Weathertop (journal)
| Weathertop |
|---|
 |
| Latest editor: Denis Bridoux |
| Latest Issue: Issue #5, 1987 |
| Publication Information |
| Publisher: Amon Sûl Smial |
| Released: Winter 1984-85 to Autumn 1987 |
| Frequency: Quarterly |
| Pages: 20-30 average |
| ISSN: 0950-3757 |
Weathertop was the magazine of Amon Sûl Smial, affiliated to the Tolkien Society. Five issues were published before its editor moved on to Mallorn.
History[edit | edit source]
The idea of Weathertop came to Denis Bridoux and Kay Woollard (Dora Baggins), co-founders of Amon Sûl Smial, on the journey back from Oxonmoot 1984. In the early '80s, many smials started producing their own magazines, and neither were very impressed by the quality of what was on offer at the time.
From the beginning, Amon Sûl Smial had always attracted people with artistic leanings, and it still does. Producing a magazine would give them an opportunity to show what they could do and all the members were quite enthusiastic. For smial members, 'amateur' was definitely not synonymous with amateurish or poor quality. It was agreed that, if they were to produce a magazine themselves one day, it would have to look good, and to give equal importance to text and to artwork, which was done throughout the existence of the magazine.
Over a 3 year period, Weathertop was released around the time of Oxonmoot and/or the Tolkien Society's Annual General Meeting. Among notable texts, it published an article by Rhona Beare (in Weathertop 2) and "Belladonna by Belladonna" by Vera Chapman, (in Weathertop 3-5). The magazine received good feedback for as long as it ran.
Sadly the magazine ran only for 5 issues, as it prepared Denis Bridoux to propose editing Mallorn when its then-editor, Jenny Curtis, expressed the desire to stop producing it. He took its editorship over from issues 23 to 27, until a change of job led him to pass it on himself.
List of issues[edit | edit source]
- Winter 1984-85: Weathertop 1
- Spring 1985: Weathertop 2
- Autumn 1985: Weathertop 3
- Autumn 1986: Weathertop 4
- Autumn 1987: Weathertop 5
Presentation in first issue[edit | edit source]
Weathertop is the magazine of Amon Sûl Smial and is published quaterly. It does not pose itself as a rival so Society magazines, but rather as a complement to them and a potential source for their material. Any copyright, whether of text or artwork resides solely with the contributors. However, by arrangement with the Editors, any article or artwork can be reproduced within the original magazines of the Tolkien Society and the York Shire Post, provided that their setting be not altered, ex.: Quoting a sentence or paragraph without reference to context, or abnormal reduction of artwork entailing a lowering of quality.
