Tolkien talks in May 2022 & reminders for July

02 Monday May 2022

Posted by Anna Smol in Conferences, Medieval, Medievalisms, Research, Tolkien

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International Congress on Medieval Studies, International Medieval Congress, Kalamazoo, Tolkien and the Gothic, Tolkien at Kalamazoo group, Tolkien at Kalamazoo Symposium, Tolkien Society, Tolkien Society Seminar

Two events for this month will feature online presentations on Tolkien. The first is a free event to be held on Saturday May 7th, the Tolkien at Kalamazoo Symposium. A program and link have not yet been published, but I will post it here as soon as the information is available. [May 4 edit: the pdf program is posted here. If you’re interested in attending, contact Yvette Kisor at ykisor@ramapo.edu]

Next week, the International Congress on Medieval Studies will take place online once again this year. There is a registration fee for this one, which gives you access to papers and various kinds of sessions and book sales as well as recordings of most sessions for two weeks after the conference. You can find more information here. The Congress takes place May 9-14.

And please scroll down for reminders about July’s conference events. You’ll have to register this week for the Leeds medieval conference if you intend to take part!

Below are the sessions on Tolkien taking place at the International Congress on Medieval Studies from the University of Western Michigan in Kalamazoo. An asterisk by the session number indicates that the session will be recorded.

121* Tuesday, May 10, 5:00 p.m. EDT
Medieval Understandings of the Nature of Evil as Depicted by J. R. R. Tolkien

Sponsor: D. B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership, Viterbo Univ. Organizer & Presider: Michael A. Wodzak, Viterbo Univ.

Cosmic Catastrophe of History: Augustinian Theology of History and Patristic Angelology in Tolkien’s “Long Defeat” — Edmund Michael Lazzari, Marquette Univ.
Dante’s Paradiso and the Fall of Melkor: Tolkien’s Preoccupations with Culpability and Purgation — Michael David Elam, Regent Univ.
A Clamorous Unison: Musical Evil in the Middle Ages and the Ainulindalë –Joshua T. Parks, Princeton Theological Seminary

226* Thursday, May 12, 9:00 a.m. EDT
Tolkien and the Medieval Animal

Sponsor: Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, Univ. of Glasgow
Organizer & Presider: Kristine A. Swank, Univ. of Glasgow

Mammoth, Mûmak, and “ The old fireside rhyme of Oliphaunt”: Tolkien’s Contributions to the Medieval Bestiary Tradition — Marc U. Zender, Tulane Univ.
From Classical to Medieval: A Reflection on Bats in Tolkien’s Works — Fiammetta Comelli, Univ. degli Studi di Milano
Of Foxes and Dancing Bears — John Rosegrant, New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center
Tolkien’s Dragons: Sources, Symbols, and Significance — Camilo G. Peralta, Fort Hays State Univ.

275* Thursday, May 12, 7:00 p.m. EDT
J. R. R. Tolkien and Medieval Poets: A Session in Memory of Richard C. West

Sponsors: Tolkien at Kalamazoo; Pearl-Poet Society. Organizer: Christopher Vaccaro, Univ. of Vermont. Presider: Jane Beal, Univ. of La Verne

Tolkien and Dante on the Musical Nature of “Sub-creation” — Paul L. Fortunato, Univ. of Houston–Downtown
The Lost Roads of Old English Poetry: Dramas of Time Travel in Tolkien’s Works — Anna Smol, Mount St. Vincent Univ.
Strange Sounds, Strange Scenes: Alliterative Metre and Personification in J. R. R. Tolkien’s “ The Lay of the Children of Húrin” — Gavin Foster, Dalhousie Univ.
Tolkien, Beowulf, and Gawain: The Myth of Alliteration — John R. Holmes, Franciscan Univ. of Steubenville

360 Friday, May 13, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Medieval Tolkien and the Nature of Middle-earth (A Roundtable)

Sponsor: Tolkien at Kalamazoo. Organizer: Yvette Kisor, Ramapo College. Presider: Deidre Dawson, Michigan State Univ.

