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johngarthwriter.bsky.social
Writer, speaker, award-winner. Books in 18 languages on Tolkien’s life and work. Contact me via http://linktr.ee/johngarth. Support my work via Steady: http://bit.ly/3N191bi
22 posts 500 followers 25 following
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“Parma Eldalamberon 20 : The Qenya Alphabet” is available again on demand at Barnes and Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com/s/parma%20el... The Great British Bookshop: www.thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk/search?type=...

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

"If you want to keep digging deeper into #Tolkien biographies this is a solid addition to anyone’s list." Thoughtful review of TOLKIEN AND THE GREAT WAR (and of others' reviews of it). mytolkienarchive.wordpress.com/2025/02/12/t...

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

Did England's Black Country inspire Mordor? Now we have Tolkien's own outraged description of the real place, from a train journey to Oxford shortly before he created Sauron's dark realm… steadyhq.com/en/john-gart... And if you like my work, please support it 🙂 #BlackCountry #Mordor #Tolkien #JRRT

submitted 12 days ago • 3 comments

Do you know if the English language acquired a rush of new smell words after 1935 @petermgilliver.bsky.social? This was when the Smell Society was formed with that purpose (among others). Founded by #GeorgeBernardShaw, #HGWells and one Ambrose E. Appelbe, who wrote in the Times…

submitted 16 days ago • 2 comments

I've ditched #Microsoft's entirely unwelcome and intrusive #AI #Copilot by switching my subscription to 365 Family Classic (£20 cheaper). I don't need AI to write, thanks. And if I'd had AI all along, I'd never have learned the skills I love. AI is not an aid, it's a poison.

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

I discuss #Tolkien in a new TV documentary, Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social asks me about #JRRT and #WW1, and I reveal an upcoming special on Tolkien's #Finnish inspirations. Read more at my Steady project blog… steadyhq.com/en/john-gart...

submitted 33 days ago • 1 comment

Sam Leith on Word 365 AI: "'Upgraded' to features I neither need nor want, colossally wasteful of computing power and damaging to the environment, at best experimental or unpredictable, and dependent on stealing copyright material from artists and writers. I'm charged £25 more a year for this."

submitted 40 days ago • 1 comment

How do I keep up with what's going on in the world of #Tolkien scholarship and fandom? I subscribe to @thetolkienist.com's newsletters. And I support his crowdfunding campaign, without which it wouldn't be possible. Recommended!

submitted 41 days ago • 1 comment

With #StormÉowyn currently battering Ireland and Great Britain, another #Tolkien connection this morning is a podcast release by BBC Sounds about the author of #TheHobbit and #LordoftheRings, in which @thehistoryguy.bsky.social talks to @johngarthwriter.bsky.social. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

Storm Éowyn, with a name inspired by Tolkien, is heading for the British Isles. I hope everyone can stay safe. Meanwhile, read how he imagined a gale hitting Ireland with historic force… Go here: tinyurl.com/stormtolkien #StormÉowyn #Tolkien #Eire #Ireland #Atomic #Númenor

submitted 42 days ago • 2 comments

Today is the birthday of Francis Morgan, the man #Tolkien called ‘my second father’. On my Steady crowdfunding page I've posted a previously unseen photo plus an extract from my preface to José Manuel Ferrández Bru's biography of Fr Francis.

submitted 47 days ago • 1 comment

In her terrific bio of the Brothers Grimm — pub @yalepress.bsky.social — Ann Schmeising demonstrates the power and the danger of these eternal and essential tales — and reminds us why they haunt us still. My review in the @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/3ea0...

submitted 61 days ago • 0 comments

Whenever John puts out something new it's worth reading. And if you can - do support him on Steady (think Patreon, just better!), it's helping him do even more outstanding research. I'm in already and you can be, too! #Tolkien

submitted 61 days ago • 0 comments

One of Tolkien’s gifts to us is the word mathom. It seems a good topic for the Professor’s birthday. In this specially written post, I unwrap the word and find out what more it has to offer us … steadyhq.com/en/john-gart... #tolkien #lotr

submitted 62 days ago • 0 comments

I was pretty quiet online in 2024 but extremely busy researching and writing on #Tolkien. Until late September, when disaster struck – literally. Read about my year of Tolkien and tribulation here … and please consider supporting my work. tinyurl.com/2cjsaebk Happy New Year!

submitted 65 days ago • 1 comment

Wishing all my friends and followers a rejuvenating Yuletide. (Forochel scene with thanks to the very late Olaus Magnus.)

submitted 69 days ago • 0 comments

The perils of auto-translate.

submitted 69 days ago • 5 comments

I've joined my name to this petition opposing the use of copyrighted works for #AI training. Without a shadow of a doubt, #Tolkien would have signed it too. I believe AI threatens not only creative livelihoods, but the future of human expression itself.

submitted 77 days ago • 1 comment

”… the deep blue sky of evening opened once more, and a few pallid stars appeared, like small white holes in the canopy above the crescent moon. ‘It’s good to be able to see again,’ said Frodo, breathing deep. ‘Do you know, I thought for a bit that I had lost my sight?‘“

submitted 105 days ago • 2 comments