Smials
 

Suilaid,
There used to be a programme on British Television many moons ago called Switch Off Your Television Set and Do Something Completely Different, I'd like you to turn off you computer (just for a few hours every month) and do the same. In The Tolkien Society they have what are known as local Smials, meeting places for TolkFolk. There may be one near you, are you a member, if not why not?. I get great enjoyment from these monthly meetings, we discuss all things Tolkien the same as we do on The Barrow-Downs. So here is the reason for the post:- The Growth of the Tolkien World Community and the offer of Friendship. I would love to have the ability to travel the world and meet all of you, but that is unrealistic, but I have visited other smials here in England.

My Smial is The Rangers of the North (North-West England) we meet in Preston on the last Saturday of the month.

If you are a member of a Smial please leave your calling card on this thread so that others can see if they are near you.

If you wish a List Of Smials they can be found on The Tolkien Society Homepage or just ask me and I'll see if I can find out for you.

Belain na le.


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Wellinghall Smial
 

I'm a member of Wellinghall Smial, of Greater Toronto, in Canada. We don't meet regularly, but definitely do for Tolkien Reading Day, when we gather to read some of our favourite passages to each other. Quaffing and eating are also involved. ;)

However, Wellinghall is a very ambitious smial, for it produces the Silver Leaves Journal, which is sold to raise money for a very important fundraising venture: the White Tree Fund, an incorporated non-profit organization supporting charities engaged in crisis response, humanitarian programs, literacy & environmental initiatives. Many Tolkien communities are part of the White Fund and several Tolkien scholars and illustrators have contributed to Silver Leaves, such as Tom Shippey, Dimitra Fimi, and Jef Murray, to name a few. The fund is named after the White Tree of Gondor, and uses as its symbol, with the permission of the artist, the painting of the White Tree by Ted Nasmith, commissioned for the 2004 edition of The Silmarillion. (He also has sometimes attended Wellinghall Smial meetings.)

The White Tree Fund is inspired by the question: How have Tolkien's works inspired you to make the world a better place?

The fund has items for sale and also an arrangement with Amazon so that when books are ordered on Amazon through the White Tree Fund, a percentage of the sales goes to the fund. If you want to make a difference in the world, check out the link and see how you can show how Tolkien influenced you.

So, Wellinghall Smial is an active smial. If you live near the Place of Meeting (Huron) or Where Trees Are Standing in the Water (Mohawk) (also known as Muddy York or just plain Toronto) please consider joining us.

That Mohawk name is pretty cool for Wellinghall, no?

I belong to the Hannohirrim, the German Tolkien Society smial in Hannover. We meet once a month; though distance prevents me from attending regularly, I enjoy going. Currently we're reading the Hobbit together as well as discussing various things (mostly) Tolkien-related.

We also meet at the beginning of January every year to toast the Professor on his birthday, and every couple of years we hold a "Tolkien day" to which the general public is invited.

Those who can read German are welcome to check out the group's homepage - there are also photos of various activities.

There are, of course, numerous other smials in other areas of Germany, so anyone interested can read the "Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft"'s page for more information. The smials are called "Stammtische" in German.