Bree & Beyond: Exploring the Fantasy Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien and His Fellow Travelers
[Progress Report #1–finally mailed in March 1999 ]
GENERAL INFORMATION
Join us for a weekend of fun and scholarship rooted in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien , beginning Friday, July 30, 1999. Planned events include guest of honor addresses, formal and informal papers, panel discussions on such topics as fantasy literature and Tolkien’s invented languages, group discussions, slide presentations, videos, filk-singing, an art show and dealer’s room, a masquerade, the traditional Mythcon procession, and a gala banquet, and the presentation of the Mythopoeic Fantasy and Scholarship Awards Part of the conference will focus on the 50th anniversary of the publication of Farmer Giles of Ham..
GUESTS OF HONOR: We are pleased to announce the following individuals as Guests of Honor at BreeMoot 4/Mythcon XXX:
Douglas A. Anderson: editor of The Annotated Hobbit, co-bibliographer with Wayne G. Hammond of J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography, and scholar responsible for bringing back into print works by Kenneth Morris and E. A. Wyke-Smith.
Gary and Sylvia Hunnewell: Gary is the leading historian and archivist of Tolkien fandom, founder of the New England Tolkien Society and publisher of its occasional fanzine Ravenhill, and a regular contributor to Amon Hen. Sylvia’s fine and distinctive artwork has graced many Tolkien and fantasy publications as well as the official Mythprint [& Mythcon 24] t-shirts.
CONFERENCE DATES: The conference will be held July 30-August 2, 1999. Registration will start in the morning on Friday, July 30, with opening ceremonies taking place on Saturday morning, July 31. The conference will end with closing ceremonies at noon on Monday, August 2.
MAILING ADDRESS : Please contact the BreeMoot 4/Mythcon XXX committee at Bree Moot 4/Mythcon XXX, 293 Selby Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102-1811, email:d-lena@tc.umn.edu,
www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/m391/d-lena/BreeMoot.html
MEMBERSHIP RATES : Join the conference now for $45. Rates will increase to $50 on April 4, 1999 and to $60 on July 15, 1999.
ROOM AND BOARD PACKAGE : The complete room and board package, including lodging from Friday through Monday morning , all meals from Friday dinner through Monday breakfast, and the Conference Banquet is $160 double occupancy, $175 single occupancy. Room and board packages must be paid for by June 1, 1999. Persons wishing to purchase packages after that date should contact the Committee first regarding availability.
Anyone interested in lodging before Friday evening should contact the Conference Committee for details.
Separate tickets for the Conference Banquet may be purchased for $30. A ticket for the Banquet is included as part of the room and board package.
SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS: Bree Moot 4/Mythcon XXX is jointly sponsored by the Mythopoeic Society and Beyond Bree. The Mythopoeic Society is an international nonprofit educational organization devoted to the study, discussion, and enjoyment of myth and fantasy literature, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. Beyond Breeis the newsletter of the Tolkien Special Interest Group of American Mensa. (Mensa is a high-IQ society.) Subscriptions to Beyond Bree are open to all lovers of Middle-earth, Mensan and non-Mensan alike.
ARCHBISHOP COUSINS CENTER
BreeMoot 4/Mythcon XXX will be held in Milwaukee at the Archbishop Cousins Cente. Located south of downtown Milwaukee on the the shores of Lake Michigan, the Cousins Center is no more than 15 minutes from the airport and 20-30 minutes from the Tolkien Archives at Marquette University. This is a beautiful site, having handsome grounds literally across the street (3501 South Lake Drive) from Lake Michigan, which does indeed moderate the weather. The facility itself is entirely self-contained in a series of interconnected buildings, such that we need not fear either killing heat or monsoon. There is ample space available for the conference. We have reserved one entire wing (out of four) for sleeping rooms. Overflow will be no problem. We also have the use of one auditorium of sufficient size to hold the entire projected membership, three additional classrooms for papers, etc., and a lounge (“The Prancing Pony”).
Milwaukee has an extensive public transportation grid, and downtown should be easily accessible for $2.00 in bus fares or thereabout. Milwaukee is a large city with a number of attractions; some of these are described in the article by Jan Long that can be found in this Progress Report.
