Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Digital Tolkien Project @digitaltolkien.com · 4h

This had its origins in Search Tolkien but has been improved (like the ability to group by speaker) and those improvements will make it back to Search Tolkien soon!

Project Amaze! @projectamaze.com · 4h

This is a big one!

projectamaze.com/beanbag/54/

Beanbag #54 | Project Amaze!

Launch of Search Project Hail Mary

projectamaze.com

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

James Tauber @jtauber.com · 2d

Not sure how manual your counting was but you may be interested to know I’m working on indexing/search of BLT that will distinguish Tolkien and Christopher. Announcement on 27th.

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Tolkien Society @tolkiensociety.org · 2d

New Tolkien Society publication!

Releasing on 25 November, "Númenor, the Mighty and Frail" includes 10 articles relating to Númenor, and its legacy. Edited by @willsherwood.bsky.social and published by @lunapress.bsky.social, it's now available to pre-order. www.tolkiensociety.org/2025/10/new-...

New Tolkien Society publication – <em>Númenor, The Mighty and Frail</em>

The Tolkien Society is pleased to announce that Númenor, the Mighty and Frail: Proceedings of The Tolkien Society Seminar 2023, the twenty-fifth book in the Peter Roe series, is now available to pre-o...

www.tolkiensociety.org

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

James Tauber @jtauber.com · 3d

Did a quick load test with locust and it was doing 100 users and 3,000 requests a second so I think it'll work out well :-)

Also none of the start-up issues with entry-level PaaS.

So Search Tolkien should be snappier too (once I switch over to using it).

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

James Tauber @jtauber.com · 3d

Working on generalizing the Search Tolkien backend to work with a broader range of texts, support things like speaker identification, and also be multi-tenant so I don’t have to standup a server for each project.

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

prancingponypod.bsky.social @prancingponypod.bsky.social · 5d

The PPP Manic Moot Marathon is live!

Join The Man of the West and friends for An Unexpected Livestream as we talk, read, and play all things Middle-earth! Learn more about PPP Moot 2025 and if you haven't yet, be sure to register for PPP Moot 2025 at theprancingponypodcast.com/moot/

The Prancing Pony Podcast Moot 2025 – The Prancing Pony Podcast

theprancingponypodcast.com

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Christopher Gilson @cgilson75.bsky.social · 5d

I am going to bea keynote speaker at the Prancing Pony Podcast Moot 2025 this December 18-21. The theme of the moot is “Creating Historical Depth within Fantastical Worlds.”

theprancingponypodcast.com/moot/

My working title is:
“From Words to Worlds: Elvish Roots of Tolkien’s Mythology.”

The Prancing Pony Podcast Moot 2025 – The Prancing Pony Podcast

theprancingponypodcast.com

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

prancingponypod.bsky.social @prancingponypod.bsky.social · 6d

Announcing An Unexpected Livestream!

As you know, the early-bird registration deadline for PPP Moot 2025 is this Sat. To help spread the word, we’re hosting a marathon livestream this Sat, Oct 4, starting at 10am PT! We’ll be live for at least 8 hours and may go longer!

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Digital Tolkien Project @digitaltolkien.com · 12d

Another one of those days when someone says they don’t understand the point of the Digital Tolkien Project 😢

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Project Amaze! @projectamaze.com · 17d

And for Hobbit day, we look into occurrences of "time", the accidental answer Bilbo gives to Gollum in their riddle contest...

projectamaze.com/beanbag/38/

Beanbag #38 | Project Amaze!

The word “time” occurs 413 times in Project Hail Mary

projectamaze.com

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Tolkien Society @tolkiensociety.org · 17d

Happy #HobbitDay to all!

On 22 September: Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were born. As Ring-bearers, born 78 years apart, their birthdays were honoured as Cormarë, and Tolkien societies worldwide continue to commemorate. How will you celebrate? #Tolkien #BookSky

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Tolkien Society @tolkiensociety.org · 18d

On 21 September 1937: J.R.R. #Tolkien's The Hobbit was published.

The book tells of a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, and his journey with thirteen dwarves to recover their treasure from a dragon, Smaug. It's sold over 100 million copies and is one of the best-selling books of all time. #BookSky

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Christopher Gilson @cgilson75.bsky.social · 21d

"Parma Eldalamberon 18: Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2" is available again on demand at:

The Great British Bookshop:
www.thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk/products/par...

and at Barnes and Noble:
www.barnesandnoble.com/s/parma%20el...

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Joel Merriner @joelmerriner.bsky.social · 21d

My book Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc is released into the wild today! Here's a quick peek at a few more pages, artwork here by Győző Vida, Yassen Panov, Alexander Korotich and Sergei Iukhimov #Tolkien www.bloomsbury.com/uk/illustrat...

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

James Tauber @jtauber.com · 22d

One of my goals with projectamaze.com has been to prototype some ideas that could then be applied to the Digital Tolkien Project. The post (or “beanbag”) that's coming out tonight just gave me an idea for something new for the Tolkien Glossary.

Project Amaze!

Textual and scientific analysis of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary

projectamaze.com

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Westmoot @westmoot.org · 23d

At #Westmoot25, James Tauber gave his presentation, “The State of the Digital Tolkien Project” outlining the goals, recent development, and future plans of the Tolkien Society Award winning Digital Tolkien Project.

