I have started a newsletter on Yahoo! Groups that I call "Hobbit News". It's not so much news about the upcoming "Hobbit" movies just a roundup of what I feel are interesting and perhaps obscure news items somehow related to Tolkien literature, fandom, whatever.

In this weekend's issue, HOBBIT NEWS, Volume 2009, Issue 3, January 25, I offered to help promote events from community theaters such as "Hobbit" productions.

There appears to me to be an increasing interest in local theater for Tolkien's story. A lot of children's theaters and community theaters have staged "Hobbit" productions in recent months (at least here in the United States) and I expect to see more such productions for several reasons.

First, as anticipation for the Guillermo del Toro "Hobbit" movies builds up, more communities will rise to the occasion and stage their own local productions. I think this is great.

Secondly, I honestly believe that recent books such as The History of The Hobbit and The Children of Hurin have sparked renewed interest in Tolkien's work.

And I also believe that the Harry Potter phenomenon has revived interest in children's literature in a way that pure Tolkien fandom could not have. But people are now looking at other classic children's stories with refreshed passion.

To the schools, churches, community playhouses, and children's theaters who are interested in staging "Hobbit" productions, I say to you take on the Web. Use the Internet to help make people aware of your productions, your auditions, and your job openings (if any) well in advance. The news media seem to be doing a poor job of supporting you.

The people handling publicity and communications for local plays may not know much about the Web or the online Tolkien community. Tolkien fan sites can help build communications between those local production groups and people in their own communities by supporting any "Hobbit" plays on their Web sites.

But you can do more. You can ask your local libraries to include "The Hobbit" in their children's programming. You can suggest to any school theater groups that they consider the challenge of putting on a "Hobbit" play. You can set up online petitions to ask people in your community to lobby your local theater companies to stage "The Hobbit".

Tolkien fandom can take an active role in promoting and guiding local theater, in helping communicate to the Internet theater audtions, production needs, and performance schedules well in advance of the actual events. We have an opportunity to help transform the local theater experience into a more community-wide experience.

If we fans can organize line parties for movies (and the Houston LoTR Line Party that Vince Smith organized three years in a row grew to 3,000 attendees -- larger than the so-called "official" New Line Cinema line party held the third year), then we can certainly lend our hearts and our support (and our bows and axes) to the causes of local theatrical production companies.

Who knows? You might just find you have a real gift for working in local theater.

I'll do what I can to help community theaters promote their plays. Anyone who wants to get the word out is welcome to contact the Xenite.Org Administrators. Send us a text-only press release and make sure you include a working email address and telephone number (in the United States or Canada).

If I find there is sufficient need, I'll see if I can set up a Web site to help local theater groups announce and promote their "Hobbit" plays (although, to be honest, there are a few other fan sites that actually have software in place which would make it easier for them to provide this kind of support).

I'll promote any site that helps the local theater movement in this respect.

Let's pull together and launch a new era in Tolkien-inspired stage plays!

Okay, I promise this time it's for real (and a different Web site). If you want to take a 10-week online course in Tolkien Studies, Dr. Dimitra Fimi is now accepting signups for Exploring Tolkien: There and Back Again.

The course will cover Tolkien's northern mythological influences and his languages.

Class starts on January 19, 2009.

As an aside, you might be interested in watching several Tolkien videos I shared in the Tolkien Forum on SF-Fandom. The videos have been uploaded to YouTube over the past year or so. Some of them have been widely viewed but many of them appear to have been overlooked by most fans.

You must register in order to download the episodes but registration is free and you are not added to any marketing lists.

With this release Hawke has now caught up on all the episodes we have recorded so far. We expect to record the next episode on Sunday, January 11. If all goes according to plan that episode should be available within a few days after that.

Chris Seeman will be a guest on the show for Episode 10. I'm not yet sure when that episode will be recorded.

Episode 8
Recorded December 28th, 2008.
Duration: 23 minutes, 23 seconds.
File size: 20.6 MB.

Ainur - Children of Hurin (2007) Album Cover www.ainur.it

Opening Music: "Turin's Madness" by Ainur from their album "Children of Hurin" (2007).

