I am very pleased to announce that all five sessions on J.R.R. Tolkien I proposed for the International Medieval Congress at Leeds 2019 have been accepted! This will be the 5th consecutive year of papers on J.R.R. Tolkien at IMC Leeds, after a successful series of sessions in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. Leeds is, of course, a Tolkien-related location, and it is very fitting that his work will be once again explored in this prestigious conference. I am looking forward to a series of brilliant sessions and papers from well-established Tolkien scholars, alongside many new voices and perspectives!
Here are the sessions titles, abstracts, papers, speakers and times:
Session 130: Materiality in Tolkien’s Medievalism, I
Sponsor: School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Organiser: Dimitra Fimi, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Moderator/Chair: Sara Brown, Independent Scholar
Session Time: Mon. 01 July – 11.15-12.45
Medieval Automata and J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Gondolin
Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University
Tolkien as Letter-Writer
Deidre Dawson, Independent Scholar
I glin grandin a Dol Erethrin Airi: An Exploration of Tolkien’s ‘Heraldic Devices of Tol-Erethrin’
Andrew Higgins, Independent Scholar
Walking in Legend and on the Green Earth: Building the Verisimilitude of Tolkien’s Secondary World
Victoria Holtz-Wodzak, Viterbo University
Session 230: Materiality in Tolkien’s Medievalism, II
Sponsor: School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Organiser: Dimitra Fimi, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Moderator/Chair: Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University
Session Time: Mon. 01 July – 14.15-15.45
From Mushrooms to Man-Flesh: The Cultural Significance of Food in the Material World of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth
Sara Brown, Independent Scholar
Corpses, Tomb, and Barrows: The Materiality of Death in Tolkien
Gaëlle Abaléa, Université Paris IV – Sorbonne
‘Cleaving the undead flesh’: Solid Blades and Invisible Foes in Middle-Earth
Aurélie Brémont, Université Paris IV – Sorbonne
Be Careful What You Bring for Your Journey: The Fate of the Fellowship Beaconed by Their Provisions
Aslı Bülbül Candaş, University of Glasgow
Session 330: Materiality in Tolkien’s Medievalism, III
Sponsor: School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Organiser: Dimitra Fimi, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Moderator/Chair: Andrew Higgins, Independent Scholar
Session Time: Mon. 01 July – 16.30-18.00
Tolkien’s Elvish and Archaic First Map of Middle-Earth: Lost Connections in Space and Time
Erik Mueller-Harder, Independent Scholar
The Production of Secondary Manuscript Traditions
Brad Eden, Independent Scholar
Alan Lee’s Exploration of Tolkien’s Works: The Fall of Gondolin
Sultana Raza, Independent Scholar
From Finwë’s Winged Sun to the ‘Wheel of Fire’: Tolkien’s Heraldic Emblems as Signifiers in the Works of Sergei Iukhimov
Joel Merriner, University of Plymouth
Session 1046: J. R. R. Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches
Sponsor: School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Organiser: Dimitra Fimi, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Moderator/Chair: Deidre Dawson, Independent Scholar
Session Time: Wed. 03 July – 09.00-10.30
How Christian is The Lord of the Rings?: Tolkien’s Work Seen in the Context of the Biblical and Theological Tradition
Andrzej Wicher, Uniwersytet Łódzki
Tolkien’s Númenoreans and the Phaeacians: An Homeric Source before Plato’s Atlantis?
Hamish Williams, Universiteit Leiden
A Straussian Approach to Tolkien’s Medievalism: Or, Reading Tolkien’s Literary Adaptations in Light of the Conflict between Ancient and Modern
Dennis Wilson Wise, University of Arizona
The Medieval Faërie from Keats through Morris to Tolkien
William James Sherwood, University of Exeter
Session 1146: New Voices and New Topics in Tolkien Scholarship: A Round Table Discussion
Sponsor: School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Organiser: Dimitra Fimi, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Moderator/Chair: Dimitra Fimi, University of Glasgow
Session Time: Wed. 03 July – 11.15-12.45
Participants:
Anahit Behrooz, University of Edinburgh
Michael Flowers, Independent Scholar
Dennis Wilson Wise, University of Arizona
This round table discussion will provide a forum for new scholars in Tolkien studies to share innovative approaches, new ideas, and underexplored areas of research. Dennis Wilson Wise’s research will discuss researching Tolkien via the lens of political philosophy; Anahit Behruz will focus on Tolkien’s texts as political and politicised texts, focusing on feminist, postcolonial, queer, and ecocritical readings; and Michael Flowers will discuss biographical and archival research on Tolkien, including online repositories but also fieldwork on location.