A roundtable discussion with Edward L. Risden, St. Norbert College; Sutirtho Roy, Univ. of Calcutta; Christopher Vaccaro, Univ. of Vermont; Yvette Kisor; John D. Rateliff, Independent Scholar

421* Saturday, May 14, 5:00 p.m. EDT
New Readings of the Lord of the Rings
Presider: Luke J. Chambers, Indiana Univ.–Bloomington

The Fisherman’s Ring of Power: Masculinity, Castration, and the Great Quest in The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings — Consuelo M. Concepcion, Independent Scholar
The Dragon is Not an Allegory: Reading Tolkien’s Monsters in Medieval Contexts — Ruthann E. Mowry, Univ. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign; Cait Coker, Univ. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign
Samwise: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Practical Boethian — Brian McFadden, Texas Tech Univ.
Tolkien, Augustinian Theodicy, and Lovecraftian Evil — Perry Neil Harrison, Fort Hays State Univ.

A couple of Tolkien papers will appear in more general sessions:

394* Saturday, May 14, 3:00 p.m. EDT
C. S. Lewis and the Middle Ages I: Dante and the Lewis Circle (In Honor of Marsha Daigle Williamson)

Heavenly Models of Desire in Dante, Lewis, and Tolkien — Curtis Gruenler, Hope College [paper withdrawn – May 4 edit]

418* Saturday, May 14, 5:00 p.m. EDT
Medievalism in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Literary and Cinematic Adaptations of Beowulf

The Existential Dragon: Adapting Beowulf in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and John Gardner’s Grendel — Andrew Phillip de Carion, Univ. of Houston

Of course, if you have an interest in medieval or medievalism studies, there are hundreds of other sessions to choose from.

And looking ahead…..

The Tolkien Society will be holding its Seminar on July 3 with the theme of Tolkien and the Gothic. This is a hybrid event. Registration is now open for free online or in-person attendance (limited to 60 people in person).

The International Medieval Congress at Leeds University will host 7 Tolkien sessions in the program. The conference takes place July 4-7, 2022. This is a hybrid event, enabling online or in-person attendance. Deadline for registration is Friday May 6. As with the other large medieval conference from the University of Western Michigan, there is a fee for registration.

I’ll post the July programs closer to the time of these events.

April 2022 conference sessions on Tolkien

29 Tuesday Mar 2022

Posted by Anna Smol in Conferences, Tolkien

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PCA, Tolkien at UVM, Tolkien at Vermont

A couple of conferences are coming up in the next few weeks with lots of discussion about a wide range of topics in Tolkien studies. Check out what people will be talking about in the Tolkien@UVM conference and the PCA Tolkien Studies area — or register and listen to the full sessions!

The 18th Annual Tolkien at University of Vermont conference

April 2, 2022 [hybrid conference]

You can register and download a full program here.

Keynote: The theme of this conference is The Idea of History in Tolkien’s Middle-earth and features Dr. Kristine Larsen as the keynote speaker. She will be talking about “Arda Remade: History and Twentieth-Century Cosmology.”

Other sessions:

Session I Tolkien and Narrativity [In-person]
“Narrative Voice and Differing Concepts of Evil in the Published Silmarillion.” Chris Craun
“The Forbidden Pool as a Garden of Eden Story in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” Yvette Kisor

Session II Tolkien and the Literary Tradition [Virtual]
“The Good Pagan in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy.” Linsay Ragle Miller
“The Horrors of Intimate Evil in Tolkien’s Abandoned ’Novel’ The New Shadow.” Bo Kampmann Walther
“Tolkien, Cline, and the Quest for a Silmaril.” Tom Ue

Session III Theorizing Tolkien [Virtual]
“Lived Legendary War in Tolkien’s Fall of Arthur.” Brendan Anderson
“Tolkien and Nietsche’s Ubermensch.” Ali Mirzabayati

Session IV Undergraduate Voices [In-person]
Harry Driscoll. Bady Kaye. Mary McLellan. Kathryn Wyckoff

For more details about the schedule and registration, check out the website.

Popular Culture Association

April 13-16, 2022 [Virtual]

The late registration deadline is April 1 for anyone not presenting a paper at the conference. More information here. The following is a draft program – always check the final version on the PCA website for days and times. “Get-togethers” are more informal than the regular paper sessions.

