Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Sterner Stuff: Sansa Stark And The System Of Gothic Fantasy, Joseph Young

Mythcon

George R.R. Martin’s characterisation of Sansa Stark is among the contentious aspects of the reception of A Song of Ice and Fire. The violence, indignities and threats heaped upon Sansa have been described as gratuitous, cited as evidence of an unusually cold-hearted writer, and marshalled as evidence by those querying the story’s feminist credibility. Sansa’s passive acceptance of such mistreatment could mark her as a character denuded of agency, which would seem either tasteless or a serious misstep by an author of stated feminist sympathies.

In an alternate reading, however, Sansa’s travails and her capacity to absorb them mark …

Spray-Painting The Sistine Chapel: Aesthetic Problems In Leaf By Niggle, John Holmes

Mythcon

No work of the allegoriphobic Tolkien is more manifestly allegorical than his short story “Leaf By Niggle.” Because of the story’s unmistakably allegorical nature, when the reader encounters the four-word sentence that opens the second paragraph—“Niggle was a painter”—the initial response might justly be to read “painter” in a more generic sense to mean “artist in general.” Indeed, the best criticism of this story tends to read Niggle’s problem as an analogue of Tolkien’s problem as sub-creator of Middle-earth, primarily in writing. But because Tolkien’s rendering of Middle-earth sometimes took form in pencil sketches and watercolors as well, Niggle’s painterly …

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me., John Rosegrant

Mythcon

In this presentation I explore why Tolkien singled out for particular appreciation the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Juniper Tree, which Tatar (Annotated Grimm 209) has called “the most shocking of all fairy tales.” In On Fairy-Stories, Tolkien described its effect on him as follows: “The beauty and horror of The Juniper Tree…with its exquisite and tragic beginning, the abominable cannibal stew, the gruesome bones, the gay and vengeful bird-spirit coming out of a mist that rose from the tree, has remained with me since childhood; and yet always the chief flavor of that tale lingering in …

Faerie Reality In The Spiral Dance By Rodrigo Garcia Y Robertson, Robert Tredray

Mythcon

Garcia y Robertson's The Spiral Dance begins as a historical novel set in the time of the rebellion led by the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmoreland against Elizabeth I in 1569, told from the point of view of Anne, Countess of Northumberland. It is also an epic or heroic fantasy; besides Lady Anne, two of its main characters are a werewolf named Jock and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Their adventures carry them not only to the highlands of Scotland but to the realm of Faerie. The author's theme is that one must lose all one has before …

How Mythopoeic Stories Carve Space For Change, Rivera Sun

Mythcon

Mythopoeic writings have the capacity to carve out space for new visions, radical thought, and social change. Join Rivera Sun for a roundtable discussion on how this has impacted us as readers (or writers) in our own lives. We'll also explore how far these writings can push the envelope before society starts pushing back. Where are the boundaries that can't be crossed, and how can mythopoeic stories help shift those boundaries on behalf of social change? What role does perceived market demand or pushback play in how publishers either constrain or support stories that help us imagine a new world …

The Personhood Of Nature In J. R. R. Tolkien’S Legendarium, Sophia Parrila

Mythcon

This paper argues that J. R. R. Tolkien’s portrayal of plants, animals, and geographical features as morally complex persons is central to the ecocentric model of environmental stewardship developed within Tolkien’s Legendarium. Tolkien’s Middle-earth writings endow non-human beings such as animals, plants, and even rivers with personhood by emphasizing their individuality, their capacity for interpersonal relationships, and their agency to make moral choices. I build on work done by critics such as Susan Jeffers (Arda Inhabited), and Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans (Ents, Elves, and Eriador) to find a practicable and inspirational environmental ethic in Tolkien’s …

Q&A With Unofficial Mythsoc Historian Lee Speth, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Lee Speth

Mythcon

An attendee of Mythcon 3 and a Steward since 1979, Lee Speth has been called the Mythopoeic Society's unofficial historian. Usually "trapped" behind the Mythopoeic Society Merchandise Table at Mythcons, this year he is free to contribute to programming and regale us with stories from bygone times. Come ask Lee about the history of the Mythopoeic Society, Golfimbul, and general shenanigans.

Moderator: Alicia Fox-Lenz
Tech Mod: Megan Abrahamson.

