Anna Smol: A Single Leaf

Tag: Notion Club Papers

  • Rereading The Notion Club Papers: Sauron and the Barber

    Rereading Tolkien’s The Notion Club Papers: Sauron and the Barber. Some thoughts on how evil makes inroads with decent people.

  • Some glimpses into Westmoot 2025

    Some glimpses into Westmoot 2025 including a summary of my keynote and links to other talks that have been since uploaded.

  • Tolkien’s King Sheave story

    I’m finding Tolkien’s Notion Club Papers* a fascinating and deep well of ideas. Last summer at the New York Tolkien Conference, I commented on the sub-creators who appear in the story; this year, for my conference presentation at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, I talked about another part of Notion Club, the embedded legend…

  • Travels with Tolkien; or, What I Did Last Summer

    A couple of weeks ago, my department held a reception for our students, and the event included a series of brief talks called  “What I Did Last Summer.”  Our intention was to introduce our work to our students and also to combat the popular misconception that professors have the summer “off.” We wanted to give…

  • A Look Back at The New York Tolkien Conference

    When I heard that a Tolkien conference was going to be held in New York City last month, of course I paid attention, as I find any reason to visit New York a welcome one. When I investigated further and saw the list of presenters — Janet Brennan Croft, Kristine Larsen, Nicholas Birns, Laura Lee…

  • Ahhh, Oxford!

    I love Oxford. I have no idea what it’s like to be a student there or a member of faculty. I don’t know what it’s like to be a resident (expensive, I’m guessing, if I’m to believe Kirstie and Phil*). But as a visiting academic / tourist, I love it. This is where I can…