Tolkien
My research interests in Tolkien range from studying Tolkien’s medieval
scholarship to discussing his fiction as a modern work and as an imaginative
recreation of the medieval. I am also interested in the contemporary
reception of Tolkien’s work in film, on stage, and in fan fiction,
especially in slash fanfic.
peer-reviewed publications
conference proceedings
work in progress
conference papers
talk
interview
review
links
Peer-reviewed publications on Tolkien
"A
Single Leaf: Tolkien's Visual Art and Fantasy." (Co-authored with Jeffrey
MacLeod). Mythlore 27:1/2 [103/104] (Fall/Winter 2008): 105-126. URI:
http://hdl.handle.net/10587/566
“Gender in Tolkien’s Works,”
“History, Anglo-Saxon,”
“Sexuality in Tolkien’s Works”
in The J.R.R. Tolkien
Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment.
Ed.Michael Drout. New York: Routledge, 2007. 233-35; 274-77; 601-03.
“ ‘Oh...Oh...Frodo!’: Readings of Male Intimacy in The Lord of the
Rings.”
Modern Fiction Studies 50.4 (Winter 2004): 949-979. [pdf
1.5MB]
More peer-reviewed publications, on
medievalism and Old English literature, are listed below.
Conference proceedings
“Male Friendship in The Lord of the Rings: Medievalism, the First
World War, and Contemporary Rewritings.” The Ring Goes Ever On:
Proceedings of the Tolkien 2005 conference: 50 years of The
Lord of the Rings. Vol. 1. Ed. Sarah Wells. Coventry:UK, 2008. 320-326.
The published version of this paper omitted the endnotes
and the references. A complete version of the paper is available through
Mount Saint Vincent's Digital Commons at http://dc.msvu.ca
Work in progress
Book chapter:
“Frodo’s Body:
Liminality and the Experience of War” for Bodies of Light and Shadow:
Embodiment and Corporeality in Tolkien's Middle-earth. Ed. Christopher Vaccaro.
Forthcoming.
Article:
"Beorhtnoth's
Journey: Alliterative Style and Poetic Tradition in Tolkien's Re-vision of
The Battle of Maldon."
Conference papers
"Tolkien's Painterly Style: Descriptions of Nature in
The Lord of the Rings." Eighth Annual Tolkien Conference at the
University of Vermont. April 10, 2011. (co-presented with Jeff MacLeod).
"Traditional Storytelling, Tolkien, and Contemporary
Fandom." 7th Annual Tolkien conference at the University of Vermont. April
9-11, 2010.
"Oral Tradition
and Performance in Transmedia Storytelling." 43rd
International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI. May 12, 2008.
"Uncanny Landscapes and the Experience of War in The Lord
of the Rings." Fifth Annual Tolkien conference,
University of Vermont. April 12, 2008.
"Beorhtnoth's
Journey: Alliterative Style and Poetic Tradition in Tolkien's Re-vision of
The Battle of Maldon." 42nd
International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Kalamazoo, Michigan. May 11, 2007.
"Performance, Fiction, and Reality in
Lord of the Rings Slash."
Slash 2 Fan Fiction Study Day conference at De Montfort University,
Leicester, UK. February 27, 2007.
“Typological History in Tolkien’s Mythology.” Past, Memory, and History:
Third Annual Tolkien Conference. University of Vermont. Burlington, Vermont.
April 8, 2006.
“The Lord of the Rings: Male Friendship, the First World War, and
Contemporary Rewritings.” Tolkien 2005 conference. Aston University,
Birmingham, UK. August 12, 2005.
“Frodo and Sam in Film and Fan Fiction.” Fortieth International Congress
on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, Michigan. May 8, 2005.
“Medieval Heroism and Modern Masculinity in
The Lord of the Rings.”
Nineteenth International Conference on Medievalism. University of New
Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick. October 2, 2004.
More conference papers, on
medievalism and Old English literature, are listed below.
Talks
"Collaborative Writing and Tolkien Scholarship."
