CFP for Tolkien at Leeds International Medieval Congress (7-10 July 2025)

 

In 2025 Tolkien at IMC Leeds (7-10 July 2025) will be celebrating our ten year anniversary having been started in 2015 by our founder Professor Dimitra Fimi.   

The special thematic strand of this conference will be ‘Worlds of Learning’.  

We are very pleased that the 2025 IMC Tolkien Sessions will again be sponsored by the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow  

Paper submissions are being sought for the following 2025 Tolkien at Leeds sessions:  

Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches

This session can accommodate wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism, ranging from source studies and theoretical readings to comparative studies of Tolkien’s works.  

Learning, Lore and Craft in Tolkien’s Medieval World 

Papers in this session can explore the role that learning, preserving lore and producing crafts in their widest sense play in Tolkien’s world-building of his Middle-earth legendarium and other fictional and academic works.   

Oral Tradition and Medieval Transmission in Tolkien’s Works 

“From ‘The Book of Lost Tales’ to ‘The Red Book of Westmarch’ and ‘The Notion Club Papers,’ Tolkien crafted various narrative frameworks to convey the conceit of transmitting his invented secondary world into our primary reality. In this session, papers can delve into the significance of orality in Tolkien’s works and explore the diverse transmission frameworks he developed. Additionally, researchers may investigate the literary works that might have influenced Tolkien’s efforts to create these connections 

J.R.R. Tolkien as Teacher and Mentor at Leeds and Beyond 

In this session, papers will celebrate Tolkien’s pivotal role as a teacher and mentor to students at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford. Topics may encompass how Tolkien’s teaching and mentorship influenced scholars, the academic work he supervised, and the establishment of academic clubs like The Viking Club at Leeds and its counterpart, Kolbitar, at Oxford. Additionally, attendees can explore students’ memories of Tolkien as both a teacher and mentor

Tolkien at Leeds Annual Roundtable: Teaching Tolkien 

The Annual Tolkien at Leeds Roundtable will invite educators to discuss and debate teaching methodologies and the unique challenges of bringing Tolkien’s works into 21st-century classrooms.

Please submit a paper contribution title and abstract by 31 August 2024 to  

Dr. Andrew Higgins (asthiggins@me.com) 

• Length of abstracts: 150 words (max!)  
• Please include a short bibliography of main research your paper will be drawing on and be in dialogue with.  
• Papers will be 15-20 minutes long (3 session papers will be preferred) 

• With your abstract, please include name and details of contributor (affiliation, address, and preferred e-mail address)

Tolkien Sessions at Leeds IMC 2024

Eglerio! This year The Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow will again be sponsoring six Tolkien sessions at The International Medieval Congress at The University of Leeds from 1st to 4th July .  This continues the tradition started by our founder Professor Dimitra Fimi (whose vision and scholarship we are celebrating this summer!) and is my fourth year organising these sessions.  

We have a great line up of Tolkien scholars and students exploring many aspects of Tolkien and Middle-earth studies including several papers focused on the timely subject of this year's conference CRISIS 

Tolkien Medieval Roots and Modern Branches 

This year we have two sessions which address wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism and works.  

Session 1 - Monday 1st July 2024: 11:115-12:45 GMT 

1) "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" Tolkien's 1953 Lecture and Related Finding: Andoni Cossio, Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Vitoria-Gasteiz; University of Glasgow (Virtual) 

2) Gondor Calls for Aid: But Who Will Pay? Brian Egede-Pedersen, Independent Scholar

3) Eärendil's Mythopoeic Journeys - Anna Smol, Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia

Session 2 - Monday 1st July 2024: 14:15-15:45 GMT 

1) Sub-Creation, Multi-Canon, or Unreliable Narrator: Mythopoeia in Action - Amira Ali Hassan Ali Abdullah, Independent Scholar

2)  'The king has got a crown again': Ruin as Hyperobject in Arda - Will Sherwood, University of Glasgow

3) Freezing the Frame on Crises in the Legendarium through the lens of Alan Lee - Sultana Raza, Independent Scholar

Tolkien's Medieval Sub-Creation in Crisis 

Monday 1st July: 16:30-18:00 GMT 

This session will examine different concepts of crisis in Tolkien studies. 