“Long Anguish And Self-Murdering Thought”: Gollum And The Figure Of Jealousy In The Faerie Queene, Anne Acker

Mythcon

This paper argues that Gollum’s story has parallels to the story of Malbecco in The Faerie Queene, and that Gollum should be read as an exploration of jealousy and its relationship to power, represented by the Ring that Gollum covets. In Spenser’s allegory, Malbecco is cuckolded and robbed and retreats to a cave in the mountains where he is transformed into the inhuman shape of Jealousy. While The Lord of the Rings is not an allegory and should not be read as one, Smeagol’s transformation into Gollum has striking similarities to this and other strange metamorphoses of characters who …

Fairy Tale Retellings For The Modern World., Sarena Ulibarri, Reese Hogan, Charlotte Honigman, Wendy Nikel, Lissa Sloan

Mythcon

Fairy tales have timeless appeal for both audiences and creators, especially when they’re updated in a way that speaks to modern sensibilities or are mashed up with another genre to create something familiar yet fresh. Several authors will discuss what’s behind the impulse to retell fairy tales, as well as the challenges of transferring a traditional tale into a non-traditional setting, such as a steampunk world or a different historical setting.

Moderator: Sarena Ulibarri
Panelist: Reese Hogan
Panelist: Charlotte Honigman
Panelist: Wendy Nikel
Panelist: Lissa Sloan
Tech Mod: Joan Marie Verba.

The Speculative Worldbuilding Of Adál’S Blueprints For A Nation, Matthew David Goodwin

Mythcon

ADÁL’s Blueprints for a Nation is an art installation that displays artifacts from the conceptual nation of El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico. This imaginal nation expresses the unique social and linguistic experience of Puerto Ricans living off the island, and its principle tool is speculative worldbuilding. This essay examines two of the speculative roots of Blueprints for a Nation. First, the essay explores “El Mapagraph,” the fictional map of the nation that is in the shape of a domino and that alludes to the common practice of mapping utopias and fantasy worlds. The work also makes clear by its …

From Malacandra To Mars: Representations Of The Red Planet In C. S. Lewis, Robert Sawyer, And Andy Weir, William Thompson

Mythcon

In his introduction to Visions of Mars: Essays on the Red Planet in Fiction and Science, Howard V. Hendrix suggests that the long-standing fascination with the red planet emerges from an unspoken anxiety around the extinction of the species. According to Hendrix, the “fascination with the Neanderthals, like our fascination with greenhouse-blasted Venus or with Martians of the Dying Planet scenario, arises from forebodings that such scenarios present ourselves and our world as viewed—both seen and dreamed—through a funhouse mirror” (Hendrix 10).

The ongoing fascination with mars has resulted in texts that treat the red planet in strikingly different ways. …

Eärendil’S Errand And “Errantry”, Janet Brennan Croft, David Bratman, David Emerson, Verlyn Flieger

Mythcon

Tolkien’s love of word play legitimizes considering the linguistic closeness of errantry, Eärendil , and errand. This leads to the points this panel will consider: Tolkien has more than once taken themes and motifs first used in a lighter story and woven them, in more serious form, into his broader legendarium; for example, The Hobbit’s Bard presages Aragorn, and its lower-case ring the centrally important Ring of the longer work. Eärendil is supposed to have been the subject of one of the great tales, but we never get it in its full form, or more comparably, in multiple forms …

The Philosophy And Theology Of Fairy-Stories: Fantasy, Escape, Recovery, And Consolation, Giovanni Costabile

Mythcon

In his seminal 1939 Andrew Lang lecture “On Fairy-Stories,” Tolkien proposed what we might term his most extensive pronouncement on his own fiction and underlying poetics, as well as an analysis of Fairy-Stories constituting a referential and authoritative statement on the matter. The importance of the subsequently published text, chiefly cited from Christopher Tolkien's posthumous edited version in The Monsters and the Critics, or, more recently, in Douglas A. Anderson's and Verlyn Flieger's critical edition, simply cannot be overstated.

In the light of such awareness, I would like to examine Tolkien's antecedents as far as his chief arguments are …

Spoilers & Sequels; Bifurcated Fandoms In The Age Of Adaptation, Joseph Young, Paul Tankard, Lana Whited

Mythcon

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies launched a new era of adaptations of fantasy. The resulting adaptations—of the works of J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, George R.R. Martin, the Marvel superhero tradition and much else besides—now have fan bases often wholly separate 23 from those of their literary source texts. Rather than dwelling on what any given example gets ‘wrong’ or ‘right,’ this panel discussion will consider this bifurcation of the audience of a popular literary genre. If, as Tom Shippey suggests, fantasy deserves to be taken seriously because of its popularity, what are the ramifications of atomising the popular …

Habla Amigo Y Entra: Tolkien And The Language Of Wonder, Martha Celis-Mendoza, Guillermo Don Juan, Aline Esperanza Maza Vázquez, Jorge De La Vega

Mythcon

This panel will deal with the way in which Tolkien's works act as a threshold to approach the works of other Fantasy authors and literary traditions. It will also consider the reception of these works and how they are perceived differently when read in different languages, as well as the impact of localization.