Presentation with Dr. Jeff MacLeod (Political Studies Dept.) at a Writing
Initiatives Committee presentation, Mount Saint Vincent University.
March 19, 2009.
"Oral Tradition and Performance in Lord of the Rings
Transmedia Storytelling." Mount Saint Vincent University Faculty
Research Dialogue Series. January 23, 2009.
"A Single Leaf: Tolkien's Visual Art and Fantasy" poster
presentation with Dr. Jeff MacLeod (Political Studies Dept.) at the Mount
Saint Vincent University Research Open House. Rosaria Centre, February 11,
2009.
"The Lord of the Rings
and Fan Fiction" at the Mount Saint Vincent University Research Open House.
Rosaria Centre, February 8, 2007.
Media release.
"Women, Tolkien, and Fan Fiction." MSVU Faculty
Research Dialogue Series. October 20, 2006.
Interview
Scott, Alec. "Fellowship of the Rings: Tolkien fans get ready to rumble
(again)." CBC.ca. February 2, 2006.
Review
Pre-publication
review of Lembas for the Soul: How The Lord of the Ring Enriches
Everyday Life. Ed. Catherine Kohman. Whitetreepress, 2005.
More talks and reviews are listed in the Medievalism
and in the Old English sections below.
Links
Here are some places that I'm associated with and/or I just like to visit:
The
One Ring.net Reading Room
"The Reading Room is intended to be a forum for critical analysis and
on-topic discussion of Tolkien's literary works. Reading Room threads
usually stay 'active' for at least a week, permitting thoughtful discussions
over an extended period."
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Medievalism
Medievalism involves a study of the way in which aspects of the Middle Ages
are understood in later times. This field of research can include study of
the development of medieval scholarship as well as imaginative recreations
of the medieval in art, music, fiction, film, and so on. My research
has concentrated on the work of Elizabeth Elstob, an eighteenth-century
Anglo-Saxonist, and on translations and adaptations of medieval stories for
young readers, especially in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries.
peer-reviewed publications
book review
conference papers
talk
link
Peer-reviewed publications on medievalism
"The Child, the Primitive, and the Medieval: Making Medieval Heroes in
the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries" in The Hero Recovered: Essays
on Medieval Heroism in Honor of George Clark. Ed. R.Waugh and J. Weldon.
Kalamazoo: Western Michigan /Medieval Institute Publications, 2010. 208-227.
“Pleasure, Progress, and the Profession: Elizabeth Elstob and Contemporary
Anglo-Saxon Studies.” Studies in Medievalism IX. D.S. Brewer:
Cambridge, 1999. 80-97.
"The 'Savage' and the 'Civilized': Andrew Lang's Representation of the Child
and the Translation of Folklore." Children's Literature Association
Quarterly 21:4 (Winter 1996-1997): 177-183.
"Heroic Ideology and the Children's
Beowulf."
Children's Literature
22 (1994):90-100.
More peer-reviewed publications, on
Tolkien and on Old English literature,
are listed in sections above and below.
Book review
Rev. of Literary Appropriations of the Anglo-Saxons from the Thirteenth
to the Twentieth Century. Edited by Donald Scragg and Carole Weinberg.
Dalhousie Review 82.1 (Spring 2002): 183-184.
Conference papers
"Beowulf and the Boy Problem." 44th International
Congress on Medieval Studies. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
May 2009.
“Pleasure, Progress, and the Profession: Elizabeth Elstob and Contemporary
Anglo-Saxon Studies.” Twelfth International Conference on Medievalism.
Canterbury, England. August 14, 1997.
“The Child, the Primitive, and the Medieval: Disciplinary Relations and
Canon Formation.” Second Biennial Conference on Modern Critical Approaches
to Children’s Literature. Nashville, Tennessee. April 11, 1997.
"The Female Critic and the Mother Tongue: Elizabeth Elstob's Anglo-Saxonism."
Thirtieth International Medieval Congress. Kalamazoo, Michigan. May 5, 1995.
