Every once in a while, usually in times of extreme academic crisis, I forget where I go to school. If asked, I will just let out a long groan, and ask for “more red bull coffee juice” or some other absurdity. Then I receive e-mails like this one, and it all comes rushing back:

From: rfulton@uchicago.eduSubject: Elen sila lumenn omentilmo Welcome! I am so happy to see so many of you interested in taking "Tolkien: Medieval and Modern." Just a reminder: it is a prerequisite for the course that you have read the Lord of the Rings before we begin, so if you have not read it in a while, you might want to spend some of spring break refreshing yourself with the story. To get our conversation going, I have set up discussion boards for each week of the course. It would be wonderful to hear from you under "Welcome to Middle-earth" about why you are interested in taking this course and what your experience with Tolkien has been. Don't be shy! If you can read Elvish, let us know. We may need you to help translate some things for us during the course.Happy reading, and I look forward to seeing all of you this Spring.Prof. Fulton

word.