Tolkien student group stands against Mordor, awaits night in Rivendell

EDMONTON — A student group dedicated to the study of author and literary icon J.R.R. Tolkien will be exploring the reaches of Middle Earth even further this week with an event dubbed An Evening in Rivendell.

The Last Alliance student group from the University of Alberta was co-founded by Megan Engel, who lives in west end of the city and is in her last year at the university. The group meets once a week to discuss the works of Tolkien, as well as planning events and activities for the group to participate in.

“We’re passionate about Tolkien. What he’s done in literature is incredible,” Engel said. “In the group, it’s just interesting to hear the variety of opinions about something we’re all passionate about.”

“People come and go in the group, we’re not really exclusive,” Engel said. “We never have a set number of people, anybody can come and join in. Whether we have four people or 20, we welcome anybody.”

The group is has been reading The Hobbit, a prequel to the popular Lord of the Rings series by Tolkien, partly in anticipation for the films to be released in 2012 and 2013, Engel said. Next semester, the student club will be studying The Silmarillion, a posthumous release from Tolkien, put together by his son Christopher Tolkien.

“This is our big event,” Engel said. “The first part of the evening has a lot to do about sharing poetry, prose, skits… We even have some members performing ballads such as the ‘Lay of Leithian’ from Tolkien’s works.”

The second part of the evening is a video chat interview with Corey Olsen, a world-renowned Tolkien scholar and university professor.

“He (Olsen) is known as the ‘Tolkien Professor,’ ” said Engel. Olsen has a PhD in medieval literature, and has created the Mythgard Institute, a post-secondary school that offers full degrees and other programs in fictional literature, Engel said. “He knows everything there is to know about Tolkien.”

The Last Alliance is one of the few Tolkien organizations in Canada, being the only student organization dedicated to Tolkien in the country, Engel said. “There are other Tolkien organizations, I know of a few in Ontario, but they aren’t student societies. For the better part of my knowledge, we’re essentially carrying the flag for Tolkien in student circles… just us here at the U of A.”

An Evening in Rivendell takes place on Nov. 16 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Heritage Lounge in Athabasca Hall on the University of Alberta campus.

There are currently over 400 student groups at the University of Alberta with a multitude of interests and services.