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The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
A thought has occured to me

Hamfast Gamgee
Tol Eressea

Jan 17 2020, 11:12pm

Post #1 of 18 (1421 views)
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A thought has occured to me Can't Post

It is now many years as has been said elsewhere since the Lotr films came out. And even many years since the Hobbit films came out. Now some may be sad at this, and I am not a PJ hater particularly I even think that the Hobbit movies have their merits but one thing about this is that perhaps we can now talk about the books in themselves. Which I still think are better in both trilogies. And I do, or at least did, know some people that would have liked that when the movie hype was at it's height. I suppose it's just a bit of a shame that since then discussion forums on the topic are strictly limited nowadays in the modern internet.


Omnigeek
Lorien


Jan 18 2020, 7:04pm

Post #2 of 18 (1277 views)
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By all means [In reply to] Can't Post

I would love to discuss the books more. A number of us have our opinions about the movies and it's clear hardly anyone is going to change their mind about them.
The apparent end of Tolkien scholarship coming with the death of Christopher Tolkien is a great opportunity to discuss the body of work he gave us.


Solicitr
Gondor


Jan 18 2020, 7:47pm

Post #3 of 18 (1269 views)
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Subject [In reply to] Can't Post

"End of Tolkien scholarship"?


uncle Iorlas
Rohan


Jan 18 2020, 8:13pm

Post #4 of 18 (1266 views)
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The end of an era, certainly. [In reply to] Can't Post

Not the end of scholarship, I think and hope.

And I must say, though I haven't been online the whole time, I yhink some have done an estimable job of doing the good work on Tolkien without the shadow of the movies falling too heavily over the conversation. But yes, I think it's receding a bit now, and will recede vastly faster once Amazon's necessarily different look at the canon diversifies the available visuals. It was always inevitable, really.


squire
Half-elven


Jan 18 2020, 9:47pm

Post #5 of 18 (1264 views)
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This Reading Room has always been about the books [In reply to] Can't Post

Even at the height of the LotR films' popularity, on which TORn has built its reputation, this forum has stuck to the books, and discussions that lean into the films even for comparison have usually been referred to the appropriate other boards.

However, it's certainly true that the RR has faded in the past few years. I don't think it's the films' fault, but rather the bulletin board format of the forums here. The next generation of fans has grown up on social media, and simply aren't used to the more 'long form' style of this kind of site. Not to mention that posting pictures and clips here takes backflips that few today are prepared to do when the options elsewhere are so transparent.

I've found in the past year that Facebook - which is antiquated in its own way, by cracky - has at least two active boards discussing Tolkien at a pace of posts and replies that reinforce my impression that these boards are getting dusty. One is TORn's own FB "Worlds and Works of JRRT" page. The other is the Tolkien Society's FB site, coming out of the UK but with a hugely international subscriber base.

The latter group, by the way, is very very bookish; some folk there discuss their Tolkien book-collecting hobbies with the gusto that I've seen on TORn on the subject of Blu-ray and frame-rates and special DVD editions. Before starting to follow the goings-on there, I had no idea what a "shelfie" was!

In case you don't know either, here's mine that I posted on the TS site to establish my cred:





squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Archive: All the TORn Reading Room Book Discussions (including the 1st BotR Discussion!) and Footerama: "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
Dr. Squire introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary


= Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.


uncle Iorlas
Rohan


Jan 18 2020, 10:12pm

Post #6 of 18 (1254 views)
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Ooh, I can see my house from here [In reply to] Can't Post

Or rather I see that little boxed trilogy edition from the 60s that my parents still have.

My own shelf is much less extensive. Someday, perhaps.


Hasuwandil
Lorien


Jan 19 2020, 1:40am

Post #7 of 18 (1233 views)
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End of an era? [In reply to] Can't Post

I doubt it is the end of Tolkien scholarship, but does it mean that no more publications from J.R.R. Tolkien's notes and writings are forthcoming?

Hêlâ Auriwandil, angilô berhtost,
oƀar Middangard mannum gisandid!


(This post was edited by Hasuwandil on Jan 19 2020, 1:44am)


Solicitr
Gondor


Jan 19 2020, 2:16am

Post #8 of 18 (1230 views)
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Well, [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
I doubt it is the end of Tolkien scholarship, but does it mean that no more publications from J.R.R. Tolkien's notes and writings are forthcoming?


