ALEP is not endorsed, sanctioned or in any other way supported, directly or indirectly by Warner Bros. Entertainment, the Lord of the Rings book publishers or the J.R.R. Tolkien estate orits representatives
AL3P is not endorsed, sanctioned, or in any other way supported, directly or indirectly by Warner Bros. Entertainment, the Lord of the Rings book publishers, or the J.R.R. Tolkien estate or its representatives.Habitasse © Curabitur felis erat. Mauris di Serif. Vestibulum | Sed vulputate
Nicknamed “The Celtfather”, Gunn is a champion of indie Celtic music. He quit his day job in 2005 to pursue music full-time. He got involved in podcasting during his downtime. His Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is one of the top 20 music podcasts on iTunes. It was voted the #1 Best Podsafe Music Podcast in the People’s Choice Podcast Awards in 2009 and 2010. His Celtic Music Magazine is published monthly and goes out to over 20,000 subscribers. He has given away over 20,000,000 MP3s since he began his Celtic music career.
Gunn began his Celtic journey in 1999 with Austin’s award-winning duo, the Brobdingnagian Bards. He performed at some of the largest Celtic festivals, highland games, Renaissance faires, science fiction conventions in the country, including: South By Southwest, Stone Mountain Highland Games, DragonCon, Texas Renaissance Festival, and even a “Lord of the Rings” Oscar Party.
Marc Gunn was there at the beginning of the indie music revolution. While other bands fought to sign to a record label, Gunn started Mage Records to promote his music in the DIY fashion. Mage Records focues on indie Celtic and folk music, the traditional and the twisted. He has released over fifty albums on his Mage Records label since its inception in 1997.
Marc Gunn’s latest album mixes drinking songs and fantasy music inspired by JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”. The album–”Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits”–highlights the hobbits and their love of eating, drinking and song.
Marc Gunn combines his love of travel with his love a music. Every year, he hosts Celtic Invasion Vacations which are different from standard vacation tours. They are not about “what you can see”. Instead they are about “what you experience.” Gunn believes that it is the people around you who ultimately make a vacation great. He finds one single location abroad and gathers like-minded vacationers to experience his motto, “Good food, good drink, good company”. In 2013, he will take Celtic music lovers on a Celtic Invasion of the Highlands of Scotland.
Marc is a fixture at ALEP, and with good reason too! He has been a constant inspiration to the organizers in his unyielding passion for Tolkien and willingness to help out when called upon, despite a busy schedule of his own.
Found in the Dancing Pony in the afternoons and evenings, as well as everywhere else at any time about the village, Marc is ALEP family.
The Bard of ALEP
Activities:
Wednesday:
Activity #1
Thursday:
Activity #1
Friday:
Activity #1
Saturday:
Activity #1
Sunday
Activity #1
Marc Gunn
Bio
We are just as excited to welcome Jamie back as a valued part of ALEP!
Jamie also performed with Marc and Samantha at both ALEP 2 & 3 bringing both voice and a driving beat.
The Beat Goes On
Activities:
Wednesday:
Activity #1
Thursday:
Activity #1
Friday:
Activity #1
Saturday:
Activity #1
Sunday
Activity #1
Jamie Haeuser
Michael D.C. Drout is the Frances A. Shirley Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, where he teaches classes in Old and Middle English, Writing, Linguistics, Science Fiction and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
One of the founders of the journal Tolkien Studies, Drout is the author of How Tradition Works, Tradition and Influence in Anglo-Saxon Literature, Drout’s Quick and Easy Old English, and How to Think: the Liberal Arts and their Enduring Value, and he is co-author of Beowulf Unlocked: New Evidence from Lexomic Analysis. He edited J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beowulf and the Critics and the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia and co-edited Transitional States: Cultural Change, Tradition and Memory in Medieval England.
A consultant for The Lord of the Rings On-line MMPORG, Drout has appeared in two History Channel mini-series: Clash of the Gods and True Monsters, and in National Geographic’s Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King. He has also recorded thirteen audio courses for Recorded Books.
