If you read the Hobbit News newsletter than you may recall this festival from the January 25, 2009 issue of Hobbit News.

On June 13, the Woodland Hobbit and Fairy Festival will be held in Keating Summit, PA.

This news story suggests that volunteers are still needed. You cannot actually read the news story until it is two weeks old, which would be a bit late in my opinion, unless you subscribe to the service.

If you live in the Keating area and think you could help with the Festival, you should check out their Web site.

Dr. Marc Zender contacted us and asked that we add his new anthropology course to the Tolkien Studies on the Web catalog of college courses on Tolkien.

According to Dr. Zender, the new class is "a course on foreign languages and aspects of translation in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings at our summer school".

You can learn more about it here.

I've taken the following excerpt from Dr. Zender's Web site:

In this course, we will study the important role of language in The Lord of the Rings, applying concepts from linguistic anthropology that shed light on Tolkien’s methods and purpose as the ‘translator’ (both linguistic and cultural) of Middle-Earth. Students will be introduced to several of Tolkien's invented languages (and their real-world inspirations), as well as two of his invented alphabets. Understanding the linguistic foundations of Middle-Earth greatly increases one's enjoyment of Tolkien’s work, and provides insights into one linguist’s view of the intricate and interdependent relationships of language, culture, and society.

So if you're attending Harvard and want to check out what appears to be an interesting course on Tolkien linguistics, there you go!

Good luck!

BTW -- if you're an American or Canadian college/university-level educator and you're teaching a course on Tolkien, feel free to contact us and update your info or give us a new listing. All we ask is that the class have an online resource page we can link to.

Three quick updates.

First, a new issue of Hobbit News is now available. After a 2-month hiatus I have finally found some time to catch up on recent news.

Second, Other Minds, an Internet Tolkien journal that combines scholarly research with role-playing game-related articles, has just published its sixth issue.

Third, The Hunt For Gollum, a fan film that follows Aragorn's search for Gollum, is now available to watch online (for free) and has been since May 3 -- a fact, sadly, I was not aware of when I published the 8th issue of Hobbit News. Sorry, folks. I'll put an item in the next issue.

I'll try to watch and review the movie this week.

If you have been wondering what happened to Middle-earth Talk Radio, wonder no more. Hawke Robinson has now uploaded the last three shows, including one we recorded last night.

You can download Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 10 here. You must be logged in to download but registration is free. The show was recorded on February 1, 2009.

Topics covered include:

• Links between "Lost in Space", "Babylon" and Tolkien.
• Hobbit Newsletter by Michael Martinez, discussion from issues 3 & 4
• Pennsylvania Hobbit and Faerie Festival receives grant
• Teacher persuaded school to use "The Hobbit" as a theme for school
• Community theaters and schools' productions of The Hobbit
• Media coverage of upcoming "The Hobbit" movies
• Community college discusses racial diversity in Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
• Dmitra Fimi discusses cultural diversity in her book
• John Rateliff and Michael Martinez discussed cultural diversity in Tolkien's works in MerpCon IV
• Claims of Tolkien racism, Michael's comments, Tolkien's addressing through philology
• Eä RPG Races & Cultures book
• Tolkien's great grandson, abuse claims, Roy Tolkien, and court libel decision
• Houghton Mifflin, changed ownership 3 times in past 8 years
• Utah, Interfaith week, and irony of it including Tolkien
• Michael will be guest speaker at NorWestCon 32
• MerpCon V could be last MerpCon
• Leonard Nimoy 1968 Bilbo Baggins "Music Video" on Youtube.
• Ukraine video on Tolkien Studies of Blacksmith making armor for Tolkien ethusiast re-enactors for combat
• Tolkien franchise related interviews on Youtube
• Quote from Annotated Hobbit regarding Trolls in reference to tolkien_list Google Email List
• Some silliness after dropping connection

Full details provided on the download page.

You can download Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 11 here but Hawke hasn't yet uploaded all the details. I forget what we talked about but I'm sure we mentioned Gil-Galad's car.

The real news occurs in last night's show. You can download Middle-earth Talk Radio Episode 12 here and you'll want to listen to it first.