"Translating the Past to Construct the Child: Andrew Lang and
Nineteenth-Century Philology." First Biennial Conference on Modern Critical
Approaches to Children's Literature. Nashville, Tennessee. April 22, 1995.
"Making Heroes in the Present: English Legends at the Turn of the Century."
Modern Language Association. New York. December 1992.
"Medievalism and Children's Literature." Seventh Annual General Conference
on Medievalism. University of South Florida. Tampa. September 30, 1992.
"The Ideology of Heroism and the Children's Beowulf." Association of
Canadian University Teachers of English. Victoria, B.C. May 22, 1990.
"Literary Values and Canon Formation: The Creation of Beowulf
as
Children's Literature." Atlantic University Teachers of English. Dalhousie
University. October 29, 1988.
More conference papers, on
Tolkien and on Old English
literature, are listed in sections above and below.
Talk
"Beowulf and The Boy Problem,"
Faculty Research Dialogue series, Mount Saint Vincent University. January
21, 2011.
"The Child, the Primitive, and the Medieval Scholar," English Department
Colloquium, Mount Saint Vincent University. January 12, 1995.
More talks and reviews are listed in the Tolkien and
in the Old English sections on this page.
Link
International Society for the
Study of Medievalism
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Old English Literature
My research in Old English literature focuses on allegory and typology in
Old English poetry and on how memory-training could mediate between orality
and literacy in the creation of poetry in this era.
peer-reviewed publication
work in progress
conference papers
talks
book reviews
service
links
Peer-reviewed publication on Old English literature
"Things Speaking and Speech 'Thinging': Riddlic Voices and The Seafarer."
English Studies in Canada 20 (Sept. 1994): 249-265.
More peer-reviewed publications, on Tolkien and on
medievalism, are listed above.
Work in progress
“Memorial Culture, Boethius, and the Old English
Order of the World.”
Conference papers
“Memorial Culture, Boethius, and the Old English Order of the World.”
Canadian Society of Medievalists: Humanities and Social Sciences Congress,
University of Western Ontario. May 30, 2005.
"Ethopoeic and Prosopopoeic Voices in Old English Allegory." Modern Language
Association. Washington, D.C.. December 28, 1989.
"Boethian Order and Poetic Knowledge." International Society of Anglo-Saxonists.
Durham, England. August 8, 1989.
"Sign Theory and the Text of Creation in Old English Literature."
Association of Canadian University Teachers of English. Windsor. May 28,
1988.
"The Drama of Re-enactment: The Typological Imagination in Old English
Literature." Atlantic University Teachers of English Conference on
Literature and History. Mount Allison University. October 31, 1987
"The Typological Structure of
The Seafarer." Association of Canadian
University Teachers of English. Winnipeg. May 31, 1986.
"Typological Exegesis and the Old English
Phoenix." The
Ottawa-Carleton Medieval-Renaissance Conference. March 22, 1986.
More conference papers, on Tolkien and on medievalism,
are listed above.
Talks
“Source Studies and the Old English poem
The Order of the World.”
English Literature Before 1800 Colloquium. Mount Allison University.
September 30, 2000.
"Allegorical Voices in Old English Poetry." English Department Colloquium,
Mount Saint Vincent University. January 1990.
Book reviews (medieval literature)
Rev. of Devils, Women, and Jews: Reflections of the Other in Medieval
Sermon Stories by Joan Young Gregg and To the Glory of Her Sex:
Women’s Roles in the Composition of Medieval Texts by Joan M. Ferrante.
Atlantis
22.2 (Spring 1998 ): 155-157.
Rev. of "Earle Birney, Essays on Chaucerian Irony
and John Leyerle
and Anne Quick, eds. Chaucer: A Bibliographical Introduction."
English Studies in Canada 13 (1987): 468-473.
More talks and reviews are listed in the Tolkien and
in the Medievalism sections on this page.
Service
President, Canadian Society of Medievalists.
2007-2010.
Links
Canadian Society of Medievalists
International Society of Anglo-Saxonists
International Congress on
Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo.
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