Sunday 3 March 2024

Tolkien Sessions at Leeds IMC 2024



Eglerio! This year The Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow will again be sponsoring six Tolkien sessions at The International Medieval Congress at The University of Leeds from 1st to 4th July .  This continues the tradition started by our founder Professor Dimitra Fimi (whose vision and scholarship we are celebrating this summer!) and is my fourth year organising these sessions.  

We have a great line up of Tolkien scholars and students exploring many aspects of Tolkien and Middle-earth studies including several papers focused on the timely subject of this year's conference CRISIS 

Tolkien Medieval Roots and Modern Branches 

This year we have two sessions which address wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism and works.  

Session 1 - Monday 1st July 2024: 11:115-12:45 GMT 

1) "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" Tolkien's 1953 Lecture and Related Finding: Andoni Cossio, Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Vitoria-Gasteiz; University of Glasgow

2) Gondor Calls for Aid: But Who Will Pay? Brian Egede-Pedersen, Independent Scholar

3) Eärendil's Mythopoeic Journeys - Anna Smol, Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia

Session 2 - Monday 1st July 2024: 14:15-15:45 GMT 

1) Sub-Creation, Multi-Canon, or Unreliable Narrator: Mythopoeia in Action - Amira Ali Hassan Ali Abdullah, Independent Scholar

2)  'The king has got a crown again': Ruin as Hyperobject in Arda - Will Sherwood, University of Glasgow

3) Freezing the Frame on Crises in the Legendarium through the lens of Alan Lee - Sultana Raza, Independent Scholar

Tolkien's Medieval Sub-Creation in Crisis 

Monday 1st July: 16:30-18:00 GMT 



This session will examine different concepts of crisis in Tolkien studies. 

1) A Medievalist Myth-Making Crisis: Tolkien's Tychonic Cosmology - Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University

2) Bree-folk were sympathetic, but…': Historical Precursors to Middle-Earth's Migration Crisis at the End of the Third Age - Christian Trenk, Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

3) The Crisis of Arda Marred and How (Not) to Unmar It: The Ring, the Tongue, and the Tower as the New Wheel of Fortune, the New Tower of Babel, and the New World Tree - Cameron Bourquein, Independent Scholar

Racial Medievalism in Tolkien Studies: A Session Celebrating the Works of Professor Dimitra Fimi, Founder of Tolkien at Leeds

Tuesday 2nd July 2024: 11:15-12:45 GMT 









In this session we will celebrate the work and scholarship of our Tolkien at Leeds IMC founder and leading scholar and author of Tolkien and speculative literature Professor Dimitra Fimi whose ground-breaking 2008 book Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits, won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies in 2010. Fimi’s evolving body of work has brought to light neglected aspects of Tolkien’s creativity and world-building, including the centrality of the Elves, the role of linguistic invention, and the relationships between race and material culture in Middle-earth 

1) Into the West: Wonders and Woes of Looking for 'Celtic' Inspirations in the Works of J. R. R. Tolkien - Aurelie Bremont, Sorbonne Université, Paris

2) Teaching Song and Holiness: An Exploration of the Mystic and Syncretic Elements of Tolkien's Earliest Elvish Language Invention: Andrew Higgins, Independent Scholar 

'3) The strange fate of Men' Merging Representations of Destiny in Middle-earth - Gaëlle Abaléa, Sorbonne Université

Bodily Crises in Tolkien's Medievalism

There will be two sessions exploring crises/concerns of gender and bodily difference in Tolkien’s works including sexuality and disability.  Indicative areas to be examined include the role of bodies under physical duress, punishment, injury from battle or war, as well as bodies in transformation including prosthetics, spiritual transformation (good or evil) and how bodies and body transformation from Tolkien’s works are depicted in illustrations and in films and other media.


