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Beowulf as children’s lit: 2 recent publications
Anna Smol’s “Beowulf and Boyology,” explores the conflation of medieval stories and childhood in late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her review of a collection of essays titled “Beowulf as Children’s Literature,” highlights the volume as a valuable resource for studying medieval adaptations for young readers.
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New Tolkien books coming soon
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a pile of Tolkien books in my to-read pile, but that’s not stopping me from looking forward to some new publications. Here are a few of them… The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Revised and Expanded Edition. HarperCollins, 2023. The letters have been a staple of Tolkien
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Tolkien Tuesday: a positive community-building event
Twitter (aka X) can be a hellscape of hatred, but fortunately there are people online who are determined to fight back and focus on positive community-building actions. At the forefront of this effort is Tim Bolton, who has created the #TolkienTuesday / #TolkienTrewsday event. A theme is announced before every Tuesday and anyone is invited
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A link to my latest post on Tolkien & Alliterative Verse
Please follow along at tolkienalliterative.ca if you’re interested in the alliterative poems Tolkien wrote. My research assistants and I are building a bibliography of Tolkien’s alliterative verse, some online guides to alliterative metre, and links to some of Tolkien’s notes on the topic. You’ll also find an occasional blog post on what’s new in this
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Upcoming deadlines: CfPs in Tolkien studies
We’re still enjoying summer weather here in Nova Scotia, but let’s face it, fall is just around the corner, and with it, some deadlines for Tolkien scholars interested in presenting their research at conferences in the coming year. If you don’t intend to propose anything, you still might want to browse the topics that people
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Tolkien studies in Leeds 2023
Programs have now been announced for two events to take place next month in Leeds, making the first week of July a great time to listen to presentations on Tolkien, either in person if you’re able to make it to Leeds in the UK or online for everyone else. The Tolkien Society always sponsors its
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Happy birthday, Professor Verlyn Flieger!
Over on Twitter, Tom Hillman has started a thread of birthday wishes for preeminent Tolkien scholar, Professor Verlyn Flieger, and I would like to add my tribute here as well. I wanted to take a moment to wish Verlyn Flieger a happy birthday, and thank her not only for her decades of excellent work elevating
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It’s all about the Second Age
The recent TV series Rings of Power has drawn attention to Tolkien’s stories of Númenor and of the making of the rings, both set in the Second Age of Middle-earth. As is usual with adaptations, the show has drawn increased attention to what Tolkien wrote, although plenty of scholars and fans have been commenting about
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Same site, new design!
If you’ve been to this site before, you’ll see that it now looks slightly different. I had kept my old blog design for ten years, but it’s time for a technical and visual upgrade for the new year. Please be patient while I tweak the images and new fonts and layouts on my site pages.
A Single Leaf
“He used to spend a long time on a single leaf, trying to catch its shape, and its sheen, and the glistening of dewdrops on its edges.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, “Leaf by Niggle”
Anna Smol: A Single Leaf 