Public Research: Field of Study

[HerenIstarion]

Part of Public Research Project

Have you started studying something because of your love for Tolkien? Were there subjects you would not have been interested in if not for him? The selection is made upon my notion of what fields Tolkien may have driven a man to, but option ‘other’ is provided for cases not covered by the poll. Please explain yourself in the thread in this latter case (and in others, if you feel you should).

I understand that 'other' and 'nothing' are things quite apart. Inclusion into one option was forcible, for lack of entries available. Thank you for your understanding

Study is not restricted to 'official' (e.i. at some University of School) study per se, but includes your private ventures into the fields as described too.

Multiple choice is allowed

[Lhunardawen]

Does the "Other Languages" option include Quenya and the like?

[HerenIstarion]

Yes, I suppose

[the guy who be short]

I presume you mean any type of study, including sporadic personal study for leisure? I "study" History in that I enjoy reading about it, but abhor the subject as an academic subject.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

This is probably the best place to announce to the Downs at large my shiny new M.A. (Viking and Anglo-Saxon Studies, University of Nottingham), which I've held since December.

Not only was Tolkien responsible for my interest in the area, but I found the course on the internet as a direct result of reading HoME IV: I was looking for an Old English course so that I could compare the OE versions of the earliest Annals of Beleriand with their modern English counterparts, and one of my searches turned up Nottingham's site. I'm not sure whether this is a testament to the persuasiveness of Tolkien's own enthusiasm or a sadly laughable reason for taking up a course of study, and I dread to think what J.R.R. would have made of it. Apparently, though, it's a fairly common ailment, from which many medievalists suffer.

Some might be interested to know that I posted some Tolkien Old English on a course messageboard, which coincidentally confirmed the high quality of his spurious Anglo-Saxon documents. Perhaps he'll replace Wulfstan's translation of the paternoster as an introductory text, although I hope not.

[JennyHallu]

My trouble is that I am very very bad at sticking to any formal course of study, (which unfortunately is why I left college with my MRS. rather than my B.A. or B.S. degrees) but I'll read almost anything on my own. And Tolkien had a way of reminding me at the most boring parts of all the texts I tackled that history, philosophy, and language (among other things) aren't esoteric academic subjects dominated by crotchety old men in messy offices and masculine women with thick glasses as they are in movies and all too often in books, but dynamic, exciting parts of a huge story that doesn't really make sense until you understand at least a little about all the different parts...does that make any sense to anyone?


oh...and GREAT BIG CONGRATS to Squatter.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

The thing is that I was allready interested in things like History and Philosphy before I encounterd Tolkien, so I cannot say that it was him who gave me the interest for the topic. However it was because of Tolkien that I started showing interest for some parts of these topics, wich I had heard of and maybe studied a little before, but never studied in depth.

It is not my research, should I vote or not?