Session 1 - Weds 3rd July: 14:15-15:45 GMT 

1) Altered Bodies, Altered States in the 'Tale of Tinúviel' - Cami Agan, Oklahoma Christian University

2) Éowyn and/or Dernhelm: Tolkien's Paradoxical Gendering of Éowyn's Disguise Gavin Foster, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

3) The Torment of Maedhros and a Crisis of Mercy: Bodily Crises in Tolkien's Medievalism - Mercury Natis, Signum University, New Hampshire

Session 2 - Weds 3rd July: 16:30-18:00 GMT 

'Restless and uneasy...thin and stretched': The Ring, the Ringbearers, and Bodies in Psychological Crisis in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - Sara Brown, Signum University, New Hampshire

Bodily Transformations in Tolkien's Middle-Earth: The Metamorphosis of Elwing - Yvette Kisor, Ramapo College of New Jersey

'He was naked, lying as if in a swoon': Gazing Queerly at Frodo's Saintly Body in Crisis - Christopher Vaccaro, University of Vermont

Crisis in Researching Tolkien: The Annual Tolkien at Leeds Roundtable 

Weds 3rd July: 19:00-20:00 GMT 


We will end the 2024 Tolkien at Leeds Session with the annual roundtable - this year in response to the conferences overall theme a panel of Tolkien scholars will explore the current crises facing Tolkien teachers, academics, and researchers in Tolkien and Middle-earth studies. 

Tolkien at Leeds Business Meeting will be announced closer to the conference.   

As always SODOM (The Society for the Drinking of Mead) Events and Fellowship throughout! 

On Saturday 6th July The Tolkien Society will be presenting Tolkien Society Hybrid Seminar 2024 – Tolkien’s Romantic Resonances at the Hilton Leeds City 

See you in Leeds this July! 


Thursday 20 July 2023

CFP: Leeds 2024 IMC Tolkien Sessions

 


CFP: Leeds 2024 IMC Tolkien Sessions 


Paper abstracts are currently being sought for the following Tolkien sessions for the International Medieval Congress at Leeds, 1-4 July 2024.  The special thematic strand of this conference will be ‘Crisis’.  See more here 


We are very pleased that the 2024 IMC Tolkien Sessions will again be sponsored by The Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow


Paper submissions are being sought for the following sessions:  


Tolkien’s Medieval Sub-creation in Crisis 


This session will examine different concepts of crisis in Tolkien studies. Papers may explore the types of crises Tolkien himself created in the body of his legendarium by his revising of several keys stories and legends at different times in his lifelong work.  Papers can address the significance of these narratives and their revisions in Tolkien’s shifting ideas about the world and cultures he was inventing. Papers may also explore adaptations of Tolkien works and how they create crises in our evolving understanding of the canon of Tolkien’s work and its reception.  


Bodily Crises in Tolkien’s Medievalism 


Papers in this session can explore crises/concerns of gender and bodily difference in Tolkien’s works including sexuality and disability.  Indicative areas to be examined include the role of bodies under physical duress, punishment, injury from battle or war, as well as bodies in transformation including prosthetics, spiritual transformation (good or evil) and how bodies and body transformation from Tolkien’s works are depicted in illustrations and in films and other media.  


Racial Medievalism in Tolkien Studies - A Session Celebrating the Works of Professor Dimitra Fimi Founder of Tolkien at Leeds.    


Papers in this session may respond to, critique and develop key ideas regarding Tolkien’s representations of race that were first explored in Professor Dimitra Fimi’s ground-breaking 2008 book Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits, which won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies in 2010. Fimi’s evolving body of work has brought to light neglected aspects of Tolkien’s creativity and world-building, including the centrality of the Elves, the role of linguistic invention, and the relationships between race and material culture in Middle-earth This session invites papers that explore Tolkien’s contexts, racial representations and world-building through engaging with and building upon the approaches Professor Fimi has set out in her academic work.


Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches


This continuing Tolkien at Leeds session will accommodate wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism, ranging from source studies and theoretical readings to comparative studies of Tolkien’s works and Middle-earth studies.  


