John D. Rateliff's Blog, page 25

Laconic Review of THE RINGS OF POWER Episode 2

 White Cliffs of Dover?

Laconic Review of RINGS OF POWER Episode 3

Better 

Laconic Review of RINGS OF POWER episode 1

 Poughkeepsie

THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT Class Starts Tomorrow

So, just a reminder that tomorrow is the first of four classes I'm doing online in collaboration with Verlyn Flieger through the Politics and Prose bookstore in DC

THE HOBBIT: How It All Began

Sunday September 11th at 2 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

The subsequent classees will be aired live on the following dates:

Sunday September 18th

Sunday October 2nd

Sunday October 9th 

For more about the course, check here for the Politics and Prose bookstore's description of the event.

https://www.politics-prose.com/class/online-class-hobbit-how-it-all-began-22110
See you tomorrow.
--John R.

The Wife Says

 

Wait!  What?  Why did no one tell me that my guy can talk about something  other than Tolkien?

WATERSHIP DOWN, P.S.

I forgot: I meant to mention that Sustare has a second claim to fame, having given his name to one of the druid spells in the classic 1st edition AD&D PLAYERS HANDBOOK:

    Chariot of Sustarre

cf DRUID SPELLS (7th Level), PH.63. *

  I never had a druid character who made it to 12th level --that is, high enough level to be able to cast 7th-level spells  --in fact the character I'm playing in the campaign I'm currently in, Arrow-Odd, is 7th level and I'm hoping will reach 8th before the adventure ends.

--John R. 

*another example from among many in AD&D's early days is Nystul's magic aura, a 1st level magic-user spell that took its name from Mike Nystul, who worked at TSR briefly during the mid-90s; cf. PH.67  

WATERSHIP DOWN in Glasgow (Sept 2nd & 3rd)

So, this weekend I'll be spending my time at the WATERSHIP DOWN conference being held in Glasgow to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Richard Adams' famous books. One of Adams' daughters, who were the original audience of the story, is due to appear as one of the Keynote Speakers.

Here's the link to the main website:

https://watershipdownat50.com

Here's the schedule detailing who speaks when:

https://watershipdownat50.com/conference-programme-draft/

And here's the listing for my piece, which shd be starting at 15.45 Greenwich time (or at 7.45 a.m. Seattle time). 

15.45-16.15 Special Guest: John Rateliff

‘“Unrighteous, Unrabbitlike, and Inhuman”: Le Guin, Adams, and Lockley’ 

Not being able to travel to Glasgow to take part in person, unfortunately, I finished the draft on Tuesday, recorded my talk on Wednesday, and sent it in that same day with a copy of the script (in case they decide to include subtitles).

Tomorrow I'll will be on-line at the time scheduled, in order to be available for Q&A after the broadcast.

I'm looking forward to it. Not only is WATERSHIP DOWN one of my favorite books but it was the first fantasy I read after Tolkien, the book that (after a number of failures) convinced me there were more great works out there, different in mode but a masterpiece in its own right. Not incidently, it figures prominently in my series CLASSICS OF FANTASY. 

I'm really looking forward to meeting fellow admirers of his work. Topics are to include animation/adaptation (the WD film and series), rabbit mythology, Lapine language, and roleplaying games based on Adams' work.  They even have Dennis Sustare and Scott Robinson, authors of the early non-D&D rpg BUNNIES & BURROWS (1976), among the listed presenters. 

In short, I'm glad to be part of this event. There's plenty I want to see here, if only I can cope with the virtual jet lag, some of the conference taking place at hours that are wee.  We'll see. 

--John R.

 

 

Quick Schedule for Art of the Manuscript

So, for those who live in the area or can attend some but not all of the events yet to come in connection with the JRRT: ART OF THE MANUSCRIPT currently being displayed at Marquette's Haggerty museum, here's a quick outline of their schedule. In addition to the chance to meet and mingle with the curators in charge of the exhibit, Bill Fliss and Sarah Schaefer, highlights will include talks by 

Carl Hostetter (Sept 22)

Holly Ordway (Oct 13)

John Garth (Oct 17th) 

There's even a chance to learn how to play D&D.

Here's the somewhat abridged schedule:

Upcoming events  

Thursday, September 8 and Friday, September 9

Virtual Symposium: Mythical Pasts, Fantasy Futures: The Middle Ages in Modern Visual Culture
Presented in collaboration with the J. Paul Getty Museum
To attend the Day 1: September 8 keynote panel, register here.
To attend the Day 2: September 9 symposium, register here.

The visual and conceptual relationships between modern fantasy, popular culture, and the medieval era are a lively area of inquiry in a variety of cultural studies disciplines. They are also the focus of two current or upcoming exhibitions: The Fantasy of the Middle Ages (Getty Museum) and J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript (Haggerty Museum of Art). This online symposium convenes an interdisciplinary group of academics and museum professionals to examine how the Middle Ages appear in the contemporary imagination, and how its aesthetics have inspired a wide variety of media.

