The Hall of Fire

Welcome to The Hall of Fire

November 2009

After something of a slow start, the Education team has been kept busy this year with a wide variety of requests for help and information. We have also continued helping and encouraging new writers and researchers, some of whom have had their work published in Amon Hen and Mallorn during the year. It is a privilege and a pleasure to be able to support new writers.

If you are interested in the kinds of research being done, the kinds of essay topics being undertaken by students of all ages, and/or the kinds of activities in which Tolkien enthusiasts participate, the list which follows will provide a good deal of information.

It shows some of the interesting queries and some significant snippets of information that have come in. At times the wider team of Volunteers has been called on for help. As always, they have been a mine of information, and we are most grateful for their help.

• One of the most exciting events of the year has been the news of a primary school Reading Group which is not only very active, but has already participated in the Tolkien Seminar, and the Tolkien Languages Conference, as well as visiting Sarehole. It is great to know that the next generation of Tolkien scholars is out there!
• A young student in USA asked if it was possible to become a Tolkien scholar, and how to go about it.
• We heard from our friends in California that they had had 2 Reading Days – their usual monthly meeting and a special event on the day. What a good idea!
• Two teachers in the USA wanted to know if there is a database or list of all Gandalf's speeches, statements, and musings. This was certainly the kind of enquiry that needed the maximum input, and the Volunteers came back with lots of useful information. There is a book Following Gandalf by Matthew Dickerson. Brazos Press, 2003, and various articles, but at present there was no actual database or list.
• The Spanish Tolkien Society got in touch about their music project. The Vanyar Ensemble form part of the Tolkien Society of Spain. They are touring with their music which is based on The Silmarillion.
• An enquiry arrived about academic themes such as Capitalism and Marxism and objects of desire in Tolkien's work - items such as, the One Ring, Narsil, the other rings of power, the Arkenstone, the Silmarils, etc. The topic of desire in Tolkien's work, and 'academic' approaches to it is likely to take any researcher in many different directions.
• From a more unusual communications 'platform', a student emailed for help with starting an essay using an i-phone.
• Another student was hoping for an interview with a Tolkien family member. This is not something the Society can arrange, but we get at least one such request a semester.
• We were asked for suggestions about how Tolkien's life experience influenced the writing of Fellowship of the Ring. It is a sign of the times that we were asked first for any websites that might help, and only then for books on the subject!
• This raised a perennial problem - there are many websites offering Tolkien-related material, and it is equally true that while many of them cannot be recommended, they remain the only source of information for some researchers. This makes the TSwebsite all the more important.
• Another student asked about the number of copies of Tolkien's books that had been sold, and the number of languages into which they had been translated.
• The Education Volunteers helped with a query about Tolkien's knowledge of Scottish history. This is a trickier topic than it looks, because Tolkien was taught by a Scot at Oxford – William Craigie, and worked with George Stuart Gordon, another Scot who was his head of department at Leeds. What he may have gleaned from them can only be guessed.
• We had a request for assistance with finding useful books from a postgraduate who is beginning a thesis on the influence of the World Wars on Lord of the Rings.
• Expanding on the biographical connection, a college student wanted help finding information about how Tolkien's life experiences influenced his writing in Fellowship of the Ring.
• A young correspondent wanted more information about Éowyn and the Witch King in RotK. She complained that no one she had asked so far had been able to explain why it is that Angmar cannot be killed by a man, and she was not satisfied with the response she had consistently been given that this is just the way it is. As she noticed, Tolkien always has a good reason for what he does. It was a pleasure to confirm her opinion, and explain about the sources and background to this remarkable taboo. It was a pleasure to come across a younger Tolkien enthusiast who was not going to be satisfied with anything less than a detailed answer to her query.
• We had a request for information about a dictionary that would with the translation of Modern English into Anglo-Saxon. The best option turned out to be online at http://home.comcast.net/~modean52/
• A student from Indonesia asked for information about sources that would help with research into the symbolism of Tolkien's various geographical locations.