Wednesday April 13: Tolkien Fanfiction Live Reading. Get-together. Chair: Maria Alberto

Thursday April 14: Literary and Cultural Studies Approaches to Tolkien
“Tolkien, Old English, and Identity.” Anna Smol
“Point of View and In-Universe Authorship of the ‘Silmarillion.'” Dawn Walls-Thumma
“The Deep Roots Untouchable by Frost: Romanticism in J.R.R. Tolkien.” Lily Tun
“From Mushrooms to Man-flesh: The Cultural Signficance of Food in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” Sara Brown

Thursday April 14: Queer and Critical Race Approaches to Tolkien
“Hardly a word…unconsidered”: Un-Closeting Queer Desire in The Lord of the Rings through (Socio)linguistic Analysis: ‘Mate,’ ‘My/me Dear,’ and ‘Treasure.'” Olivia K. Burgham
“Wondered at this change”: Queer potential and telling silence in the relationship of Legolas and Gimli.” Hannah Mendro
“More Cannot Be Said: Using a Critical, Semi-Systematic Literature Review to Understand Academic Silence on the Queer Potential of Legolas and Gimli.” V. Elizabeth King
“Playing Back: LOTRO and Its Role in Deconstructing Tolkien.” Cordeliah G. Logson and Gideon Cooper.

Thursday April 14: Where to publish in Tolkien and Inklings Study. Get-together. Chair: Perry Neil Harrison

Friday April 15: Multidisciplinary Approaches
“Tolkien, Lovecraft, and Unknowable Evil.” Perry Neil Harrison
“Teamwork in Middle-earth.” Michael Joseph Urick
“Fantasy and Foucault: Teaching Tolkien in the Age of Jordan Peterson.” Christopher James Lockett
“A Tolkienian Pharmakon for Our Times.” Sonali Arvind Chunodkar.

Friday April 15: Roundtable on Teaching Tolkien
Chair: Robin Reid. Presenters: Maria Alberto, Leslie Donovan, Tom Emanuel, Christopher James Lockett, Anna Smol

Friday April 15: Business Meeting

Friday April 15: Race, Nationalism, Totalitarianism, Activism, and Tolkien
“Yellow, Black and White in Chinese Translations of Tolkien.” Eric Reinders
“Tolkien the Racialist and the Monstrous Races Tradition: Tartars, Muslims, and Jews.” Anna Czarnowus
“‘Of lesser and alien race’: Layers and influences of intertwined tyranny and racism in Middle-earth.” Alastair Whyte
“Whiskered Men with Bombs: Mythology, Middle-earth, and Modern Environmental Activism.” Amber Lehning

Friday April 15: Tolkien Live Reading. Get-together. Chair: Robin A. Reid

Saturday April 16: Roundtable on the Future of Tolkien Studies
Chair: Robin Reid. Presenters: Sara Brown, Leslie Donovan, Sonali Arvind Chunodkar, Andrew T Draper

As you might have noticed in the above program, I’m involved in two of the PCA sessions — so, back to work!

Save the dates!

31 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by Anna Smol in Conferences, Medieval, Medievalisms, Research, Tolkien

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International Congress on Medieval Studies, Mythopoeic Society, PCA, PCA/ ACA, Tolkien at Kalamazoo group, Tolkien at UVM, Tolkien in Vermont

Listening to sounds of the Bodleian in a howling snowstorm.

I sometimes like to listen to the Sounds of the Bodleian Library while working. The soundscapes transport me back to happy days researching in the library, where I hope to spend time again one day. In the meantime, a howling snowstorm is keeping us indoors here in Nova Scotia, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look forward to connecting with people online, dreaming of spring and summer, and listening to some great ideas on Tolkien in upcoming seminars.

First up is the Online Midwinter Seminar on The Inklings and Horror: Fantasy’s Dark Corners, sponsored by a Mythopoeic Society group, taking place this coming weekend on February 4th and 5th. You can see a list of speakers and topics on the Mythopoeic Society blog, including a number of papers on Tolkien. Friday night is reserved mainly for social activities, and the presentations are tentatively scheduled for Saturday. You can register for the seminar here. This is the first of midwinter seminars that the Mythopoeic Society is hoping to hold in the future.

18th Annual Tolkien in Vermont Conference, April 2, 2022. The theme is the idea of history and the keynote speaker will be Dr. Gergely Nagy. This event is planned as a hybrid conference, with in-person attendance at the University of Vermont as well as online participation. The schedule of speakers has not yet been announced, but I assume that more information will be forthcoming on the Tolkien in Vermont Facebook page.