1) A Medievalist Myth-Making Crisis: Tolkien's Tychonic Cosmology - Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University

2) Bree-folk were sympathetic, but…': Historical Precursors to Middle-Earth's Migration Crisis at the End of the Third Age - Christian Trenk, Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

3) The Crisis of Arda Marred and How (Not) to Unmar It: The Ring, the Tongue, and the Tower as the New Wheel of Fortune, the New Tower of Babel, and the New World Tree - Cameron Bourquein, Independent Scholar

Racial Medievalism in Tolkien Studies: A Session Celebrating the Works of Professor Dimitra Fimi, Founder of Tolkien at Leeds

Tuesday 2nd July 2024: 11:15-12:45 GMT 

In this session we will celebrate the work and scholarship of our Tolkien at Leeds IMC founder and leading scholar and author of Tolkien and speculative literature Professor Dimitra Fimi whose ground-breaking 2008 book Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits, won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies in 2010. Fimi’s evolving body of work has brought to light neglected aspects of Tolkien’s creativity and world-building, including the centrality of the Elves, the role of linguistic invention, and the relationships between race and material culture in Middle-earth 

1) Into the West: Wonders and Woes of Looking for 'Celtic' Inspirations in the Works of J. R. R. Tolkien - Aurelie Bremont, Sorbonne Université, Paris

2) Teaching Song and Holiness: An Exploration of the Mystic and Syncretic Elements of Tolkien's Earliest Elvish Language Invention: Andrew Higgins, Independent Scholar 

Tolkien at Leeds Business Meeting - 1pm-1:45pm GMT - 

To Join via Zoom: 

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Bodily Crises in Tolkien's Medievalism

There will be two sessions exploring crises/concerns of gender and bodily difference in Tolkien’s works including sexuality and disability.  Indicative areas to be examined include the role of bodies under physical duress, punishment, injury from battle or war, as well as bodies in transformation including prosthetics, spiritual transformation (good or evil) and how bodies and body transformation from Tolkien’s works are depicted in illustrations and in films and other media.

Session 1 - Weds 3rd July: 14:15-15:45 GMT 

1) Altered Bodies, Altered States in the 'Tale of Tinúviel' - Cami Agan, Oklahoma Christian University

2) Éowyn and/or Dernhelm: Tolkien's Paradoxical Gendering of Éowyn's Disguise Gavin Foster, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

3) The Torment of Maedhros and a Crisis of Mercy: Bodily Crises in Tolkien's Medievalism - Mercury Natis, Signum University, New Hampshire

Session 2 - Weds 3rd July: 16:30-18:00 GMT 

'Restless and uneasy...thin and stretched': The Ring, the Ringbearers, and Bodies in Psychological Crisis in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - Sara Brown, Signum University, New Hampshire

Bodily Transformations in Tolkien's Middle-Earth: The Metamorphosis of Elwing - Yvette Kisor, Ramapo College of New Jersey

'He was naked, lying as if in a swoon': Gazing Queerly at Frodo's Saintly Body in Crisis - Christopher Vaccaro, University of Vermont

Crisis in Researching Tolkien: The Annual Tolkien at Leeds Roundtable 

Weds 3rd July: 19:00-20:00 GMT 

We will end the 2024 Tolkien at Leeds Session with the annual roundtable - this year in response to the conferences overall theme a panel of Tolkien scholars will explore the current crises facing Tolkien teachers, academics, and researchers in Tolkien and Middle-earth studies.    

As always SODOM (The Society for the Drinking of Mead) Events and Fellowship throughout! 

On Saturday 6th July The Tolkien Society will be presenting Tolkien Society Hybrid Seminar 2024 – Tolkien’s Romantic Resonances at the Hilton Leeds City 

See you in Leeds this July! 

CFP: Leeds 2024 IMC Tolkien Sessions

 

CFP: Leeds 2024 IMC Tolkien Sessions 

Paper abstracts are currently being sought for the following Tolkien sessions for the International Medieval Congress at Leeds, 1-4 July 2024.  The special thematic strand of this conference will be ‘Crisis’.  See more here 

We are very pleased that the 2024 IMC Tolkien Sessions will again be sponsored by The Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow - 

Paper submissions are being sought for the following sessions:  

Tolkien’s Medieval Sub-creation in Crisis 

This session will examine different concepts of crisis in Tolkien studies. Papers may explore the types of crises Tolkien himself created in the body of his legendarium by his revising of several keys stories and legends at different times in his lifelong work.  Papers can address the significance of these narratives and their revisions in Tolkien’s shifting ideas about the world and cultures he was inventing. Papers may also explore adaptations of Tolkien works and how they create crises in our evolving understanding of the canon of Tolkien’s work and its reception.  

