News
Wednesday 21st November
Our good friend René van Rossenberg has written
a very nice report of our event for the magazine of Nancy Marsch. Here it is:
Cair Andros 2007
For a Tolkien enthusiast living in Europe there is the extra bonus of having
lots of Tolkien societies to join. Just about every country in Europe has its
own society, one of the few exceptions is -oddly enough- Ireland. Five years ago
Greece joined the fold with the founding of The Prancing Pony. At various
festivals I met a few of the Greek members. For instance there was a sizeable
delegation in Birmingham in 2004, where they gave an impressive stage
performance (not to mention a room party...) Several times I urged them to
organise an international festival in Greece for I was interested to see how the
Greeks 'do' Tolkien and having never been to Greece it was a nice opportunity
for me to have a holiday there. So when the Greek Tolkien Society announced Cair
Andros to celebrate their fifth anniversary, I paid my dues and packed a
suitcase.
I went a week earlier to enjoy the rich history of Athens. Kaith Karagiwrgh,
chairwoman of the society, was kind enough to show me, guest-of-honour Marcel
Buelles (chairman of the German TS) and his girlfriend Sara some interesting
sites on the Pelopponesos, such as Mycene and Epidaurus. Both Marcel and I are
historians, while Sara is an archeology student, so you can well imagine we
enjoyed ourselves.
On Friday, 6 October the festival started with a gathering at the port Rafina to
take the ferry to the island of Andros. Here I noticed the first cultural
difference which makes attending meetings of the various Tolkien societies in
Europe so interesting. The programme simply stated "meet us at the harbour
Rafina at 17.00 hours", but the port is a big place. We in Northern Europe
organise in much more detail and would have told the participants exactly where
to meet. Marcel solved the potential problem by using a well-placed taverna to
gather the potential wanderers-but-not-yet-lost. On the ferry the introductions
were made and after 2 hours we arrived on the lovely island, where a coach
brought us to Hotel Paradise. The country lanes on Andros are clearly not
designed with coaches in mind and I had the distinct feeling the driver wanted
to take us to a different heaven for his driving was -well- bloodcurling.
Part of the hotel was an old icemaking factory, refurbished as a small museum
and conference centre. There Kaith opened the festival on Saturday morning and
we listened to the first lecture "The Fall of Númenor: Is Fantasy more important
than Knowledge" by Stamatis Matsinos. Given in two sessions (as Stamatis
admitted, it was a bit on the long side), the paper gave us some food for
thought on philosophical matters like what is knowledge. After a coffee break
Caspar Reiff gave a most interesting talk on why he founded the Danish Tolkien
Ensemble and how he went about on his project to set all the poems and songs in
The Lord of the Rings to music.
Caspar was the last minute replacement of John Howe, whom had cancelled only a
few weeks before the festival. I have met John several times and he is a very
nice man, always willing to support a Tolkien event. But unfortunately he does
has a habit of cancelling at the last moment, for he did so at least three times
before. Yet Caspar Reiff proved to be a great guest, full of fun and hilarious
anecdotes. Any festival is fortunate to have him as a guest-of-honour, even more
so if he brings along his guitar.
The organisers very cleverly left the Saturday afternoon free for everyone to
explore the picture-postcard town of Andros, sit on the beach or have a swim in
the hotel pool. I did all three, but was alone in the pool. Because it was the
end of the season the hotel had switched off the heating. The cold water did not
bother me; I swim regulary in the North Sea and even at summertime the water
does not get much warmer than 16 degrees celsius.
At 7 o'clock the evening programme started with a talk by Thomas Mastakouris on
Tolkien and the North-European Tradition. This was in Greek, but very
considerately a summary in English was handed out to the seven foreign guests.
Next followed a panel discussion between three fantasy authors. One of the
topics was how much influence you accept from your publisher. I have worked for
a Dutch publishing firm and have fought these battles from the other side, as it
were, so I was amused by the indignant rejection by all three of any influence
at all.
Then the not-so serious entertainment started with the inevitable costume
contest. My vote went to the girl dressed as the professor, but a Rohirrim guard
won. This was followed with another sure fixture at any Tolkien event: the quiz.
