The Fall of Arthur

So, today's the release date for Tolkien's long-awaited Arthurian poem, THE FALL OF ARTHUR. My copy arrived early this afternoon, but by that point I was already almost finished reading it, having found out it was already available on Kindle last night (around ten o'clock our time). That makes it the first Tolkien book I first read in electronic format. I've been waiting for this one since Rayner Unwin told me it was "forthcoming" back in 1985. As for the poem itself, I enjoyed it much more than I expected (like Poe, I'm really not that much into long poems, and this one runs almost a thousand lines). It probably helped that I read it aloud, Tolkien being an author who paid attention to sound as well as sense. And I found the additional material Christopher Tolkien provided, providing JRRT's outlines and notes (such as they are) as well as many alternate passages that didn't make it into the final version.

Most surprising bit? The explicit linkage of his Arthur story with the legendarium. Didn't expect that as all. Next, that in Guinevere he's produced what I think must be his least sympathetic female character. That should make for some interesting discussions. As should CT's guess at the reason for its abandonment: developments in the mythos, such as the creation of the Numenorean story and The World Made Round drew his attention away from this rewarding but deeply labor-intensive project.

It'll take me a while to absorb all this, obviously, but I'm relieved that the paragraphs I wrote about THE FALL OF ARTHUR in my contribution to the Shippey festschrift (a collection that now seems to be clearing the last of the hurdles that have so long delayed it) isn't superseded or rendered null and void by the publication of the whole.

And it's wonderful to have a new book by Tolkien, and to read more of Christopher's crisp, incisive commentary thereon laying out all the interconnections between the masses of manuscript.

So, a good day to be a Tolkienist!

--John R.
current reading: THE FALL OF ARTHUR (obviously), THE PERILOUS CEMETERY (L'ATRE PERILLEUX*)


*which is not an Edgar Gorey picture book but a little-known 13th-century Arthurian romance featuring Gawain

The Cat Report (W.5/22-13)

Quite a difference the addition of those four new cats make; the room's suddenly much less, well, roomy. Nine cats in ten cages, but some with personalities to make it feel like it's even more.

EDNA JANE

LEMURA

BUGSY

*ZENA MEOW (alternating grey and grey-tan stripes) -- well named!  [new]

*CHECKERS (little black cat with white paws) [new]

*MOREO (black, longhair; has white whiskers and individual white toes) [new]

*MARLIE (dark grey, half-tail) [new]

BOOGIEMAN

TATTOO

No walks today, since needed to get a feel for what the new cats were like and also the new room dynamic as they sort out favorite spots, the pecking order, allowable proximity, and the like. Three cats stayed in most of the morning: Edna, Moreo, and Boogieman, while all the others came out and either claimed favorite spots (Tattoo, Lemura) or searched around for new ones (Zena, Checkers, Marlie). Bugsy was probably the most active cat in the room -- wish he'd taken better to the collar when I tried it on him last week; think a walk outside wd do him good.

Poor Edna Jane stayed in all morning and didn't budge. She's seen this sort of thing (a roomful of cats) happen before, and I think is waiting for a few of the newcomers to get adopted before she'll feel safe coming out again. She should be better in a week or two. I'm beginning to suspect that she could tolerate being half of a two-cat home, since she tends to avoid trouble rather than seek it out: so long as it was a large enough place that didn't force both cats into too much proximity, think she'd just go her own way and let the other go its.

Lemura was in a playful mood, enjoying the string game, the stick game, being petted, mouse-on-a-stick, and of course cat-nip. She stayed on cat-stand #1 all morning, and was quite put out when finally made to go back in (though as usual she didn't hold a grudge and was soon letting me pet her again). She's another who could be in a multiple-cat household, I think: she's pretty mellow most of the time about the other cats, so long as they don't get in her face.