Bodily Crises in Tolkien’s Medievalism 

Papers in this session can explore crises/concerns of gender and bodily difference in Tolkien’s works including sexuality and disability.  Indicative areas to be examined include the role of bodies under physical duress, punishment, injury from battle or war, as well as bodies in transformation including prosthetics, spiritual transformation (good or evil) and how bodies and body transformation from Tolkien’s works are depicted in illustrations and in films and other media.  

Racial Medievalism in Tolkien Studies - A Session Celebrating the Works of Professor Dimitra Fimi Founder of Tolkien at Leeds.    

Papers in this session may respond to, critique and develop key ideas regarding Tolkien’s representations of race that were first explored in Professor Dimitra Fimi’s ground-breaking 2008 book Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits, which won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies in 2010. Fimi’s evolving body of work has brought to light neglected aspects of Tolkien’s creativity and world-building, including the centrality of the Elves, the role of linguistic invention, and the relationships between race and material culture in Middle-earth This session invites papers that explore Tolkien’s contexts, racial representations and world-building through engaging with and building upon the approaches Professor Fimi has set out in her academic work.

Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches

This continuing Tolkien at Leeds session will accommodate wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism, ranging from source studies and theoretical readings to comparative studies of Tolkien’s works and Middle-earth studies.  

Crises in Researching Tolkien: A Round Table 

The Annual Tolkien at Leeds roundtable will explore the current crises facing Tolkien teachers, academics and researchers in Tolkien and Middle-earth studies.  Topics can include the various adaptions of Tolkien’s works that will continue to grow with new media deals, differing thoughts on treatment of Tolkien’s race, culture and sexuality in his works and the desire of scholars to see, analyse and contextualise more of Tolkien’s remaining unpublished papers.   

• Please submit a paper contribution title and abstract by 31 August 2023 to  Dr. Andrew Higgins (asthiggins@me.com) 
• Length of abstracts: 150 words (max!)  
• Papers will be 15-20 minutes long (3 paper sessions will be preferred) 
• With your abstract, please include name and details of contributor (affiliation, address, and preferred e-mail address)

Tolkien Sessions at Leeds IMC 2023

Eglerio! This year The Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow will be sponsoring six Tolkien sessions at The International Medieval Congress at The University of Leeds from 3-6 July 2023.  This continues the tradition started by our founder Dr.  Dimitra Fimi and is my third year organising these sessions.  

We have a great line up of Tolkien scholars and students exploring many aspects of Tolkien and Middle-earth studies including several papers focused on the subject of this year's conference Networks and Entanglements 

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Questions of Adaptation and Authenticity: A Round Table Discussion 

Tuesday 4 July 2023: 19.00-20.00 GMT 

The sessions starts with our continuing Tolkien at Leeds roundtable series in which we will explore one of the most significant new adaptations of Tolkien's works, Amazon Prime's five season The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series. Participants will offer short presentations on some element of this series and how it is (or is not) in dialogue with Tolkien's texts and explore what this new adaptation develops or reveals in the expanding body of adaptive works based in some form on Tolkien's world-building. 

Participants will include Brian Egede-Pedersen (Independent Scholar, Nykøbing Falster), Mercury Natis (Independent Scholar, Worthing), and Kate Natishan (University of Virginia).

Tolkien's Work and Academic Networks at the University of Leeds

Wednesday 5 July 2023: 14.15-15.45 GMT 

J. R. R. Tolkien established his academic career at the University of Leeds, joining as a Reader in 1920, aged 28. By the time he left Leeds in 1925 he had established the University as a leader in Old Icelandic language and literature and developed a network of fellow academics and colleagues. Papers in this session will explore the work and networks developed while he was here at the University of Leeds. 

