TumblogWritings, musings and generally lighthearted bantee

Dec

31

The Latest from the Tolkien Professor

Professor Olsen is always working diligently to bring learning about Tolkien and other speculative fiction to a larger audience.

Meet the Tolkien Professor »

If you would like to see more from Professor Olsen, you can check out:

You can also follow his updates on Twitter and Facebook.

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Mar

19

Tolkien Professor Podcast Updates

Hello Everybody, and welcome!

Recently, I made some changes to the Tolkien Professor podcast with the help of my Digital Media team over at Signum University. I wanted to make sure you were all aware in case you had any questions or wondered why some things had moved around a bit.

First of all, we’ve moved to a new podcast service called Fireside. In addition to cozy feeling of the name – who wouldn’t want to listen to a podcast while sitting next to a nice, warm fire? – this new service offers a lot of great options for helping people find The Tolkien Professor on their favorite podcasting app. The podcast has long been available on iTunes, and some other apps and aggregation services have picked it up from there over the years. Fireside makes it easier to integrate with many more services, and already we’ve been able to add the podcast to some places that hadn’t picked it up yet, including Spotify and Google Play. To view all of available options, visit the Tolkien Professor subscription page. (Note that you can still add the RSS feed directly to your favorite app, if it’s not listed there.)

The second major change is that I have now moved my Exploring The Lord of the Rings program, sponsored by the Mythgard Institute, to its own dedicated podcast feed. There are a couple of reasons for doing this. Foremost, in recent months, we had been receiving a lot of inquiries from listeners about the podcast not updating properly or having a hard time finding older episodes. As it turns out, iTunes seems to be the main culprit, as Apple appears to limit the number of episodes that can appear in a podcast – other podcast apps, like Overcast, do not seem to have such a limit. Furthermore, Exploring The Lord of the Rings has become quite popular in its own right, and it seemed like it was time to give it an outlet of its own. All of my other Tolkien-related content will remain on the Tolkien Professor podcast for now, but if you want to keep listening to Exploring The Lord of the Rings, you will need to add it. You can find the subscription page here.

Let me take a moment to also mention another great new podcast you may be interested in: The Flower of the Cedar, by one of my students, Kay ben-Avraham. This is an audiobook podcast of Kay’s debut fantasy novel, performed by Kay herself. Some of you may have met Kay at Mythmoot or one of our other Signum gatherings, where she has read extracts from her novel – and therefore you already know how lovely a voice she has. For those who have not heard her read yet, you are in for a real treat. On top of that, the story is really engaging as well! The Flower of the Cedar is Signum University’s first foray into helping others publish their work, and I’m really excited for this to be the first thing that we help release into the world.

You can find the updated and new podcasts at the links above. You can also find other podcasts featuring myself and staff, faculty, and students of Signum over on the Signum University follow page and the Mythgard Listen page.

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Jul

11

Tolkien Professor Takes on Sir Thomas Malory

In his latest free seminar from the Mythgard Academy, Dr. Corey Olsen will offer in-depth analysis of Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur using the Eugène Vinaver (2nd ed.) text based on the Winchester Manuscript discovered in 1934. 

Register now to join our live sessions, or follow the recordings on the Signum University YouTube Channel.

View Details & Schedule Register

To support these free classes from the Mythgard Institute and have an opportunity to vote on upcoming seminars, visit the Signum University Annual Fund page.

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Aug

20

Tolkien Chat 19: Mythgard at Mythcon 2014

Professor Corey Olsen was joined by a record number of Mythgard students at Mythcon 45 in August 2014. In the midst of all the activity, the group got the chance to get together and compare notes about the conference and the papers being presented. As an added benefit, they were visited by a string of special guests and Tolkien/fantasy luminaries. Listen on iTunes or download here.

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Aug

18

Beowulf Reactions

Corey comments on the release of Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf. Originally recorded May 2014. Listen on iTunes or here.

Update: Check out the Beowulf Through Tolkien class from Signum University, taught by Anglo-Saxon and Tolkien scholar, Dr. Tom Shippey.

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Feb

04

Silmarillion Seminar 35

The final installment of the Silmarillion Seminar, “The Lost Episode” has been recreated for your listening pleasure! Find it here or on iTunes

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Dec

23

Reactions to the Desolation of Smaug

The Tolkien Professor reacts to “The Desolation of Smaug”, the second movie in Peter Jackson’s increasingly epic adaptation of “The Hobbit”. Parts one and two can be found here, or on iTunes.

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Oct

22

Office Hours 5

After a long absence,  Office Hours with The Tolkien Professor is back! Professor Olsen discusses such diverse topics as the relationship between the Rohirrim and the Anglo-Saxons and the practicality of getting a graduate degree in Tolkien Studies.  You can download Office Hours #6 here, or listen on iTunes.

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Oct

07

Tolkien Chat 15: Gilsdorf and Smith

The Tolkien Professor chats with authors and uber-geeks Ethan Gilsdorf and Noble Smith.  Ethan Gilsdorf is the author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms. Noble Smith is the author of The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life.

You can find them both at the webpage Dungeons and Dorkwads.

Download this episode here, or subscribe to The Tolkien Professor on iTunes.

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Sep

30

Tolkien Chat 14: Bernd Greisinger of the Greisinger Musuem

Bernd Greisinger has opened up his private collection of Tolkien-related literature, art, and collectibles to the public in an immersive, multi-media experience at the Greisinger Museum of Jenins, Switzerland. Mr. Greisinger talks to Professor Olsen about his collection, and his vision for the museum. You can find the files here, or subscribe to The Tolkien Professor on iTunes.

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