I wouldn't say that. CT during his lifetime was willing to let others edit and publish his father's papers, including Hammond & Scull (Artist and Illustrator, expanded Tom Bombadil, expanded Farmer Giles), Verlyn Flieger (Kullervo, Autrou & Itroun, expanded Smith, expanded On Fairy-Stories (with Doug Anderson)), John Rateliff (Mr Baggins, Return to Bag-end) and Carl Hostetter et al (linguistic papers), and I think there's no reason for the Estate to do otherwise; in fact, perhaps all the more reason to delegate since CT can't do any more himself.


(This post was edited by Solicitr on Jan 19 2020, 2:17am)


ElanorTX
Tol Eressea


Jan 19 2020, 10:05am

Post #9 of 18 (1187 views)
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To avoid suffocating under a pile of books [In reply to] Can't Post

I decided early on to limit my purchases to works by JRRT and Christopher, including only an occasional book by anyone else. I particularly treasure a complete set of the HoME books. I did get rid of the Ace version early on, much to the aggravation of my husband.

"I shall not wholly fail if anything can still grow fair in days to come."



noWizardme
Half-elven


Jan 19 2020, 4:53pm

Post #10 of 18 (1145 views)
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You wouldn't, perhaps, feel like writing something, short or long, learned or lighthearted about your favourite chapter? [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
I would love to discuss the books more.

You wouldn't, perhaps, feel like writing something, short or long, learned or lighthearted about your favourite chapter? If so, we have a Favourite Chapters project for you, and the link to put yourself on the schedule is in my post footer (you just sign yourself onto the schedule/rota/thingy: there is no vetting committee, someone lost the shears).
I think it's like that old joke about 'to have a revolution you have to start with someone revolting'. To have a discussion someone has to start by posting something to discuss. It seems increasingly to me of late that too few of us are doing that. I've never been successful in discovering why.

~~~~~~
The Reading Room 'favourite chapters' project. http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=967482#967482 Each week, someone presents a favourite chapter from The Hobbit, LOTR or the Silmarillion. Just sign yourself up onto the schedule if you can lead a chapter.


noWizardme
Half-elven


Jan 19 2020, 5:18pm

Post #11 of 18 (1142 views)
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"For Frodo!" no, Format! [In reply to] Can't Post

Yes, it does seem a little quiet. As you probably know, my efforts to keep things going and to ask 'lurkers why do ye lurk' have only been partly successful. Perhaps it is that many people now prefer more recent formats, or have become wary of old-style forums because of bad experiences on ones that are less well 'admin-ed' than we are. Or there may be very many other reasons - I just don't know.

~~~~~~
The Reading Room 'favourite chapters' project. http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=967482#967482 Each week, someone presents a favourite chapter from The Hobbit, LOTR or the Silmarillion. Just sign yourself up onto the schedule if you can lead a chapter.


sevilodorf
Tol Eressea


Jan 20 2020, 5:48am

Post #12 of 18 (1120 views)
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Why we lurk.....This thing all things devour.... [In reply to] Can't Post

Not that I've ever been an expansive poster...but time lately has been a great foe. Or rather the number of claims upon my time have become more numerous or perhaps just more demanding.

And while TORN continues as a haven for politeness -- I have been trampled once or twice in online discourse thus becoming even more lnclined to lurk rather than creep into the light.

Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com
Home of TheOneRing.net Best FanFic stories of 2005 and 2006 "The Last Grey Ship" and "Ashes, East Wind, Hope That Rises" by Erin Rua

(Found in Mathoms, LOTR Tales Untold)




noWizardme
Half-elven


Jan 20 2020, 3:27pm

Post #13 of 18 (1079 views)
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Certainly 'time wounds all heels' in volutneer projects [In reply to] Can't Post

Of course it's true that many people can only ever be sporadic contributors. And that works out fine if, one way or another, there's enough going on that the Reading Room seems to have things going on and to be a reasonably nice place to stay and read (or contribute). That way, when sporadic contributors (or new people) do turn up, there is something interesting and welcoming to join in with.