1) The Missing Letters that J.R.R. Tolkien Received from Derek J. Wilson and R.M. Wilson - New Research and Addendum to Further Notes on J.R.R. Tolkien's Photostats of The Equatorie of the Planets (MS Peterhouse 25) - Andoni Cossio, Facultad de Letras, Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Vitoria-Gasteiz 

2) 'An industrious little devil': Tolkien's Development of the Elvish Languages at Leeds, 1920-1925 - Dr. Andrew Higgins, Centre for Fantasy & the Fantastic, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow 

3) Leeds and the Medieval Foundation of J. R. R. Tolkien's 'Father Christmas' Letters - Dr. Kristine Larsen, Geological Sciences Department, Central Connecticut State University 

New Works, Networks, and Methods in Tolkien and Middle-earth Research

Wednesday 5 July 2023: 16.30-18.00 GMT 

Papers in this session will explore some of the new methods and critical networks of academic research that are being applied to both Tolkien and Middle-earth studies and what they are revealing about the continuing academic dialogue and discourse around Tolkien and his works. 

1) Tolkien Studies and the 'Theological Turn' - Mitchell Kooh, Department of English, University of Notre Dame, Indiana 

2) Queer Time and Space in Tolkien's Middle-earth -Yvette Kisor, School of Humanities & Global Studies, Ramapo College of New Jersey 

3) Reading Tolkien's First Age through the Lens of Michel de Certeau - Cami Agan, Department of Language & Literature, Oklahoma Christian University 

4) Queer Phenomenology, Lesbian Ents, and the Future of Queer Tolkien Studies - Christopher Vaccaro, Department of English, University of Vermont 

J. R. R. Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches

Thursday 6 July 2023: 09.00-10.30 GMT 

This session will address wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism ranging from source studies and theoretical readings to comparative studies (including Tolkien's legacy).

1) Riddles in the Mark: The Usage of 'Riddle' in Book III of The Lord of the Rings as Micro Level Interlacing - Christian Trenk, Theologische Fakultät, Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt 

2) Dark are the Pathless Ways - Scott Hodgman, Department of Literature & Language, Signum University, New Hampshire 

3) 'This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party': Travel and the Quest Motif in Tolkien's Work - Eva Lippold, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Open University 

4) 'We swears on the precious': Oath-Making and Oath-Keeping in Tolkien - Literary Devices or Spiritual Statements? - Gaëlle Abaléa, Centre d’Etudes Médiévales Anglaises (CEMA), Sorbonne Université, Paris 

Tolkien's Medieval Entanglements

Thursday 6 July 2023: 11.15-12.45 GMT 

Throughout his life and academic work Tolkien explored and grappled with some of the most perplexing and interesting cruxes and entanglements of medieval literature and language. This sessions will explore some of these entanglements and how Tolkien sought potential solutions.

1) The Interlaced Entanglement of 'The King's Touch' - Amy Amendt-Raduege, Department of English, Western Washington University 

2) The Theme of Decay and Fall in Tolkien's Works and its Medieval Entanglements - Andrzej Wicher, Zakład Angielskiego Dramatu, Teatru i Filmu, Uniwersytet Łódzki 

3 Sam the Scop: The Entanglements of Poetry in Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings - Kirsten Ogilby, Institut for Engelsk, Germansk og Romansk, Københavns Universitet 

Tolkien at Leeds Business Meeting - 

Thursday 6 July 2023 - 1pm GMT - 2pm GMT (Esther Simpson 1.01) 

You can also join the meeting via Zoom at 1pm GMT 

Topic: Andrew Higgins' Zoom Meeting

Time: Jul 6, 2023 01:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

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Disentangling the Second Age of Tolkien's Middle-earth

Thursday 6 July 2023: 14.15-15.45 GMT 

In Tolkien's great masterwork The Lord of the Rings the Second Age of Middle-earth is a time remembered in poetry and the memories of such witnesses to history as Elrond and Galadriel. Papers in this session will explore this pivotal time in Tolkien's Middle-earth and can be in dialogue with the current Amazon Prime The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power an adaptation of this period of Tolkien's legendarium as well as the new volume The Fall of Numenor and Other Tales published by HarperCollins in November 2022. 

