Abby Epplett, Historian

In this week’s essay, my loves of historic house tours and The Lord of the Rings combine for the first time as I present my map of Bag End, also spelled Bag-End by the older generations of Hobbits. Since Tolkien was a philologist, it is fitting to take a brief break to explain the naming scheme around the property, along with the clan name of the family who built it. Tolkien studies expert Tom Shippey noted in The Road to Middle-earth that “bag-end” is a literal translation of “cul-de-sac”, which was further elaborated upon by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull in Reader’s Companion . The current meaning of a road terminating at a house or collection of houses dates from 1819.

Earlier tonight — September 5, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. — I watched the webinar Harry Seidler’s Australia Square: Sydney’s First Modern Skyscraper presented by the architect, curator, and author Vladimir Belogolovsky and hosted by the Skyscraper Museum . I previously have watched other webinars hosted by the Skyscraper Museum, including The Great American Transit Disaster , which focused on the defunding of public transportation, and CBS Headquarters , an in-depth look at the construction of “Black Rock”, and other concrete skyscrapers. Although overshadowed by Sydney Opera House when considering Australian architecture, Australia Square continues to be a remarkable feat of architecture. Measuring between 170 and 182.5 meters tall, the skyscraper was arguably the tallest lightweight concrete building in the world when first built from 1961 to 1967. The skyscraper’s rival in height was Marina City in Chicago, IL , measuring about 179 meters tall and built at the same time. Whil...