Eä Tolkien Society October 2015 Meeting Notes

October 2015 Meeting Notes

Attended: Hawke (HR) Richard (RB) Brian (BH) and Noah Hunt (NH).
1. BH read Notes. Comments related to the notes such as:

·        
Hawke’s tree paper on Tolkien, that was read at U.K. Tolkien Society, and at Tolkien Moot 2011 - http://tolkienscholars.org/archives/tolkien-and-trees-by-hawke-robinson-revised-for.pdf/view

·        
Richard’s recommendation of the Youtube “Great
War” weekly update which also featured JRRT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvVh-DVhroQ&list=PLB2vhKMBjSxMhAeYNstfBGyXcRN7o0TyF

·        
Still need to research Elvish left & right
hand and if anyone else has commented on the significance of facing the West.

 

2. HR continued on Vinyar Tengwar page 1 of the Elvish names for body
features, such as throat (lanko), heart (hon, ore), neck (yat), thigh (tiuko),
leg (telko), pair of legs (talwi), male (ner), foot (tala), flat of foot
(talan)… possibly related to Elvish talan (flet) in a tree?

 

3. RPG Research Newsà link to rpgresearch.com. Good interviews. RPG
trailer funding is moving on with some potential sources.

 

4. Bad News! Tolkien’s Kullervo is not out in the USA until April 5,
2016.

 

5. BH mentioned that “Mordor” is the informal name given this year to a
dark part of the North Pole of Charon, Pluto’s largest moon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordor_Macula

 

6. NH read Letters of Tolkien 106 (to publisher Allen & Unwin).

·        
Gaps between letters gets longer—why? Son
Christopher in England now.

·        
Farmer Giles of Ham mentioned

·        
Tolkien’s desire for large chunks of time to
write

 

7. RB read Letter 107

·        
German translation of the Hobbit

·        
Considers the Lord of the Rings his “Magnus
opus”

·        
Objects to “disnification” of fairy tales

 

8. BH read Letter 108

·        
Farmer Giles of Ham finally published,
illustrated by Pauline Baynes (which friend C.S. Lewis liked so much, he asked
for her to illustrate the Chronicles of Narnia)

 

9. HR read Letter 109

·        
Rayner Unwin’s comments on the Lord of the Rings


·        
“A solitary art is no art at all.”
--Tolkien  

 

10. NH commented about Tolkien and niggling on things. What do we wish
Tolkien had niggled on more? Example: Orcs & how they were made.

 

11. HR pointed out feedback from Tolkien’s fans was solicited for the
Hobbit revisions. How open was JRRT to criticism of inconsistencies?

 

12.  RB related that to his own
journey as an author—wanting feedback but not wishing for mere punctuation
& grammar advice.

 

13. HR gave example of his son’s story & dedication to crafting it
with revisions & feedback.

 

14. RB made reference to Hamilcar in Letter 109 as Hannibal’s father
(that Hannibal who crossed the Alps).

 

15. Letter 109 continuing discussion about Necromancer/Annatar as
versions of Sauron. Immortality & the death-cult on Numenor. Also Gollum as
character discussed.

 

16. Next meeting decided as Sat, Nov. 14th, 1-3 pm @ Hawke’s
house. We plan to read Tolkien’s novella Farmer Giles of Ham is a single
setting. If time afterwards, we will read Letters 110 & 111.