 Bugsy had been working hard but so far unsuccessfully to establish himself as the boss of the room the last few weeks, somewhat stymied that neither Lemura nor Penny were in the least afraid of him (and poor Boogieman is hardly a challenge; Tattoo kept laying low so that he forgot about her). Now there are so many hissy girl-cats anywhere he goes that he pretty much gave up and headed for the hills: I put him up on the cage-tops, which he loved -- it gave him a feeling of being king of the mountain without having to actually defend said position. 

Boogieman didn't want to come out, so I cleaned up and straightened his cage around him. He did venture out two or three times later in the morning, but each time he ran into someone who hissed at him and he quickly retreated back to the safety of his home ground again. Poor Boogieman, who just wants somewhere he can feel safe, plop himself down in a big cat-puddle, and relax as only a cat can. 

Sweet senior-cat Tattoo was unusually playful today: she got atop cat-stand #2 and stayed there, enjoying catnip (she rolled in it like a kitten) and a good long game of mouse-on-a-stick. Glad she was up high rather than down low, so visitors and passers-by can see her more. 

Her usual place under that cat-stand was taken by new cat Marlie instead, our half-tail kitty. Marlie may be a really smart cat; hard to tell yet. She went right into Moreo's cage to use his box, and he didn't seem to mind. Later she made herself invisible in the rondel below cat-stand #2 and avoided all the hissing. Came out from there a time or two to be petted and look about, then back into a comfy place. She might be a good candidate for walking.

Little Checkers's food dish was empty. She was very friendly, wanting lots of attention and coming up repeatedly to get it, then taking herself off again. Lurked in the bottom of the cabinet for a while, then settled in the small cat-stand on the bench not the basket but the other one). Seems to be quite a young cat, with still some kitten-like behavior. Doesn't much like the other cats, but does love games.

Zena Mew is well-named: she's a talker. Mew and she'll mew back to you; if you don't mew, she'll start up the conversation and carry it on by herself. She went high and crushed my hat by laying on it, then settled for a while in one of the beds up in cage-top land. Learned how to use the steps and went up and down a lot; has lots of energy she needs to burn off. Probably could have used more game-time than I had to spend with her; very sweet cat. Doesn't like other cats. 

Moreo (rhymes with Oreo, I guess) stayed in almost all morning, and when he came out to peer out the door he got trapped by Bugsy getting between him and the cube. They had a stand-off for a while: Moreo would try to move towards his (open) cage, which Bugsy thought was creeping up to attack him, so he'd hiss and Moreo would freeze. After a few rounds of this I got Bugsy to move, Moreo went in (gratefully, I thought), and all was well again with him. He likes being petted. Both of them watched a small dog that passed back and forth for a bit, more alert than alarmed. For all his disinclination to come out, seems to be calm and self-possessed; may try seeing if he'll come out when no other cats are out to disturb him.

health concerns: there was a little dried throw-up in Lemura's cage, and Bugsy threw up shortly after I got there (thin, watery digested food). Both seemed to be feeling fine; think his might have been nerves (i.e., excitement over about-to-be-let-out.

And that's pretty much it for this morning. Not a scratch or a bite, I'm happy to say, and no swatting of cat by cat (though there's certainly more than enough hissing to go round, and some growling as well. Nice to see the pictures of Seymour (et al.). And nice to know Rinaldo the Marvellous and little Maevis The Angry Mouse (the only calico persian I've ever seen) all found homes.

--John R.

I Bit My Teeth

So, this past weekend we went out to breakfast together, and at one point near the end of the meal I bit my teeth.

I'm not sure exactly how that's even possible, much less how it happened. All I know is that somehow my front teeth in the upper and lower jars came together in a way they're not designed for, with the wrong ones on the inside and the outside. After I sorted things out and made sure there were no chips of enamel in my mouth, I turned out to be fine and cd continue the meal, and it's been fine since.

So, I've sometimes accidently bitten the inside of my mouth before, unfortunately, but this was a first for me. And I hope a singularity, never to be repeated.

