My final recap is the “celebrity” episode.
There are undeniably individuals whose contributions to the works of Tolkien are well known and highly regarded community wide.
While she didn’t present herself, there were excerpts from a bio of Verlyn Flieger that was fantastic and very much wanted me to watch the entire thing. She is an exceptional scholar and her works are core to understanding Tolkien.
The keynote was by Michael Drout, professor and author of the recent The Tower and the Ruin: JRR Tolkien’s Creation.
Two other well known professors Dmitri Fimi and Christine Larsen presented. Fimi, who also blogs regularly and is currently doing a slow read of the Lord of the Rings on Substack, presented Revisiting Gollum. Larsen addressed Cheddar Gorge, inspiration for the Glittering Caves, and how it was Disneyfied during Tolkien’s lifetime.
A favorite artist of mine, Jay Johnstone is not only a gifted artist, he is an engaging speaker with textual knowledge as detailed as his artwork. This presentation did not dissapoint.
Brian Sibley is known for his BBC radio broadcast of the Lord of the Rings and he gave a presentation on how it came to be and the challenges of production.
While not a widely known figure, Jessica Yates was an original fan who gathered in Oxford to pay tribute to Tolkien and has done so every year since in what is today called Oxonmoot. She provided a wonderful and personal account of the early history and her favorite memories.
Overall, the weekend’s content was fantastic and I look forward to watching sessions I missed and rewatching others.
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