Pennsylvania fantasy festival needs volunteers for June 13 event

This is not your typical science fiction and fantasy convention. It's a community-based festival aimed at kids (of all ages) called the Woodland Hobbit and Fairy Festival. The festival is held at the Hemlock Springs Historic Crafts & Cultural Arts Center, 72 Mitcheltree Hollow Road, in Keating Summit, PA.

Back in January I mentioned this festival in the 3rd issue of Hobbit News. At the time I didn't expect to see any more news on the event but this weekend it appears they are making a last-minute appeal for volunteers.

I found this news story saying they are still looking for volunteers. Of course, the story is on a subscription-based news service and you won't be able to read it for a couple of weeks, so the timing of the publication is not entirely helpful.

Hence, I decided to put my blogs, forums, and newsletters together to help promote the need for help in Keating, PA. If you love kids and hobbits and faeries and you have some time to spare, check out their Web site and maybe you can be a hero for your community. Volunteer.

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Issue 10 of Hobbit News published

It has been a long Memorial Day weekend for me but I was able to put together a new issue of Hobbit News today.

Two of the more interesting stories in the newsletter cover a Hobbit house in Wales and a Hobbit hotel in New Zealand.

I think Tolkien fans will be kind of pleased. Be sure to click on the links so you can see the pictures.

And a quick update on Middle-earth Talk Radio: We're a little behind schedule again because we've both been so busy but I hope we'll record a new show in a couple of weeks.

Enjoy!

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Issue 8 of Hobbit News now online

Those of you who enjoy reading the HOBBIT NEWS newsletter will be glad to know that I've uploaded a new issue.

Issue 8's stories include:
* Hobbit News Resuming Publication
* LEGEND OF SIGURD AND GUDRUN Published
* Christopher Tolkien speaks about father and fans
* OTHER MINDS Issue 6 Now Published
* HarperCollins acquired world-wide electronic rights to Tolkien books
* Oregonians experience The Hobbit on stage in May
* International Children's Theater Festival sports "Hobbit" play

You can read it here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hobbit-news/message/8

And you can browse all 8 issues here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hobbit-news/

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Hobbit News Issue 6 Now Online

If you have been following our (almost) weekly publication schedule for the Hobbit News newsletter then you'll be glad to know that the 6th issue is now available online.

Stories in this issue include:

• Judge sanctions New Line Cinema in Peter Jackson lawsuit


• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announces new Tolkien book


• C.S. Lewis Society sponsoring UK tour in May-June


• Author seeks sales by insulting Tolkien fans


• Historians feature Tolkien anecdote in WW I book


• Weta Ltd. launches new Web site

Read HOBBIT NEWS, Volume 2009, Issue 6, February 22.

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Hobbit News and Middle-earth Talk Radio updates

Both Hobbit News and Middle-earth Talk Radio have run into some production scheduling delays (a common affliction in volunteer, fan-run efforts). But we've managed to pull the fat out of the fire this week after missing some deadlines.

Recorded on January 11, 2009, Episode 9 of Middle-earth Talk Radio covers:

• Other Minds Magazine Issue 5 status update


• Michael Martinez Article in Other Minds Issue 5 sneak peak


• Tolkien's influence on Beowulf's acceptance


• Mithril Miniatures


• Guillermo updates


• Tales Before Narnia, Tales Before Tolkien, Tolkien Bibliography, etc.


• Article of Barrow-wights Part II


• Etymology of draug... and Barrow-wights


• Tolkien, Wargs, Werewolves, Morgoth spirit enslavement


• Tolkien/Middle-earth Franchiseseseses


• David Haymen of Harry Potter Movies interview video


• More on the Tolkien Fan Movie "Born of Hope"


• Fan Hobbit scoring


• The Fan List in the Peter Jackson Movies


• Balrog Wings polls


• Hilary Tolkien memoirs


• Online Tolkien class offered for second time

Free registration is required in order to download the MP3 files for Middle-earth Talk Radio.

Issue 5 of HOBBIT NEWS, published a week late, includes:

• HOBBIT NEWS Missed A Week


• Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 9 Now Online


• Abu Dhabi Celebrates Lord of the Rings Symphony


• Times Online mentions Tolkien/Lewis WW II POW Connection


• The Hobbit comes to stage in Surrey, BC Guildford Town Centre


• Christopher Lee says not likely he'll reprise role in "The Hobbit"


• Ontario town wins art contest with "Hobbit House" tree sculpture

You're welcome to discuss both the latest METR episode and HOBBIT NEWS issue in the Tolkien Forum at SF-Fandom.

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Hobbit News Issue 4 now online

If you like to read eclectic Tolkien-related news, you need to take a look at the Hobbit News newsletter. I've just published Hobbit News, Volume 2009, Issue 4, February 1.

You can read the following news items in this issue:

• Turbine lets fans play LOTRO for free


• Royd Tolkien cleared of libel complaint


• Tolkien's American publisher in financial distress


• Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable features Tolkien lecture in Interfaith Week


• Elzabeth Town Community and Technical College to discuss Tolkien's racial diversity


• From TheOneRing.Net: Tolkien 2005 Conference gift to City of Birmingham


• Empire kicks off coverage of "The Hobbit" movies

Something I should have included in the newsletter but forgot to mention was that Dr. Dimitra Fimi has just published TOLKIEN, RACE AND CULTURAL HISTORY: FROM FAIRIES TO HOBBITS. She examines the racial and cultural contexts that may have contributed to Tolkien's Middle-earth.

From Dr. Fimi's Web site:

Tolkien, Race and Cultural History explores the evolution of Tolkien's mythology by examining how it changed as a result of Tolkien's life story and contemporary cultural and intellectual history. The book considers Tolkien's creative writing as an ever-developing 'legendarium': an interconnected web of stories, poems and essays, from his early poems in the 1910s to his latest writings in the early 1970s. Consequently, the book is not restricted to a discussion of Tolkien's best-known works only (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion) but examines the whole corpus of his legendarium, including the 12-volume History of Middle-earth series, which has received little attention from critics. This new approach and scope brings to light neglected aspects of Tolkien's imaginative vision and addresses key features of Tolkien's creativity: the centrality of the Elves and the role of linguistic invention in his legendarium, as well as race and material culture in Middle-earth.

I'm going to say right here that I am not very familiar with her work but Dr. Fimi's use of "Legendarium" does raise some red flags for me. There has been an increasing trend among Tolkien scholars and critics over the past few years to treat all of J.R.R. Tolkien's stories as if they were intended to be part of a combined whole -- and such a thing never existed.

It would be unfortunate if Dr. Fimi's book perpetuates that misunderstanding, but I can certainly hope she helps break the myth. I intend to buy a copy of the book and read it in the near future. I've just got to find time in my schedule to do so.

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.

Hobbit News newsletter launches

If you're a Tolkien fan you must have noticed by now that two new books by J.R.R. Tolkien were published last year: The Children of Hurin and Tales From The Perilous Realm. Both books were, of course, just repackaging older content that had been published previously. But we also saw the publication of The History of The Hobbit, edited by John Rateliff.

And in May this year we'll finally see some previously unpublished Tolkien material with the release of The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun. And there is a lot more stuff going on, what with the upcoming Guillermo del Toro "Hobbit" movies and all.

So a new weekly Hobbit News newsletter has been launched through Yahoo! Groups. You can read the first issue of Hobbit News online. Keep your eye on it. And feel free to subscribe (registration is free and unmoderated, but you do have to sign up with Yahoo! to get the newsletter by email).

SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.