This was in the "German format", i.e. teams of three players battling through
three rounds: general knowledge, pictionary and taboo (describing a topic
without using keywords written on the card). I formed a team with Marcel and
Caspar and we were soundly beaten by the home team.
At nine the mad coach driver was back to take us to a restaurant for the Gala
dinner. To my mind it was not a dinner, but a benign murder attempt. I am not a
big eater and after four dishes I was ready for my coffee and a nap, but from
the kitchen the platters kept on coming; I lost count after 10. I was truely
stuffed. This Dutchman is clearly not a hobbit, but I enjoyed every minute of
it: "jamas!"
Sunday morning I skipped breakfast (no room for it) and went to the icemaking
factory for two more lectures. George Shinas spoke on Tolkien and Romantic
Literature, while Marcel Buelles tackled the topic Tolkien and the First World
War. In it he argued that the premature death of Tolkien's father was of greater
importance to Ronald's development than his experiences in the trenches. This
resulted in a lively debate with the audience, which had to be cut short by the
moderator for the next item was ready. Watched by somewhat bewildered hotel
guests two Dunlending raiders dragged Rohirrim women along with no doubt evil
intend in mind. They were rescued by a single warrior. There were supposed to be
two, but the other one was sick in bed. There is only so much you are willing to
do to save the honour of some dames...
With the cutting of the birthday cake (two of them), the presenting of gifts and
some well-spoken praises to the organisers the first international festival of
the Greek Tolkien Society The Prancing Pony came to an end. I have organised
four lustrum festivals for Unquendor (the Dutch TS) and therefore know from
experience how much hard work goes into organising a festival like this. I was
much impressed by Cair Andros; the Greeks have done their society proud. I am
looking forward to the next festival; they have plenty of islands to choose
from.
René van Rossenberg
Monday 12th November
A great adventure comes to its end. Your participation in this event and the
satisfaction you have expressed was for us the best reward. We know now that we
can accomplish any goal as long as we stick together. The last thing we should
do is give a small taste of the good time we had to all those who could not be
with us.
A brilliant idea
The idea of having an event of our own has been brewing in
our minds for a long time. Our fifth anniversary seemed the perfect chance and
our members supported us in full. Some of us took up the responsibility to form
the organizing committee, others to help them out as best we could. More than 10
months of big hopes, planning, promoting and a lot of hard work promised us a
good result.
It was a sunny, warm, late afternoon on the 5th
of October, when most of the 45 participants, full of excitement and
anticipation, gathered in the small port of Rafina to board the ship bound for
the island of Andros. Three had already gone in the morning to prepare for our
arrival. On board the ship a warm welcome was extended to both guests and
participants and official introductions were made. The atmosphere was relaxed
and friendly, the newest members mixed in very soon. The two hours long trip
went by very quickly and soon we were in a bus driving along the narrow,
convoluted roads of the island towards Hora, the capital and munching with
obvious pleasure the “amygdalota”, the traditional, local almond sweets.
Arriving at the hotel, we found our room keys together with our registration
cards and a beautifully crafted program awaiting us in already prepared
envelopes. The happy exclamations from the rooms proved our choice of venue
correct. Many of us were a bit hungry so a night stroll through the quaint
little streets took us to a tavern, where the newcomers had a first taste of “hobbiting”.
The fresh island breezes and the welcoming raki in our rooms will help us get a
good night’s sleep.
I had fallen in love with the old ice-making factory, now
converted with loving care in a folklore and Byzantine art museum, at first
sight. Now seeing it decorated with the beautiful drawings of our friend John
Rubulias, hanging by invisible lines from the old pipes and gently swinging in
the wind, bringing to life dragons, balrogs and shinning heroes, makes me sure
this is the right place for our presentations. The rest of the free space is
taken up by exhibits of books, games, CDs, pins and other paraphernalia relevant
to our theme. As people enter they seem amazed by the whole display. Upstairs on
the wide loft chairs, tables and podium are ready and waiting, lit eerily by the
subdued light illuminating the icons in their niches. Some come already clad in
their costumes for the competition. MomEnt is true to her name, beautiful in
long brown and green robes with moss and ivy and her little squirrels and
lady-bags. Sissy is very cleverly dressed up as “The Professor” with tweed
jacket, vest and pipe. And of course, there are various lords and elf-maidens.
