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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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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Jul

21

Tolkien Chat 13:Mythcon 44

Tolkien Chat 13: Mythgard at Mythcon 44

July 12 through 15 saw a swarm of fantasy scholars and fans descend on the Kellogg Conference Center of Michigan State University to participate in the Mythopoeic Society’s Mythcon 44. This year’s theme, “The Green and Growing Land,” spark the imagination of a number of Mythgard Institute students. As a result, seven presentations across the weekend were made by Mythgardians:

  • Laura Lee Smith – “First Contact: Man in the Landscape of Tormance and Perelandra”
  • Ryan Joy – “Mary Shelley’s Creature and Picard’s Humanity”
  • Kris Swank – “Good Plain Food: Diet and Virtue in the Fantasies of Tolkien and Lewis”
  • Trish Lambert – “How the Respective Cosmogonies of Narnia and Middle-earth Affect Grief and Hope in the Environment”
  • Dan Kinney – “The Musical Heart of the Lands of Narnia and Middle-earth”
  • Andrew Higgins – “A Linguistic Exploration through Tolkien’s Earliest Landscapes”

In addition, Professor Verlyn Flieger made a presentation entitled “How Forests Behave-Or Do They” and visiting lecturer Douglas Anderson, who was Scholar Guest of Honor at the event, gave a presentation about fairies in fantasy works of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Mythgard students were limited to the podium. Deborah Sabo and Laura Berkholtz were in the audience, contributing their own thoughts and observations during question and answer sessions.

And there is more! Professor Flieger also won the Inklings Studies prize and accepted it to a standing ovation. Our own Professor Olsen was also a nominee in this category, and though it was a disappointment not to hear his name announced, it was a eucatastrophic consolation to hear Dr. Flieger’s name boom through the speakers. Here’s hoping Dr. Olsen is nominated again next year!

There were so many interesting papers presented that there is no way to write about them all. Instead, a group of Mythgard students got together in the bar of the Kellogg Center and shared thoughts about the presentations they had attended. Captured in a short recording in this Tolkien Chat, it offers some bits and bobs about this year’s Mythcon.

The 2014 Mythcon conference will take place next August at Wheaton College, Norton Massachusetts. Here’s hoping we see even more Mythgardians in attendance…including Dr. Olsen!

Download .mp3 (right click and choose “Save As…” to download)

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Apr

29

Silmarillion Seminar 34

The penultimate session of the Silmarillion Seminar is now available. Silmarillion Seminar 34, “Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers” (aka “The One in Which Lara Speaks”) covers Part 1 of The Rings of Power and the Third Age. Find it here or check out this and all the other Tolkien Professor podcasts on iTunes.

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