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The of The Mythopoeic Society. |
 (design & embroidery by Cathy Parlin) |
|
The of The Mythopoeic Society. |
(design & embroidery by Cathy Parlin) |
For more than thirty years, the Rivendell Group has been meeting
regularly on or near the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus
to study, discuss and enjoy myth, fantasy and imaginative literature
in the traditions of J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, Christina
Rossetti, T.H. White, Ursula K. LeGuin, Evangeline Walton, C.S.
Lewis, Peter Beagle, Patricia McKillip, Jorge Luis Borges, Marion
Zimmer Bradley, John Gardner and Angela Carter (among others).
Formerly, we were also the University of Minnesota Mythopoeic
Society, a recognized U of MN student organization. Our constitution
is on another page.
Sharin will read her paper-in-progress, working title is "'It is enough to make the dead rise out of their graves!': Tolkien, Oliphant, and Gendered Conventions of the Supernatural." She writes: "In my paper for the panel on Tolkien Un-bodied, I will begin with Oliphant's novella in order to discuss the gendered roots of discussions about the fantastic and the spiritual that spilled over into modern fantasy from eighteenth and nineteenth-century literary criticism. As we know from "On Fairy Stories," Tolkien saw a reason to intertwine the religious and the fantastic while at the same time wishing to separate the fantastic from the childish. Tolkien is attempting to counteract a narrative of the fantastic that associates both the religious and the preternatural with women and children. After framing the terms of the debate, I then examine moments in _The Lord of the Rings_ where the spirit meets the incarnate, particularly in the narrative of the Paths of the Dead."
Then we'll give her feedback and talk about it. We'll probably eat cookies and drink tea and soft drinks.
Assuming that you've read the Tolkien, you might want to look at the novella by Margaret Oliphant, _A Beleaguered City_, which you can find on the web, since it was originally published in 1880 and is long out of copyright. Or I could probably send you the text as an attachment to an e-mail if you like. I found some notes about Margaret Oliphant on the web today--check out http://www.jimandellen.org/gothic/Ghost.OliphantBeleaguered.html. _A Beleaguered City_ is a pretty short novel, and I thought it wonderful. But it's written in Victorian language and style, and some readers today may be quite put off by it--at least one former Rivendeller was quite emphatic about that. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11521.bibrec
[Personally, I loved the Oliphant novel, which I discovered
thanks to Ruth Berman's dissertation, a chapter of which she read
to Rivendell back in the 70s. I think it's been too often
overlooked by critics of 19th C. fantasy, so I'm glad it's being
noticed. And I was gratified that another Rivendeller contacted
me today to say she "really enjoyed it" and she's never
been a grad student.]
and see more photos from this meeting,
and from the July 2005 discussion with the MTS of Tolkien 2005 papers by local members David Emerson and Sharin' Schroeder,
see this web-page:
http://homepage.mac.com/david_lenander/Fantasy_and_SF/PhotoAlbum33.html
David Emerson's paper was: "Tolkien and Moorcock: Achieveing Literary Depth through Vertical and Horizontal Explorations of Time."
Meetings are normally on Saturdays at 1:30 p.m. After many years of meeting at the U of MN's Coffman Union we're no longer meeting on-campus at the U of M.
Saturday, May 8, 2010, at 1:30 at the Southeast Community Library, 1222 4th St. SE Minneapolis, MN (in "Dinkytown," near the U of M Mpls campus). Library phone: 952-847-2728. I previously sent a .pdf of a flyer for this meeting, so hopefully you were able to read the details there. Here are a few more. Plus additional news.
Sharin Schroeder will read her paper-in-progress, working title is "'It is enough to make the dead rise out of their graves!': Tolkien, Oliphant, and Gendered Conventions of the Supernatural." She writes: "In my paper for the panel on Tolkien Un-bodied, I will begin with Oliphant's novella in order to discuss the gendered roots of discussions about the fantastic and the spiritual that spilled over into modern fantasy from eighteenth and nineteenth-century literary criticism. As we know from "On Fairy Stories," Tolkien saw a reason to intertwine the religious and the fantastic while at the same time wishing to separate the fantastic from the childish. Tolkien is attempting to counteract a narrative of the fantastic that associates both the religious and the preternatural with women and children. After framing the terms of the debate, I then examine moments in _The Lord of the Rings_ where the spirit meets the incarnate, particularly in the narrative of the Paths of the Dead."
