Re: The General Tolkien News Thread

[Pettytyrant101]

Thanks Chris- downloading that

[halfwise]

Lots of talking head, but I guess if you think of it as a podcast with occasional pictures it will be okay. Will work my way through it bit by bit.

[chris63]

GAZING INTO GHG’S PALANTIR: ‘THE RING GOES SOUTH’

http://greyhavensgroup.com/2015/02/10/gazing-into-ghgs-palantir-the-ring-goes-south/

[malickfan]

The new book 'The Art Of The Lord Of The Rings' has a tentative release date of October 13 2015:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Lord-Rings-J-r-r-Tolkien/dp/0544636341/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423858877&sr=1-1&keywords=the+art+of+the+lord+of+the+rings

Whilst the Hobbit Facsimile Edition has been pushed back, again, to September 2016

[Pettytyrant101]

mmm- no images either - so what is it- a collection of Tolkiens art? Or other artists work based on his writing?

[malickfan]

mmm- no images either - so what is it- a collection of Tolkiens art? Or other artists work based on his writing?

It's a collection of Tolkiens Paitings, Maps and Drawings related to LOTR and its drafts, much of it is previously unpublished I posted about it a few months ago, see this post by Hammond and Scull:

https://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/new-tolkien-projects-part-two/

It is not to be confused with

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lord-Rings-Gary-Russell/dp/0618510982

(Gary Rusell has done alot of work in Doctor Who, and was the original producer for Big Finish)

[Pettytyrant101]

Thanks Malick.

[chris63]

The Hobbit & Norse Myth

http://www.norsemyth.org/p/norse-myth-classes.html

[malickfan]

Following the earlier news about The Story of Kullervo, it seems Tolkien's Essay 'A Secret Vice' (published in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays) is also being published in a separate, expanded volume:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Vice-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0008131392/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426612715&sr=1-1&keywords=A+Secret+Vice

[malickfan]

http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/Media-Gallery/Audio-and-Video-on-Tolkien

[malickfan]

The Tolkien Estate have revamped their website, with lots of new information and links, including an essay by Christopher Tolkien on the editing of The Silmarillion:

http://www.tolkienestate.com/en/writing/tales-of-middle-earth/the-silmarillion.html

This new (unathourised) Tolkien biography sounds...interesting:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/J-R-R-Tolkien-Codemaker-Spy-master-unauthorised-biography/dp/151183711X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430168151&sr=8-1&keywords=tolkien+spymaster

A new biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - voted as 'book of the 20th century'. In this biography the consulting editors put forward a compelling case that Professor Tolkien was not the ivory tower Professor who did little other than suddenly publish two best sellers, but that he had a parallel career in Intelligence. With careful examination of Tolkien's existing biographies and the inadequacies of the explanations given and perpetuated from one biographer to the next, a persuasive picture is built up of what Tolkien may have been involved in over a period of decades. The writings themselves are amongst the most revealing proof of Tolkien's preoccupation with espionage and Intelligence and they are analysed closely and carefully. This biography is ground breaking and overturns decades of held belief. It will mark a start of a new phase in Tolkien criticism that takes the post Cold War era into account

[Eldorion]

I tried reading through the "look inside" preview of that book on Amazon. Trying to look past the horrible typesetting (horrible even by the standards of self-publishing), it's pretty terrible. The entire premise of the book is that the author is personally incredulous that "a genius" could be content to live a "normal" life (because clearly being an Oxford professor brings with it a perfectly ordinary level of intellectual activity). The back cover brags that the book features only already-available information, so don't expect any actual proof of the idea that Tolkien was an intelligence agent. I've read a fair number of books about Tolkien by independent scholars, and they are of considerably varying quality, but this is in a league of its own (and not in a good way).

[malickfan]

I tried reading through the "look inside" preview of that book on Amazon.  Trying to look past the horrible typesetting (horrible even by the standards of self-publishing), it's pretty terrible.  The entire premise of the book is that the author is personally incredulous that "a genius" could be content to live a "normal" life (because clearly being an Oxford professor brings with it a perfectly ordinary level of intellectual activity)...

