In my own personal fight against AI, I went to a book rescue (aka second-hand bookstore) today and brought a few home. I am embracing my inner bookwrym and building my hoarde (which friends are more than welcome to share in)

I had to jump on the Jimothy bandwagon 🦝 #Jimothy #Tolkien

Ok my fellow scholars and academics, your advice is sought: do you have a method for organizing ideas for future research/papers/projects other than just keeping a running list?

One week away! We’ll see you in a week at #Westmoot26 in Minneapolis to celebrate Tolkien, to see old friends and make new ones, to grow in community and grow in our love of all things Middle-Earth. #intothewest #westmoot #tolkien

To borrow from Tolkien today: "Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard, For your watch hath not been in vain, And the Black Gate is broken, And your King hath passed through, And he is victorious." Happy Easter to those celebrating!

I'm teaching Comp 1 this fall and using the theme of Coming-of-age/Discovery your identity. I'd like to use a short novel as a common reader- any recommendations? I'd especially like one that is from the fantasy genre. #fantasy #bookrecs

Blocked

Indie Book Spotlight@bookspotlight.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Blocked!

PhD viva complete- I passed with minor corrections! I can honestly say it was the most enjoyable exam I have ever done 😁 I love talking about Tolkien! #Tolkien #PhD #fanfiction

PhD thesis submitted! While I do feel a bit like butter-scraped-over-too-much-bread, it feels so good to have finished this! Now on to the viva! #PhD #Tolkien

James: "Look, I'm not saying that Tolkien is the best, but he is the best."

Westmoot@westmoot.org · 11mo ago

At #Westmoot25, James Tauber gave his presentation, “The State of the Digital Tolkien Project” outlining the goals, recent development, and future plans of the Tolkien Society Award winning Digital Tolkien Project. #westmoot #intothewest

I don't know why, but conclusions are the hardest thing for me to write. 😫

Really quite disheartening and disappointing to see the Tolkien Society hosting a discussion on “AI in fantasy filmmaking” this year at Oxonmoot. It feels about as morally and philosophically opposed to Tolkien’s work as a talk on the benefits of deforestation.

The @tolkiensociety.org is hosting a talk at this year's Oxonmoot about using Gen AI in fantasy filmmaking. The talk is in favor of it, based on its description, given below, and includes AI generated film apparently of Tolkien's work. To say I am shocked would be an understatement...

Reading about the Noldor crossing the Helcaraxë and being in Oklahoma in summer has me going "eh, might not be too bad". 🥵

I totally headcanon Mandos headbanging to Blind Guardians' "Noldor" while shredding on a guitar

In light of some recent behaviors from some bad actors in the Tolkien fandom community, this is a reminder that my small corner is a safe place and I work to keep it that way. If you are being harassed and need a shoulder, hug, or cup of tea, I'm here. I also offer my virtual axe. #Tolkien

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

You know, if Middle-earth had a film industry, it would be based in Eregion. They've got Hollywood. #Tolkien #puns

Saw this on Reddit and I had to share it here:

Me, when someone disparages fanfiction: *tune of "This Land is Your Land"*: This canon is your canon, this canon is my canon. From what's on page to what's adaptation. I like that headcanon, but you don't haaaaaaave to. This canon was made for me and you.

It hit me the other day that next summer I won't have a thesis to work on (post-viva edits don't count) 😬 🤯 What will I with my time? I don't start prepping for fall classes until July! 😅

Pretty sure this means I’ve been blessed by Yavanna #Tolkien #Silmarillion

It's a family thing 😂 #TRoP #Tolkien

There is nothing more nerve-wracking than waiting to find out if you made it to the second round of interviews 😬😅

Look, I'm not saying that Kemen will be the Witch King, but if he is, it would mean he gets stabbed in the face by the most bad-ass woman in literature after getting kneecapped by a hobbit, so I'd be okay with it. #TROP #LordoftheRings

Westmoot this weekend!!! How many Tolkien shirts should I bring lol?

Heads up, if you are in the SAVE forbearance, check that your balance has not increased. Just checked today and mine went up over $1600. Thankfully, I've been taking weekly screenshots of the balance and have documentation.

There's an interesting idea of race = social class and themes of imperialism to consider when it comes to the Elves and Edain in the Silmarillion. Do the Noldor truly consider their Edain allies as their social equals? Maybe Finrod, but I'm not so sure about the others... #Tolkien #Silmarillion

AMAZON SHOULD INCLUDE THE DANCING BEARS OF NÚMENOR IN THE RINGS OF POWER. RT IF YOU AGREE