Eä Tolkien Society Meeting Notes for January 2018

Notes from January 20, 2018
Ea Tolkien Society

Attended: Hawke, Anthony, Richard, Wes, Stephanie, Brian, Corey, Chris

1. Brian read December notes
2. We went around and asked how everyone is doing in the New Year.
a. Anthony referring to the Hobbit movies and his assessment of them
b. Richard has been recently published
c. Wes and Stephanie christened one of their cats Gandalf, and Wes
continues to help at SPARK and as a workstudy for Signum University
d. Brian has enjoyed growing in his Gamemaster experience running a
campaign of The One Ring RPG
e. Corey referred to an interesting discussion he had with a person about
Star Wars being inspired by the Lord of the Rings
f. Chris has started reading The Magician’s Nephew to his children, and
seeing lots of connections between Tolkien and Lewis’s works
g. Hawke—RPG at SPARK, Wheelchair-friendly RPG trailer now has artwork on
the back… this coming week will be interviewed by Hasbro/Wizards of the
Coast (roleplaying owes debt to Tolkien)… ethics/empathy/heroic playing &
how it can impact people
h. Patreon account for Tolkien Scholars? Bozarth Mansion more accessible
with crowdfunding for Tolkien Moot in future. Most said YES to Patreon.
3. Discussion of questions raised by group.
a. Anthony: Elves have pointed ears or not according to Tolkien?
b.     We read and discussed this Michael Martinez blogpost on the topic:
https://middle-earth.xenite.org/do-tolkiens-elves-have-pointy-ears/
<https://middle-earth.xenite.org/do-tolkiens-elves-have-pointy-ears/>
4. We finished the reading of the Ainulindale, the origin story of
Middle-Earth, and of the identity of the Valar. Discussion points:
a. Richard: Some of the language archaic, hard to read. Discussion on
accessibility.
b. Linguistics/evolution of language
c. Wes: Distinctions of different words for characters… language as way to
track this change from vision to song to the making. Things that exist…
like a rich dream.
d. Brian: Would that relate to the three names Olorin/Mithrandir/Gandalf?
5. *Next time to discuss: Beards on elvish men & dwarven women; entwives,
etc. Also three themes of the creation of Arda as they relate to the
stories, and the Valar respective differences. (Perhaps reading the
Valaquenta?)  Also consider starting meeting with the Letters of Tolkien
next time (resume at Letter 146... we have not read since Nov). *
6. Location change? Open to ideas. For now, we will continue at Hawke
Robinson's house until a future announcement is made.
7. Next meeting will be 3rd Saturday as always, *February 17th, 1-3 pm.*  For february, since Brian & Hawke will be out of town, the meeting will be held at Chris's house: 2027 W Boone Ave. Spokane, WA 99201.