Topics covered:

• IGN's Review of "The Hobbit" game for nintendo.
• The Tolkien-inspired Italian music group from Italy, working on their third album.
• Local theater productions of The Hobbit
• The Hobbit Tour registry is now open.
• Rumours continue to be argued about "The Hobbit" movie being pushed back to 2012
• Dirk Vander Ploeg Explores Middle-earth, archaeological "evidence" that hobbits, dragons, etc. once existed. ;-)
• "The Hobbit" species debate.
• A recording of Tolkien talking about Middle-earth, that much of the tragedy of Middle-earth is the fault of the Valar.
• Some Video Plugs from Michael Martinez, including Tolkien videos.
• Howard Shore symphony in Malaysia, a reviewer there compared Tolkien to Wagner (yet another one).

Closing Music: "Shuddering Water" by Ainur from their album "Children of Hurin" (2007)

Full information is available here, including the download link (remember, you must be logged in to download the file).

Hawke has now released the 7th episode. By the way -- in the show I mentioned that Xenite.Org email is not working. The majority of issues have since been resolved.

Originally recorded December 14th, 2008.
Duration: 36 minutes 10 seconds.
File size: 33.2 MB

The Tolkien Ensemble: A Night in Rivendell
Opening music: Orkrist - The Ode: The Fall of Gil-galad - Grond

Topics covered:

• Tolkien Fan movie focusing on the hunt for Gollum, done for only 3,000 British Pounds.
• Map with etymology of place names - "The Atlas of True Names".
• Raise a toast to Tolkien on January 3rd, 9:00 pm local time.
• Tolkien auction, Mostly Star Wars, but last two sentences about first edition "original" Lord of the Rings set, signed by J.R.R. Tolkien.
• Tolkien and the Welsh language influence on Sindarin.
• Lengthy doctoral thesis on management techniques demonstrated by Tolkien using Gandalf, Sauron, Saruman, Denethor and others.
• DelToro, "Sleepless Nights".
• LOTRO screen pics of 21st Hall of Khazad-dum.
• More info on the upcoming Hobbit movie.
• The longest movie "The Cure for Insomnia"
• Tangent, "Cthulu Lives" Movie
• Movie Hawke couldn't remember: "Wallace and Gromit".
• Another appeal to continue the quest for Gil-galad's car.

Closing music: The Tolkien Ensemble: A Night in Rivendell (2000) - The Fall of Gil-galad (http://tolkienensemble.net/)

You can read the full announcement here:
http://www.middle-earthradio.com/Members/middleearthradio/middle-earth-talk-radio-show-7-2008-12-14

It includes the links for the sites we discussed. I've decided that reformatting them for this blog is too much trouble. Sorry.

Back in the 1920s J.R.R. Tolkien wrote an English-language version of the Norse saga of Sigurd the Volsung and the Niflungs.

That book is now being brought to publication by HarperCollins, according to The Bookseller.

You can read a little bit about the work in Michael Drout's J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia.

OLD NORSE TRANSLATIONS

Little is known about Tolkien's unpublished Norse poem cycle, Volsungakvii a en Nyja / New Lay of the Volsungs. The cycle is briefly cited by Humphrey Carpenter, and Tolkien mentioned it in a letter to W.H. Auden, explaining that the poems were his attempt to organize the Eddaic songs about Sigurd and Gunnar, written in fornyrdisig 8-line stanza, a medieval Icelandic verse form. A note to his letter places composition at some time in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The "attempt to organize" probably refers to the fact that the primary texts are corrupt and incomplete and must be supplemented by other sources to make a coherent story.

The legend that the texts recount is as follows. Sigurd, the legendary "prince of heroes of the North", slew the dragon Fafnir. Carrying off the dragon's gold, Sigurd then plighted troth with Brynhild, one of Odin's Valkyries (or a mortal woman -- here the sources disagree), whom he found sleeping on a rock, surrounded by magic flames. He rescued her, but for unspecified reasons he left her and married Gudrun, the daughter of Gjuki, later returning to Brynhild's rock disguised as Gudrun's brother Gunnar to win her for Gunnar as his bride. The resultant rivalry between the two women led to the killing of Sigurd, leaving the hapless Gudrun to be married again. Her second husband was Atli (Atilla) the Hun, who, coveting their dragon's gold, lured her brothers to his stronghold and murdered them. Gudrun in turn killed Atli and set fire to his hall.