Other than that, signs of spring/early summer are all around (the first honeybee, the cottonwoods in full drifting 'cotton' mode, dry and hot days alternating with cool and wet, Rigby and Feanor demanding walks). The forsythia and daffodils and violets have come and gone, though the pansies are still doing well; there's also just a few sprays of wysteria. Feanor has been belled as a result of catching and killing another finch (his fifth capture and third kill -- the other two we got away from him in time). Got off a final proofing of one project that'd come back and now deep in finalizing the text, filling out and polishing up the end notes, and creating the bibliography for my Kalamazoo piece, which was well received, I'm glad to say. That'll take a few days yet, esp. given that Thursday is Tolkien/Arthur day. Then I need to do the same for the Valparaiso piece. Haven't had time to write up a full Kalamazoo report, but will try to see what I can do re. same over this weekend. There were a number of good papers and good discussions, so it'd be nice to get some of that done before the memories fade.

--JDR

current reading: NEUROMANCER by Wm Gibson (1984): disappointing.

St. Gary of Gygax

So, just found out yesterday from a friend about ADVENTURES DARK AND DEEP, an attempt to project what second edition ADandD would have looked like if Gygax had done it. Haven't seen the results yet, but here's their premise:

What if Gary Gygax had not left TSR in 1985, and had been allowed to continue developing the world’s most famous fantasy role-playing game?

Adventures Dark and Deep attempts to answer that question.

We will, unfortunately, never know exactly what it would have looked like, because Gary Gygax did leave TSR in that year, and others took over the job of designing the second (and subsequent) versions of the game. After that unfortunate episode, he was understandably reluctant to give any advice on how he would have carried the game forward.

However, he did leave behind hints as to the direction he would have taken the game . . . 

The short answer to this alternate-world question is easy: If Gygax had not left TSR in 1985, the company would have gone broke in '87 or '86 rather than 1996-97. But aside from that, their premise is flawed, since by 1985 Gygax was no longer writing the books he was putting his name on; that had ceased after about 1982.

Still, it's an interesting mind-experiment, and those curious about where it might take them can see via the following link:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/111944/Adventures-Dark-and-Deep-Players-Manual?filters=0_0_0_0_44840


For myself, I'm still perfectly happy with Gygax's masterpiece, 1st edition ADandD, and would gladly play it anytime I could get a group together, were such a thing still possible in this day and age.

--John R.
current reading: PORTRAIT OF JENNIE --Rbt Nathan (1940), J. SMITH by 'Fougasse' (Queen Mary's Dollhouse, 1922)
today's song: "On the Way" from McCartney II.

A Silmarillion Ring?

So, sometimes bits and pieces of British and American fantasy and/or horror can wind up in anime, sometimes in unusual ways --as in the final episode of of the PRINCESS RESURRECTION manga, where two minor characters are shown having tea in a cafe with a Lovecraft-themed name. Or in the latest of the BOOK GIRL novels, where the main character has a dream about the Book Girl turning into Dagon. As I said, odd. And that's not even taking into account the schoolgirl/harem series about Nyarlathotep.

That said, one of the strangest came up recently in a little one-off called Little Witch Academia, a sort of TWEENY WITCHES revisited.

The Tolkien reference comes the 10.19 point, not quite the half-way mark. Some student witches are exploring a labyrinth beneath the witch-school, with whichever witch who brings back the best loot before the deadline winning. One team is far in the lead, having already found

"a mithril mail, a galvorn knife, even a silmarillion ring"

Mithril mail is pure Tolkien -- we even know they got it direct and not via DandD because hey, they spelled it right.

Galvorn knife I didn't catch, and assumed it was something from some video game. My bad; looking it up, I see it's Tolkienian as well, this being the black metal Eol made. No one can remember every detail, but guess it's time I re-read the SILMARILLION again.