Thursday, September 22 (Hobbit Day!), 5 p.m.
Carl Hostetter will present Editing the Tolkienian Manuscript

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 Read about Carl Hostetter on the Tolkien exhibition programs page

Friday, September 23 through Sunday, September 25
Doors Open Milwaukee/Marquette University Parents Weekend

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[image error]Thursday, September 29, 2022, 6 p.m.
The Fall Dinner:  A Celebration & Tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien

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Join us for this very special fundraising event celebrating the exhibition, J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript. The evening will begin with a cocktail reception where you can nosh on delicious hors d’ouevres, enjoy live music, and mingle with the exhibition’s co-curators Dr. William Fliss and Dr. Sarah Schaefer. Following an exquisite three-course dinner, enjoy an exclusive opportunity to tour the Tolkien exhibition with the co-curators. Proceeds will benefit the operation of the Haggerty Museum of Art including exhibitions, academic and community engagement, collection care, and administration. Sponsorship opportunities are available and include a wide range of benefits. For more information, please click here.

Friday, September 30, 10 a.m. to noon
Tolkien Reading Gathering: The Hobbit

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Presented in collaboration with Marquette University's On Your Marq program
Relax in a bean bag chair in the exhibition gallery while listening to an excerpt from The Hobbit audio book.

Friday, October 7, 5 p.m.

Our History in Manuscripts                                                                                  Performance by the Marquette University Chorus

Taking inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript and the Haggerty Museum of Art's collection of Spanish Antiphonals, the Marquette University Chorus will explore various choral styles throughout history.

Saturday, October 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Community Day: J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript

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A fun, engaging free day for all ages presented in collaboration with Milwaukee Public Library, First Stage Children’s Theater, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s ArtsECO program. Taking inspiration from the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, partnering organizations will lead experiences including calligraphy, storytelling workshops, Tolkien trivia, and more.

Tuesday, October 11, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Tolkien Reading Gathering: The Lord of the Rings

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Presented in collaboration with Marquette University's On Your Marq program
Relax in a bean bag chair in the exhibition gallery while listening to an excerpt from The Lord of the Rings audio book.

Thursday, October 13, 5 p.m.
Holly Ordway will present Tolkien’s Faith and the Foundations of Middle-earth

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Read more about Holly Ordway on our programs page

Saturday, November 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

World-Building: Dungeons & Dragons

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Take a journey with us as we explore new realms, fight evil creatures, and attempt to save a Tolkien-inspired world. Learn how to play D&D with expert hosts, then join a game yourself! Participation and spectating tickets are both available.

§  10 to 10:30 a.m. Intro to Dungeons & Dragons

§  10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dungeons & Dragons game sessions

Presented in collaboration with Milwaukee Public Library

Thursday, November 17, 5 p.m.
John Garth will present Whispering Leaves: How Tolkien’s Manuscripts Reveal the Secrets of His Creativity

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Read more about John Garth on our  programs page

 

Walkthrough of the Exhibition (Marquette)

So, for those who cdn't make it to the current display of Tolkien manuscripts, or those who wd have liked more time to see the exhibit (howevermuch time was available was bound to feel too short), here's a video walk-through of the whole display, more than half an hour long, made a few hours before the exhibit opened.  Though taking pictures was not allowed, as is usual with works on display, a group from the German Tolkien Society (Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaftes U) had official permission to record the event. That evening that same group circulated during the reception and after, taking pictures of people in attendence, myself included.

It was a great exhibit, esp. the placement of two iconic pieces at far ends of the galley: Tolkien's green great dragon nr the entry and the Ishness painting of Kor. I do have to admit that a high point for me starts around 26.00 on the film, when the camera shows and the narrator describes The River, the chart placing page of every draft of every chapter of LotR into a schematic map. This is the big project I've been working on for several years now, as my part of the LotR reprocessing project. I hope and think this will prove of great help to future researchers work out the sequence of composition at a page-by-page level.

Here's hoping the D.T.G. does indeed post more film of the exhibit.

--John R.

--unusually for me, the last day or two I've been too busy to do much reading --whether it was visiting with friends from our old book club, walking around a site with many Indian mounds, or visiting a fellow survivor from TSR.

 

Then Came the Swedes

So, thanks to friend Jim for sharing the news that people keep giving huge amounts of money to get Tolkien licensing rights. This time it's the Swedes:

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/18/embracer-group-buys-rights-to-lord-of-the-rings-and-tolkien-related-intellectual-property.html

Here's a passage that shows how widely they interpret their remit.

. . .  the deal . . . gives Embracer the rights to movies,

 video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks 

and stage productions relating to Tolkien’s works.

This is essentially the old Saul Zaentz 'movie merchandising' that Tolkien Enterprises has licensed, re-licensed, and sub-licensed from for decades.  But the new folks, Embracer /Asmodee intend to go further:

The company said it will explore “additional movies 

based on iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn,

 Gollum, Galadriel, Eowyn and other characters 

from the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien.”

--That is, they plan to go boldly into territory that was considered hands off under the Amazon license.

It'll be interesting to see what new projects come out of this (e.g., a Middle-earth theme park*), and how the new Swedish overlords exercise their stewardship.

--John R.

*Ringworld?