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This past weekend, I had the opportunity, and privilege, of attending the first Annual “Mythmoot” hosted by theMythgard Institute. I’ve written about Mythgard before, but for some reason I failed to make note of the Mythmoot before it happened. Now that it has occurred, I refuse to make the same mistake.
The purpose of the Mythmoot was two-fold. On the one hand, it was timed with the release of the first installment of Peter Jackson’s theatrical rendition of The Hobbit to provide an opportunity to discuss, in a comprehensive and interactive way, the movie’s themes and how they lend support to, or diverge from, themes from Tolkien’s book. As such, it drew approximately 90 people, many of whom have been attending or supporting the Mythgard Institute, but also many of whom learned about the event in other ways, such as through the “Riddles in the Dark” program which airs on Middle-Earth Network Radio. On the other hand, it was very much a celebration of The Hobbit‘s popularity, and of Tolkien’s work in general as it continues to live, breathe and grow as enduring myth. It is exactly the sort of thing I think Tolkien had in mind when he wrote to Milton Waldman in 1951 that his own work “should yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama.” And, I would hope he might begrudgingly consent to add, wielding the great fountain pen of academic analysis….
A description of what occurred at the Mythmoot is available at Mythgard’s events page, and it all was great. But as with so many of life’s affairs, some of the most memorable moments for me were the things that happened in-between and on the fringes: the tentative introductions in the lobby of the BWI Marriott on Saturday morning (did anyone else have “first date flutters”?); the eager conversations as we waited in line for a private screening of the film; the late-night-Saturday-into-early-morning-Sunday, um, “breakout session” that included everything from a dramatic presentation of the opening lines of Beowulf to a near-certified expert hinting at the similarities between J. R. R. Tolkien and James Joyce. And of course there was the fanboy moment of havingPeter S. Beagle sign the copy of The Last Unicorn that I read during this past summer’s Modern Fantasy class at Mythgard. Just as enjoyable were the glimpses of Dr. Corey Olsen, the Tolkien Professor himself, standing to the side and grinning as he took brief opportunities to inhale the atmosphere — on more than one occasion, I half expected him to draw a pipe from some hidden pocket and fill it with some of the Southfarthing’s finest.
Most of all, however, is the unshakeable feeling that, somehow, in the course of only 36 hours, I’ve managed to forge and fortify connections that in five, ten, twenty years I’ll look back on and be able to say, “It all started at Mythmoot!”
Already, preliminary plans are in the hopper for the next Mythmoot to take place in 2013, and who knows what great things will happen there. The one thing I do know: I’ll definitely be going back again.
