Tolkien’s Influence on Fantasy

Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is, of course, neither the earliest nor the only work of fantasy that has exerted an influence on the development of the genre. Yet it is arguably one of the most important sources for many of the key texts of 20^th and 21^st century fantasy and is very often used as a work of reference (author xy is “the new Tolkien”, “the Tolkien of xy” etc.). Its enormous popularity has made it almost impossible to ignore or even to avoid contact with its key-elements and stock-characters, such as maps, magic rings, elves, dwarves, wizards etc. They have been adapted by numerous later writers and artists and have become familiar icons of popular culture. Writing fantasy seemed, for a long time, to offer only two choices: to write in the tradition established by Tolkien, or against it. Recent authors, however, approach the ‘tradition’ with greater freedom and while acknowledging their debt to Tolkien, they no longer feel bound by the ‘authority’ of the master. This development has been furthered by a general trend towards the transgression of genre borders and the posthumous publication of much of the background material related to the ‘sub-creation’ of Middle-earth has opened up new vistas and provided ample opportunities for independent ‘sub-creation’.

The Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena is hosting the 9^th Seminar of the Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft (DTG) from 27–29 April 2012. The Seminar aims at exploring the various aspects of Tolkien’s influence (or, alternatively, non-influence) on the development of fantasy and contributions (either in German or English) not only from scholars but also writers/authors and other artists are welcome.

Please send a short abstract of your paper (no longer than one page) till 30 November 2011 to Thomas Fornet-Ponse: hither-shore@tolkiengesellschaft.de.

Picture: Cancion de la princesa oscura by Javier Bolado

Published last year: Violence, Conflict and War in Tolkien.

Published this year: Tolkien and Romanticism.

The new Hither Shore has arrived! Volume 7 of the academic yearbook of the German Tolkien Society deals with Tolkien and Romanticism.

Tolkien and Romanticism presents the written version of most presentations from Tolkien Seminar 2010 at the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena. The volume includes many reviews, a note on publishing about Tolkien and the following articles:

• Stars Above a Dark Tor: Tolkien and Romanticism, Anna E. Slack (Cambridge)
• Romanticism, Symbolism, and Onomastics in Tolkien’s Legendarium, Annie Birks (Angers)
• Mittelerde als Ausdruck romantischer Kreativität und Sehnsucht, Oliver Bidlo (Essen)
• ‘The past is another country‘ – Romanticism, Tolkien, and the Middle Ages, Thomas Honegger (Jena)
• Disenchanted with their Age: Keats’s, Morris’s, and Tolkien’s Great Escape, Marie-Noëlle Biemer (Frankfurt)
• Celtic Influences and the Quest of National Identity, Doreen Triebel (Jena)
• J.R.R. Tolkien und die romantische Nostalgie, Julian T.M. Eilmann (Aachen)
• ‘There and back again‘ – a Romantic Walk? Eine kritische Betrachtung von J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit aus dem Blickwinkel der Romantik, Thomas Scholz (Frankfurt)
• Outer and Inner Landscapes in Tolkien: Between Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Dostoevskij, Emanuele Rimoli (Roma), Guglielmo Spirito (Assisi)
• ‘Secondary Belief‘: Tolkien and the Revision of Romantic Notion of Poetic Faith, Eduardo Segura (Granada)
• Beauty, Perfection, Sublime Terror. Some Thoughts on the Influence of E. Burke‘s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful on Tolkien‘s Creation of Middle-earth, Stefanie Schult (Greifswald)
• Reading Tolkien‘s Work in the Light of Hugo‘s Notions of the Sublime and the Grotesque, Marguerite Mouton (Paris)
• Tolkien, Newman und das Oxford Movement, Thomas Fornet-Ponse (Bonn)
• Tolkien, the Philistine, and the Politics of Creativity, Martin G.E. Sternberg (Bonn)
• Falsche Harmonie oder: Darf man nach Auschwitz noch vom Auenland träumen?, Fabian Geier (Bamberg)

The new volume can be ordered directly from the publisher Scriptorium Oxoniae or via Amazon for 23€.

Tolkien and the Middle Ages

University of Potsdam

April 29 – May 1, 2011

Tolkien’s works are often related to medieval culture and traditions – which comes as no surprise, considering the author’s academic background as a medievalist. But what exactly characterises the dialogue between the middle ages and modernity that Tolkien’s (literary and academic) texts engender? In this context, we would like to encourage inquiries focussing on, but not limited to, the following aspects: the significance of premodern social structures, power relations, mental attitudes and behaviour patterns as well as medieval forms of imagination, for the mythology of Middle-earth; Tolkien’s adaptations of medieval texts and traditions (e.g. the recently published The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun) and the accompanying conception of authorship and implied literary ideals. Papers may also take a linguistic approach, as Tolkien’s writings owe their well established ‘historical depth’ to a nuanced utilization of language that draws on premodern semantics.