1) The Tale of Aldarion and Erendis: Not Just a Medieval Love Story - Dr. Sara Brown, Department of Language & Literature, Signum University, New Hampshire 

2 Out of the Great Sea: Of Elendil and Legends Old and New - S. R. Westvik, School of History, University College Dublin / Historisches Institut, Universität Potsdam 

3) Untangling the Second Age Tale of Years - James Tauber, Department of Literature & Language, Signum University, New Hampshire 

4) The Roads to Númenor: Navigating Tolkien's Mythopoeic Network - Clara Colin-Saïdani, Faculté Lettres et Langages, Nantes Université 

Before the conference on Sunday 2nd July The Tolkien Society is hosting a one day conference The Mighty and Frail Númenor which will be live and free at The Hilton, Leeds and hybrid - more information can be found here - https://www.tolkiensociety.org/2022/10/call-for-papers-tolkien-society-seminar-2023-the-mighty-and-frail-numenor/

As always SODOM fellowship and meading throughout! 

Tolkien Sessions at Leeds IMC 2022 - Full Schedule

 Eglerio!  Here is the full schedule of 2022 Tolkien at Leeds Sessions for this summer's conference.  

Thanks to our founder Dr. Dimitra Fimi the 2022 Tolkien at Leeds sessions are being sponsored by The Center for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow 

Before the IMC Conference Starts - The Tolkien Society will be hosting a one day seminar on Tolkien and the Gothic on Sunday 3rd July in Leeds - more information here 

Monday 4th July 11:15-12:45 GMT (Session 141) 

J.R.R. Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches 

Moderator: Dr. Kristine Larsen,  Central Connecticut State University

'An Attempt to Re-Examine the Dialectic of the East and the West in Tolkien’s Selected Works' - Andrzej Wicher, Uniwersytet Łódzki

"Of Dust Motes, Trees, and Golden Flowers: Tolkien and Duns Scotus’ Haeccitas- Victoria-Holtz Wodzak, Viterbo University, Wisconsin

"Epistolary Glossopoesis: The Role of Early Reader and Author Responses in the Development of the Elvish Languages"  Dr. Andrew Higgins 

Monday 4th July 14:15-15:45 GMT (Session 241) 

Tolkien and Medieval Poets: A Session in Memory of Richard C. West  

Moderator: Dr. Andrew Higgins 

"The Revivalist Critic and the Alliterative Poet: An Unexpected Collaboration" Dr. Andoni Cossio, Universidad del País Vasco 

"Computing the Interlace Structure of The Lord of the Rings" James Tauber  Lancaster University

‘Pearls’ of Pearl: Medieval Appropriations in Tolkien’s Mythology - Dr. Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University

Monday 4 July 19:00-20:00 GMT (Session 441) 

Round Table Discussion: Tolkien As A Gateway to Interdisciplinary Teaching 

Moderator: Dr Andrew Higgins 

This round table discussion will feature talks by teachers on how they have used the works of Tolkien to introduce and engage students with new fields of study and disciplines. Short papers and discussions will explore how teachers have used the works of Tolkien as a gateway for students to explore and become passionate about other areas of study.

Scheduled participants: Deirdre Dawson, Dr. Jane Beal, Gaëlle Abaléa, Brian Egede-Pedersen, Dr. Dimitra Fimi 

Wednesday 6th July 9:00-10:30 GMT (Session 1033) 

Borders Between Life and Death in Tolkien's Legendarium 

Moderator: Dr. Sara Brown 

'Memories on Borders: On the Borders of Memory - Beleriand as Elegiac Landscape" Cami Agan Department of Language & Literature, Oklahoma Christian University  

"Beyond the Circle of the World" Amy Amendt-Raduege Department of English, Western Washington University

Undead or Undying: Limited of Immortality in Tolkien's Work'  Gaëlle Abaléa, Independent Scholar, Orléans

Wednesday 6th July 11:15-12:45 GMT (Session 1131) 

Family, Orientation, Transgression and Crossing Borders of Middle-earth 

Moderator: Dr. Andrew Higgins 

'Tolkien’s Orphaned Heroes' - Deidre Dawson, Residential College in the Arts & Humanities, Michigan State University

'Chrononormativity and Queer Time: Crossing Temporal Borders in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth' Yvette Kisor, Humanities & Global Studies, Ramapo College of New Jersey

