In 1954 the first two volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings were published (The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers). To celebrate this event, and following on from last year’s Tolkien seminars, Exeter College – Tolkien’s undergraduate college – is proud to host a series of free lunchtime talks organised by the Faculty of English on The Lord of the Rings. Open to the public these talks are aimed at going deeper in some key aspects of the novel, Tolkien as a writer, and some of the spin-offs it has generated.

Please note that all seminars will take place at the Fitzhugh Auditorium, Cohen Quad (Exeter College), Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HG:

Week 1(17/10/2024) – Holly Ordway: ‘Tolkien as Interpreter and Transformer of Culture: The Making of The Lord of the Rings as a Modern Book’.

Week 2 (24/10/2024) – NOTE: Unfortunately, John Garth can now not talk at this seminar as planned. The speaker will now be Stuart Lee. Stuart will talk on: ‘JRR Tolkien and GB Smith: Two Forgotten War Poets?’. Please use the new link (www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1048628334577?aff=oddtdtcreator) to register to attend ‘Stuart’s talk on: ‘JRR Tolkien and GB Smith: Two Forgotten War Poets?’. Originally John Garth was scheduled to talk on: ‘Quisling and Prisoner: How the Second World War shaped the treason of Isengard’.

Week 3 (31/10/2024) – HALF-TERM NO TALK

Week 4 (7/11/2024) – Mark Williams: ‘A Harmless Vice: Tolkien’s Invented Languages’.

Week 5 (14/11/2024) – Giuseppe Pezzini: ‘The authors and styles of The Lord of the Rings’.

Week 6 (21/11/2024) – Grace Khuri: ‘Medievalism in the Margins: Echoes of Anglo-Saxon England in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings – From Page to Screen’.

Week 7 (28/11/2024) – Michael Ward: ‘C.S. Lewis’s Influence on The Lord of the Rings’.

Week 8 (05/12/2024) – Stuart Lee: ‘The ‘Key-spring’ of The Lord of the Rings?’.