Yeah my immediate reaction was it's hilarious the blurb doesn't even confirm any of it is definitely true, how would Tolkien even have the time to engage in secret espionage? (A elderly best selling author wouldn't be my first choice for secret work personally) The Author's probably a few years too late to be cashing in with such speculation...

That said He was apparently approached by Bletchley Park (location of the UK's WW2 Codebreaking Unit) in 1939, so they could be on to something:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6197169/JRR-Tolkien-trained-as-British-spy.html

[Pettytyrant101]

I see no issue with the notion he might have been recruited to help from a linguistic point of view- he was top of his field and well regarded for it at the time.
But as far as I am aware all the stuff about Bletchley Park is declassified and if his name had been there it would have come up by now.

[malickfan]

I see no issue with the notion he might have been recruited to help from a linguistic point of view- he was top of his field and well regarded for it at the time.
But as far as I am aware all the stuff about Bletchley Park is declassified and if his name had been there it would have come up by now.

Good point, but he didn't retire until 1959, and spent the better part of 15 years writing LOTR, I don't think it would be possible for Tolkien to find the time for espionage...

[Eldorion]

Yeah, I recall reading an article about how he'd been briefly in contact with Bletchley, but the rest of this book's thesis sounds like pure fabrication.

[Bluebottle]

Perhaps it works better as a work of fiction.

[Pettytyrant101]

There is an article on the science of ME- was posted over on ToRN- just read it, and whilst it has some interesting bits it seems bizarrely misinformed at the same time.
For example it doesnt seem to know the difference between book and film- there is a bit on how Frodo would have cracked his sternum from being stabbed by the trolll in Moria- except of course in the book it was an orc.

It also includes an odd bit about astronomy which states-

'or when Tolkien was writing about these fictional constellations, perhaps he had these real constellations in mind based on his descriptions.' (bold added)

Except ME is earth and the constellationsa are the same- its clear Orion is refrenced when Tolkien talks about the Menelmacar with his 'shining belt', the red 'star' witnessed by Frodo at Rivendell is almost certainly Mars.

And the person who wrote that has apprently written several papers on Tolkien!

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/05/sciences-love-affair-with-the-lord-of-the-rings/392216/

[Eldorion]

Well it's just a collection of links to existing articles for the most part.  The cave troll one actually addresses both the films and the books and finds the books to be more plausible.  Though that comment from the author of the astronomy paper...

[Pettytyrant101]

Yet another case Eldo where your avatar sums up the situation rather well.

(I downloaded the pdf on the troll thing, and fortunetly it does address both book and film versions- but I would say that it goes further than finding the book version more plausible into saying they find it entirely plausible)

[Bluebottle]

Yet another case Eldo where your avatar sums up the situation rather well.

Yes, I meant to ask. Is everythng okay? I asume it is. I just kind of get this feeling with your new avatar you're kind of facepalming the world at the moment.

Who knows, maybe I'm just projecting.

[Eldorion]

I used this as an avatar once before ages ago and I still like it, both because it gives me so much mileage in cases like these and because the character in it is one I really like.

I'm doing so-so at the moment, but today has been pretty good for the most part. Thanks for asking, Blue.

[Pettytyrant101]

I just assumed you've finally realised the futitility of resisting the truth -that the the only attitude to the world thats appropriate is one of crabbit despair and disbelief

[Bluebottle]

I thought crabbit was a way to break through despair and disbelief through sheer anger.

I'm doing so-so at the moment, but today has been pretty good for the most part.  Thanks for asking, Blue.

Haha, I like that way of putting it. That's pretty descriptive of how I'm feeling at the moment too.

Aaanyway..

https://youtu.be/5sCS259t8lg?t=3m55s

[Pettytyrant101]

I thought crabbit was a way to break through despair and disbelief through sheer anger.- Blue

A common misunderstanding Blue- crabbit is more than just anger, anyone can get angry- crabbit is a state of mind for dealing with the universe- by ranting against its unfairness and stupidity, and the certain knowledge you cant do anything about it. But it makes you feel a lot better about that fact. Its a state of being that insists nothing in the universe is frankly up to scratch.