Mallorn (journal)
Mallorn |
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Latest editor: Henry Gee |
Latest Issue: Mallorn 46 (pictured) |
Website: Mallorn - The Journal of the Tolkien Society |
Publication Information |
Publisher: The Tolkien Society |
Released: October 1970 - present |
Frequency: bi-annually |
Format: A4 stapled paperback |
Pages: up to 64 |
ISSN: 0308-6674 |
Mallorn is a literary and academic journal published by The Tolkien Society and edited by the author of The Science of Middle Earth, Henry Gee.
Mallorn was traditionally published annually, but a recent change of format has meant Mallorn is now published bi-annually in the spring and autumn (posted to Tolkien Society members with the September and March editions of Amon Hen).
History
Mallorn was founded in October 1970 as the successor to Vera Chapman's Belladonna's Broadsheet to be the magazine of the Tolkien Society. However, due to the difficulty in producing Mallorn regularly, its functions as a bulletin to Society members were moved to the new publication of Amon Hen (the first issue was known as Henneth Annûn); this enabled Mallorn to fashion itself into the more scholarly publication that exists today.[1]
Content
Although the description of potential articles has little changed over the years, Mallorn's focus has traditionally been on scholarly articles. There has been recent criticism from Society members that both poetry[2] and academic articles are being "ostracised" under the new editor.[3]
Gee does not refute this, however, by saying that he is reluctant to publish poetry because he does not see himself as a competent judge, therefore the publishing of poetry is "extremely unlikely".[4] Furthermore, due to publishing limitations scholarly articles should be "shorter and more accessible" (unless they are "truly stellar pieces of scholarship") in order to fit in more articles which appeal to a broader range of membership.[3] On this issue, Henry Gee states:
- "The publication landscape has been changed by the very welcome appearance of Tolkien Studies. This has set a new and generally high standard for Tolkien scholarship, challenging Mallorn to raise its game. However, Tolkien Studies means that Mallorn doesn't have to take the entire world of Tolkien scholarship on its shoulders, and can discover for itself a new freedom to broaden its scope, and become a more entertaining and accessible publication of which Society members can be justifiably proud."
- ― Henry Gee in Amon Hen, no. 211, May 2008, pp. 28-9
See also
- Amon Hen - Mallorn's sister publication, a bi-monthly bulletin to Society members
- Mallorn issues