It's certainly nobody's job or duty to keep 'the lights on' here, and so it's vulnerable to running down to a group of people that is too small to keep it viable. If they eventually give up, the tumbleweed rolls in. I expect we've all dipped into - and then quickly left - forums where the last thing posted was long ago, the forum seems dead, and revisiting or asking anything just seems pointless. That, I suppose, is what happens if too many people become sporadic contributors.
Any changes to standards of 'manners' would of course have to involve our Admins. I do appreciate that someone being too tedious or quarrelsome can dampen one's desire to contribute - quite possibly without them having done enough to warrant a public Admin's rebuke. (Whether our Admins 'have a quiet word' of warning with people who have pushed the limits I don't know - all I know is that nobody has 'had a quiet word' with me!) So what can be done about 'trampling' I don't know - it's one reason why I'm not an Admin ("and don't want to be one, neither".)

~~~~~~
The Reading Room 'favourite chapters' project. http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=967482#967482 Each week, someone presents a favourite chapter from The Hobbit, LOTR or the Silmarillion. Just sign yourself up onto the schedule if you can lead a chapter.


Dunadan of North Arnor
Rivendell

Jan 21 2020, 3:28am

Post #14 of 18 (1053 views)
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I’ll second that motion... [In reply to] Can't Post

that is being “trampled once or twice in online discourse thus becoming even more inclined to lurk”. Online one-upsmanship sometimes seems to prevail here over actual debate about Tolkien and his works.

I have other interests.

Smile


(This post was edited by Dunadan of North Arnor on Jan 21 2020, 3:30am)


ElanorTX
Tol Eressea


Jan 21 2020, 8:47am

Post #15 of 18 (1029 views)
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In the Catholic Church [In reply to] Can't Post

establishing a religious community that lasts into a second generation (beyond the founder's death) can count toward canonization.

"I shall not wholly fail if anything can still grow fair in days to come."



Hasuwandil
Lorien


Jan 21 2020, 8:49am

Post #16 of 18 (1028 views)
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Tolkien's papers [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
I wouldn't say that. CT during his lifetime was willing to let others edit and publish his father's papers, including Hammond & Scull (Artist and Illustrator, expanded Tom Bombadil, expanded Farmer Giles), Verlyn Flieger (Kullervo, Autrou & Itroun, expanded Smith, expanded On Fairy-Stories (with Doug Anderson)), John Rateliff (Mr Baggins, Return to Bag-end) and Carl Hostetter et al (linguistic papers), and I think there's no reason for the Estate to do otherwise; in fact, perhaps all the more reason to delegate since CT can't do any more himself.


My question was not so much about the legality of publishing further works from J.R.R. Tolkien as whether Christopher Tolkien had left much, if anything, to publish.

Hêlâ Auriwandil, angilô berhtost,
oƀar Middangard mannum gisandid!


(This post was edited by Hasuwandil on Jan 21 2020, 8:54am)


Solicitr
Gondor


Jan 21 2020, 3:31pm

Post #17 of 18 (999 views)
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Ah. Okay. [In reply to] Can't Post

In terms of "major works," the well is pretty dry; but that's actually been the case since the end of HME (for Middle earth), or Beowulf (generally). Children of Hurin, Beren & Luthien and Fall of Gondolin were pretty much repackagings of previously-published materials.

The major exception WRT M-E is the Elvish linguistic writings, which still have a long way to go (deciphering those papers is especially grueling and finicky work). AIUI, the one 'big' work remaining is an unfinished verse translation of Beowulf, distinct from the prose translation published six years ago.

This isn't to say that there isn't a considerable quantity of stuff of more specialist interest, fuel for journal articles; but nothing for HarperCollins hardcovers available on Amazon.


Hasuwandil
Lorien


Jan 21 2020, 6:34pm

Post #18 of 18 (984 views)
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Thanks [In reply to] Can't Post

Thanks. The only outstanding material I was aware of was the grammar of Taliska. In the past year (along with the Amazon series and the biopic) I became aware of Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, Together with Sellic Spell, but haven't got around to getting it yet, though I do have Michael Drout's Beowulf and the Critics. I look forward to the verse translation as well, if that's ever released.

Hêlâ Auriwandil, angilô berhtost,
oƀar Middangard mannum gisandid!

 
 

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