• We heard from our colleagues in Lahore that they were engaged in a discussion about Denethor. However the unstable situation in Pakistan has made it impossible for the Lahore Group to continue.
• We were sent a booklet from the Peruvian Tolkien Society which turned out to be the text, with photos, of a drama based on the Ringwraiths. They look like a lively group!
• We were made aware that The Children of Hurin has already become a resource for research.
• A student asked for help with an essay on influences from Tolkien's own life and from Beowulf, in Lord of the Rings.
• Students in Brazil were looking for a volunteer to answer questions about Tolkien, and the Society for their new fanzine.
• We were asked about sources of information regarding the way Lord of the Rings was 'translated' into film, particularly the choice of locations in New Zealand to represent those in Middle-earth.
• We helped with the untangling (as far as possible) of the pre-historic and historic significance of barrows in the English landscape as part of research into the significance of barrows in Lord of the Rings.
• We had a request for information about how teachers of Tolkien studies have adapted their teaching of his books in the wake of the films. The Education Volunteers came back with some encouraging, and some discouraging, responses. It was particularly discouraging to hear of a course on Tolkien being offered which generated NO interest among students. This is, however, most unusual.
• The Anglo-Saxon study pack is still generating some interest. Apart from requests for hard copy versions, we do not know to what extent the online version is being used, or whether it encourages people to explore Tolkien's uses of the language.
• A new series of Study Packs based on The Hobbit is in production, and the first part – Walking Through The Hobbit, - is now on this site. The intention is to encourage the use of the book for the study of English at various levels, as well as helping with the understanding of the story. It is intended that the whole series will eventually be available online and as in hard copy or CD by the time the film is released in order to maximise interest in the book.
• There is a new link on the Education Pages webpages to the Tolkien Studies Journal, which offers serious researchers an additional outlet for their work besides Mallorn.
• The Contents Pages of Tolkien Studies back issues can be accessed online so that students and researchers can see the trends of the latest research. In addition to this, anyone wishing to submit an article may find it helpful to check out the journal's Conventions and Abbreviations webpage. Possibly the most important Convention to be aware of is the journal's attempt to establish definitive editions of e.g. Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and The Hobbit, so that all referencing to Tolkien's major works in it conforms to one set of standard texts. It is not unusual for a journal to set a standard text from which to quote, it is done in some Shakespeare journals, and in view of the 'many editions' of Tolkien's work, this is may be a good idea, but it also has the potential to cause problems for writers outside USA.
• We heard from a graduate who had asked for information during the early stages of his research on time in Tolkien's work. He has now gained his PhD.
• We have been updated on various research projects which continue, and it has been interesting and enlightening to assist the researchers.
• One person sent compliments (by way of the online Guestbook) to the Education 'Department' for the resources on the website. It is great to know we are being useful.
• This past year saw the publication of the book The Mirror Crack'd: Fear and Horror in Tolkien's Major Works, which was the final result of a Tolkien session at Leeds IMC. The session brought together academics from South Africa, Italy and USA. The book includes additional essays by scholars from Germany, USA, Canada, and England.

During the summer (what summer? you may ask) we have had an unusual number of requests for help (maybe bad weather makes for good research!)

• A request arrived looking for help to find out more about how bits and pieces of classical mythology echo in Tolkien's work. The enquirer was also interested in the "high" language of Tolkien's works as compared with the "lighter" style of derivative fantasy works.
• A student asked for bibliographical help towards an essay concerning religion and ethics in Lord of the Rings.
• We were asked for help accessing back numbers of Amon Hen.
• We were asked for help regarding the Medieval Romances that Tolkien may have studied or read, as distinct from the ones we know he edited.
• And we heard that our Italian colleagues were beginning a translation of Joseph Pearce's Tolkien: Man and Myth. Their recent translation of Brian Rosebury's Tolkien: a Cultural Phenomenon has been published.
• There are now 2 new short essays the Education pages, as well as some more pictures to liven things up. One piece is on Horses in Lord of the Rings. The other is less of an essay and more of a collection of research information on Celtic and other sources for the name Meriadoc. Hopefully they will prove useful, or at least interesting.

Lynn Forest-Hill