Tolkien 2005 - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Estelyn Telcontar · 12-19-2005, 01:45 PM

Surprise!

I am...

Whether or not it will work out remains to be seen. Do you have any idea who's organising it? After enjoying last summer's conference so much, I would very much be interested in attending another.

Mithalwen · 12-19-2005, 01:52 PM

A few days in Oxford is always tempting - especially if it were residential since Oxford is expensive...... Exeter has such a lovely chapel although I have slightly excruciating memories of my last visit..... interesting subjects too .....

davem · 12-19-2005, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

Surprise!

I am...

Whether or not it will work out remains to be seen. Do you have any idea who's organising it? After enjoying last summer's conference so much, I would very much be interested in attending another.

You're as wise as I am - all I know about it is what I've seen on the website. Its probably the GK Cesterton Institute. They had one in Oxford earlier this year (or maybe last - not sure) 'Landscapes with Angels' on fantasy & imagination.

littlemanpoet · 12-19-2005, 08:52 PM

Unless I get a windfall, there's no England for me next year, let alone Oxford. I tell you, one day is not enough to visit Oxford. Ah well. Enjoy the Con!

Lalwendë · 01-17-2006, 06:16 AM

There's a little more info about the Second Spring Tolkien conference, which I've copied below as I'm suspicious this link won't take you right there.

I have to say it looks very interesting so far and is in a fabulous location (couldn't be better really) but the price is ridiculously high considering it couldn't hope to be as packed a programme as that at Tolkien 2005.

£695?!

Quote:

Oxford Tolkien Conference

The Lord of the Rings: Sources of Inspiration

Exeter College, Oxford
Monday 21st to Friday 25th August 2006

Exeter College Oxford is the college where J.R.R. Tolkien was an undergraduate. He graduated in 1915 with a First in English Language and Literature. The great mythopoeic work for which he would become famous was already germinating in his mind. In the years that followed he married Edith Bratt (Luthien) and served in the Battle of the Somme. The great mythopoeic work for which he would become famous was already germinating in his mind.

Ever since the publication of The Hobbit, Tolkien's fantasy and mythological writing has eclipsed his important academic work. C.S. Lewis said of The Lord of the Rings: "The book is like lightning from a clear sky... To say that in it heroic romance, gorgeous, eloquent, and unashamed, has suddenly returned at a period almost pathological in its anti-romanticism, is inadequate... It marks not a return but an advance or revolution: the conquest of new territory. Nothing quite like it was ever done before."

How and why did the lightning strike? This international conference will examine Tolkien's extraordinary achievement from a variety of angles, asking some of the leading specialists in the growing field of Tolkien studies to discover the main sources of his inspiration and influences upon the work.

John Garth on Tolkien, Exeter, and the Great War
Verlyn Flieger on Tolkien and Northernness
Alison Milbank on Tolkien, Thomism, and G.K. Chesterton
Philip Zaleski on Tolkien and his Predecessors (Romantics, Pre-Raphaelites)
Patrick Curry on Tolkien and Enchantment
Tolkien and the Inklings
Tolkien and Language
Tour of Oxford
Specialized bookshop
Special guests

Prices: £695 full board; non-res. per day £100; apply for latest details.

Watch for further announcements.

Stratford Caldecott
Conference Office, Exeter College, Oxford OX1 3DP

Mithalwen · 01-17-2006, 07:05 AM

Well I can forget about that unless a premium bond comes up in a big way - especially since it is all weekdays

Lalwendë · 04-19-2006, 05:10 AM

I'm wondering to post this is the 'Assigned to Mordor' thread, actually...

Here's a link to the actual website of the Second Spring Oxford Tolkien Conference. It gives extracts from might be expected from papers, some of which look extremely interesting, especially the one on Tolkien's England, and the event sounds very high level and academic. However, my suspicions are confirmed that there is only one paper being presented at any time, and it is very much a highly 'timetabled' event, including tours and dinners and the like. It is, however, in a beautiful college, includes plenty of time with Priscilla and has those interesting papers...

The cost remains at £695. For two people this is outrageous, which is why I am thinking of sending it to Mordor! That's about £1400, which would buy me over a month's holiday by the seaside in high season! Or a new car! Do they deliberately want to exclude us 'riff-raff'?

Rant over...

Mithalwen · 04-19-2006, 06:12 AM

Well the premium bond did come up yesterday but only to the tune of £100 - which was nevertheless and appreciated windfall, particularly since I had assumed the nasty brown envelope from up north was from the Inland Revenue. Not enough to make a difference to the conference. So I thinkI will spend it on shoes ...and maybe a chocolate fountain ...

12-19-2005, 01:45 PM	#1
Estelyn Telcontar Princess of Skwerlz Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles) Posts: 7,500	Surprise! I am... Whether or not it will work out remains to be seen. Do you have any idea who's organising it? After enjoying last summer's conference so much, I would very much be interested in attending another. __________________ 'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'

12-19-2005, 01:52 PM	#2
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,463	A few days in Oxford is always tempting - especially if it were residential since Oxford is expensive...... Exeter has such a lovely chapel although I have slightly excruciating memories of my last visit..... interesting subjects too ..... __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace

01-17-2006, 07:05 AM	#6
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,463	Well I can forget about that unless a premium bond comes up in a big way - especially since it is all weekdays __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace

04-19-2006, 05:10 AM	#7
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	I'm wondering to post this is the 'Assigned to Mordor' thread, actually... Here's a link to the actual website of the Second Spring Oxford Tolkien Conference. It gives extracts from might be expected from papers, some of which look extremely interesting, especially the one on Tolkien's England, and the event sounds very high level and academic. However, my suspicions are confirmed that there is only one paper being presented at any time, and it is very much a highly 'timetabled' event, including tours and dinners and the like. It is, however, in a beautiful college, includes plenty of time with Priscilla and has those interesting papers... The cost remains at £695. For two people this is outrageous, which is why I am thinking of sending it to Mordor! That's about £1400, which would buy me over a month's holiday by the seaside in high season! Or a new car! Do they deliberately want to exclude us 'riff-raff'? Rant over... __________________ Gordon's alive!

04-19-2006, 06:12 AM	#8
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,463	Well the premium bond did come up yesterday but only to the tune of £100 - which was nevertheless and appreciated windfall, particularly since I had assumed the nasty brown envelope from up north was from the Inland Revenue. Not enough to make a difference to the conference. So I thinkI will spend it on shoes ...and maybe a chocolate fountain ... __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace

12-19-2005, 08:52 PM	#4
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	Unless I get a windfall, there's no England for me next year, let alone Oxford. I tell you, one day is not enough to visit Oxford. Ah well. Enjoy the Con!