‘Finding out what lies beyond the borders of the Shire’: Applying Tolkien’s Fantastic Texts in and to Madness - The Transgressive Experience of Psychotic Thinking' Alke Haarsma-Wisselink, Independent Scholar, Zwolle

‘Lay your head in my lap’: Homoerotic Tension and Possibility on Mordor’s Border in The Lord of the Rings' Olivia-Kate Burgham, Independent Scholar, Ottawa

Thursday 7 July 2022 11:15-12:45 (GMT) Session 1641 

Crossing Borders in Middle-earth 

Moderator: Dr. Andrew Higgins 

"Light: The Key to Cross the Spatiotemporal Borders in J. R. R. Tolkien's Secondary World" Aslı Bülbül Candaş, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow 

"Interrogating the Liminal Space: Vampires and Werewolves in Middle-earth"  Dr. Sara Brown, Signum University 

"Time Travel, Astronomy, and Magic Mirrors: How the Borders between Reality and the Otherworld in Middle- Earth Are Influenced by Celtic Mythology and Science (Fiction)' Aurelie Bremont, Centre d’Etudes Médiévales Anglaises (CEMA), Sorbonne Université, Paris

Tolkien at Leeds IMC 2022 Business Meeting - TBD 

SODOM fellowship and meading throughout!  

LIVE Tolkien Sessions at Leeds 2022 - Feb 2022 Update

   

Tolkien sessions at Leeds IMC 2022 (4-7 July 2022) 

Eglerio! These sessions have now been announced and there will be a more detailed blog post coming! 

For now you can see the sessions and speakers here just put Tolkien in the Sessions search 

This year thanks to our founder Dr. Dimitra Fimi these sessions will be sponsored by Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at University of Glasgow

See you in Leeds! 

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. 

Exploring Imaginary Worlds: Essays on Media, Structure and Subcreation

In the course of my scholarly and academic research and exploration there have been several books that I consider revelatory and have helped shaped the course of my own research and areas of interest   

In the field of Tolkien studies I would say these three books are: Dr. Verlyn Flieger's Splintered Light: Logos and Light in Tolkien's World (1983 revised 2002) Thomas A. Shippey's The Road to Middle-earth (1982 revised 2012)  and Dr. Dimitra Fimi's Tolkien, Race and Cultural History - From Fairies to Hobbits (2008) (and very lucky me Dimitra became my PhD supervisor and we went on to co-edit A Secret Vice Tolkien on Language Invention published by HarperCollins in 2016)

In the broader field of fantastic literature studies I would elect Farah Mendlesohn's Rhetorics of Fantasy (2014). Michael T. Saler's As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality (2012) and Professor Mark J.P. Wolf's Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Sub-Creation (2012).  

Since reading Professor Wolf's 2012 monograph I have been a great admirer of the work he has been doing to explore the world's behind fictional texts in their broadest sense (from narratives, films, television shows to video games and amusement parks). For me this opened up a whole next vista in looking at a text and added to my thinking in my primary Tolkien research and studies which tends to focus on how Tolkien used invented languages combined with myth-making to build his world of Middle-earth.    

Professor Wolf has also gone on to bring together scholars to explore the role of world-building.  This included the volume Revisiting Imaginary Worlds: A Sub-creation Studies Anthology published by Routledge in 2017 which included a brilliant chapter by Dr. Dimitra Fimi on The Past as an Imaginary World: The Case of Medievalism which compares and contrasts the medieval world-building of Thomas Chatterton, Umberto Eco and J.R.R. Tolkien.  I was very excited to review both the 2012 monograph and this volume for The Journal of Tolkien Research 

I first got to work with Professor Wolf when he asked Dimitra and I to contribute a chapter on 'Invented Languages' in the 2018 The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds.   It was around this time that I heard that he was planning another collected volume of exploring world-building in fictional texts and I jumped at the chance to be a part of this one.  

