Abby Epplett, Historian

Although I am a highly creative person, I have never been good at coming up with titles. Possibly my only other weakness is my ability to be succinct. “The Introduction Song” combines both of these weaknesses as a nearly eight-minute piece to introduce personalities of the Shire and the culture surrounding them. The animatic to come out in many weeks will further show the landscape and various styles of architecture in the area. When creating the basic concept of an introduction song, also known as an opening number, I drew from musicals of the Western canon, considered how this song might be characterized relative to others, constructed leitmotifs to be heard throughout the musical, and referred to other passages in The Lord of the Rings along with one reference outside of Tolkien’s work. I hope I have successfully adapted the opening scene of the epic by weaving together a complex piece made up of catchy showtunes containing lyrics that respected the original text.

While putting the final touches on last week’s post, I realized I had yet to discuss The Lord of the Rings in the context of national epics and then concluded that this was an ideal time to do so. Tolkien himself was interested in national epics, both studying and creating them. During the talk “Lost Tales and Found Myths” at the Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference , Sonali Chunodkar mentioned Tolkien’s early attempt to create a national epic using the characters of Aelwine and Ing as creators of England, but he seemed to have realized this flavor of nationalism trended towards supporting colonialism and white supremacy, so he quickly dropped the idea.

Since the late medieval period, pubs have been a culturally and historically significant aspect of English life. Accordingly, the largest historical organizations in the region put forth great effort to catalogue and preserve such establishments. Historic England lists England’s Historic Pubs to commemorate businesses and their buildings that have shaped local identity, Historic UK has identified the oldest pubs and inns in England , while Heritage Pubs and Historic Pub Interiors recorded by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) gives a glimpse of how pub-going has changed over hundreds of years, and how some aspects have remained the same.

I have almost arrived at the dialogue portion of the books, but before I launch into the story, I will review the epigraph. The infamous poem, which begins with the line “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky”, technically appears opposite the copyright page for each physical book in a three book set of The Lord of the Rings , after the Introduction by Peter S. Beagle but before the Forward by J.R.R. Tolkien . I don’t know why the book was set this way, as I would have placed the epigraph after the Prologue, but since the edition of the book I use was released the same year my parents were born, I was not around to set the publisher straight.

In my first essay after my winter holiday hiatus, I begin a new chapter to Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical where I describe the process of research and producing a hypothetical adaptation of the bestselling book series by British linguist J.R.R. Tolkien. At last, I will begin presenting selections of dialogue and music to accommodate the concept art that I began creating in 2024. Composers commonly make demo recordings of their work using themselves or their friends as the performing artists, from “I’m in the Middle of a Muddle” for the 1950 Disney animation Cinderella sung by middle-aged male songwriters Mack David , Al Hoffman , and Jerry Livingston instead of a peppy young woman like the title character, or an early version of “How Far I’ll Go” for the 2016 Disney animation Moana sung by Broadway star Phillipa Soo , a close friend of its songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda , since her voice perfectly matched the protagonist. But before I reveal my own demo reel, I ne...

In August 2024, I went on a five-day trip to Cape Cod, MA where I visited many museums and cultural organizations, along with quick history stops and trails. A last minute diversion brought me to Christmas Tree Shop Hyannis, an incredible example of avant-garde architecture built by a recently defunct company. I last visited Christmas Tree Shop Sagamore while coming home from a trip to Yarmouth in 2023 , and I may need to visit the remaining stores.