I wrote a little diary of my time in Oxford for #Oxonmoot, which you can read on my blog before I overthink and delete it because I forgot to mention multiple people and the delightful moments I shared with them. voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1268

Now that I'm back from Oxford and getting slowly reacquainted with the outside world, a PSA regarding my talk on illustrations of Lúthien given for the @tolkiensociety.org and @mythsoc.bsky.social. The speaker at Tolkien2019 I mentioned is not S.R. Westvik but Elyanna Choi. All my apologies to them.

My paper "Painting 'the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar': Aesthetic Beauty in The Silmarillion and its Illustrations" is available to watch in replay thanks to @mythsoc.bsky.social here (pls ignore the technical glitch at the start): dc.swosu.edu/oms/oms4/sch... #Tolkien #Illustration

🧙‍♂️📚 Green Book of the White Downs - "Imladris: In the Library of Elrond" 📗 2025 & 2026 Upcoming Tolkien-related books (17 August 2025) Upcoming list of Tolkien-related books for 2025/26 (finally!) 👉 Check here: greenbookofthewhitedowns.blogspot.com/2025/08/imla... #Tolkien #Book #LOTR #Hobbit

It's almost OMS o'clock! Today at 5pm UTC I'll be speaking at @mythsoc.bsky.social 's seminar about Lúthien and the representation of beauty in #illustrations for #Tolkien 's Silmarillion. Abstract here: voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1210

No pressure at all, but I’m giving a talk next Saturday at my first Mythopoeic seminar, which is nerve-wracking in itself, and here am I sandwiched in between the two rock stars that are Sara Brown and Kristine Larsen. Lolilol everything’s fine.

I've felt a renewed interest for the Queen of Denmark's illustrations for #Tolkien 's #TheLordOfTheRings in the past weeks so decided to publish the 2022 talk I gave on the subject. Pictures not included for copyright, and a bit of context provided as an introduction. voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1224

La section Essais accueille un nouvel article de Gwenaël Houarno , lequel s'est penché sur l’œuvre graphique de Philippe Munch, l'illustrateur du #SeigneurdesAnneaux publié par Folio Junior à partir de la fin des années 80. www.tolkiendil.com/tolkien/etud...

It feels like a milestone - I'm mentioned in @thetolkienist.com's #138 Roving Ranger newsletter! Thank you Marcel for shouting out about my upcoming talk on beauty, illustrations and Lúthien. (Pst! The abstact is here 👇) voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1210

Dusting the Tolkien PhD blog with the abstract I submitted (successfully!) to the @mythsoc.bsky.social's upcoming seminar "More Perilous and Fair". My paper will deal with Beauty in illustrations, through the prism of representations of Lúthien. voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1210

This Barbie is feeling very lucky to have such amazing friends on her birthday. Look what @cstrnk.bsky.social got me—a first edition, *illustrated* German Silmarillion! It's the second copy of this book I own that I can't read. 🥰 And this cover never ceases to confusticate me.

Today I finally decided to copy my bibliography into my thesis manuscript, making it pass the 400-page mark! (Of course, I immediately found a missing reference and had to add it both in the thesis MS and in the original bibliography document that I want to keep up-to-date.)

This was one of the highlights of Oxonmoot 2024 for me ! @mercuryreads.bsky.social on Sam & Frodo's relationship see through the prism of the Greek loves.

@telerama.bsky.social publie aujourd'hui un article qui résume le conflit entre @vincentferre.bsky.social et les éditions Bourgois. Nous y portons la voix des fans, afin que ceux-ci puissent espérer retrouver prochainement des éditions inédites et sans défaut. www.telerama.fr/livre/editio...

Ravie d'avoir contribué à ce numéro avec un article sur les #illustrations pour #Tolkien de la Reine de Danemark - qui m'a amaiblement autorisé à reproduire quelques images !

Post a fave character and tag 5 friends ! Nerdanel, by Magdalena Olechny @thetolkienist.com @mercuryreads.bsky.social @cstrnk.bsky.social

That feeling when, 5 days before you present a #Tolkien conference that was supposed to simply be the translation of one you gave last year with a bit of context added in for good measure, you discover new tidbits that send you down a rabbit hole. This time: Númenor and American Art Deco.

Au hasard d'un mail de collègue, j'apprends que ma thèse est (enfin!) en ligne : la #reception de l'oeuvre de #Tolkien par ses #fans (UK, US, France) jusque 1992. Pour les curieux ou courageux, c'est par ici: theses.fr/2020ARTO0009

The nervousness of having to look through Tolkien's 1970-71 chronology and not wanting to see the mention of Edith's death is real. 😔

Big news! After a lot of great work from @willsherwood.bsky.social and the @tolkiensociety.org team, the proceedings of the Tolkien2019 will be out on 28 February. My talk was on #LordOfTheRings illustrations by #AlanLee and Ingahild Grathmer, also known as the Queen of Denmark. Fun facts:

Earlier this week I wrote my first newsletter of 2025, including most of my PhD prospects for the year ahead. Why not join me on Tipeee? Over 200 such weekly updates for you to peruse. I'll switch to English for new English-speaking subscribers! Money goes to PhD plans. fr.tipeee.com/mariebreta

Merci aux éditions Hors Collection de m'avoir envoyé un exemplaire de "L’Encyclopédie de la Terre du Milieu : Númenor et le Deuxième Âge" ! Un avis est disponible sur mon blog de thèse. voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1172

With the wave of followers from the past few days, an introduction is in order! So hi everyone, I'm a French PhD student researching illustrations for #JRRTolkien. I've been working on my thesis since 2017 (ouch). I post weekly updates here: fr.tipeee.com/mariebreta

Thank you for sharing my work, @brianitguy.bsky.social !