I decided to contribute to this new volume with a piece not on Tolkien or invented languages but around a story-world that I had grown up with and is a very important part of my life - the world ofDark Shadows.   Ever since I ran home from school to watch the last seasons of the original episodes on ABC TV in New York City and then re-watched the original 1245 episodes that started in 1966 (the same year Star Trek first appeared) again in re-runs, on MPI Videos and (to this day) on DVD's and Amazon Prime I have been fascinated by the gothic world of Dark Shadows.  I have been very lucky to have actually attended several Dark Shadows fan conventions in New York City and meet some of the original cast including Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins), Lara Parker (Angelique), David Selby (Quentin) and Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans/Josette) who to this day is involved with many Dark Shadows projects including the recent excellent recordings of the original Dark Shadows gothic novels by Marilyn Ross (I am up to number 16 Barnabas, Quentin and The Mummy's Curse) - I have explored some of the Marilyn Ross novels on past blog posts here 

Sympathetic Vampires (long before Angel and Edward), werewolves, witches, time travel, Lovecraftian leviathans, parallel time - this trans-medial story-world has it all and I wanted my chapter in this volume to be a scholarly exploration using those ideas and thoughts that I learned from Professor Wolf's excellent work to explore the gothic world-building of Dark Shadows.  It was an incredible exploration and along the way I discovered the vast and varied soup of gothic, horror, and weird stories that Dan Curtis and his team or writers dipped into to create the narratives of this world.  

This new volume has just been published and has some brilliant chapters - here is the table of contents - hope you enjoy mine and many others explorations of the world's beyond the texts we read, watch, experience and play in - and I am looking forward to more exploration! 

Foreword

Scott Adams

 

Acknowledgments

　

Introduction

Mark J. P. Wolf

　

WORLDS OF WORDS

The Journey of Niels Klim to the World Underground by Ludvig Holberg: Subcreation and Social Criticism

Lars Konzack

‘A Little Bit of England Which I Have Myself Created’: Creating Barsetshire across Forms, Genres, Time, and Authors

Helen Conrad O’Briain

Mythopoetic Suspense, Eschatology and Misterium: World-Building Lessons from Dostoevsky

Lily Alexander

Building the Vorkosigan Universe

Edward James

　

AUDIOVISUAL WORLDS

Our World: World-Building in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town

Mark J. P. Wolf

"Suckled On Shadows": States of Decay in Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast Novels

Edward O’Hare

The Gothic World-Building of Dark Shadows

Andrew Higgins

Daventry and the Worlds of King’s Quest

Christopher Hanson

　

TRANSMEDIA WORLDS

The Softer Side of Dune: The Impact of Social Sciences on World-Building

Kara Kennedy

Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: Balance and Interconnectivity in the Fractured Worlds of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s The Death Gate Cycle

Jennifer Harwood-Smith

Welcome to the "Second-stage" Lynchverse – Twin Peaks: The Return and the Impossibility of Return Vs. Getting a Return

Matt Hills

The Fault in Our Star Trek: (Dis)Continuity Mapping, Textual Conservationism, and the Perils of Prequelization

William Proctor

　

Appendix: On Measuring and Comparing Imaginary Worlds

Mark J. P. Wolf

Leeds IMC 2021 - Tolkien Sessions - CFP

Eglerio!  I am very excited and honoured to be organising the Tolkien Sessions for the Leeds IMC  

2021 Congress  

The overall theme of the conference will be climates 

I am looking for paper submissions for sessions that would cover two aspects of ‘climates’ as well as again offering sessions that can accommodate wider topics of Tolkien scholarship. 

Medieval Climates, Cosmologies and Eco-systems in the Works and World-Building of J.R.R. Tolkien  

Papers in these sessions can explore all aspects of climate and its interaction  and relationship with the heavens, waters, landscapes, patterns of weather, human and non-human life within the context of the corpus of Tolkien’s fictional works and world-building; including eco-critical explorations of Tolkien’s narratives and myth-making.  

Climates of Opinion, Feeling, Influence and Reception of the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien 

Papers in these sessions will explore ‘climates’ as expressed in the interconnected factors, experiences, creative and critical thought that either influenced J.R.R. Tolkien and his myth-making or has influenced the ‘climate’ for Tolkien today through the scholarship, reception and adaptation of his works.  

Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches

These session can accommodate wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism, ranging from source studies and theoretical readings, to comparative studies of Tolkien’s works.  

If you are interested in participating:

• Please submit a paper contribution title and abstract by 6^th September 2020 to  Dr. Andrew Higgins (asthiggins@me.com) 
• Length of abstracts: 100 words (max!)  
• Papers will be 15-20 minutes long 
• With your abstract, please include name and details of contributor (affiliation, address, and preferred e-mail address)