Friday, September 2, 2022

Tolkien Heads: the Man, the Mythology, & Middle-Earth: Sessions 4 & 5 + Middle-Earth Lore





TOLKIEN HEADS: the Man, the Mythology, & Middle-Earth:
Sessions 4 & 5 + Middle-Earth Lore


Tolkien Heads with Chris Vaccarro
Streamed live on Aug 22, 2022 

Christopher Vaccaro is Senior Lecturer at the Universty of Vermont where he has been teaching English since 1999. Earning his Ph.D. from the City University of New York in 2003, he has been teaching a variety of courses for the English Department and the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program. Some of his courses include British Literature Survey, Introduction to Old English, Beowulf, Queers of Color, Women of the Middle Ages, Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Queering the Middle Ages, History of the English Language, and Written Expression.
Professor Vaccaro has been organizing events at UVM for almost as long as he has been here. He began the Tolkien at UVM conference in 2004 and has been running the conference and bringing important scholars in the field to UVM every year since then. Publications include two edited collections on Tolkien, The Body in Tolkien’s Legendarium (McFarland Press, 2013) and Tolkien and Alterity (Palgrave, 2017) with essays included in those volumes, and essays published on Tolkien. He is currently working on a monograph exploring the intersection of pleasure, same-sex love, and death in Beowulf and lesser known Old English texts. In addition, he has been asked to co-edit a collection on Queer Tolkien and has tentatively agreed to edit a collection for Brill’s Exploration of the Middle Ages series titled Painful Pleasures: Sadomasochism in Medieval Culture.


Tolkien Heads: Tolkien’s Creation of Middle-earth w/ Stephen Yandell
Streamed live on Aug 29, 2022 

Dr. Stephen Yandell is an English faculty member at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and teaches courses regularly on J.R.R. Tolkien and medieval literature. His earliest Tolkien research, “‘A Pattern Which Our Nature Cries Out For’: the Medieval Tradition of the Ordered Four in the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien,” appears in the 1992 Proceedings of the J. R. R. Tolkien Centenary Conference, Keble College, Oxford, and more recent work is included in The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia and Tolkien and Alterity. His research interests include medieval prophecy (he is co-editor of Prophet Margins: The Medieval Vatic Impulse and Social Stability), Middle Welsh literature (his translation of Math, Son of Mathonwy appears in Medieval Literature for Children), and medievalism (with chapters appearing in The Disney Middle Ages and Mass Market Medieval). His work also extends to other Inklings, most notably C. S. Lewis, with research included in C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy and C. S. Lewis, Views from Wake Forest. He currently serves as Director of the University Scholars Program.


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LotR Timeline: Part I
A lot of people who read the Lord of the Rings for the first time not only get confused by the large amount of names and places but also of the many storylines and switches that occur during the book. In general the first book: The Fellowship of the Ring starts pretty much chronilogical and follows the actions of Frodo and the other Hobbits. A mayor turning point is the Council of Elrond where the Fellowship of the Ring is formed and the company sets out on its quest. The End of the First Book and the beginning of the Second Book concern the Breaking of the Fellowship and from that point the story gets more complicated as there are three major groups to follow. During the Second book and the Third book the story switches from group to group while often going back in time.
We have created four Timelines that give a chronological summary of the major events that concern the main characters. Each character has his own coloured line that can be followed as the characters gather and disperse. The First Timeline follows the actions of some of the members of the Fellowship of the Ring from the moment that Gandalf visits Frodo in Hobbiton until the Council of Elrond.
For a Portugese Version of the Timelines go to: Duvendor


The next part is the timeline from The Council of Elrond where the Fellowship of the Ring is formed untill the Breaking of the Fellowship.

LotR Timeline: Part II
Below is the timeline that follows the actions from the moment that the Fellowship of the Ring sets out on its quest untill the Breaking of the Fellowship.


Note: Gollum follows the Fellowship of the Ring closely in Moria, thus his timeline is drawn beside the members of the FoR. The next part is the timeline from The Breaking of the Fellowship until the Battle at the Pelennor Fields. 
LotR Timeline: Part III 
This part of the timeline and the book are the most confusing as a lot of different characters are doing a lot of different things. Below is the timeline that follows the actions from The Breaking of the Fellowship until the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

 
The next part of the timeline is the last and it shows the events from the Battle of the Pelennor Fields untill the Frodo, Bilbo and the Three Keepers leave Middle-Earth.

LotR Timeline: Part IV
Below is the timeline that follows the actions from The Battle of the Pelennor Fields until Frodo, Bilbo and the Three Keepers leave Middle-Earth.


The Third Age ended with the departure of Frodo, Bilbo and the Three Keapers at the Grey Havens. Note worthy dates in the Fourth Age:
  • S.R. 1482 : Rose dies, Sam leaves Middle-earth as the last of the Ringbearers.
  • S.R. 1541 : King Elessar dies, Gimli and Legolas leave Middle-earth together and so ended the Fellowship of the Ring in Middle-earth.