In addition to these questions concerning medieval influences, their general significance for Tolkien’s works deserves consideration as well. Do the diverse evocations of medieval themes and realities contribute to a nostalgic Anti-Modernism, as is often suggested? Does Tolkien present a romanticised view of the middle ages? Or does the otherness of medieval contexts serve to unsettle readers’ expectations and perceptions?

Medieval sources, texts and realms of experience are a wellspring of inspiration for Tolkien: all papers and discussions will therefore focus on the meaning and effects of these influences in his works. Overall, the 8th Tolkien Seminar organised by the DTG aims at achieving a closer view of Tolkien’s critical appropriation of medieval ideas and their interplay with the concepts of other eras.

Conference languages are English and German.

Please submit your proposals, accompanied by a short abstract, to the editors of Hither Shore at

hither-shore@tolkiengesellschaft.de

Deadline: November 30, 2010.

Picture: »Flotte Normande«, public domain

> for a sneak peak

The publication is bilingual and includes the following articles:

• Frank Weinreich: “Violence in The Lord of the Rings”
• Annie Birks: “Perspectives on Just War in Tolkien’s Legendarium”
• Thomas Fornet-Ponse: “Gibt es Macht ohne Gewalt?”
• Friedhelm Schneidewind: “Gewalt und Gewaltdarstellung bei Tolkien im Vergleich mit zeitgenössischen Gewalt– und Aggressionstheorien”
• Julian T.M. Eilmann: “Der Sängerkrieg: Gesang und Gewalt in J.R.R. Tolkiens Mittelerde”
• Patrick Brückner: “Von kühner Recken Streiten? Höfische Akteure und Heroische Gewalt in Tolkiens Farmer Giles of Ham”
• Michaël Devaux: “Dagor dagorath & Ragnarök: Tolkien & the Apocalypse”
• Anna Slack: “Clean Earth to Till: A Tolkienian Vision of War”
• Judith Klinger: “The Legacy of Swords: Animate Weapons and the Ambivalence of Heroic Violence”
• Martin G.E. Sternberg: “Language and Violence: The Orcs, the Ents, and Tom Bombadil”
• Margaret Hiley: “The Problem of Closure: War and Narrative in The Lord of the Rings”
• Guglielmo Spirito: “The Legends of Trojan War in J.R.R. Tolkien”
• Petra Zimmermann: “>contraria contrariis curantur< — Krankheitsheilung als Kampf in Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings”

• Hither Shore 5 at Google Books
• Order Volume 5, »The Hobbit« via Amazon.de
• Order Volume 5, »The Hobbit« via Amazon.co.uk

Hither Shore hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren einen exzellenten wissenschaftlichen Ruf erarbeitet und nicht zu letzt bereits zweimal den Phantastik-Preis gewinnen können. Thema des letztjährigen Seminars und somit eines Großteils der Aufsätze ist »Der Hobbit«.

Weitere Informationen auf den Seiten zu Hither Shore 5.

Hither Shore — Gesamtinhaltsverzeichnis

© Ingo Rholfs

Ein großes Dankeschön an alle, die für uns gestimmt haben!

Ein Dankeschön an dieser Stelle auch an unseren Hausverlag, Scriptorium Oxoniae, der in Kooperation mit der DTG das Jahrbuch herausgibt. Näheres zu [[Hither Shore: Band 4]] findet sich auf unserer Website.

Überreicht wurde der dpp vom Fandom-Urgestein und Fantasy-Experten Hermann Urbanek, der als Laudator für den Preis fungierte. Mit dem Vorsitzenden der DTG war der Verein vertreten, der erwähnte, daß er auch gerne »zum dritten Mal im nächsten Jahr« vorbeikäme, sollte »Hither Shore« erneut gewinnen.

Hier die Platzierungen für die Kategorie »Bestes Sekundärwerk«:

1. Thomas Fornet-Ponse [Hg]: (Hither Shore 3) Die History of Middle-earth — Entstehung und Hintergründe einer Mythologie (Scriptorium Oxoniae, 2007, ISBN 978–3-9810612–1-5)
2. Frank Weinreich: Fantasy — Einführung (Oldib oD, 2007, ISBN 978–3-939556–03-9)
3. Earth Rocks (Magazin, Verein zur Förderung phantastischer Literatur)
4. Phase X (Magazin, Atlantis)
5. Johannes Rüster: All-Macht und Raum-Zeit (Lit, 2007, ISBN 978–3-8258–9851-9)
6. Simon Spiegel: Die Konstitution des Wunderbaren (Schüren, 2007, ISBN 978–3-89472–516-7)

Alle weiteren Kategorien finden sich auf der offiziellen Webseite des Deutschen Phantastik Preis: http://www.deutscher-phantastik-preis.de/

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