Tolkien Seminar 2026: Environment, Ecosphere, Community: Tolkien and Enworldment

14.00 Registration
14.30-14.45 Eröffnung / Opening Ceremony

Section 1A

14.45-15.30 Maria Zielenbach & Jonas Mertens: Linguistic Landscaping in Middle-earth: Layers of Language as Narrative Archaeology (IP, E)
15.30-16.15 Christopher Russell Standley & Monika Kirner-Ludwig: The Substance to Bind Them All – A Philological, Mixed-method Venture into the Depths of Tolkien’s Hydroscapes (IP, E)

14.45-15.15 Ann-Kathrin Thiele: “Uprooting the evil in the fields that we know” – Tolkien’s Antidote to Eco-Paralysis (IP, E)
15.15-15.45 Max Joaquin Maria Bothe: Eco-conscious Living in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien – What Can Tolkien’s Environmental Writing Teach Us About the Importance of Sustainability in the Anthropocene? (IP, E)
15.45-16.15 Joshua Angun: [Tiere – Titel fehlt] (IP, G)

16.15-16.45 Pause / Break

Section 2A
16.45-17.30 Jonathan Nauman: The Domain of Ulmo: Tolkien’s Water Mythos in The Lord of the Rings (IP, E)
17.30-18.15 Magdalena Mączyńska: Bodies of Water in Tolkien’s Mythology – Intertwining Dimensions (IP, E)
18.15-19.00 Johannes Schulz: Mittelerde und Klimakrise. Perspektiven auf den anthropogenen Klimawandel aus Tolkiens Werk (IP, G)

Section 2A
16.45-17.30 Mateusz Godlewski: Tolkien’s Sacramental View on Nature in the Light of Joseph Ratzinger – Benedict XVI’s Eco-Theology (ON, E)
17.30-18.15 Evelyn Koch: The Influence of Algernon Blackwood’s Nature Philosophy on Tolkien’s Environmental Vision (IP, E)
18.15-19.00 Alexandra Filonenko: Into the “Otherwood”: Woodland Numinosity/Liminality in Tolkien’s Legendarium (IP, E)

19:30 Uhr – Pub Evening with a Middle-earth Quiz
Venue: Murdock’s Pub, Am Roten Tor 8, 86150 Augsburg

An informal evening at a local pub featuring a Middle-earth quiz. Food and drinks are self-paid and may be ordered individually from the menu.

Section 3A 
09.30-10.15 Claudio Antonio Testi: Peter Thiel’s (Mis)interpretation of Tolkien. Techno-optimism, Sustainable Economy and Environment in Middle-earth (IP, E)
10.15-11.00 Robin Auer: Machinas Machinatus est Nefarias – Tolkien’s Bovadium Fragments, Daemonic Technology and the Nature of Sub-creation (IP, E)
11.00-11.45 Matthew Dickerson: tba.

Section 3B
09.30-10.15 Patrick Peters: „The Scouring of the Shire“ als Modell ökologischer Ökonomie: Regeneration, Verantwortung, Zerstörung (ON, G)
10.15-11.00 Stephan Köser: Fragile Solidarität – Soziale Nachhaltigkeit und Gemeinwohl in Tolkiens Gemeinschaft des Ringes (IP, G)
11.00-11.45 Paolo Pizzimento: From Terroir to Monopoly (and Back Again?): Pipe-Weed, Rural Economy, and Sustainable Practices in Tolkien’s Shire (IP/ON?, E)

12.00-14.00 Mittagessen / lunch

Section 4A
14.00-14.45 Elena Feyer: Über Bäume und Baumhirten: Die Ents in Tolkiens Legendarium (IP, G)
14.45-15.30 Filip R. Zahariev: The Firstborn’s Green Thumb: Tolkien’s Elves as Gardeners and Their Cultivation of Contemporary Fantasy (IP, E)

Section 4B
14.00-14.30 Geovanna Vitorino: The Trees Go to War: Tolkien’s Ents and the Reclaiming of Nature from Industrial Domination (IP, E)
14.30-15.00 Marius Schüller-Wagner: Nature in Tolkien’s Legendarium: Living in and with Middle-earth (IP, E)
15.00-15.30 Nils Löffler: Ökokritik und Mittelerde: Natur, Industrialisierung und Umweltethik in Der Herr der Ringe (IP, G)

15.30-16.00 Pause / coffee break

Section 5A
16.00-16.30 Jan Stave: Zwischen Sumpf-Schwertlilien und schwarzer Magie: Eine funktional semantische Typolo¬gie der Potamonyme in J.R.R. Tolkiens Mittelerde (IP, G)
16.30-17.00 Mina Hesse: “But of all these, water they most greatly praised”: Water as a Time and Narrative Influencing Agent in Works of J.R.R. Tolkien (IP, E)
17.00-17.30 Clémence Oizon: Ideals and Alienation: The Question of Hope in Imagining the Relationship between Nature and Technology in J.R.R. Tolkien’s and Günther Anders’ Works (IP, E)

Section 5B
16.00-16.45 Andrea Sello: The Liquid Palimpsest: Reading Tolkien’s Anduin through Claudio Magris Danubio (ON, E)
16.45-17.30 Ali Mirzabayati: “famigbosma flodwearde sloh”: Water, Waves, and Battle Imagery in The Illiad, Old English Exodus, and The Lord of the Rings (ON, E)

17.30-18.00 Vorstellung der neuen Publikationen / new publications Venue/Hörsaal
Verleihung der Ehrendoktorwürde durch die Dwarvish University of the Blue Mountains
Dwarvish University of the Blue Mountains Honorary Degree Awarding Ceremony

19:00 Uhr – Conference Dinner

Venue: Frölichstraße 26, 86150 Augsburg

Join us for the conference dinner. Food and drinks are self-paid and may be ordered individually from the menu.

Section 6A
09.30-10.15 Stephanie A. Glaser: Breaching Boundaries in the First Age (IP, E)
10.15-11.00 Jonas Mertens: Adventure and Attunement: Wilderness as Transformative Space in Tolkien’s Middle-earth (IP, E)
11.00-11.45 Sebastian Krinner & Jonas Mertens: Frontier Commuter: Aragorn’s Roots in Nature and Ci¬vilisation (IP, E)

Section 6B
09.30-10.15 Farid Mohammadi: Before the Axe Reaches the Tree: Perception and Ecological Injury in The Lord of the Rings (ON, E)
10.15-11.00 Rory Queripel: Botanical Colonialism in Tolkien’s World-building (ON, E)
11.00-11.45 Noelia Ramos Soria: “I Am Not Altogether on Anybody’s Side, Because Nobody is Altogether on My Side”: Treebeard as a Druidic Protector in Tolkien’s Fangorn Forest (ON, E)

11.45-12.15 Pause / Break

12.15-13.00 Schlussdiskussion und Verabschiedung / Final discussion, conclusion & goodbyes 

14.30 (starting time may vary depending on the conference programme)

Walking Along Augsburg’s Historic Waterways with Readings from Middle-earth

Starting point: Umweltbildungszentrum Augsburg, Dr.-Ziegenspeck-Weg 6, 86161 Augsburg

A concluding excursion through the Augsburg City Forest and along Augsburg’s UNESCO World Heritage water management system, accompanied by selected readings from Middle-earth.