Then we'll give her feedback and talk about it. We'll probably eat cookies and drink tea and soft drinks.
Assuming that you've read the Tolkien, you might want to look
at the novella by Margaret Oliphant, _A Beleaguered City_, which
you can find on the web, since it was originally published in
1880 and is long out of copyright. Or I could probably send you
the text as an attachment to an e-mail if you like. I found some
notes about Margaret Oliphant on the web today--check out http://www.jimandellen.org/gothic/Ghost.OliphantBeleaguered.html.
_A Beleaguered City_ is a pretty short novel, and I thought it
wonderful. But it's written in Victorian language and style,
and some readers today may be quite put off by it--at least one
former Rivendeller was quite emphatic about that. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11521.bibrec
We're planning meetings this summer to discuss the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri (involving Members of Parliament and a band of Fairies, and a lot of Victorian silliness, and some lovely melodies), and hopefully, more Inklings (we really haven't discussed Charles Williams in quite a while),and we'll have to take up CSL's Voyage of the Dawn Treader again in preparation for the motion picture expected next December, etc.
I heard from a couple of people that we do want to meet & watch & discuss the most recent Harry Potter film (and its book) as it's available on DVD. We might also talk about nominations for the national Mythopoeic Society Fantasy & Scholarship awards, as several of our local members serve on the various awards committees.
Our recent discussion with Pat Wrede fell through in part when Patricia C. Wrede was unable to attend at the last minute. However, we had a good turnout and most attendees had actually read the book! So we had a good discussion. Pat would be willing to respond to questions, of which there were several. One thing she told me was that the next book in "Frontier Magic" has been delayed, as Life has Intervened with finishing the manuscript. Maybe we could try again after the paperback comes out this summer, some time. Perhaps at a local con.
UPCOMING LOCAL CONVENTIONS OF NOTE---
Jun 25-27 Fourth Street Fantasy Convention, Minneapolis, MN. http://www.4thstreetfantasy.com/
July 1-4 CONvergence, Bloomington, MN. GoHs: L. A. Banks, Jeremy Bulloch, Paul Cornell, Bridget Landry, Chuck McCann, Wally Wingert. (Pre-reg deadline: May 15) http://convergence-con.org/
I told Eric that we'd do a CONvergence discussion of _Voyage
of the Dawn Treader_ in preparation for the film coming out next
December, and also in preparation for a future discussion of ours
of Laura Miller's wonderful book, _The Magician's Book_, which
is about reading C.S. Lewis's Chronicles. Hopefully that'll be
on July 3, I suppose (If that's the Saturday)? Perhaps this will
be our July meeting.
*****************************
MYTHCON 2011? Proposal from David E.
David Emerson is proposing a Twin Cities "Mythcon,"
in 2011 or more likely, 2012. He's looking for ideas, volunteers
and any other help he can find. Mythcon is the annual Mythopoeic
Conference of the Mythopoeic Society, our parent Society. FFI:
www.mythsoc.org
This year's Mythcon is Mythcon 41 War in Heaven Crowne Plaza
SuitesDallas Dallas, Texas July 9-12. 2010 Guests of honor
are novelist Tim Powers & scholar/editor/author Janet Brennan
Croft.
The following registration rates are available through May 15,
2010 (learn more):www.mythsoc.org
$65 for Mythopoeic Society members
$75 for non-members
$55 for students * * Please bring student ID for confirmation
at Mythcon
*******************************
UPCOMING RIVENDELL PUBLICATIONS: Joan Marie Verba is having a
special Tues, May 18. Thunderbirds Virtual (Re)Launch Party. FFI:
http://www.ftlpublications.com
which is a kind of online event, as I understand it, involving
free downloadable stuff if you buy one of Joan's Thunderbirds
books on that day. You can check out the details on a page that
is linked to the ftlpublications site, above. Here's a note from
the web-site: Remember Saturday mornings when you were a child,
sitting in front of the television in your pajamas, watching your
favorite shows? Remember the fun when the good guys outwitted
the bad guys?
Then the Thunderbirds™ books are for you! These are the
officially licensed, approved, and sanctioned novels based on
the 1960s Thunderbirds™ television series, set in the decade
of the 2060s.