The Popular Culture Association online conference will take place April 13-16, 2022. The final schedule has not yet been posted, but we do know that the Tolkien Studies area will have the following sessions: 1. Literary and Cultural Approaches to Tolkien; 2. Queer and Critical Race Approaches to Tolkien; 3. Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Tolkien; 4. Roundtable on Teaching Tolkien; 5. Race, Racisms, and Tolkien; 6. Religion, Spirituality, and Tolkien; 7. A Roundtable on the Future of Tolkien Studies. Each session will have 4 or 5 speakers. I’ll have more details when the final program is out. The deadline for early registration is February 11.

International Congress on Medieval Studies, University of Western Michigan, May 9-14, 2022. This conference is online once again this year, with plans to move to a hybrid model in 2023. A Sneak Preview of the program has now been posted on the conference homepage. Sessions on Tolkien include: 1. Medieval Understandings of the Nature of Evil as Depicted by Tolkien; 2. Tolkien and the Medieval Animal; 3. Tolkien and Medieval Poets: A Session in Memory of Richard West; 4. Medieval Tolkien and the Nature of Middle-earth (a Roundtable); 5. New Readings of The Lord of the Rings. Each of these sessions includes 3 or 4 presenters. Other sessions on medievalisms also include single presentations on Tolkien. I’ll post more details after the final program is published. You can find registration and other information on the Congress website.

Just before the International Congress on Medieval Studies, the Tolkien at Kalamazoo group sponsors a one-day symposium, to be held this year on May 7. This year’s theme is “Missing Mothers.” I expect more details to become available soon about this event. One place to find out more information as it becomes available is at the Tolkien at Kalamazoo Symposium 2022 link on the Tolkienists.org site, which includes emails for the organizers.

Of course, once summer arrives there will be more: in July, the Tolkien Society Seminar, the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, and the Once and Future Fantasies conference at the University of Glasgow; in August, the Mythopoeic Society, and, in September, Oxonmoot. But for now, I’ll work on the papers I’m scheduled to give this spring (at PCA and ICMS) and I’ll look forward to connecting with Tolkien scholars in our virtual world.

Fall term and summer reviews

18 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by Anna Smol in Conferences, Fan studies, Medievalisms, Research, Talks on Tolkien, Tolkien

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International Congress on Medieval Studies, International Medieval Congress, Kalamazoo, Mythcon, PCA/ ACA, Tolkien at Kalamazoo group, Tolkien Experience Podcast, Tolkien Society, Tolkien Society Seminar

I am halfway into the fall term — always a busy time with meetings, grading, and class preparations. It’s hard to find time for research — or blogging. But one thing that I like to do whenever I have a half hour or so is to review videos of past conference presentations or listen to chats with other Tolkien scholars and fans.

One benefit of the move to online or hybrid conferences has been that we have in many cases a recording of the talks that were given. If you missed one, or if you just want to refresh your memory, there is plenty to listen to.

The Tolkien Society summer seminar, held July 3-4, offers 15 talks by Tolkien scholars here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoyx2jXs6Le_MelDj_rJsmiYSYQBeVYxQ

Mythcon 51, held July 31-August 1, has posted 15 talks about Tolkien and more on other fantasy writers. https://dc.swosu.edu/mythcon/mc51/

Tolkien at Kalamazoo Symposium, May 8. I have previously linked to my talk and 6 other recorded presentations that were given on that day here: https://annasmol.net/2021/05/24/tolkien-symposium-2021-tolkien-the-playwright/

Other recorded talks for registered attendees. Those who registered for certain conferences that included Tolkien sessions, such as the International Congress on Medieval Studies (Western Michigan University) in May, the Popular Culture Association conference in June, the International Medieval Congress (Leeds) in July, or Oxonmoot Online in September, will have had access to recorded talks for a certain time after each conference. Only the Oxonmoot talks are still available to registered delegates.

And if you’re not feeling up to listening to scholarly presentations, you can always tune in to the Tolkien Experience Podcast, which features a mix of scholars and fans chatting about their experiences with reading Tolkien’s works and what they mean to them today. I was interviewed by my friend, Dr. Sara Brown, in September. You can listen to my interview, TEP #38, here. Or select from a list of recent interviews here: https://luke-shelton.com/tolkienexperiencepodcast/

And more talks are coming up!