A definite Norse/Icelandic influence is recognizable in Tolkien's work, most explicitly in his Dwarf names and characteristics but also in his reuse of Sigurd's dragon-slaying in the story of Turin Turambar. In his essay, "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," he makes specific mention of Sigurd's killing of Fafnir. It is to be hoped that the Volsung poems, his most direct use of Norse material, will at some future date be published to round out our understanding of his debt to Northern literature.
Verlyn Flieger

So it seems that will finally happen. I will post more information here when I find it. I'll also post updates at SF-Fandom's Tolkien forum and on the Endor discussion list.

Recorded on November 16, Episode 6 breezes through a lot of topics. As of this writing there are two more episodes awaiting edits and release.

You can download all the sessions for Middle-earth Talk Radio at http://www.middle-earthradio.com/ in the Downloads
section. You must log in to download the files but registration is free. You don't have to log in to listen to the streaming feeds.

Middle-earth Talk Radio - Show 6 - November 16th, 2008
The sixth installment of Middle-earth Talk Radio.
Duration: 44:21 (44 minutes, 21 seconds).
Filesize: 81.9 MB.

Opening music: The Riders of Rohan by Mostly Autumn

Topics covered:

• Hawke's recent Tolkien-related acquisitions
• Book: The Plants of Middle-earth, Botany and Sub-creation
• Brief mention about Radio Rivendell and the favorable comments in their forums about Middle-earth Talk Radio
• Book: Roots and Branches by Thomas Shippey
• Book: J.R.R. Tolkien Companion & Guide
• Audio CD: The J.R.R. Tolkien Audio Collection readings by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien.
• Four 60 minute DVD series by Kultur with artwork from the Brother's Hildebrant and music by Mostly Autumn: Secrets of Middle-earth: Inside Tolkien's Hobbit,Inside The Fellowship of the Ring, Inside The Two Towers, Inside the Return of the King.
• Updates on Guillermo's The Hobbit movies plans.
• NASA discovers the Eye of Sauron
• Book: Tales from the Perilous Realm
• British Tolkien Fan Movie: Born of Hope. Focuses on Arathorn and Gilrain.
• Defense attorney in murder case, makes reference to Tolkien during proceedings.
• An American priest wrote article "Why Tolkien said no to Narnia".
• New Zealand Herald article also covering the free, non-profit fan movie "Born of Hope", that will be available for download over the Internet.
• Online Fandom, Have We Gone Too Far or Not Far Enough?
• Follow up on the hunt for Gil-galad's car.
• Update on Other Minds Magazine Issue 5 delays, mention of Beowulf and Tolkien essay.

Related links:

• Mostly Autumn
• Plants, Middle-earth Botany, and Sub-Creation at Amazon
• Roots and Branches by Tom Shippey at Amazon
• Tolkien Companion Guide at Amazon
• Tolkien Audio Collection at Amazon
• Secrets of Middle-earth at Amazon
• Radio Rivendell discussion about Middle-earth Talk Radio
• Guillermo del Toro news story
• Ridiculopathy news story
• Tribune Magazine news story
• LoTR fan movie story
• News story about trial mentioning Tolkien
• 'Why Tolkien Said "No" To Narnia' article
• Article about Tolkien fan movie
• Official 'Born of Hope' fan film site
• Online fandom: Have we gone too far or not far enough?

Closing music: The Forge of Sauron (Instrumental) by Mostly Autumn

Download Middle-earth Talk Radio Show 6 here (Login required, free registration)

A few years ago the Tolkien Society initiated the Tolkien Toast tradition, whereby they encourage fans around the world to toast the Professor on his birthday (January 3).

Now, it seems to me that if you're going to observe the Professor's birthday you should do a little bit more than just raise a glass and toast his name.

So I have decided to encourage Tolkien fans to get together and share their favorite Tolkien quotes before toasting him. I imagine it would go something like this:

Fan 1: Reads a quote (not too long) and then raises glass. "The Professor".

All other fans echo the toast and they drink.

Fan 2: Reads a quote (not too long) and then raises glass. "The Professor".

All other fans echo the toast and they drink.

Now, if you're drinking alcohol and there are a lot of fans in the room, you might want to rent a van and make sure everyone gets home safely (or have a Hobbit Sleepover). Celebrate in safety.

Don't toast and drive.

The Tolkien Toast could also include tasting Hobbit food recipes (or Elvish food recipes).

I think that if you're going to observe Tolkien's birthday you should do it with friends over dinner (sort of like Frodo and his friends celebrating Frodo and Bilbo's birthday one last time before leaving the Shire).