Moderator: Martha Celis-Mendoza
Panelist: Guillermo Don Juan
Panelist: Aline Esperanza Maza Vázquez
Panelist: Jorge de la Vega
Tech Mod: Jessica Dickinson Goodman.

Realizing History: Tolkien And The Desire Called Marx, Robert Tally

Mythcon

In this talk, I argue that the “realization” of history is an important aim of Tolkien’s art. Tolkien’s desire to create a new mythology for England, which is well known, is in part a response to the shifting ground upon which he stood, in reaction to what Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifestohad called the “constant revolutionizing” and the “cosmopolitan character” of bourgeois society, industrial civilization, imperialism, and the rise of monopoly capital. Tolkien’s yearning for a mythic past, despite its clear nationalism and chauvinism at first, reflected a deep desire to connect his modern world with an …

Mythopoeia In American Gods, Danica Stojanovic

Mythcon

J. R. R. Tolkien coined the term mythopoeia as a philosophical concept referring to the process of artificially creating mythologies and belief systems of imaginary worlds. While building a fantasy world, one ought to consider the possibilities this world offers for religious explorations or examine how the existing pantheons weave their way into fiction and reality. To be more precise, what happens when gods lounge languidly among their supposed believers. This paper aims to examine mythopoetic tendencies, elements and powers in Neil Gaiman’s novels American Gods and Anansi Boys, a fictional duology whose protagonists are in constant cohort with various …

Back To Camelot: 21st-Century Reinterpretations Of The Arthurian Mythos, Jennifer Spirko, Scott Johnson, Bradley Mcilwain

Mythcon

With David Lowery's film, The Green Knight, headed for a pandemic-delayed opening this summer, the Arthurian mythos re-enters popular culture yet again. How do this and other recent retellings of the Matter of Britain connect our world with its roots? We'll consider not only the new film, but also such novels as Kingfisher, by Patricia McKillip; Once & Future, by A.R. Capetta; and Cursed, by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler, alongside the TV series based on it. What version of Camelot and its attendant tales and heroes do today's Arthurian works present? How are they in …

Other Than Him: Superman As The Alien That Made Good, Roy Schwartz

Mythcon

When discussing depictions of the alien in American popular culture—as extraterrestrial, as strange foreigner, and as both, an otherworldly Other—the most famous example is rarely considered; SUPERMAN. Introduced in 1938, this strange visitor from another planet possesses powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men but walks among us disguised as a mild-mannered human. He’s the fantastic hiding in plain sight as the most mundane, an Other beloved as familiar, a singular being of another race who’s come to symbolize the best in humanity. And not by accident. Superman was created by two Cleveland teens, Jerry Siegel and Joe …

The Fantastic Short Story, Vicki Ronn

Mythcon

This roundtable will include a short presentation on the fantasy short story; its roots in myth, fables and fairy tales; its growth from the twentieth century to the present day; and a personal top ten list. Attendees will share their personal favorite stories and virtual and print sources to find more stories, as well as answer or discuss questions related to the genre. Some questions will include: Favorite mythopoeic short story and why? Who are some great editors or collections? Where did you discover your favorite story? Who are important authors, both past and present? Where do you see the …

Finding And Organizing Tolkien’S Invented Languages, Eileen Marie Moore

Mythcon

The Appendices to The Lord of the Rings run the gamut from royal lineages and back stories of the Kings and Stewards of Gondor and Rohan and of Dúrin’s folk (Appendix A), Hobbit family trees (Appendix C) and a general overview of the races and peoples of Middleearth (Appendix F), to the chronology of the great events of the Second and Third Ages (Appendix B); from the Shire Calendar (Appendix D) and a detailed explication of how to pronounce the Elvish languages as well as their representation by the letters of the Tengwar and runes of the Cirth (Appendix E), …

Etiam Periere Ruinae: Roman Ruins, Troubled Temporality, And Hp Lovecraft's Alien Other, El Hudson

Mythcon

As Caesar, the questionable protagonist of the first-century Latin epic the Pharsalia, navigates the ruins of once-mighty Troy, the poet Lucan pauses to note that etiam periere ruinae: “even the ruins have perished.” Would that such were the case in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Out of Time, in which an antediluvian city vexes the protagonist to nightmare. Lovecraft is notorious for his ruins: Cyclopean and/or non-Euclidean, they near-invariably contain horrors from the depths of time, lying in wait for some foolish adventurer to unleash them upon the present. Sometimes these places are simply set-dressing, but in a …

Writing Against The Grain: T. Kingfisher's Feminist Mythopoeic Fantasy, Robin Anne Reid