The Tolkien Society Autumn Seminar will be held online on November 6. The theme is Translating and Illustrating Tolkien. Registration is free and still open: https://www.tolkiensociety.org/events/tolkien-society-autumn-seminar/

And something new to add to the roster: the Mythopoeic Society is sponsoring an online winter seminar on The Inklings and Horror: Fantasy’s Dark Corners on February 4-5. The Call for Papers is open until November 15 if you’re interested in presenting. You can find more information here: https://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/ows-2022.htm

Upcoming Tolkien conference sessions (Tolkien Society Seminar and IMC Leeds)

27 Sunday Jun 2021

Posted by Anna Smol in Conferences, Medieval, Medievalisms, Research, Tolkien

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International Medieval Congress, Tolkien Society, Tolkien Society Seminar

These sessions are not for those who rush to join bandwagons based on meaningless politicized terms such as “woke” or who advance the anti-intellectualism prevalent in groups where any academic is suspect, and expertise (whether of academics or fans) is ridiculed. These sessions, as always, are for open discussions and debates by faculty, students, independent scholars, and fans who are interested in the complexities of Tolkien’s works and how they are received, enjoyed, and critiqued around the world.

I make these prefatory comments because of a recent backlash against the Tolkien Society’s free online Summer Seminar theme, Tolkien and Diversity. Of the various incoherent negative comments made on social media, some of which just mock paper titles without knowing what will be said in the presentations, I can discern a couple of repeated objections: a few critics immediately assume the intent is to “tear down” Tolkien or to disavow his Catholic beliefs. Because I have participated in Tolkien studies conferences for years, I feel confident in saying that these are not the intentions of the organizers.

This doesn’t mean that Tolkien will be treated as a saint (some people literally believe he should be sainted!). It also doesn’t mean that Tolkien “the man” will be the last word on his works. Yes, scholars are certainly interested in what he had to say, and that includes how he developed his ideas or changed his mind or contradicted himself; but he does not represent a static set of rigid ideas, as some of the objectors seem to believe.* In any case, what Tolkien has written has gone out into the world and, like any influential literature, it is being read, interpreted, used — for good and for ill — in various ways by readers around the globe. Trying to understand this about Tolkien’s work, as with any other works of literature, is a standard part of literary research, which leads to a better understanding of our contemporary culture.

The Seminar is free, so anyone can actually listen to the ideas being presented, decide if they agree or not, ask questions and discuss — or if they want to express their views in more detail, they can propose a paper for the next meeting in order to present a coherent and informed discussion. Of course, no one is being forced to listen to any new ideas or learn any new facts; we are all free to read Tolkien as we wish.

Tolkien Society Summer Seminar, July 3-4

The Tolkien Society Summer Seminar will take place online on July 3-4. For more information and a list of presentations, see here.

International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 5-9

The Tolkien Society Seminar usually takes place a day or two before the International Medieval Congress, normally held at the University of Leeds, but conducted online this year. The IMC typically features a number of Tolkien sessions. This conference requires registration and a fee; unfortunately, it may be too late to register at this point.

Check out the list of Tolkien-related presentations, including paper abstracts, at Tolkienists.org.

I’m looking forward to speaking about Tolkien’s alliterative poetry in “The Homecoming” on Thursday, 8 July, in the “Medieval Roots and Modern Branches” session.

*This isn’t the first time, or the last, I am sure, in which I cite and recommend Verlyn Flieger’s paper, “The Arch and the Keystone” for anyone interested in considering Tolkien’s complex views. The essay is available for download from Mythlore here: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol38/iss1/3/.

Tolkien Symposium 2021: Tolkien the Playwright

24 Monday May 2021

Posted by Anna Smol in Conferences, Tolkien

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The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Tolkien Symposium, Tolkien Symposium 2021, Tolkien the Playwright

The Tolkien Symposium usually takes place in Kalamazoo, Michigan a day or two before the International Congress on Medieval Studies begins at the University of Western Michigan. This year, both events were held online, with the Symposium taking place on May 8. This year’s Symposium began with a memorial session dedicated to Tolkien scholar Richard West, who passed away earlier this year, and then continued with a day-long slate of presentations, including mine on “Tolkien the Playwright,” in which I discussed his verse drama, “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son.”

