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From the Editor

Alex Lewis. 

This is the final ‘free issue’ of the journal of the Festival in the Shire. We had hoped that the journal would attract advertisers to bring in revenue to fund it, but unfortunately due to the economic climate, the hoped-for advertising has not materialised, and it will be necessary from now on to charge a small amount per person to subscribe to the journal.

I hope all our eager readers will do so and help to maintain what has become a wonderful asset in the world of Tolkien fellowship and study, as well as news and general information.

There will be instructions as to how readers can subscribe to the journal, and I do hope that we shall see you all in November for a great issue.

This issue will contain less than the usual number of items - mostly because the editor is still awaiting submissions from contributors. So - to all of you who have an article or a review or a poem or a story out there - please send them in to the editor for consideration and inclusion. The wider we cast our net, and the more views we can showcase, the more representative of the Tolkien community as a whole we shall be. I am very supportive and will help any who are unsure of anything that they wish to submit. Just ask.

So, firstly there is another review of the Festival, giving a more general overview than previous ones, and a flavour of the event as a whole. We also have a review of the latest novel by Simon Tolkien, the grandson of Professor Tolkien, entitled: The Inheritance, which is well worth a read. Then we are including a Tolkien’s Place - part one, on Merton College Oxford, a college which has close associations with Professor Tolkien. Part two of this article will appear in the November issue. I also include a poem about Gollum from the pen of Jonathan Fawkes as well as a short story about the genesis of Mallorn trees by Jeremy Masters.

And that is it - but I dearly hope that it is not the parting of ways. To keep the journal alive we must try and be self-financing, and for that we will need subscribers. So, dear readers, it is down to you now.

In Fellowship - your editor, Alex Lewis.

Alex Lewis