His new book, The Tower and the Ruin: How J.R.R. Tolkien Works, will be published by W.W. Norton in the fall of 2025.
Drout lives in Dedham, Massachusetts with his family and their two corgis, Lancelot and Percival.
Once again we are delighted and humbled to welcome back Professor Michael D. C. Drout.
His extensive knowledge and passion for Tolkien’s works and medieval literature have enlightened those lucky enough to attend his panels at past ALEP events and electrified audiences in the vast wooden hall with his live readings of Beowulf.
Master of the Old Tongue
Panels:
Panel #1: Friday (2:30pm) & Saturday (10:00am) :
"How the Ring Works"
description
Panel #2: Friday (10:00am) & Saturday (1:30pm) :
"From Heimweh to 'Tears blessed and without bitterness':
Complex Emotions in Tolkien's works."
description
Before Dinner: Saturday Night from the Party Site Stage (4:00pm :
“Jerry Springer goes to Middle-Earth “
For years I have done an exercise in my Tolkien classes in which students are chosen to represent the characters at the Council—and even some who were not invited, including Sauron, Gollum, Denethor, Saruman, and Gwaihir the Eagle. The students are responsible for taking their character’s parts and advocating for their interests in an un-scripted debate about the geopolitics of Middle-earth in light of the finding of the Ring. There have been some great moments in these debates: in 2008 I asked the student representing Saruman “What do you have to offer to Middle-earth?” and in an utterly deadpan voice he said: “Hope and Change.” There was a short pause followed by mass laughter. In 2018, in response to the same question, the student representing Saruman said: “With the Ring I would build a BETTER Dark Tower! The Best Dark Tower! The BEST! I understand Dark Tower building probably better than anyone else in Middle-earth! And it would be the biggest, most beautiful Dark Tower EVER!” It took a good five minutes for the class to stop laughing. And everyone, both times, got the point
Dr. Michael D. C. Drout
“Hello, I am Willie Jenkins also known as Knewbettadobetta. I am a Lord of the Rings Content Creator, Social media Influencer, and Lore expert. I am from Long Island New York and as a lifelong Tolkien fan, sharing my passion for his writing brings me immense joy. I currently teach classes on the Silmarillion at Signum University, as well as Create Content for the Signum Collaboratory. I host the podcast Voices of Arda, but am most known for my Tolkien content on Tiktok.”
Greetings all. Please welcome for the first time to our corner of the Shire, Mr. Willie Jenkins. He came highly recommended and I was honored he accepted my invitation. I for one, very much look forward to cultivation this new friendship/family member.
Knewbettadobetta
Panels:
Panel #1: Thursday (10:00am) & Friday (12 noon) :
“Tolkien and Escapism“
In this Panel I will be discussing how Tolkien shaped my life and protected me from the
harsh realities I was raised in. I will also talk about the difficulties people from my culture have getting into tolkien and why that is, but the undeniable fact of how they would relate
with all things tolkien despite their fear of getting into it.
Panel #2: Thursday (1:00pm) & Saturday (10:00am) :
“The Parentage of Gil-galad (A happy Accident)“
In this Panel we will dive deep into the parentage of Gil-Galad as it appears in the Silmarillion and also the retcon. I will present what I feel is undeniable evidence on how Gil-galad works better as a character if he is left as Fingon's son. I will also delve into the anomaly of the happy accident that made it this way in the book and how Christopher Tolkien, who had the control to keep the change, should have left it that way.
Panel #3: Thursday (3:30pm) & Friday (10:00am) :
“The Problem with Orodreth“
It brings me much joy to present a panel pointing out the many flaws and failures in Ororeths kingship. I will discuss how his ineffectiveness as a steward and king led to the downfall of Nargothrond and death of many elves. i will also discuss why of all the elves from his line he was written this way.
Willie Jenkins
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