30pm. This is free to attend and open to anyone, so if you’re in the city do pop in.

The Seminar takes place at the Leeds City Hilton hotel from 9am to 5pm on Sunday 3rd July. If you want a full day of 13 talks from leading Tolkien scholars, if you want to meet over 50 other members of the Society, and if you want to learn more about Tolkien and his works, book now or pay on the day.


Schedule for Tolkien Society Seminar 2016

Time Speaker Title
9.00–9.30 Registration
9.30–9.35 Shaun Gunner Welcome
9.35–10.00 Matthew B. Rose Tolkien and the Battle of the Somme
10.00–10.25 Irina Metzler Tolkien and disability: the narrative function of disabled characters in Middle-earth
10.25–10.50 Tania Azevedo Tolkien and T.S. Eliot: the waste land and a fallen king
10.50–11.15 Aslı Bülbül Candaş The elven perspective of life, death, and immortality, and its influence on humanity
11.15–11.40 Break
11.40–12.05 Sarah Rose Music of life: the creation of Middle-earth
12.05–12.30 Giovanni Costabile Facing death: how characters in The Lord of the Rings meet the prospect of their own demise and the loss of others
12.30–12.55 Massimiliano Izzo Recurrent patterns of the Fall in Tolkien’s Legendarium
12.55–14.00 Lunch
14.00–14.25 Andrew Higgins ‘Gifts in harmony?’: a philological exploration of Tolkien’s invented words for ‘life’ and ‘death’
14.25–14.50 Anna Milon Mortal immortals: the irony of elven immortality in the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien and W.B. Yeats
14.50–15.15 Gaëlle Abaléa Transmission: an escape from Death in Tolkien’s work?
15.15–15.40 Break
15.40–16.05 Dimitra Fimi “Tears are the very wine of blessedness”: joyful sorrow in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
16.05–16.30 Adam B. Shaeffer Frodo and Saruman: euformation, dysformation, and immortality in The Lord of the Rings
16.30–16.55 Aurelie Bremont Glorfindel of the Green Island: Celtic inspirations in Tolkien’s reincarnation model
16.55–17.00 Shaun Gunner Concluding remarks
About the Author: Shaun Gunner
Shaun is the Chair of The Tolkien Society. First elected in 2013, Shaun has overseen the Society's expansion from 600 to 3,500 members. Shaun regularly speaks about adaptations of Tolkien's works and the future of Tolkien scholarship whilst passionately believing the Society needs to reach out to new audiences. In his spare time he can be found playing video games and Lego, or on Twitter. He chaired another charity, Mankind, and is a local councillor.