#westmoot #intothewest

Westmoot 2025 subcommittee member, James Tauber, in glasses and a black shirt addresses the audience while speaking.

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Tolkien Seminar DTG @tolkienseminardtg.bsky.social · 28d

📢 21st Seminar of the @germantolksoc.bsky.social
📜Tolkien’s Works on the Book Market
📅31 October-02 November 2025, @unimainz.bsky.social
🌐Attendance in-person or online is free
#Tolkien #bookstudies 💙📚 #lit #litwiss #fantasy #bookhistory #booksky

Tolkiens Werk auf dem Buchmarkt
Tolkien’s Works on the Book Market

Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft e. V./German Tolkien Society
in Kooperation mit dem/in co-operation with
Department of Book Studies/Abteilung für Buchwissenschaft
(Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) und Walking Tree Publishers
31. Oktober - 02. November 2025

Vorläufiges Programm/Provisional Programme

Freitag, 31. Oktober 2025

15.00 Registration opens
16.00 Eröffnung/Opening

16.15 Allan Turner (p): Tolkien and his Publishers
17.00 Jonathan Nauman (p): Tolkien and the Unwins – Creation and Commercial Negotiation

Abendessen im Mali&Milo (Große Bleiche 29; Voranmeldung erforderlich bis zum 24. Oktober bei tolkienseminar25@uni-mainz.de /Dinner at Mali&Milo (Große Bleiche 29; please register till 24 October with tolkienseminar25@uni-mainz.de)

Samstag, 01. November 2025

09.30 Norbert Schürer (p): Advertising Tolkien in Newspapers and Magazines
10.15 Ralf Tornow: Tolkien – Ein Blick in den verlegerischen Maschinenraum

11.00 Pause/Break

11.15 Robin Auer: A Book of Both Worlds – The Lord of the Rings and the Primary World Experience of Secondary Worlds

12.00 Mittagspause/Lunch Break

14.15 Magdalena Mączyńska (p): Reading Arda and its Inhabitants – Tolkien’s Book of Stories

15:00 Pause/Break

15.45 Filip R. Zahariev (p): Tolkien on the Tabletop Role-Playing Game Market: Free League’s The One Ring™ (2021) Adaptation
16.30 Annika Röttinger & Tobias Eckrich (p): Zwischen Fußnote und Fandom: Der Podcast Tolkiens Briefe als kommentierte Werkausgabe für die Ohren
17.30 Präsentation neuer Veröffentlichungen und Verleihung des Ehrendoktortitels

Abendessen im Wirtshaus Zenz (Bahnhofsplatz 4; Voranmeldung erforderlich bis zum 24. Oktober bei tolkienseminar25@uni-mainz.de )/Dinner at Wirtshaus Zenz (Bahnhofsplatz 4; please register till 24 October with tolkienseminar25@uni-mainz.de)

Sonntag, 02. November 2025

9.30 Sonja Virta (v): Different ways of revising Finnish Tolkien translations: the case of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion in Finnish
10.15 Marius Wagner (v): Das Warten auf einen Klassiker: Die Deutschen Übersetzungen von Tolkiens Der (kleine) Hobbit

11.00 Pause/Break

11.30 Schlußdiskussion/Final Discussion

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Digital Tolkien Project @digitaltolkien.com · 28d

I hope to chat to them soon.

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Digital Tolkien Project @digitaltolkien.com · 29d

Curtis Brown Heritage to represent the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate

www.curtisbrown.co.uk/news/curtis-...

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

James Tauber @jtauber.com · 29d

Cite Tolkien cite.digitaltolkien.com is now rendered with Ryland too.

Cite Tolkien

cite.digitaltolkien.com

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

James Tauber @jtauber.com · 29d

Okay, first milestone:

cite-draft.digitaltolkien.com is now rendered with Ryland. Next stop: Cite Tolkien itself.

DRAFT Cite Tolkien

cite-draft.digitaltolkien.com

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Clare Moore @clarelmoore.bsky.social · Sep 3

I’ve been recommending this book on several peer reviews recently so sharing here! For those interested in how Tolkien adapts women from medieval texts into his own work, please read this: vernonpress.com/book/1702?sr...

Tolkien’s Transformative Women: Art in Triptych [Hardback]

J.R. R. Tolkien has been revered as the father of twentieth-century fantasy; however, many initially criticized him for his handling of the textual matter as male-centric magical lands that did not fe...

vernonpress.com

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Janet Brennan Croft @banzailibrarian.bsky.social · Sep 3

Tolkien language nerds, scans of the first five issues of Parma Eldalamberon, long only available as photocopies, are now available open access: dc.swosu.edu/parma/

Parma Eldalamberon | Mythopoeic Society | Southwestern Oklahoma State University

dc.swosu.edu

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

James Tauber @jtauber.com · Sep 3

Renewed my @tolkiensociety.org membership for another four years.

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Reposted by Digital Tolkien Project

Tolkien Society @tolkiensociety.org · Sep 2

On 2 September 1973 J.R.R. #Tolkien died aged 81. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is the best-selling book of the 20th Century, and is joined by seminal works The Hobbit and The Silmarillion.

He may have died 52 years ago but his influence and legacy lives on in us all. Namárië. #BookSky

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