The 'Silmarillion ring' is interesting, because they seem to have a Ring of Power mixed up with a Silmaril. I hate to think what the power of uniting a Silmaril with a Ring of Power wd have been, so I'm glad it only occurs as a throwaway line in an anime. It does give the whole passage a sort of 'throw things at the wall in a jumble' sort of fell, though.


Anyhow, the show is amusing fluff; here's the clip, if you'd like to see it for yourself. Thanks to Janice for the link):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RBlqxEIJ_Cg#!

--JDR

A Tale of Two Spocks

So, thanks to Janice for this one -- a film short contrasting Nimoy with The New Guy.

The moment of truth comes a minute and eleven seconds (1.11) into the clip.

Thought for a moment the guy who got out of the third car at the end was going to be Shatner, but that might have been one joke too many.

Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPkByAkAdZs&feature=youtu.be

Kalamazoo 2013 (schedule)

Not sure if I've posted this before, but if so no harm in doing so again: here's the schedule of Tolkien-related events at this year's Medieval Congress, put together by Doug Anderson from the program book (thanks Doug). Today is set-up and check in; events start tomorrow. As you can see, the Tolkien events this year are heavily skewed to the first two days of the conference (Thursday/Friday), with my own bit being Friday afternoon. There are also some Lewis events, but unfortunately those are largely focused on the least interesting part of his work (Narnia). Here's the listing:

Kalamazoo 9-12 May 2013

Wednesday May 8

Noon Registration begins, Eldridge-Fox lobby

Set-up Exhibits Hall, Goldsworth Valley III

Thursday May 9

Exhibits Hall, Goldsworth Valley III  Thursday: 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m.

10.00 AM    FETZER 1045 

Tolkien as Medieval Scholar     Presider: Brad Eden

“And they are making songs about him from here to the sea”: Samwise Gamgee

as Medieval English Yeoman     Leigh Smith, East Stroudsburg Univ.

A Historiology for England: Tolkien on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

John R. Holmes, Franciscan Univ. of Steubenville

Music of the Ainu, Music of the Spheres: Tolkien and Cosmic Harmonies

Janice M. Bogstad, Univ. of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

Tolkien’s Poetic Scholarship: Old English Meter and Modern Poetry

Anna Smol, Mount St. Vincent Univ.

Tolkien as a Celticist: Views of a “Curtain Raiser” of the O’Donnell Lecture Series

Yoko Hemmi, Keio Univ.

1.30   SCHNEIDER  1280

In Honor of Verlyn Flieger: The State of Tolkien Scholarship (A Panel Discussion)

Presider: Amy Amendt-Raduege, Whatcom Community College

The Geek and the Scholar: Standing Pointy Ear to Mortarboard

Thom Foy, Independent Scholar

Splintered Light and Word: Tolkien’s Myth, Philology, and Faith

Edward L. Risden, St. Norbert College

Whose Myth Is It? Tolkien Scholarship as Interdisciplinary Studies

Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State Univ.

The Tolkien Scholarship Project

Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce

Saruman’s Coat of Many Colors: Tolkien’s Exploration of Medieval Theories of

Light  Michael Wodzak, and Vickie Holtz-Wodzak, Viterbo Univ.

3.30   SCHNEIDER  1280

Tolkien and Alterity: In Honor of Jane Chance

Presider: Christopher T. Vaccaro, Univ. of Vermont

Medieval Organicism or Modern Feminist Science? Bombadil, Elves, and

Mother Nature  Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State Univ.

The State of Tolkien and Alterity Scholarship

Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce

Language and Alterity in Tolkien

Deidre Dawson, Michigan State Univ.

The Alterior Motive: Patterns of Difference and Otherness in Tolkien’s World

Jared Lobdell, Independent Scholar

7.30 SCHNEIDER 1280

Art and Music of The Hobbit

Presider: Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State Univ.

A Game of Tolkien

Ed Ouellette, Air Univ.