Crises in Researching Tolkien: A Round Table 


The Annual Tolkien at Leeds roundtable will explore the current crises facing Tolkien teachers, academics and researchers in Tolkien and Middle-earth studies.  Topics can include the various adaptions of Tolkien’s works that will continue to grow with new media deals, differing thoughts on treatment of Tolkien’s race, culture and sexuality in his works and the desire of scholars to see, analyse and contextualise more of Tolkien’s remaining unpublished papers.   



  • Please submit a paper contribution title and abstract by 31 August 2023 to  Dr. Andrew Higgins (asthiggins@me.com
  • Length of abstracts: 150 words (max!)  
  • Papers will be 15-20 minutes long (3 paper sessions will be preferred) 
  • With your abstract, please include name and details of contributor (affiliation, address, and preferred e-mail address)



Tuesday 14 March 2023

Tolkien Sessions at Leeds IMC 2023


Eglerio! This year The Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow will be sponsoring six Tolkien sessions at The International Medieval Congress at The University of Leeds from 3-6 July 2023.  This continues the tradition started by our founder Dr.  Dimitra Fimi and is my third year organising these sessions.  

We have a great line up of Tolkien scholars and students exploring many aspects of Tolkien and Middle-earth studies including several papers focused on the subject of this year's conference Networks and Entanglements 

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Questions of Adaptation and Authenticity: A Round Table Discussion 

Tuesday 4 July 2023: 19.00-20.00 GMT 

The sessions starts with our continuing Tolkien at Leeds roundtable series in which we will explore one of the most significant new adaptations of Tolkien's works, Amazon Prime's five season The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series. Participants will offer short presentations on some element of this series and how it is (or is not) in dialogue with Tolkien's texts and explore what this new adaptation develops or reveals in the expanding body of adaptive works based in some form on Tolkien's world-building. 

Participants will include Brian Egede-Pedersen (Independent Scholar, Nykøbing Falster), Mercury Natis (Independent Scholar, Worthing), and Kate Natishan (University of Virginia).

Tolkien's Work and Academic Networks at the University of Leeds

Wednesday 5 July 2023: 14.15-15.45 GMT 


J. R. R. Tolkien established his academic career at the University of Leeds, joining as a Reader in 1920, aged 28. By the time he left Leeds in 1925 he had established the University as a leader in Old Icelandic language and literature and developed a network of fellow academics and colleagues. Papers in this session will explore the work and networks developed while he was here at the University of Leeds. 

1) The Missing Letters that J.R.R. Tolkien Received from Derek J. Wilson and R.M. Wilson - New Research and Addendum to Further Notes on J.R.R. Tolkien's Photostats of The Equatorie of the Planets (MS Peterhouse 25) - Andoni Cossio, Facultad de Letras, Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Vitoria-Gasteiz 

2) 'An industrious little devil': Tolkien's Development of the Elvish Languages at Leeds, 1920-1925 - Dr. Andrew Higgins, Centre for Fantasy & the Fantastic, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow 

3) Leeds and the Medieval Foundation of J. R. R. Tolkien's 'Father Christmas' Letters - Dr. Kristine Larsen, Geological Sciences Department, Central Connecticut State University 

New Works, Networks, and Methods in Tolkien and Middle-earth Research

Wednesday 5 July 2023: 16.30-18.00 GMT 


Papers in this session will explore some of the new methods and critical networks of academic research that are being applied to both Tolkien and Middle-earth studies and what they are revealing about the continuing academic dialogue and discourse around Tolkien and his works. 

1) Tolkien Studies and the 'Theological Turn' - Mitchell Kooh, Department of English, University of Notre Dame, Indiana 

2) Queer Time and Space in Tolkien's Middle-earth -Yvette Kisor, School of Humanities & Global Studies, Ramapo College of New Jersey 

3) Reading Tolkien's First Age through the Lens of Michel de Certeau - Cami Agan, Department of Language & Literature, Oklahoma Christian University 

4) Queer Phenomenology, Lesbian Ents, and the Future of Queer Tolkien Studies - Christopher Vaccaro, Department of English, University of Vermont 

J. R. R. Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches

Thursday 6 July 2023: 09.00-10.30 GMT 

This session will address wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism ranging from source studies and theoretical readings to comparative studies (including Tolkien's legacy).

