New from Pegasus Books - Groom on Tolkien (and Tolkien on Screen)

Tolkien in the Twenty-First Century: The Meaning of Middle-Earth Today

Nick Groom

Full details from the publisher at http://pegasusbooks.com/books/tolkien-in-the-twenty-first-century-9781639365036-hardcover.

Format Hardcover

Publication Date 09/05/23

ISBN 9781639365036

Trim Size / Pages 6 x 9 in / 480

An original and thought-provoking journey into J. R. R. Tolkien’s world, revealing how his visionary creation of Middle-Earth is more relevant now than ever before.

*Finalist for the The 2023 Tolkien Society Best Book Award*

What is it about Middle-Earth and its inhabitants that has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world? And why does Tolkien's visionary creation continue to fascinate and inspire us eighty-five years after its first publication?

Beginning with Tolkien's earliest influence—and drawing on key moments from his life, Tolkien in the Twenty-First Century is an engaging and vibrant reinterpretation of the beloved author's work. Not only does it trace the genesis and inspiration for the original books, but the narrative also explores the later film and literary adaptations that have cemented his reputation as a cultural phenomenon.

Delving deep into topics such as friendship, failure, the environment, diversity, and Tolkien's place in a post-Covid age, Nick Groom takes us on an unexpected journey through Tolkien's world, revealing how it is more relevant now than perhaps Tolkien himself ever envisioned.

Nick Groom is currently Professor of Literature in English at the University of Macau, having previously held positions at the universities of Chicago, Stanford, and Exeter, where he holds an Honorary Professorship. His is the author of The Vampire: A New History (Yale University Press) among other books published in Britain.

Sesame Street Meets Middle-earth

Here's a cute mash-up that first aired last December:

Haines's Music in Films on the Middle Ages

Update number three for the night highlights an intriguing new book from Routledge (unfortunately the price may limit its reach):

Music in Films on the Middle Ages: Authenticity vs. Fantasy
By John Haines

To Be Published October 14th 2013 by Routledge

Series: Routledge Research in Music

Hardback: $125.00
978-0-415-82412-5
Available for pre-order

DESCRIPTION:

This book explores the role of music in the some five hundred feature-length films on the Middle Ages produced between the late 1890s and the present day, ranging from historical epics such as Joan the Woman (1917) to medievalist stories such as The Lord of the Rings (2001-3). Haines focuses on the tension in these films between authenticity and fantasy, between the surviving evidence for medieval music and the idiomatic tradition of cinematic music. The latter is taken broadly as any musical sound occurring in a film, from the clang of a bell off-screen to a minstrel singing his song; it includes both diegetic and non-diegetic modes. Medieval film music must is considered in the broader historical context of pre-cinematic medievalisms, on the one hand, and, on the other, of medievalist cinema’s main development in the course of the twentieth century as an American appropriation of European culture. The book treats six pervasive moments that define the genre of what could be called medieval film: the church-tower bell, the trumpet fanfare or horn call, the music of banquets and courts, the singing minstrel, performances of Gregorian chant, and the music that accompanies horse-riding knights, with each chapter visiting representative films as case studies. These six signal musical moments create a fundamental visual-aural core that is central to making a film feel medieval to modern audiences, and these musical stereotypes originate in medievalist works predating cinema by some three centuries.


CONTENTS:

Preface
1. The Making of the Middle Ages
2. The Bell
3. The Trumpet Fanfare and the Horn Call
4. Banquet and Court Music
5. The Singing Minstrel
6. Chant
7. The Riding Warrior
8. Conclusion
References
Filmography


AUTHOR BIO:

John Haines is Professor of Music History and Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit

I don't believe I've posted anything on The Hobbit before. Given the popularity of the first trilogy, this looks like it will have an enormous impact on the popular conception of the the Middle Ages for many years to come. The second film of the Hobbit trilogy (!) is due in late 2013. Additional videos can be accessed at the Warner Bros. Pictures Channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE40EF62A81D1D1EB. 

Auger on Lord of the Rings

From a recent issue of Mythlore:

Auger, Emily E. “The Lord of the Rings’ Interlace: The Adaptation to Film.” Mythlore 30.1-2 (Fall/Winter 2011): 143-62.

The Hobbit Trailer!

Here's the first trailer for The Hobbit released just last week. The film is due out in December 2012.