Oxonmoot 2024

With friend SonaBeanSidhe, co-author "At the Edge of Lasg'len" (a Silmarillion Fanfiction of Considerable Length). Most of my time disappears into intricate storytelling about deeply traumatized persons (most Elves that ever walked Tolkien's pages...); a vehicle by which to explore flawed mortals, Arda Marred...and complete the Ainulindalë.
When not tapping at my keyboard there is learning digital art to illustrate stories, studying music (classical voice) and catering to 3 Plott hounds. I used to run a small farm and I used to sail tall ships and love talking about both. If none of this suffices, gardening, Elvish, and the House of Finwë are my last best hopes for conversational fodder. If you do like to discuss fanfic ideas...pleasel read on.

Could we talk about how our story turned into what it did? JRR Tolkien wrote the Ainulindalë and laid out the beginning of an immense tale with strong links to his own faith (but just different enough not to be directly analogous), and foretold as did the Bible that there would be a far future resolution to the grief and discord sown by Melkor the errant Ainu, then never finished this grand idea or really hinted at what he would like to do with the concept could he ever have the time. At least, not to my knowledge though I saw a few possible hints in a book by a fellow named Kilby.

Well, here we are in 2024. On our overpopulated, warming planet that teeters not so far from eco-collapse. Political leaders are...still themselves. Many see little point in traditional institutions (and many of those who do did not choose them with freedom).The future appears bleaker, not brighter. How to go from here to the eucatastrophe of the promised Second Music? For Arda is none other than our earth...and more or less, this is our story. We have done what we could to pick up every thread, while generating several more of our own in the best work of narrative fiction we could manage. 6.6 million words and counting; we now project completion of the novel at 8 million words+ but these things are difficult to predict...

Our vision would assuredly be objectionable to the Professor...quite possibly even offensive given that we take some things he held dear heavily to task but it is also a story told through a lens of Being Irish. If we wrote it, several were documented to have said it, done it or experienced it; but it is not only about Ireland. In some ways, smatterings of the whole world are inside at least in terms of shared experience; whether mortal or immortal we tried our best to leave no stone unturned. Ultimately we hope to ask, what are men and elves, and Ainur? From the most insignificant mortal to Eru Ilúvatar, what does it mean to love?