The Mirror Crack'd: medieval fantasy in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the
Rings and its
Sources: Call for Papers for Session at Leeds International Medieval
Congress 2006, sponsored by The Tolkien Society
 
Aspects of the fantastic dominate the works of Tolkien, but they also
form important and
memorable episodes in the medieval works known to have influenced his
creativity. In addition, medieval fantasies characterise the works of
writers from Spenser to Bram Stoker, and beyond.
Topics for papers might include:
•   The Lord of the Rings and Medieval Romances
•   Monsters and their meaning in The Lord of the Rings
•   Beneficial fantasy in The Lord of the Rings
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - fantasy and nature; the
sexualising of medieval fantasy
• The Fairy world of Sir Orfeo
• The conjunction of fantasy and reality - real places and fantastic
adventures in medieval romances and/or Tolkien's works
• Fantasy and The Matter of England
• Fantasy and Cartography
• Fantasising the Middle Ages in Tolkien and his literary predecessors
• Fantastic horror - from Beowulf to the balrogs
• The Demonising of the Middle Ages
• Re-enactment, creative anachronism and costuming
• Archaeological source of 20th century fantasy
•   Celtic fantasy - Welsh and Irish myths and legends, including The
Mabinogion
•   Fantasies of detatchment in The Lord of the Rings and/or The
Silmarillion
•   Fantasy in the Middle English Romances - including Bevis and Horn.
This might include subtopics such as fantastic beings and the mythic
dimension to the relationship between Bevis and his horse
•   The 'other' in medieval and modern fantasy - This might include
subtopics such as Saracens and giants as figures of fantasy.

Papers addressing the topic in the areas of material culture, music,
films and visual arts will also be welcome.
Please send abstracts (max. 500 words) for proposed papers by email to
Lynn Forest-Hill and Pat Reynolds (education_at_tolkiensociety.org): before
1 September 2005. Please make sure you include complete contact
information and AV requirements, and note that accepted participants
must commit themselves to attend.

For more information concerning this conference please see: http://www.l
eeds.ac.uk/imi/imc/imc.htm

For more information concerning the Tolkien Society, please see
http://www.tolkiensociety.org
--Pat Reynoldspat_at_caerlas.demon.co.uk "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time" (T. Pratchett) ========================================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP_at_english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://cfp.english.upenn.edu or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu ==========================================================Received on Mon Jun 20 2005 - 10:46:54 EDT