Then a tall Rohirrim guard enters clad in full armor with his long cape flowing
and his sword drawn. Looks like Vassili aims to win.
We are running late, so I open the day by quoting a few
lines about CairAndros from the Appendixes. Then I give the podium over to
Stamatis Matsinos for his presentation, which will be in English for the benefit
of our guests. Although very long, the paper on “Fantasy and Knowledge” and the
part they played in the development of events in Numenor holds the attention of
the listeners and is rewarded with a big round of applause.
Right after it, there is a short coffee brake and then
Caspar Reif presents to us the work of the Tolkien Ensemble. We hear a few
characteristic pieces of their music and the deep, unearthly voice of
Christopher Lee reciting the Ring Verse makes us all shiver. After that, there
is a big demand for the 4CD sets that Rene has brought with him over from his
famous Tolkien Shop and Caspar autographs them with gusto and patience.
The mid-day brake is intentionally long so people can enjoy
some of the attractions of the island, like the museums, the old churches and
the beautiful scenery. The weather is warm and the wind low, so many just go
swimming in nearby coves or the hotel pool.
We begin again in the late afternoon. Everyone seems quite
relaxed and happy. Our first speaker is Thomas Mastakouris, who talks to us
about the influences of Nordic and Teutonic legends on the work of Tolkien. The
talk is in Greek but we have handouts with the translation for our foreign
participants. After the presentation, Thomas joins Vasso Christou and Evelyne
Okonnek in a discussion panel on the writing of fantasy novels. All three of
them are published fantasy writers and they can really analyze the subject and
answer or the diverse questions of the audience. This discussion would have
taken up the rest of our evening if we had let run its course.
But our QUIZ awaits! The teams prove the total mixing of
our participants. People who hardly knew each other yesterday join forces with
old friends and almost all the teams are international. Now that’s truly
celebrating the Professor’s spirit. The actual contest is highly educational and
absolutely hilarious. Last year’s winners defend their title staunchly and earn
some nice books as prize. Voted by the public as winner of the costume contest
is our warrior in shiny armor, who delights in his gift, an action figure of
Tree-beard.
It’s dinner time. A bus takes us to a tavern far above the
town on the mountain side, from where we have a fantastic view of the lights in
the town and harbor. Three long tables are set for us, already heaped with
starters and jugs of wine. We are hungry after the long day and the food is
delicious. It must be said that Greeks eat like Hobbits at least as far as the
quantities are concerned. Our foreign friends were quite shocked to hear that
after all the starters, salads and special local omelets there were rooster in
wine with noodles and special goat grilled with rosemary and honey to be served.
Of course, after that there would be desert. The fresh, cool night air by the
pool does wonders for the digestion and talking with dear friends makes the
hours fly. It’s almost dawn when we finally get to bed.
Sunday comes with brilliant sunshine and even higher
temperatures. First to speak today is George Shinas, who gives us an analysis on
Romanticism in the art of the Middle Ages and its presence in the work of
Tolkien. Not following a fixed text but improvising on the spot from his notes,
he surprises the audience with his fluency and accuracy and draws us all in his
passionate reminisces.
Next is Marcel Buelles, who will speak on Tolkien and the
World War. An experienced speaker, he commands the audience’s attention. The
subject itself is quite interesting and results in quite an impresive
discussion, which must be cut short so we can proceed with the program.
We leave the beautiful old factory rooms for the last time.
It’s like leaving a secret, magical cave. The final part of our event will take
place outside, by the pool. Everyone gathers around. Some of the other hotel
guest, who are swimming look at us with curiosity. An impressive Gregorian
melody is heard from the loudspeaker and two Dunlending raiders appear dragging
with them captive Rohirrim women. They shout at them, push them to the ground.
Then a lone warrior confronts them. He battles with them one on one and defeats
them both. He then proceeds to chase them off and free the huddling damsels in
distress. The applause for Vassili, Spyro, Veroniki, Spyridoula and George
Shinas, who has orchestrated and taught the scene, is resounding. Everyone is
taking dozens of pictures and congratulating our warriors, who might have fought
with wooden swords, the originals being kept in their sheaths for obvious
reasons, but fought well and would for sure be worthy opponents for any real
swordsman.
