Abby Epplett, Historian

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. On day four, I went to Highfield Hall & Gardens in Falmouth, MA. The museum delivered on the name and more with art galleries, a guided highlights tour, and nearby walking trails. Although I did not get a chance to see a play during this visit, the property also hosts the Falmouth Theatre Guild .

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. The charming town of Sandwich, MA boasts a self-guided historical walking tour curated by the Sandwich Historical Commission and Sandwich Community Media , along with plenty of plaques and memorials. Despite the cloudy weather, I enjoyed my stroll down historic Main Street.

I previously created illustrations for some Maiar, who act as a combination of angels and minor gods in the Legendarium. This week and for the next two weeks, I will talk about Valar, similar to archangels and major gods. This is a slight deviation from what I originally mentioned at the end of “Appendix F, II On Translation” but between the essays getting a bit too long of late, the end-of-year holiday season in full swing, and having an actual job plus side business, I thought a more relaxed pace would be a decent course of action. While only a few members of this race were mentioned in The Lord of the Rings , much information on Valar comes from “Valaquenta” in The Silmarillion . Some groups of Valar considered themselves siblings, perhaps because they were made by Ilúvatar at the same time or with a similar appearance. Spouses apparently did not consider themselves siblings, unlike Greco-Roman gods who had no issue with incest. The top eight Valar were called the Arata...

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. On the third day of my trip, I visited Dexter Grist Mill in Sandwich, MA, located across the street from the Sandwich Glass Museum and next door to the Town Hall. This building is owned and maintained by the town just like Hoxie House , so the tour was of similarly high quality.

On Saturday, November 23 and Sunday, November 24, I attended the two-day webinar, the Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference hosted by the Tolkien Society via Zoom. Past readers of the blog know that I am a big fan of conferences, both in-person and virtual, so this was a great opportunity to combine my love of intense learning events with my research for the hypothetical animated musical. Even as someone on the younger end of attendees, I felt right at home through the friendly chat, the generous speakers, and my extensive knowledge of the Legendarium. Here are my favorite highlights from each talk, minus anything that seemed to be proprietary information. Any mistakes are likely because I have been up since 4:45 a.m. watching this conference. For naming conventions, as said succinctly by James Tauber, “It’s become a common convention in Tolkien studies to use Tolkien to refer to the father and Christopher to refer to the son”, so I will do the same in this summary. Sa...

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. On the third day of my trip, I visited Sandwich Glass Museum in Sandwich, MA run by the Sandwich Historical Society . This society has existed since 1907 and focuses on preserving the history of glassmaking on Cape Cod along with highlighting the work of modern artists and teaching members of the public how to create glass art.

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.

At last, I arrive at the final section of the appendixes. After a hundred and fifty pages of comparing Middle-earth history to real-world history, I have an even stronger grasp of how Tolkien used his expertise as a philologist and historian to build a fantasy world rooted in fact. This will serve as a solid foundation for future research as I move into the dialog portion of the text and reveal vignettes for the hypothetical animated musical.

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. While visiting Cape Cod Maritime Museum and John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum in Hyannis, MA, I made so many quick history stops around the area that I have divided it into two parts. Yesterday, I covered Main Street , and today, I cover local art and some of the Kennedy Legacy Trail. A redbrick Art Path leading from Main Street down to the harbor guides visitors past sculptures and shanties housing tiny art shops. I loved the interactive sculpture Turn, Tern, Turn by Cotuit artist Eric M. Kaiser . A pair of metal seabirds connect to a metal base which visitors are encouraged to gently spin. A few steps away is Aselton Park, which includes the Buoyed Coasts  advocacy art installation created by Kate Kennen and portraits created by Kate DeCiccio . The colorful buoys attached to long metal rods symbo...