Tolkien 2005

[Alcarillo]

Originally Posted by Guardian Article

As he reads a Bilbo Baggins poem about Strider, his audience mutter along as if reciting the Lord's Prayer.

First sacrifices, now prayers? It's a full-blown religion!

[Lalaith]

I was going to post the link to this article but then I figured someone would have beaten me to it...
The quote I particularly enjoyed was this:

The Terry Pratchett gatherings are "much less highbrow," he says. "It's interesting to see a newbug have their first discussion with a serious Tolkien scholar and watch their face go ... " Mole loosens his lower jaw in bewilderment.

Rather reminiscent of the Downs, dontcha think?

So, were any Downers there, in the end?

[Mithalwen]

They will still be there if they have gone for the whole thing... I guess we can expect reports from Lawende, Davem, Estelyn and Narforc tomorrow....

[Lalwendë]

Well, that Grauniad article didn't quite capture the spirit of it, the one in the Telegraph was better, and funnier too. I personally didn't spot anyone muttering during Tom Shippey's lecture (though someone got glared at for opening a box of action figures and making a racket ). Did they mention the game of Golfimbul? The snoring truck driver or the guy I dubbed 'Windy Miller'? No.

A full report shall follow soon...

[davem]

Yeah - full report later. As to highlights - one: meeting Esty (who's one of the loveliest persons you could wish to meet! Two: meeting Narforc (who, by the way, is in the process of writing one of the funniest & cleverest parodies of LotR - I'm far from a fan of the genre, but he's won me over).

The other thing was the lectures - Tom Shippey's on the use of proverbs, Ronald Hutton's on 'Tolkien the Pagan'!!!!! (He made a fascinating point - in a letter to his son, Michael?? Tolkien stated that for a time in his younger days I think he mentioned while at Leeds & at Northmoor Road, but I'll have to check, Tolkien says he neglected his faith - working this out, this period, according to Hutton, covered virtually the whole of the 1920's! This is significant, because thiis was the major period of the development of the Silmarillion. I'll have to go into this later)

Also, a couple by Verlyn Flieger - well, one lecture & one short story reading - why was that special? It was an unpublished short story by Tolkien himself! Actually, it is a background story to Smith of Wooton Major, telling the story of Smith's grandfather, Rider, the history & origin of the Fay Star, & the reason for the Faeries interest in humanity, & incorporating a fascinating philosophical discussion on the nature of Faerie & its relationship to our world & their interdependence. Well up to the standard you'd expect, & it adds incredible depth & meaning to SoWM. It will be finally published (in the UK on 5th Sept by Harper Collins) in a new edition of Smith, but according to Flieger there's no info on an American publication date. We were the first members of the public anywhere to hear the story, & so, for a few weeks at least, the only ones anywhere.

[Lalwendë]

OK, I have some time for a report.

The event as a whole was excellent, but it was exceedingly tiring, with having to get up early and not getting to bed until after midnight. I even spent one afternoon asleep because I couldn't keep going any longer (but I only missed one interesting sounding talk). The days were stuffed full of things to do, the daytimes mostly being focussed on listening to talks and lectures though there were also some dance and drama workshops for those who wanted them too. Getting the programme sent me into shock as I didn't know how I was going to choose what to attend (there were at least four options at any time) and I quickly relaised I couldn't attend things all day long because it was mentally tiring. And to do a talk by someone like Verlyn Flieger justice, you have to spend some time digesting it afterwards.

Some of the talks were excellent. I particularly enjoyed those by Ronald Hutton "The Pagan Tolkien", and some by lesser known speakers such as "Hobbit Names Aren't From Kentucky" and "Galadriel's Lovers". One talk I went to this morning taught me very little indeed (it was on the origin of Ents) but it was utterly entertaining due to the eccentric man presenting. Some papers looked interesting but the delivery of them was dull or else hard to understand due to language difficulties. One young chap gave a talk on Milton & Tolkien, but alas he spoke so fast it was difficult to take it all in. Some talks were light-hearted and others were very serious. Some looked exciting in the brochure but were like aural valium. I'll try to list what I saw and who gave the talks in a later post but impressions are more interesting for now methinks.

The dealers' room was excellent - and I spent a fair amount of money. Any book you could wish for was on sale. Plus a lot of other stuff too. I got Alan Lee to sign a book for me, and he was very nice to talk to. I also went crashing into Tom Shippey in a horrible crowd but it was all very English with apologies from both parties....

Anyways, we met Esty who is just lovely, and very intelligent I might add. Though I'm sure she thought we were very odd and quiet as she is so outgoing! I should have liked to have met her in a less pressured environment and been able to talk more without feeling like we had to always rush off somewhere or else we were too tired! Her costume was beautiful - I have a photo but might wait til she says it can be posted. We also met narfforc, who is very funny, and his Pallando costume was superb. He roared in the bar that people were coming up to him and saying "like the Gandalf costume" a statement which davem stored up to shout at him later.

Saturday was bizarre with the costume extravaganza in the evening. Lots of people were going about dressed in various outfits, even those not taking part! Yours truly even got a cloak on for the evening which blowed and swished satisfactorily in the breeze (though the goose droppings round the lake were a bit hazardous). One participant chose to be a non-canonical 4th Age female wizard which was a bit irritating (especially as she was not actually a very pleasant person to begin with), but some chose clever costumes such as Haleth and a doric Entwife. One guy turned up as a Hobbit but he had a beard and glasses so he looked more like the Peter Jackson as a Hobbit action figure. It was all worth it when the drink started flowing and hordes of drunken Gandalfs (Gandalves?) were staggering about playing Golfimbul later on. A random drunk guy (just a Brummie on a lads' night out) was delighted to see this and stormed up demanding his picture be taken with the white wizards.

There were a few not entirely pleasant people about, including one who took a dislike to me, but most were very nice and interesting to talk to - some of the people were shall we say 'eccentric', some were very stereotypical geeks with thick glasses and jumble sale clothes (this includes "Windy Miller" who trumped* his way through a performance of folk songs), but most were just as normal as the next person. There were people of all ages and from all places. The truck driver I mentioned went to sleep in the Ronald Hutton talk, his snores getting louder and louder until he had to be woken up; poor man was mortified.

We were, however, disappointed that nobody chose to dress up as Gandalf the Grey.....Uncloaked!

*trumped - you can guess what this is. He must have had beans and prunes for breakfast.

EDIT

Some more...

One thing I didn't mention is that Priscilla Tolkien attended the event. She came to the opening ceremony and was still there on the Friday. This was a nice surprise! And in addition to Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith was there, mingling with the drinkers at night (as he always does, apparently).

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Hi! I'm still travelling, so I can't yet add an in-depth report - well, I just tried to write at least a bit, but the PC at this internet place crashed and it's gone. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed the event tremendously and had a wonderful time! More to come when I'm back home...