BEWILDERED AND BEMUSED
Or the True Nature of Glamour
Today, the word “glamour” is more closely associated with ’50’s film starlets and glossy magazines than with its original meaning.
Here is what the dictionaries say:
GLAMOUR:
1720, “magic, enchantment” (especially in phrase to cast the glamour), a variant of Scot. gramarye “magic, enchantment, spell,” alt. of Eng. grammar (q.v.) with a medieval sense of “any sort of scholarship, especially occult learning.” Popularized by the writings of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Sense of “magical beauty, alluring charm” first recorded 1840. Glamorous can be dated to 1882 (slang shortening glam first attested 1936); glamorize is dated 1936.
The etymology is intriguing and a little frustrating. “Gammayre” is almost systematically listed as a Sottish variant on “grammar” (14th century), which is of course from Greek grammatike tekhne ‘art of letters’, from gramma ‘letter of the alphabet’. Not much to do with spells, but more with spelling. Hmmm… spells and spelling… it’s tempting, but a bit of a long-jump of faith, casting spells is not really like spelling correctly, despite the magic of putting names to things. [More]
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With kind permission John Howe has allowed us to re-print his newsletter entries as they are released. Take a look at the latest edition!
The Rest of the Rest – I realize I have been remiss is announcing events in Saint-Ursanne – actually I’ve been a little too busy with what I’ve been doing to think about announcing what I will be doing…
Here are the rest of the dates:
AUGUST 10th Conference/debate With François Rouiller, author & illustrator The theme will be the many faces of Heroes in fantasy. Hotel La Cigogne, 8:00 p.m.
AUGUST 11th Signing session At the cloister. This will begin at 2:00 p.m. and likely last a couple of hours. Normally, we will distribute numbered tickets for a dozen signatures with drawings, the remainder will be signatures only.
AUGUST 23rd Conference/debate Medieval fantasy art, with Sara Petrucci. Restaurant de l’Ours, 7:00 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 1st Conference/debate Fantasy bestiary, with Sara Petrucci. Hotel de la Demi-Lune, 6:30 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 2nd Signing session This will be a joint signature session with Alan LEE, so it’s possible it will turn into a bit of a marathon. This will be Alan’s first (but hopefully not last) visit to Switzerland. The cloister: starting at 2:00 p.m. John
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Internationally acclaimed artist and LOTR guru John Howe writes: This is the limited pendant done for the summer exhibition “Saint-Ursanne la Fantastique”. Done by a local jeweller, it is based on one of the exhibition’s sculpture designs. Made of sterling silver, it is engraved “johnhowe07” on the back. This engraved edition is strictly limited to 100 copies.
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CHICAGO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ — Fans of the music of Academy Award-winning Howard Shore will have two opportunities to interact with the composer during the Chicago performances of “The Lord of the Rings Symphony: A Symphony in Six Movements” on October 8 and 9 at the Auditorium Theatre. Mr. Shore will host a 45-minute question & answer session prior to each performance from the Auditorium Theatre Stage; the Q&A sessions are only open to patrons holding tickets for those respective nights. Mr. Shore will also host a 90-minute post-show dessert and champagne reception each night immediately following the show. The reception tickets, which are $75.00, are limited to 100 patrons per night and may be purchased by calling (312) 951-0080.
The performances each night begin at 8:00 p.m. Fans wishing to interact with Mr. Shore at the Q&A session may arrive at the Auditorium Theatre at 6:00 p.m.; seating will be general admission. Mr. Shore and Doug Adams, author of the upcoming book The Music of the Lord of the Rings, will take questions from the stage beginning at approximately 6:30pm. Upon conclusion of the Q&A session at 7:15 p.m., patrons will be reseated in their ticketed seat.
The post-show reception will be in the Auditorium Theatre’s 2nd-floor dress circle lobby. Mr. Shore will sign autographs, pose for pictures, and otherwise mingle and interact with attendees. Dessert from Eli’s Cheesecake and champagne are complimentary. Other cocktails and soft drinks are available via a cash bar.
“The Lord of the Rings Symphony: A Symphony in Six Movements” features more than 200 musicians and singers performing music from all three films in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The presentation will also feature original concept and storyboard artwork from the films by artists Alan Lee and John Howe. Projected images will chronologically align with the music as the story of the hobbits’ journey unfolds. Tickets, which range from $35.00 to $80.00, are on sale now, and may be purchased at the Auditorium Theatre box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, or by calling (312) 902-1500.
“The Lord of the Rings Symphony: A Symphony in Six Movements” is presented by Jam Theatricals.
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