Publication Order of The Lord of the Rings Books
Publication Order of Middle-Earth Universe Books
Publication Order of The History of Middle-Earth Books
Publication Order of History Of The Lord Of The Rings Collections
Publication Order of Tales of Middle Earth Books
Publication Order of Later Silmarillion Collections
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
Publication Order of Picture Books
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of Anthologies


About the Author, J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is a highly acclaimed fantasy writer. J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Orange Free State, Bloemfontein in South Africa in the year 1892. He is known as the father of high fantasy. He is the one who is credited for the revival of the fantasy genre in 20th century and making it very popular among the readers. The Times magazine has ranked the author among 50 greatest writers since 1945. Two of his most famous books are ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘The Hobbit.’

J.R.R. Tolkien spent his early life in a Birmingham Village called, Sarehole in England where his mother had moved after the death of J.R.R. Tolkien’s father, Arthur Tolkien, who died of rheumatic fever. While in Sarehool, Tolkien was bitten by a baboon spider. One may link the mention of spiders in his books as an effect of this particular incident. Many of the scenes in his books seem to be inspired by the scenery of Sarehole where he frequented to places like Sarehole Mill, Moseley Bog, Malvern Hills and other places. In his early childhood, Tolkien’s mother took charge of his studies and taught botany to him. However, Tolkien was very keen with the languages. Keeping thin in mind, his mother taught him Latin. He could read at the age of 3 and write at the age of 4. He read many of the famous fantastical works in English literature such as ‘Alice in the Wonderland’ as a child. His keen interest in fantasy seems to inspire his books.

In 1904, mother of the author died after which he was brought up by her close friend, Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan. Morgan had task to raise him as a good catholic. Later in his life J.R.R. Tolkien went to Exeter college in Lancashire from where he did his graduation in the Germanic languages and classic literature. He joined the military as a lieutenant with Lancashire Fusiliers. He fought in the war of Somme but later he was released from his duties from military because of his illness. All this while, J.R.R. Tolkien continued with his writing as he has a deep interest in it. While serving in the military, he married, Edith Mary Bratt in 1916. Their meetings were opposed by Morgan because she was a protestant but their love for each other kept them together and later on Bratt got converted as a catholic.

J.R.R. Tolkien continued his studies in linguistics and later in his career, he joined as a faulty at the University of Leeds, After that, he joined Oxford University as a professor of Anglo Saxon at Pembroke college. At the Oxford University he started a literary group called ‘Inkling’. Inkling had some illustrious members which included CS Lewis and Owen Barfield. J.R.R. Tolkien kept on working in his profession till 1959. While he was at Oxford, he wrote one of his most popular books ‘the Hobbit’. After that he published an essay and poetry collection and wrote ‘Smith of Wootton’ which is a fantasy. His wife died in the year 1971 and he died in the year 1973 at the age of 81. A year before his death, the author was honored by queen Elizabeth as ‘the commander of the order of the British empire’ in 1972. The author is survived by four of his children. J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher has published a series of books based on the notes and manuscripts left by the author.

Two of the most popular books written by the author are ‘The Hobbit’ and the ‘Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy. These books sold millions of copies worldwide. Tolkien’s one of the most famous books ‘The Hobbit’ was published in the year 1937. It was considered to be a children’s’ book though Tolkien did not describe it as a children’s book. One of the great features of this book is the 100 drawings in the book created by the author. The main character of the book is Bilbo Baggins. The book is all about the adventure of its lead character, Bilbo.

The masterpiece of J.R.R. Tolkien is ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy which is considered as one of the best fiction work in the 20th century. This work strengthened the fantasy genre. Strong reflection of ‘Lord of the Rings’ can be found in other works of fantasy. It was a series of three books and one of the most popular ones in the modern times. The book is inspired by European myths. The there books of the trilogy are the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’, ‘The Two Towers’ and the last one ‘The Return of the King.’ These three books were published in the year 1954 and 1955. The author had spent almost 10 years just writing the narrative of the book. Originally, the author had intended it as a book for children but as he went on writing, it became more serious and dark. The trilogy is a rich fantasy and you will find characters such as talking trees, elves and Goblins.

The characterization has been superb in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and many of the characters have become fictional legends. Two of the most famous characters in the book are that of Gandalf and Gimli. Gandalf is considered to be one of the strongest characters in the book. Gandalf, for many is the best and most powerful character ever in a fantasy novel. Other popular characters from the book are Legolas, who can shoot five arrows in one go. Many consider the character of the Aragorn as the best. His nobility and humbleness is loved by the readers and movie goers. The character of Gimli is lovable as well. He is short and stocky but very stubborn. He will do what he likes.

‘The Lord of the Rings’ has received rave reviews. In a BBC survey the book was declared as the ‘most loved’ book ever. Amazon.com customers termed the book as ‘best work of the millennium.’

‘The Lord of The Rings’ trilogy has been adapted as a movie by the director, Peter Jackson which had some of the most popular Hollywood stars in the film. The film has been one of the most successful films ever and has won several academy awards. Peter Jackson also adopted another popular book by Tolkien, ‘The Hobbit’ in a movie. This movie has three parts.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkein has helped revive the fantasy genre not only in books but in movies as well. ‘Lord of the rings’ is one of the most celebrated book and a movie ever.



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