Neil Gaiman: I'm honoured to be delivering this year's Tolkien lecture. (It's one of those slightly nerve-wracking honours where you hope you can find something to say that makes some kind of sense.) June 12th, live in Oxford and streaming around the world. tolkienlecture.org

I'm honoured to be delivering this year's Tolkien lecture. (It's one of those slightly nerve-wracking honours where you hope you can find something to say that makes some kind of sense.) June 12th, live in Oxford and streaming around the world. tolkienlecture.org

The J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literaturetolkienlecture.org An annual lecture on fantasy literature held at Pembroke College, Oxford

Start with "Today we're going to focus on 'Farmer Giles of Ham'" just to see who the real die-hards are.

I think I am not alone in thinking that you have a way with words, and that I therefore have some confidence in you. Thanks! I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Do a riff on "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Does it have to be delivered in Tom Bombadil-style verse, or are they going easy on you?

Bombadil is one of the Endless. His other name is "Dillo"

That does make some sense

Tom Bombadil is Tom Bombadil - he's a category to himself

Rest assured, I'm fairly certain you could read from a phone book and many of us would feel honored to hear about Aaron Aaronson et al

Neil!!! Congrats! This is wonderful. **happy dance** (And you've got this.)

Sadly I won't be able to get there but I will be sure to watch the stream.

Shame not to see you!

We live in Perth (Scotland) now and it's a very long way.

I had you still mentally in Stoke -- not surprised then. I'm sure Perth is lovely!

It is. If you ever fancy a holiday come visit.

Bravo, Neil!

Thank you so much!!

✨️ CONGRATULATIONS ✨️

Wait... you are the one who wrote The Rings of Power, right? 😉

Just go with, Frodo would definitely be throwing Chat GPT into the volcano; Mucking about with A Eye, a treatise on the Fellowship of modern literature

Congratulations!

Congratulations! Well deserved.

Congratulations! Well-deserved.

I would be interested to hear that lecture. I’ve been re reading the hobbit and LOTOR and my new favourite from his froward is ‘I dislike alliteration in all its forms’ lol as ever I enjoy his world building through the history of it.

Well earned. Thank you for the words.

Do you now feel that fantasy (and SF for that matter) is finally being allowed admittance to the hallowed halls of UK academia? I think this happened much earlier in the US

Fantasy research has been a key strand in humanities research in Oxford

I've always said that you could expound on the topic of dust mites and I'd still want to read it.

It'll be fiiiiiiiiine.

I’ll be sure to catch it on YouTube if I can’t stream it. Best wishes

Oh shit 👀👀👀

So cool! Congratulations! 🎉

Put an end to this conspiracy theory that it is all just a story.

Do you have a sense of the topic or will it be a more free form kind of presentation?

I think it should be about fantasy.

You could really rock the boat, and do a lecture on quantum physics instead?

**frantically tries to be very normal about receiving Gaiman ideas about the definition of fantasy with regard to Tolkien's work**

Jolly good idea.

Now, I'm reminded of Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories." Off to hunt that down.

I will DEFINITELY watch that online!!!

Sounds like a dream lecture to me. 😊

Good choice on their part

Congratulations!

Hooray streaming!

SO cool!!

Break a pencil!

I loved Susan Cooper’s Tolkien lecture from a few years back…

Can you do a lecture on how Tolkien's fantasy was so great it permanently damaged the genre for all time?

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