The other Rivendeller note of interest is that Caroline Stevermer's
Magic Below Stairs should be out next month. This is the
"Young Frederick" story (for younger readers, set in
the world of _Sorcery & Cecilia_) that we've heard some excerpts
from in the past couple of years, notably at one of our "Readings
from Rivendell" events.
Ongoing Information
For more information, including directions, contact David, at 292-8887; or d-lena@tc.umn.edu
*Our complementary sister- or daughter- group, Second Foundation, meets regularly to discuss Science Fiction.
Next meeting is on March 1, 2009. Topic: the works of Jack Vance.
there will also be a co=sponsored discussion on the following weekend at MARS CON of the same topic, the works of Jack Vance.
FFI: Eric Heideman, eheideman@quest.net
**************
From the Star-Tribune Obituaries page.
Margaret was one of the original group that gathered together at the invitation of Todd Zuhlsdorf to form the Rivendell discussion group of the Mythopoeic Society. She and Ruth Berman and I were the only ones from that original gathering, in 1973 or 74 who were still regularly attending. Margaret had been a member of the Society over the years, off and on, and had attended a Mythcon or three. She's actually pictured above in the Rivendell photo from the 80s--she is Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz. You can see other pictures of her on her web-page, or further down on this page. She was our guest of honor at Bree Moot 5, after the publication of her novel, The Wrong World, and I have a web-page up for her fan activities at http://www.tc.umn.edu/~d-lena/MargHowes.html
For further local events news, call the Minn-stiff hotline: 824-5559.
Here's a few Discussion
Reports.
[A photo from a Readings from Rivendell meeting from many years
back. Terry
Garey, on the right, read some poetry. She has a recent collection
on cassette. To her right is Paula
Rice Biever (check out her 'zine, Remnants), and to
Paula's right is Erik
Biever, proprietors, Foont Cellars Brewing & Publishing
(publisher of our newsletter), and Sally Morem.]
[More Rivendellers, left to right: (Terry Garey's arm), Eleanor
Arnason, Joan Marie Verba, Sandra
Unerman, Ruth Berman and Margaret Howes. Probably the "Readings
From Rivendell meeting in 1990 or 1991.]
[Still more Rivendellers at the same meeting: Eric M. Heideman,
Polly Peterson, Marianne
Hageman, Mike Dorn, Peg Kerr
Ihinger and Brian Neurauter.]
For more pix, of more Rivendellers, at the discussion of Steve
Brust's The Sun, The Moon and The Stars in an artist's
studio, click here.
We also hosted a followup to this and to the recent "BREE MOOT" conferences
in the midwest (previously, Iowa and Missouri) in May of '97,
coinciding with the revival of the Children's Theater Company's
production of The Hobbit. A Bree Moot con report should
be added to this page, soon.
We're particularly proud of the creative and scholarly productions
of some of our members, and especially of our annual December
"Readings from Rivendell" program, where our members
have read many stories and poems that were much enjoyed by all
listeners--and in many cases, by later readers when these were
published.
Our occasional newsletter over the years is Last
Homely Hearth. I plan to add a number of past articles
here. See here for the early history of the Rivendell Group. See
also the Eleanor Arnason page
for some reproduced material from LHH.
Here's a list of some mythopoeic writers
about whom I'll be adding some more discussion, information, etc.
Here's a similar list, of Minnesota and SF & F-related writers,
from David Dyer-Bennet, http://www.ddb.com/sf/Minnesota-authors.shtml
from left:
Riawa Smith, Alexandra Howes, Steve Glennon,
Margaret Howes, Patricia C.
Wrede
photo by David Lenander
For a number of years I was unable to complete the caption on the above photograph--I wasn't sure of the identity of the young woman between Riawa and Steve. This past August I received the following note: Dear Mr. Lenander,
I was browsing the internet with regards to information on my grandmother, Margaret Howes, and came across The Rivendell Group`s webpage. As I scrolled down to look at your pictures I found one of the group that met with Patricia C. Wrede. You have everyone`s names listed [but] mine. I am the young girl second from the left with the long hair and glasses. My name is Alexandra Howes, and my grandmother, Margaret, used to take me to meetings when I was growing up.
It was a pleasure to chance upon your site and to see myself when I was still a young teenager! I am currently 24 and still writing; as my grandmother always encouraged and inspired me to do. Perhaps you could update with my name and surprise a few people who might know me.
Best regards to you and The Rivendell Group!
~Alexandra Howes