Amidst the panic and the anxiety and the sadness, there was one light in the day: reading some conference proceedings only distantly related to my PhD and finding my name in a footnote and in the article's bibliography ??? Someone has used my work as reference ??? That's some achievement unlocked. ✔️

Communiqué relatif à la collection « Tolkien » (Christian Bourgois éditeur), V. Ferré 04/11/2024 pourtolkien.fr/communique-r...

It's been a rough morning (because of admin stuff, not life stuff) but then I listened to Cami Agan, editor of the Cities & Strongholds volume, talk about her work and she showered such praise on my work that I'm feeling very emotional but for the right reasons. newbooksnetwork.com/cities-and-s...

C'est dans quelques minutes sur www.twitch.tv/assotolkiendil ! #TalesOfTheShire

Every #Oxonmoot is different and comes with its own set of expectations. This year it will be about saving my energy, so no 1st-timers walk (yes I do it every year, it's great) and no Hobbit walk (such a highlight usually) but there's a lot to make up for it in the programme. #Tolkien

Trying to add as much info in as little characters as possible to a 4K article feels like a quest in itself.

Today is a good brain day, so I'm chipping away at work. After spending a little less than an hour whittling down an article to the compulsory 4K characters (that hurt), I'm happily not counting the words I add to a no-limit #Tolkien book review (poke @tolkiendil.bsky.social). #PhDLife

That feeling when you read the book you didn’t know you’d been waiting for these past 7 years. *cries in PhD* Thank you @thetolkienist.com for mentioning it in your newsletter ! #Tolkien #PhD

It's a little dusty there, but I've posted my abstract for #Oxonmoot2024 on my blog. The title is "Visions of Númenor: The Land of Gift as pictured by #AlanLee and #RingsOfPower": voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1099 #Tolkien

Day 6 of covid - this variant is NOT kidding. Starting to feel better now but pfew, what a week. Please remember your vaccines and your masks.

That is absolutely fabulous ! I wish I could take part but I have a PhD in the oven. This is in my top 3 of my most anticipated Tolkien-research publications ever.

And just like that, one morning in the quiet of the world, I passed the 150K-word mark. #Tolkien #PhD

Having just spent over half an hour on a footnote, I feel this in my bones today. #Tolkien #PhDLife

I turn 30 today. In some ways I've failed myself - I have not turned in my #PhD manuscript on #Tolkien. I have not written a novel. I don’t have a steady income to support myself. I have arthritis in my toe. But in so many other ways I have lots of things to celebrate.

As I was writing to my lovely bunch of Tipeee backers this morning, I realised I had reached the grand number of 700 footnotes on this #Tolkien #PhD manuscript. Any guess as to how many will feature in the final piece? Weekly accounts of my progress happen here: fr.tipeee.com/mariebreta/

Last night I had my first Oxonmoot-train-journey-related nightmare. Perks of being an anxious traveler, I suppose. But 4 1/2 months is a little early to start fretting, isn't it ? Usually the nightmares start a couple of months before the date.

Je serai en conversation ce soir, à partir de 20h30, sur la chaîne Twitch d'Elrohir ! On parlera #Tolkien, thèse, Reine du Danemark, Ted Nasmith, #Oxonmoot... Entre autres. Je vous y retrouve ? www.twitch.tv/elrohir_bfme

Drop everything you're doing and sign up for the (free / online) conference by Les Têtes Imaginaires on Fantasy clothing on Feb 2 & 3 ! On Friday Bettina Burger is talking about "Culture and Costume Design in the Watermill Lord of the Rings" !!! @mercuryreads.bsky.social let's have a watch party!

The English version of my review of #JohnHowe's exhibition at the Fonds Hélène & Édouard Leclerc in Landerneau is up on my blog! #Tolkien #illustration voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1093

Mon compte-rendu de l'exposition « Sur les traces de #Tolkien et de l’imaginaire médiéval. Peintures et dessins de #JohnHowe », au Fonds Hélène & Édouard Leclerc à Landerneau, est en ligne sur mon blog de thèse : voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1075

I've managed to write something about the #LordOfTheRings musical at the Watermill Theatre. It's not a review, nor is it an analysis, it's mostly just feels. voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/1048

Fancy a bit of escapism on this cold Wednesday morning? My travel diary to Plouha and the #SurLesTerresDeLUnique convention is up on my blog! In which I find myself on a train with #TedNasmith. #Tolkien voirtolkien.hypotheses.org/966