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En route to Tolkien at UVM conference

The topic of this year’s Tolkien at UVM conference (the 9th annual) was Tolkien’s Bestiary”; again, it was hosted and organized by UVM professor Chris Vaccaro.

We hosted former Tolkien As Translator” classmates Mark Kaminsky, Andrew Peterson, and Ray Saxon — as well as our professor, Dr. Marc Zender.

Mark, Andy, Ray, I and Marc setting out…

As you can see from the conference poster, Andy, Ray, and Marc all gave presentations:

9th annual Tolkien at UVM conference

2012 Tolkien in Vermont conference poster
  • Martha Monsson: Forth Eorlingas: Horses and Ponies in The Lord of the Rings
  • Andrew Peterson: The Many Faces of Trolls in Middle-earth”
  • Matt Dickerson: From Goblins to the Valaraukar: Scourges of Fire and Demons of Terror”
  • roundtable: What To Do with Tolkien’s Orcs”
  • Jonathan Evans: Tolkien’s Non-Allegorical Bestiary”
  • Ray Saxon: Manwë’s Messengers: The Role of the Eagles in Middle-earth”
  • Marc Zender: Mammoths, Mûmakil, and The Old Fireside Rhyme of Oliphaunt’: Tolkien’s Contributions to the Medieval Bestiary Tradition”
  • Kristine Larsen: A Creature of an Older World”: Tolkien and the Mythology of the Prehistoric”
  • Gerry Blair: A Boy and His Dog”
  • Jamie Williamson: Tolkien and the Codification of Non-Human Beings”