You can watch the video recording of my talk here:

In the Q & A after my presentation, I mentioned that I would post my references here on my blog; I also mentioned that my co-authored article with Rebecca Foster would be available soon in the Journal of Tolkien Research. The best way to get a full list of our references (and to learn more about “The Homecoming”) would be to read our article, “J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Homecoming’ and Modern Alliterative Metre” which has now been published in the free and open-access JTR.

You can also watch most of the other Symposium presentations on the Tolkien Experience YouTube channel. The other available presentations are:

John Holmes, “The Imagined World and the Frame in Tolkien’s Art”

Kris Larsen, “Seeing Double: Tolkien and the Indo-European Divine Twins“

Annie Brust, “The Warrior Women of Beastly Exterior”

Kris Swank, “The Poetry of Geoffrey Bache Smith with special note of Tolkienian Contexts“

Luke Shelton, “The Lord of the Rings, Young Readers, and Heroism”

Eileen Moore, “Maidens of Middle-earth XI: Valier and Maiar“

I’ll post more about our “Homecoming” article soon.

Tolkien Conference Season, May-July 2021

26 Monday Apr 2021

Posted by Anna Smol in Conferences, Fan studies, Medieval, Medievalisms, Research, Tolkien

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ICMS 2021, IMC 2021, PCA, Tolkien at Kalamazoo group, Tolkien at Leeds, Tolkien Society Seminar, Tolkien Symposium, vIMC

Conference season is upon us again, and just like last year’s sessions, the meetings I’m interested in are being held online. While nothing can replace sitting on a university patio in the summer sun drinking mead with new and old conference friends, we’ll have to make do with virtual reality. As I’ve said before, the one advantage is that we can listen to many more papers and “attend” many more conferences than we typically would have done, especially for those who do not have travel funding to go far afield to specialist meetings.

I think that in a fit of overcompensating for last year’s pandemic lockdown and research slowdown, I have offered to give three conference papers and one roundtable discussion this spring and summer. In order to make sure I remember where I want to be and when, I’ve compiled a list of conference sessions on Tolkien that I’m either involved in or just interested in attending from May to July.

Tolkien Symposium, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Coming up are the sessions which are usually held in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which begin with the one-day Tolkien Symposium, sponsored by the Tolkien at Kalamazoo group. These sessions will be held on May 8 from 10:30 a.m. EDT to 5:00 p.m. EDT, with 9 papers, rounding up the day with a musical performance. To see the full schedule, go to Tolkienists.org. The Symposium is free; email Dr. Christopher Vaccaro for the link [Christopher.Vaccaro@uvm.edu].

My paper is scheduled on May 8. Did you know that Tolkien published a play? And that it is his only piece of historical fiction? My talk is on “Tolkien the Playwright” and deals with his verse drama, “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son.”

International Congress on Medieval Studies, University of Western Michigan

There are a number of sessions on Tolkien and medievalism at this conference, to be held May 10 – 15. Registration is required and so is the payment of a fee, scaled to your income. Each session includes two or more papers; below are the session topics and dates and times. For details about the presenters and their paper titles, go to the Tolkienists.org site or search the program and register at the ICMS site.

Monday, May 10, 1:00 p.m. EDT
Tolkien and Manuscript Studies

Monday, May 10, 5:00 p.m. EDT
Deadscapes: Wastelands, Necropoli, and Other Tolkien-Inspired Places of Death, Decay, and Corruption (A Panel Discussion)

Tuesday, May 11, 9:00 a.m EDT
Christopher Tolkien, Medievalist (a roundtable)

Tuesday, May 11, 3 p.m. EDT
Tolkien’s Chaucer

Thursday, May 13, 11:00 a.m. EDT
Tolkien and Se Wyrm

Thursday, May 13, 3 p.m. EDT
Tolkien’s Medicinal Medieval World: Illness and Healing in Middle-earth

Friday, May 14, 1 p.m. EDT
Medieval World-Building: Tolkien, His Precursors and Legacies

Saturday, May 15, 11:00 a.m. EDT
Tolkien’s Paratexts, Appendices, Annals, and Marginalia (a roundtable)