Eglerio! Tolkien Sessions at Leeds IMC 2021

Greetings all!  I hope all are doing well during these mad times.  In the darkest hours of lockdown and uncertainty I have kept in mind and heart that great Elvish war cry of Hurin during the Fifth Battle of Beleriand - Aurë Entuluva - Day Shall Come Again!   

As sadly has become the trend this year the Leeds International Medieval Congress will be held on line from 5-9 July 2021 and registration for the online conference will open in March 2021.

This is my first year of having the extreme honour to take over the mantle of organising the Tolkien Sessions for this conference from our visionary founder, scholar and writer Dr. Dimitra Fimi whose incredible work has established these Tolkien sessions at Leeds IMC has an integral part of Tolkien scholarship. 

I am so pleased that all the Tolkien Sessions that we submitted earlier this year have been accepted for the on-line conference and below please find the online schedule of Tolkien sessions and presenters.  

J.R.R. Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches (Session 1721) 

Thursday 8 July 14:15-15:45 

Moderator: Dr. Andrew Higgins 

Borders on the Otherworld: Warrior Maidens, Mounds, and Ancestral Swords in The Lord of the Rings and in the Old Norse Hervar Saga -  Jan A. Kozak

Flocking to the Serpent Banner - Decolonising The Lord of the Ring's Workshop's Table-Top War Game - Brian Egede-Pedersen 

The Raven and the Map: Decoding Gyözö Vida's A Gyürük Ura (Joel Merriner) 

Tolkien's Alliterative Styles in The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son (Anna Smol) 

Tolkien and Diversity: A Round Table Discussion - Thursday 8 July (19:00-20:30) (Session 1921) 

Moderator: Professor Yvette Kisor 

Participants: Deidre Dawson, Sultana Raza, Christopher Vaccaro    

Medieval Climates, Cosmologies and EcoSystems in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien (I) - Friday 9 July (14:15-15:45) (Session 2212) 

Moderator: Dr. Sara Brown 

The Importance of Geographical Directions in the construction of Tolkien's Middle-earth (Andrzej Wicher) 

King Elessar in Middle-earth: Strawberry Fields Forever? (Aurelie Bremont) 

'Carry on My Wayward Sonne (and Moon)' Common Cosmological Quirks in the Norse Fimbul-Winter and Tolkien's Early Legendarium (Dr. Kristine Larsen) 

Political Climate in the 'The Fall of Numenor' (Gaëlle Abalea) 

Medieval Climates, Cosmologies and EcoSystems in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien (II) Friday 9 July (16:30-18:00)  (Session 2312) 

The Myth of the Mother - Retracing the Roots of Motherhood in Tolkien's Decaying Middle-earth (Dr. Helen Lawson) 

Situating Middle-earth: Reconsidering Tolkien's Relationship with the Landscape (Dr. Sara Brown) 

Language Invention, Climate and Landscapes in Tolkien's Gnomish Lexicon (Dr. Andrew Higgins) 

How Alan Lee's Landscapes Outline the Climate of Plot and Tolkien's Mind-scapes (Sultana Raza)  

I will arrange the IMC Tolkien Sessions Business Meeting to discuss plans for the 2022 sessions during the week of this conference. 

So looking forward to seeing everyone including the Sacred Fellowship of the Society of Mead Drinkers (aka SODOM) this July in our virtual Leeds conference.