Here are the topics:

• Harper Collins making all three volumes of Lord of the Rings available via electronic download. Digital Rights Management redux.
• Latest update on the two Hobbit Movies and what they wil contain.
• Bilbo's adventuring on his return to Hobbiton after Lonely Mountain.
• Lonely Mountain Anecdote.... Mount Rainier
• Fan Films
• Michael Martinez NorWesCon 32 report.
• Comparative Studies, Elves & Orcs
• Bloodbowl
• Gnomes in Dragonlance, names kept growing as they aged, correlated to Tolkien's Ents.
• MerpCon V coming up July 24-27th 2009, RSVP right away. Final year it will be free.
• Radio City Music Hall Howard Shore Soundtrack to Fellowship of the Ring and guest Speaker scheduled for the Fall, and possibly to offer free tickets give away.
• A number of websites fell for One Ring .net April fools news about 3 Hobbit movies.
• Michael tells about his April fools story and two castle's in Europe, fooled Gary Gygax.
• Dave Arneson's passing (old news).
• Average lifespan of RPGers research?
• RPG Research Project,
• NorWesCon Panel "Tolkien has a lot to answer for".
• CS Lewis Society, co-sponsors the Chronicles of Narnia Code (take on the Da Vinci Code).
• New Tolkien Society Smial formed in Inland Northwest in Spokane, Washington, USA ("Inland Empire"). Meeting every 2nd Saturday of the month.

I'll post some notes and pictures about NorWesCon 32 later this week.

I have received my itinerary for NorWesCon. Since I maintain several blogs I'm posting this information on each but it's substantially the same. The search engines will have to forgive me.

NorWesCon is held in the Seattle area. Of course, that is the same weekend SakuraCon will be held in downtown Seattle and you have to ask: Which do Tolkien fans want to see more? Cute girls in anime costumes or Michael Martinez pontificating on the nature of Orcs and Elves? Hm. Tough choice ....

Saturday, April 11

The Blogger Effect 11:00 AM Cascade 5
Has blogging ruined the fine art of editing? What do we gain with publishing spontaneous writing? And what do we lose? There is a growing network of SF/F professional and aspiring writers connected via LiveJournal and other blogging communities. Is it breaking down the barriers between pro, amateur, and fan-ficcer? Does it function as an informal online writers' workshop, as a support group, or a black hole of cat-vacuuming?
Josh Palmatier, Mark Henry, Michael Martinez, Gordon Van Gelder

Comparative Study: Elves 1:00 PM Cascade 8
Delicate, beautiful, graceful...deadly. Light Elves versus Dark, Night versus Blood, what is it about these diametrically opposing forces that draw us to them? Is it simply easy storytelling or is it representative of the dichotomy within each of us? Or both? Come ready to discuss elves in context of opposing sides in literature and gaming.
Dave Butler, Michael Martinez, Ciandi Stephens

On the Fringe 3:00 PM Cascade 10
Have the creators of Lost created a new winner?
Chris Nilsson, Ryan K. Johnson, Michael Martinez

Using Fantasy and Science Fiction to Engage the Next Generation 4:00 PM Cascade 7
With the competition presented by computers, TV, and the myriad of animated gaming devices, K-12 educators are intensely interested in finding new ways to engage their students’ interest. Members of SF&F fandom, are invited to take part in brainstorming ways to improve educational approaches for the future using Science Fiction and Fantasy themes as a jumping-off point.
Spring Shoenhuth, Craig Figley, Eva-Lise Carlstrom, Miki Garrison, Michael Martinez

Comparative Study: Orcs 5:00 PM Cascade 5
They are easily recognizable by their green, grey or brown skin, tusks and fangs...not to mention the fact that they are almost definitely trying to kill you. Orcs have haunted our nightmares (and therefore, our stories) for decades, but what do these creatures have in common with each other? Comparing Tolkein, Salvatore and other literary works with games such as Warhammer and Warcraft, this panel analyzes the origins and history of Fantasy's favorite barbarian horde.
Dave Butler, Michael Martinez, Chris Pramas, Dylan S.

Tolkien Has a Lot to Answer For 7:00 PM Cascade 4
With Lord of the Rings, Tolkien established the fantasy genre and many of the current fantasy traditions. Has this now hindered the growth of the fantasy genre?
Michael Martinez, Jeff Grubb, Eric Mona

Sunday, April 12

The Fannish Community On Line 10:00 AM Cascade 8
From parsing every detail of every sci fi and fantasy script out of Hollywood to debates on production stills for movies that don't come out for another year, on-line fandom has become a force to be reckoned with and even courted. With threats of boycott of Twentieth Century Fox over Watchman as an example, how will fandom use its online power to advance the cause of science fiction and fantasy?
Ryan K. Johnson, Michael Martinez, Amanda Cherry, Leo Roberts