THE TOLKIEN COLLECTION
AT MARQUETTE
Our conference site affords local access to the Marquette University Library Special Collections, and its collection of Tolkien manuscripts. The collection of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien contains the original manuscripts and multiple working drafts for three of the author’s most celebrated books, The Hobbit , Farmer Giles of Ham, and The Lord of the Rings, as well as the original copy of the children’s book Mr. Bliss (published in facsimile form in 1982). The collection includes books by and about Tolkien, periodicals produced by Tolkien enthusiasts, audio and video recordings, and a host of published and unpublished materials relating to Tolkien’s life and fantasy writings.
The original manuscripts represent the heart of the collection. They include holograph renderings (manuscripts in the hand of the author), various sets of typescripts with corrections by Tolkien, and page proofs or galley sheets, also with corrections in the hand of the author. The manuscripts for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Farmer Giles of Ham, and Mr. Bliss together total over 11,000 pages.
Generous bequests and gifts of books, research papers, and other secondary- material by Tolkien scholars and collectors have contributed immeasurably to the holdings at Marquette. S. Gary Hunnewell, Guest of Honor at this conference, has lent his collection of periodicals produced by Tolkien enthusiasts to Marquette with detailed bibliographic descriptions and indexing for microfilming on a continuing basis. The collection contains many early U.S. and foreign titles, including obscure publications from eastern Europe, as well as selected issues of general fantasy and science fiction ” fanzines” relating to Tolkien. Other gifts and bequests include material from Dr. Richard
Blackwelder and the late Taum Santoski.
Researchers who are interested in using the Tolkien manuscripts during their time in Milwaukee should contact:
Charles B. Elston, Archivist
Marquette University Libraries
1415 W. Wisconsin Avenue
P.O. Box 3141
Milwaukee, WI 53201-3141
(414) 288-7256; FAX (414) 288-3123
elstonc@vms.csd.mu.edu
PROGRAM NOTES
PAPERS: Papers on any related topic, including predecessors, contemporaries and successors of Tolkien and all fantasy authors of both sexes and any period. Papers relating to the conference theme or the works of the guests of honor will be especially welcomed.
Conference papers include traditional literary and scholarly studies, but include some papers with an international focus as well as those which focus on visual as well as written arts. The conference theme suggests looking at travel, the quest, world-building and mythopoeisis, but is not limited to these aspects. Papers should be suitable for oral presentation within 20 to 45 minutes. In addition, they should conform to the MLA Style Manual and and should normally be submitted to be considered
for publication by the Mythopoeic Society’s journal, Mythlore.
Paper and programming proposals should be sent by April 1, 1999 to:
Dr. Janice M. Bogstad
UWEC-McIntyre Library
Eau Claire, WI 54702-5010.
email submissions accepted at: BOGSTAJM@UWEC.EDU
PROGRAM: Programming will be full from morning to night. Daytime programming will feature scholarly papers as well as both formal and more informal panels discussing the conference theme and other mythopoeic topics. Each guest of honor will give a talk. In addition, there will be slide presentations, an art show, and a dealer’s room. Special activities will include a masquerade, the traditional Mythcon procession, and a gala banquet at which the Mythopoeic Fantasy and Scholarship Awards will be presented. Dramatic and musical presentations, filk-singing, and videos will be scheduled throughout the conference (AM and PM).
EVENTS
PROCESSION: Following a Mythcon tradition, Saturday morning’s activities begin with a Procession. Individuals gather under the heraldic banners of the Society and its discussion groups. All attendees are welcome to participate by wearing medieval, Renaissance, or ethnic garb, and by carrying banners of their own design.
MASQUERADE: The Masquerade, the traditional costume competition, is one of the highlights of the conference. Costumes related to any aspect of myth and fantasy are eligible. Effort, ingenuity, and craftsmanship will be recognized with appropriate prizes.
BANQUET: The Banquet will be a highlight of the conference. A festive dinner is followed by a guest of honor’s speech and the presentation of the Mythopoeic Society Fantasy and Scholarship Awards. BreeMoots have a tradition of a special dessert as part of the Banquet.