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: From Children’s Story to Epic Film

Yvette Kisor, Ramapo College

Songs of Peril in The Hobbit

Laura Smith, Signum Univ.

Sub-creation in Action: Music Inspired by The Hobbit

Brad Eden

Friday May 10

Exhibits Hall, Goldsworth Valley III  Friday: 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m.

1.30 VALLEY  I   104

Women in Tolkien’s Professional Life

Presider: Yvette Kisor, Ramapo College

“Professor d’Ardenne of Liège has arrived to harrass me with philological

work”: Simonne d’Ardenne as Student, Collaborator, Translator, and Friend of

J. R. R. Tolkien

Douglas A. Anderson, Independent Scholar

The Missing Women: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lifelong Support for Women’s Higher

Education

John D. Rateliff, Independent Scholar

1.30  SCHNEIDER 1155

In Honor of Marcia Marzec: Papers by Undergraduates I

Presider: Katherine McMahon

2nd of 4 papers

The Eorl That Could Have Been: Theoden as Tolkien’s Answer to Beorhtnoth’s

Ofermod

Colin Pajda, St. Louis Univ.

3.30  SCHNEIDER 1220

Queer Tolkien

Sponsor: Society for the Study of Homosexuality in the Middle Ages (SSHMA);

Tolkien at Kalamazoo

Presider: Graham N. Drake

Niggle, Smith, and Giles: Medieval as Queer

Stephen Yandell, Xavier Univ.

To All Elf-Friends and Wizard’s-Pupils: “It gets better”: Medieval and Modern

Categories of the Queer in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

Christopher T. Vaccaro, Univ. of Vermont

Respondent: Jane Chance, Rice Univ.

7.30  FETZER 1045

Tolkien Unbound (Performances) Fetzer 1045

Presider: Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce

Maidens of Middle-earth: The Silmarillion

Eileen Marie Moore, Cleveland State Univ.

The Waking of Angantyr: A Poetic Drama (Text by

Deborah C. Rogers) based on an Old Norse Saga,

Performed with the Assistance of the Western

Michigan University Department of Theatre

Richard C. West, Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison

Saturday May 11

Exhibits Hall, Goldsworth Valley III  Saturday: 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m.

12.00 BERNHARD 211

Tolkien at Kalamazoo Business meeting

Sunday May 12

Exhibits Hall, Goldsworth Valley III  Sunday: 8:00 a.m.–12:00 noon

8.30 AM  SCHNEIDER 1120

Tales after Tolkien: Medievalism and Twenty-First-Century Fantasy Literature I

Presider: Carol L. Robinson, Kent State Univ.–Trumbull

Refracted Romance: Re-visioning the Grail Legend in Catherine Fisher’s Corbenic

Molly Brown, Univ. of Pretoria

George R. R. Martin’s Quest for Realism in A Song of Ice and Fire

Shiloh R. Carroll, Middle Tennessee State Univ.

Androgynes, Crossdressers, and Rebel Queens: Modern Representations of

Medieval Women Warriors from Tolkien to Martin

Rachael Mueller, Catholic Univ. of America

The Meaning of the Middle Ages: Fans, Authors, and Industry

Helen Young

10.30 SCHNEIDER 1120

Tales after Tolkien: Medievalism and Twenty-First-Century Fantasy Literature II

Presider: Douglas A. Anderson, Independent Scholar

Pratchett’s The Last Continent and Nominalist Questions

Jay Ruud, Univ. of Central Arkansas

A Divergent Medievalism in Robin Hobb’s Tawny Man Trilogy

Geoffrey B. Elliott, Technical Career Institutes

Black and Liminal in Camelot

Kris Swank, Mythgard Institute

The Hunger Games: Reinterpretation of a Medieval Quest Narrative

Stephanie A. Amsell, Southern Methodist Univ.

Monday May 13

disperse . . . 

--JDR