1) Riddles in the Mark: The Usage of 'Riddle' in Book III of The Lord of the Rings as Micro Level Interlacing - Christian Trenk, Theologische Fakultät, Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt 

2) Dark are the Pathless Ways - Scott Hodgman, Department of Literature & Language, Signum University, New Hampshire 

3) 'This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party': Travel and the Quest Motif in Tolkien's Work - Eva Lippold, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Open University 

4) 'We swears on the precious': Oath-Making and Oath-Keeping in Tolkien - Literary Devices or Spiritual Statements? - Gaëlle Abaléa, Centre d’Etudes Médiévales Anglaises (CEMA), Sorbonne Université, Paris 

Tolkien's Medieval Entanglements

Thursday 6 July 2023: 11.15-12.45 GMT 


Throughout his life and academic work Tolkien explored and grappled with some of the most perplexing and interesting cruxes and entanglements of medieval literature and language. This sessions will explore some of these entanglements and how Tolkien sought potential solutions.

1) The Interlaced Entanglement of 'The King's Touch' - Amy Amendt-Raduege, Department of English, Western Washington University 

2) The Theme of Decay and Fall in Tolkien's Works and its Medieval Entanglements - Andrzej Wicher, Zakład Angielskiego Dramatu, Teatru i Filmu, Uniwersytet Łódzki 

3 Sam the Scop: The Entanglements of Poetry in Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings - Kirsten Ogilby, Institut for Engelsk, Germansk og Romansk, Københavns Universitet 


Tolkien at Leeds Business Meeting

Thursday 6 July 2023 - 1pm GMT - 2pm GMT (Esther Simpson 1.01) 

You can also join the meeting via Zoom at 1pm GMT 

Topic: Andrew Higgins' Zoom Meeting

Time: Jul 6, 2023 01:00 PM London


Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83745625576?pwd=aU5DVzFUTStZRkt4TjkyZTdUVkpkdz09


Meeting ID: 837 4562 5576

Passcode: 5FhD6X



Disentangling the Second Age of Tolkien's Middle-earth

Thursday 6 July 2023: 14.15-15.45 GMT 



In Tolkien's great masterwork The Lord of the Rings the Second Age of Middle-earth is a time remembered in poetry and the memories of such witnesses to history as Elrond and Galadriel. Papers in this session will explore this pivotal time in Tolkien's Middle-earth and can be in dialogue with the current Amazon Prime The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power an adaptation of this period of Tolkien's legendarium as well as the new volume The Fall of Numenor and Other Tales published by HarperCollins in November 2022. 

1) The Tale of Aldarion and Erendis: Not Just a Medieval Love Story - Dr. Sara Brown, Department of Language & Literature, Signum University, New Hampshire 

2 Out of the Great Sea: Of Elendil and Legends Old and New - S. R. Westvik, School of History, University College Dublin / Historisches Institut, Universität Potsdam 

3) Untangling the Second Age Tale of Years - James Tauber, Department of Literature & Language, Signum University, New Hampshire 

4) The Roads to Númenor: Navigating Tolkien's Mythopoeic Network - Clara Colin-Saïdani, Faculté Lettres et Langages, Nantes Université 

Before the conference on Sunday 2nd July The Tolkien Society is hosting a one day conference The Mighty and Frail Númenor which will be live and free at The Hilton, Leeds and hybrid - more information can be found here - https://www.tolkiensociety.org/2022/10/call-for-papers-tolkien-society-seminar-2023-the-mighty-and-frail-numenor/

As always SODOM fellowship and meading throughout! 




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