Tolkien reading in Karlsruhe on the 25th - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Bêthberry · 03-26-2011, 07:47 PM

I'm home, Galadriel55! We had an afternoon meeting to accommodate members who drive in from several cities outside the GTA.

We had alot of fun and laughter.I suppose in the vernacular I could say it was awesome.

The group was smallish--well, larger than the Fellowship by a bit--but there is a wide range in the ages of members. I'm sure your parents would have found people of interest their own age

and there were also some young adults, probably a bit older than you. After lunch we made a concerted effort to read all our passages to each other--interesting how "trees" can take readers in so many different ways; time allowed us to make some comments and observations on each passage. I read two pieces: the paragraph from Tolkien's essay on Beowulf and the critics where he refers to certain critics as "flitting from one tum-tum tree to another"; and part of the poem "Korterion Among The Trees" from Cottage of Lost Play in BoLT 1.

Wellinghall Smial has a very dynamic group of people. They've started (or helped to start) the White Tree Fund to amalgamate the world wide Tolkien community to support various charities and raise awareness of literacy initiatives (among several goals).

They also produce the Silver Leaves Journal in support of that fund. I saw the three past issues of the journal this afternoon and they are beautiful, interesting works, with contributions from around the world. Jef Murray and Ted Nasmith are just some of the contributors.

I'm looking forward to seeing you at one of the Reading Day events some year soon, G55.

EDIT: Probably the most fitting reading was the passage from the chapter "Treebeard" which describes Wellinghall. We all agreed it should be the closing reading for future Reading Day moots.

03-26-2011, 07:47 PM	#18
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	I'm home, Galadriel55! We had an afternoon meeting to accommodate members who drive in from several cities outside the GTA. We had alot of fun and laughter.I suppose in the vernacular I could say it was awesome. The group was smallish--well, larger than the Fellowship by a bit--but there is a wide range in the ages of members. I'm sure your parents would have found people of interest their own age and there were also some young adults, probably a bit older than you. After lunch we made a concerted effort to read all our passages to each other--interesting how "trees" can take readers in so many different ways; time allowed us to make some comments and observations on each passage. I read two pieces: the paragraph from Tolkien's essay on Beowulf and the critics where he refers to certain critics as "flitting from one tum-tum tree to another"; and part of the poem "Korterion Among The Trees" from Cottage of Lost Play in BoLT 1. Wellinghall Smial has a very dynamic group of people. They've started (or helped to start) the White Tree Fund to amalgamate the world wide Tolkien community to support various charities and raise awareness of literacy initiatives (among several goals). They also produce the Silver Leaves Journal in support of that fund. I saw the three past issues of the journal this afternoon and they are beautiful, interesting works, with contributions from around the world. Jef Murray and Ted Nasmith are just some of the contributors. I'm looking forward to seeing you at one of the Reading Day events some year soon, G55. EDIT: Probably the most fitting reading was the passage from the chapter "Treebeard" which describes Wellinghall. We all agreed it should be the closing reading for future Reading Day moots. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away. Last edited by Bêthberry; 03-26-2011 at 09:54 PM.