#Mythcon54 hosted by @mythsoc.bsky.social is starting, and I'll be presenting on Sunday on illustrations of #Tolkien 's Lothlórien and Fairy Art! Just so you know, my Powerpoint presentation might be a bit silly, and might also be the most fun I've had putting together slides 👀

Today on the blog: a long-ish summary in English of my PhD thesis on illustrating #Tolkien And today on my Tipeee is a first look at the talk I'll be giving on Sunday about Lothlórien as a Faerie space in #illustrations (it's a bit extra). voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1442

What is she Tolkien about? Or a summary of my PhD thesis.

In February 2026, I defended my PhD thesis at the Paris-Créteil University. It’s a 513-page document in French entitled “Illustrer Tolkien : la Terre du Milieu du texte à l’image” ( Illustrating Tolki...

voirtolkien.hypotheses.org

New on my Tipeee page: a summary of my #PhD thesis on #Tolkien and illustrations. This is to give you a hopefully detailed overview of what's in there while I continue my quest to find a publishing house (it's long). 👀 fr.tipeee.com/mariebreta/

La pétition formelle contre la présomption de légitime défense pour les forces de l'ordre est à signer et diffuser. petitions.assemblee-nationale.fr/initiatives/...

Yesterday my grandpa passed into the West, the day after his 94th birthday. He opened the doors of Middle-earth to me 23 years ago. We had a tradition of watching the LotR movies together every two years. I never watched them without him. He will be missed. Namárië

Grâce à @upecofficiel.bsky.social, ma thèse "Illustrer #Tolkien : la Terre du Milieu du texte à l’image" dirigée par @vincentferre.bsky.social et Isabelle Gadoin est désormais en ligne et accessible ici : theses.hal.science/tel-05632786

Did I sign up for an online ticket even though I won't be able to watch the event live? Well yes, yes I did. (What a fabulous programme !!)

GIFCon@gifcon.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The programme for Technologies of the Fantastic is now live! You can find the full event listings, and links to registration here: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20... #GIFCon #GIFCon2026 #Fantasy #FantasyConference

Instead of writing “Fairy Art” in the draft of my next paper, I wrote “Dairy Art”, so sorry to the conference organisers but I will now be discussing Lord of the Rings latte art.

I may have submitted my PhD thesis earlier this week, that doesn't mean my #Tolkien adventures are over! I'm still writing weekly updates on Tipeee regarding the different papers I'm preparing and my quest for publication. 👀 fr.tipeee.com/mariebreta

Soutenez Marie Bretagnolle sur Tipeee

Tipeee est la platforme n°1 en Europe de financement participatif pour les Créateurs de contenus

fr.tipeee.com

This Barbie has submitted the final_definitive_last_revisions_check version of the PhD thesis to the university for archiving. 😌

The excellent @joelmerriner.bsky.social is shortlisted for his just-as-excellent book on Tolkien illustrations in the Soviet bloc ! I know who I'll be voting for !

Tolkien Society@tolkiensociety.org · 4mo ago

We are pleased to announce the shortlists for #Tolkien Society Awards 2026. If you're a member, vote now! Our panellists have chosen the shortlists, and now members will choose the winner of the Best Article, Artwork, Book and Online Content awards. www.tolkiensociety.org/2026/04/vote...

A sad day. I never managed to interview Michael Hague for my PhD thesis, but his work features significantly in there.

Marcel R. Bülles 📚💍🌋🎉@thetolkienist.com · 5mo ago

Well, that is certainly a loss... Michael Hague has passed away. [He did the legendary 1984 Hobbit] downthetubes.net/in-memoriam-...

Des conférences sur Tolkien *et* Robin Hobb ? J'y serai (en ligne) !

Dimitri Maillard@dimitrimaillard.bsky.social · 6mo ago

20-21 février 2026 : colloque international "Comment on écrit l'histoire fictive" : l'influence de l'historiographie, de Paul Veyne à Jacques Le Goff, chez les auteurs de littérature de l'imaginaire INHA, Paris, accès libre, et à distance ! fantasyartandstudies.wordpress.com/2026/02/01/c...

I don't have many words left in me but this happened today and I'm now a doctor?

I am honoured on multiple levels !

Christian S. Trenk@cstrnk.bsky.social · 6mo ago

What better occasion for my first post on Bluesky than my brilliant friend @mariebreta.bsky.social defending her PhD thesis on #Tolkien and #TolkienIllustrations at @upecofficiel.bsky.social today. Marie, you are amazing! #TolkienScholarship

Now that I've finished re-reading my PhD thesis I think we can cancel the defence, I know quite well what could be improved on, or I could be the 6th member of the jury. Also I've spotted the million typos, thank you, bye.