MUSIC AT THE CONFERENCE: Bring your harps and guitars to the conference. A Bardic Circle is planned, and people create other informal opportunities for making music.
MYTHOPOEIC SOCIETY AUCTION: Pick up a book, a poster, a painting, or some other priceless
treasure at the Mythopoeic Society Auction. Here’s your chance to bid on rare and out-of-print items of interest to scholars and fantasy readers. The Auction is looking for items, too. Donors may receive 60% of the selling price, or they may donate the entire proceeds to the Mythopoeic Society.
DEALERS ROOM: Books both rare and new, hard to find copies of Mythopoeic Society publications, racks of fantasy attire and merchandise will be displayed for sale in the dealers room. For more information on reserving dealers’ tables, write to the BreeMoot 4/Mythcon XXX committee.
ART SHOW: As in past years, this conference will feature an art show. All forms of original art-painting, drawing, ceramics, calligraphy, jewelry, weaving, sculpture, etc.-are welcome. Write to the conference address for details.
YOU CAN HELP: While you’re at the conference, you might have fun volunteering a few hours of your time and enjoying new activities and friends. We invite you behind the scenes to join the committee with some welcome help. We’ll thank you for it!
What Is Bree Moot?
by Nancy Martsch
(used here by permission)
Bree Moot is a conference sponsored by the J.R.R. Tolkien fan magazine Beyond Bree. And Beyond Bree is the newsletter of the Tolkien Special Interest Group of American Mensa. (Mensa is a high-IQ society.) Subscriptions to Beyond Bree are open to all lovers of Middle-earth, Mensan and non-Mensan alike.
Beyond Bree has been published monthly since March 1981, a record few fan magazines can equal. It is devoted to news, short articles, and readers’ views. Though small, it has subscribers in the USA and many foreign countries, exchanges with many European Tolkien societies, is housed in various Tolkien archives (Wheaton College, Marquette University, The Bodleian Library). You may have noticed the Beyond Bree byline in Mythprint occasionally: we exchange with the Mythopoeic Society as well
But Beyond Bree subscribers were always too widely scattered to meet in person. Until Ron Hyde organized the first Bree Moot in his home town of Bettendorf, Iowa. It was held in the Abbey Hotel, a former monastery, over the weekend of October 29-30, 1994. The festivities included two feasts, a Great Cake, persentations by Gary Hunnewell, Christopher Mitchell, Richard West, Michael Foster, and others; videos of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Middle-earth Role-Playing, an Art Show, Goblin Market (flea market), Raffle and Masquerade; and displays from Marquette, Beyond Bree, and Ron’s fanzine collection.
The second Bree Moot was sponsored by Gary Hunnewell and John Houghton, Duke of Numenor (of the Restored Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, a Tolkien fan group). It took place in the Cheshire Inn & Lodge, a pseudo-Victorian hotel in St. Louis, MO, on October 28-29, 1995. Tom Shippey was Guest of Honor. The Moot was preceeded by a Reception at the home of Gary and Sylvia Hunnewell, with quantities of Hobbit food and Gary’s Tolkien collection. Then there were papers and panels, a Banquet with Mock Dragon’s Tail (presented by Sir Gary and his Esquire Tristan), a Masquerade, the Elvish Poetry Prize from Lisa Star (editor of Tyali’ Tyelelliva), a ceremony for the Restored Kingdoms, a Tolkien video, and talk into the wee hours. And Golfimbul in the park the next day, the Goblin Market, and more papers.
Bree Moot 3 was a little different. It was held in the spring, to coincide with a theatrical performance of The Hobbit in Minneapolis, MN, on May 9-11, at the University of Minnesota and nearby Radisson Hotel. On Friday there were programs and displays at the Kerlan and Children’s Literature Research Collections in the University Libraries, on Saturday a trip to the Hobbit performance, and papers and panels thereafter. The Guest of Honor was John Rateliff, who is writing the history of The Hobbit. And the Banquet, Poetry Prize, Golfimbul, Goblin Market .
Addendum to this information: News from Bree 3/31/99