Mythcon

In "On Fairy-stories," J. R. R. Tolkien defined and defended the genre of fantasy by quoting and then explicating his poem, "Mythopoeia." Tolkien's theory of mythopoeic literature can be applied to his own fiction, but, increasingly, scholars are applying it to other texts including superhero films and contemporary fantasy novels (Holdier, Kane). In this presentation, I argue that three of Kingfisher's series, the Clocktaur War, Saint of Steel, and Paladin, set in and around Anuket City, fit some of the characteristics of mythopoeic fantasy identified by Tolkien while swerving notably from others. Thus, Kingfisher's fantasy is similar to work by …

A Saga Re-Written: The Character Of Odin And J.R.R. Tolkien's Addition Of Eucatastrophe In "The New Lay Of The Volsungs.", Matthew Gidney

Mythcon

In this paper, adapted from the second chapter of my Master’s thesis, I will argue that Tolkien was not interested in mimicking Norse mythology nor endorsing the Nordic worldview, but rather re-writing Norse mythology in accord with its true light. This concept of “true light” is drawn from a letter by Tolkien to his son Michael in which he laments the corruption of “that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light” (Carpenter, Letters 56). Tolkien had an Augustinian conception of evil, believing that good is primary, …

The Keystone Or The Cornerstone? A Rejoinder To Verlyn Flieger On The Alleged “Conflicting Sides” Of Tolkien’S Singular Self, Donald Williams

Mythcon

In “The Arch and the Keystone,” Mythlore 38:1 (Fall/Winter 2019), 5-17, Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger argues that the conflicts and contradictions she sees in Tolkien’s essays and fiction do not call for harmonization but rather should be embraced for what they are: “two opposing and conflicting sides of one person, whose contention makes him who he is as well as what he is, the keystone that creates the arch” of The Lord of the Rings out of the friction of the two sides (16). Unfortunately, the alleged contradictions, e.g. between the despair of the Beowulf essay and the hope for …

Adam’S Task: Naming And Subcreation In Good Omens, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythcon

Names are, in one sense, the outward indication of a power negotiation. The namer, the one who bestows a new name or uses an already-given name, reveals, through the choice of name they give or use, their relationship to that which they name. The act may indicate a more or less equal relationship; it may be an attempt to exert power over someone or something by imposing a name on it or by using a name that will influence those who hear it; or it may be a signal of submission and subordination, using a name to flatter or …

'Her Enchanted Hair': Rossetti, 'Lady Lilith,' And The Victorian Fascination With Hair As Influences On Tolkien, Kathryn Colvin

Mythcon

The Victorian poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti appears upon first glance to be an unlikely inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium: though both were medievalists, Tolkien’s reputation for chaste prose contrasts sharply with Rossetti’s famously “fleshly” work. However, a close reading of both—setting Rossetti’s poetry, particularly “Lady Lilith” and its accompanying painting, alongside Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and posthumously published material from The Silmarillion and The History of Middle-earth—reveals a compelling and previously unexplored connection between the Victorian cultural mythology of magic hair (as epitomized by the “hair-mad” Rossetti) and Tolkien’s detailed and often supernatural portrayals of …

(Un)Fair(Ly) Unknown: New And Neglected Arthurian Television Programming, Carl B. Sell, Richard Fahey, Michael Torregrossa, Rachael K. Warmington

Mythcon

The Arthurian tradition abounds with Fair Unknowns, characters whose identity and true worth is revealed only slowly over the course of an adventure. In this session, we’d like to adopt the motif to look at new and neglected television series that make interesting use of the legend and deserve more recognition by scholars.

Moderator: Carl B. Sell
Panelist: Michael Torregrossa
Panelist: Richard Fahey
Panelist: Rachael K. Warmington
Tech Mod: Tim Lenz

Cities And Strongholds Of Middle-Earth, Part 1, Cami Agan, Birgitte Breemerkamp, Nicholas Birns, Marie Bretagnolle, Robin Anne Reid

Mythcon

The Cities and Strongholds of Middle-earth panels bring together seven of the chapters to appear in the upcoming volume of the same name from MythPress. The volume explores the habitations of Middle-earth across the ages, as well as the cultures responsible for those built structures. Presenters will briefly explain their chapters in order to leave plenty of room for discussion.

Moderator: Cami Agan
Panelist: Nicholas Birns
Panelist: Birgitte Breemerkamp
Panelist: Marie Bretagnolle
Panelist: Robin A. Reid
Tech Mod: Tim Lenz

Q&A With Mythopoeic Award Winners, Dennis Wise, James Gifford, Theodora Goss, Yoon Ha Lee

Mythcon

Q&A with Mythopoeic Award Winners (Roundtable) Steward of Mythopoeic Awards Dennis Wise will lead conversation and Q&A with some of last year’s Mythopoeic Society Award winners: James Gifford, Theodora Goss, and Yoon Ha Lee.

Tech Mod: Cait Rottler