Lost Tolkien voice recording and new poem!

Post by **Elentári** » Thu May 22, 2014 6:17 pm

Lost Tolkien audio-recording discovered

The Middle-earth Network and Legendarium Media have announced that a lost audio recording of Tolkien has been discovered and will undergo restoration. Significantly for Tolkien scholarship, it includes a previously unpublished poem. More news will be released in the coming weeks and an additional sample of the audio will be aired live at an undisclosed time during the “Beowulf Launch Party” hosted by the Tolkien Society & Middle-earth Network (http://www.TolkienBeowulf.net) on Saturday May 24th.

A teaser video sampling some of the audio is now available to share this news.

http://youtu.be/cC1jXlECkJk

Post by **Elentári** » Fri May 23, 2014 7:50 am

A detailed account of the background to the recording has appeared in The Huffington Post

Post by **Túrin Turambar** » Fri May 23, 2014 11:22 am

That's a great photo of Tolkien. That said, I'm looking forward to hearing the recording.

Post by **Smaug's voice** » Fri May 23, 2014 11:43 am

Indeed. Haven't seen that pic before.
And it seems like an eventful month for Tolkien-enthusiasts.

Fri May 23, 2014 4:17 pm

I'm fairly excited about this. However, it may not be quite as revelatory as the author of the Huff Post piece says. As Janet Croft (the editor of Mythlore) notes:

There is a lengthy report of this visit by Rene van Rossenberg in Mythlore #80 (also known as the Centenary conference proceedings), with additional pictures and other illustrations. If the "true meaning" revelation is what I think they are referring to, well, Mythlore got the scoop way back when!

Post by **Passdagas the Brown** » Fri May 23, 2014 4:21 pm

Interesting. These folks say that noone ever recorded what Tolkien said there...Mythlore should probably get in touch with these guys, and let them know that there's a written description already out there!

Fri May 23, 2014 4:31 pm

It's the Huffington Post. It's not like they are interested in the truth.

Post by **Alatar** » Fri May 23, 2014 6:32 pm

So what's the supposed scoop? Anything we didn't already know?

Fri May 23, 2014 7:01 pm

I don't know; I don't own the Centenary conference proceedings and do not know the content of Rene's report. I might try to get a copy, or I might just wait until the recording comes out and judge it for myself.

Post by **Elentári** » Fri May 23, 2014 9:13 pm

Voronwë the Faithful wrote:It's the Huffington Post. It's not like they are interested in the truth.

Well, it's more than just the Huff Post...it's the Middle-earth Network and the Tolkien Society that are promoting the discovery - though I don't know how you rate them!

Fri May 23, 2014 10:21 pm

I have no particular opinion about either. And while this is not really a "discovery" (any more than Mike Drout "discovered" Tolkien "lost" Beowulf translation), Rene's agreement to publicly release the audio is a big deal, and is certainly worth promoting (in my opinion). But the Huff Post is all about sensationalism, and so I'm not surprised to see an article there pimping this as a discovery of Tolkien finally revealing the "true meaning" of LOTR. To be fair, I don't know whether the Tolkien Society and the Middle-earth Network are also promoting it in that way.

Post by **Elentári** » Sat May 24, 2014 3:30 pm

Demosthenes has summarized the details we have so far, for a front page article on TORn, along with some theories of what may be revealed, based on previous quotes from Tolkien's letters, including one written just over 2 weeks after the Rotterdam dinner speech...

Audio of lost Tolkien speech promises new insights into The Lord of the Rings

Tue May 27, 2014 5:09 pm

One of Demothenes's speculations is essentially correct, and it is not that difficult to guess which one. I'll give a hint; it makes the todo about Tolkien revealing the 'hidden meaning' of LOTR pretty silly

Post by **Elentári** » Tue May 27, 2014 8:02 pm

So...has anyone seen any news about what was revealed?

Tue May 27, 2014 8:10 pm

See my post above yours. A friend of mine owns the centenary conference proceedings and confirms what Rene says Tolkien said at the dinner.

Post by **Elentári** » Tue May 27, 2014 8:41 pm

And that includes the unpublished poem as well?

Tue May 27, 2014 9:13 pm

I don't believe so, although I'm not sure (I've ordered a copy of the conference proceedings so I might know at some point soon). But in any event getting to hear Tolkien recite it himself is going to be special, and I think is the true highlight of the tape (not Tolkien "revealing" that he had no intended deeper meaning of LOTR).

Post by **Elentári** » Tue May 27, 2014 9:28 pm

Okay, thanks...I look forward to anything further you are able to share from the proceedings.