I've announced my thesis defence on my blog, along with a few stats for those who enjoy them! #Tolkien voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1424

Announcing my thesis defence

It’s official: my thesis defence is happening next week. Do I wish to postpone this event I’ve been fearing for 8 years now? Undoubtedly. Am I ready to be done with the PhD? Also yes. That being said,...

voirtolkien.hypotheses.org

C'est officiel, ma soutenance de thèse a lieu dans... 8 jours. Le jour que je redoute depuis... 8 ans. 😱 It's official, my thesis defence is in... 8 days. The day I've been scared about for the past... 8 years. 😱 www.fabula.org/actualites/1...

Illustrer Tolkien : la Terre du Milieu du texte à l'image, soutenance de thèse de M. Bretagnolle (dir. Vincent Ferré & Isabelle Gadoin, Paris 12)

Marie Bretagnolle, doctorante à l'Université Paris-Est Créteil en littérature générale et comparée, soutiendra le 10 février 2026 sa thèse intitulée Illustrer Tolkien : la Terre du Milieu du texte à l...

fabula.org

Can we talk about it now??? It's been a highlight of my budding career to be asked to co-author a chapter with @joelmerriner.bsky.social. I'm sooo excited to read everyone's contributions, especially @mercuryreads.bsky.social ✨

Prof. Dimitra Fimi@dimitrafimi.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Submitted today! Following a few years of rigorous peer-review and working with my co-editor @lukebshelton.bsky.social and many Tolkienists! - 44 chapters - 46 Tolkien scholars globally - over 280K words overall Still tons of work to do as proofs arrive, but feels like a moment to celebrate. ☺️

Had a dream about my viva last night. It was utter chaos, small room with lots of people, a jury member sitting next to me (!) was trying to tell me something while my supervisor was giving his speech, and *I did not have the right snacks*.

Oh no I have to re-read #Tolkien 's letter 340 for work. 😭

Second viva-related dream last night. This time we were two candidates having our viva in a row so I had to sit through the whole thing and had time to get really tired before it was my turn (I woke up before that). 🤷

The #Tolkien #PhD thesis is now on its merry way to my jury, but is it the end of troubles? No! Because there are not just one but two appendices and those couldn't be sent via the official route. I told you finishing this PhD was a never-ending task.

Yesterday at 4pm while listening to Florence & the Machine, I saved the first readable, complete version of my #Tolkien #PhD thesis. Then I had a little happy cry and a big cuddle with my cat. It only took 8 years.

Now that the (#PhD) end is nigh (more info on Tipeee), I had my first viva-related dream tonight. I received an email informing me that the viva was postponed. I'm expecting that to be the first dream in a long series. 🙃

The insight on how I deal with images in my #Tolkien #PhD is up on my blog! Fuelled by countless hours putting together the PhD appendix with alllll the #illustrations. voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1301

An insight into putting together the PhD appendices – pictures galore

At the moment, I’m neck-deep into revisions of my PhD thesis text, and into putting together the appendices. Of course a PhD on J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien must have appendices. Specifically, the i...

voirtolkien.hypotheses.org

The article I mentioned yesterday as something I might write about how I process images for my #Tolkien PhD... is now ready to share. Tipeee backers get a first look, so join them there if you can't wait (in English after a short introduction in French)! fr.tipeee.com/mariebreta/n...

Soutenez Marie Bretagnolle sur Tipeee

Tipeee est la platforme n°1 en Europe de financement participatif pour les Créateurs de contenus

fr.tipeee.com

I'm currently working on putting together the picture-heavy appendix of my #Tolkien #PhD thesis and thinking a lot about how I go about it. Would anyone be interested in a blog post about that?

I wrote a little diary of my time in Oxford for #Oxonmoot, which you can read on my blog before I overthink and delete it because I forgot to mention multiple people and the delightful moments I shared with them. voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1268

Oxonmoot diary – 2025

I wrote a little diary of my Oxford journey on Instagram and figured I might as well share it here, even though it’s less academic-leaning and more of a personal take. My friend and I arrived in Oxfor...

voirtolkien.hypotheses.org

Now that I'm back from Oxford and getting slowly reacquainted with the outside world, a PSA regarding my talk on illustrations of Lúthien given for the @tolkiensociety.org and @mythsoc.bsky.social. The speaker at Tolkien2019 I mentioned is not S.R. Westvik but Elyanna Choi. All my apologies to them.