Tolkien Unbound

So, lest anyone think Kalamazoo is all papers and panels and presentations, here's some video of the lighter side of medieval Tolkien scholarship: the Friday evening "Tolkien Unbound" session. In past years this has ranged from singing some of the Songs for the Philologists to a five-person reading of The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun. This year I was much taken with the comic opera version of FARMER GILES OF HAM -- but then FGH is a favorite of mine; I rank it v. high indeed (behind THE HOBBIT and LotR but able to hold its own against pretty much anything else Tolkien wrote.

This year, one of the performances got recorded and posted to You-Tube: thanks to Brad Eden for the links:

[part one]

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL410CA87BAE9D5AFD

[part two]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol1TmYwuQds&list=PL410CA87BAE9D5AFD&index=2&feature=plpp_video

[part three]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX2r4ddwRLU&feature=relmfu

Next year they're planning on staging a play of Hervor demanding the family heirloom, the cursed sword Tyrfing, from her father Angantyr (who was buried with it), a script by the late Ivor Rogers based on Christopher Tolkien's edition & translation of THE SAGA OF KING HEIDREK THE WISE. I'm already looking forward to it.

Oh, and the non-Tolkienists at Kalamazoo put on a skit on Saturday night spoofing Tolkienists as we appear to the mainstream medievalists in attendence -- which wd have been fun to see, but simply didn't work out as to my schedule. If anyone did make it, I'd be curious to hear how it went.

--John R.

current reading: THE LORD OF THE RINGS, Book I: The Ring Sets Out.