Closing time is here. I thank each and every one of the
committee members and volunteers, who have given their best to ensure the
success of this event, as well as all our foreign guests and participants, who
flew all the way from their homes just to be with us. The Dutch and German
Societies present us with friendly gifts, which are greatly appreciated and will
be duly shared with all members. Emotions run high, everyone is moved and no-one
wants to believe that this beautiful gathering is already approaching its end.
The two big birthday cakes give us some kind of
consolation, so they are totally cleaned out. Then it’s again off to the port,
onto the ship and back to Rafina. Here the final goodbyes are said and many
promises to meet again soon are given.
One thing is certain. This was indeed an October to
remember!
Wednesday, 10th October
Dear friends,
Our event "CairAndros07" took place as planned, the weekend 5-7 October at
the beautiful Hora of Andros. The transportation, the stay and program went
mostly as planned, without many deviations or changes. All the participants
expressed their satisfaction.
A full report and photos will follow as soon as possible.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank once again all of you,
participants, new and old friends, official guests. Without you this would not
have been such a great success!
Monday, 24th September
Some minor changes in the program of Saturday, 6th October, can now be seen
in our Schedule.
Sunday, 23rd September
Here is the amended event program. Information on how to
fill your noon breaks can be found in our FAQ section.
Friday, 5 October
18:00-18:30 Gathering at Rafina Port.
19:15 Ship departs for Andros.
19:30 Get together on
board. First introductions.
Reading.
21:15 Arrival at Gavrion Port. Departure with
bus to Hora.
22:00 Arrival at hotel
«Paradise». Registration
and accommodation.
Saturday, 6 October
10:00 Welcome-official start of the event.
10:15 Beginning of the costume contest.
10:30
"The fall of Numenor- Is Fantasy more
important than Knowledge?"
presentation by Stamatis
Matsinos and Konstatinos Dasyllas.
11:30 "The
Tolkien Ensemble", the story and works of a very special music group
presented
by its founder Caspar Reiff. Part I
12:15 Short coffee
brake.
12:30 "The
Tolkien Ensemble", the story and works of a very special music group
presented
by its founder Caspar Reiff. Part II
13:30 Noon brake.
18:00 “Tolkien and
the North European Tradition” –
presentation by Thomas Mastakouris.
19:00
Panel discussion on fantasy novel
writing with Vaso Christou - Evelyne Okonnek
- Thomas
Mastakouris.
19:30
THE QUIZ
21:00
Announcement of the winners of the QUIZ
and the costume contest.
21:30 Gala dinner.
Sunday, 7 October
10:30 “Tolkien and Romantic Literature” -
presentation by George Shinas.
11:30 “Tolkien and the First World War” -
presentation by Marcel Buelles.
12:00 Sword-fighting
demonstration.
12:30 Cutting of the birthday cake and
goodbye.
15:00 Departure of the bus to Gavrion port.
16:30 Ship
departs to Rafina.
18:30 Arrival at
Rafina.
Sunday, 23rd September 2007
We are very happy to announce the participation in our event of Mr. Caspar
Reiff, musician, composer and founder of The Tolkien Ensemble.
He will give a lecture about the project of setting the aprox. 70 poems of
"The Lord of the Rings" to music, a project that has now lasted for 12 years.
This has been devided into three sub-periods: the "pre-movie-time" from 1995 to
2000, the "movie-time" 2001-2003 and then the "post-movie-time" from 2004 till
now...
The lecture will be enhanced with examples from the group's live
performances and there will also be an analysis on how they divided the music styles
for the different people of Middle-earth.
The event program will be amended accordingly.
Wednesday, 12th September 2007
We regret
to announce that Mr. John Howe has just informed us that he will not be able to
participate in our CairAndros2007 event. Here is his email:
Hi
I'm afraid I have to write with some not-so-good news. I have a huge job to
deliver for mid-October in London, and had hoped to be done well ahead of time
in order to accept the invitation to Greece. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like
I will have much time to spare. I'm really sorry, I hope you are able to find a
different guest, and wish you the very best luck with your gathering!
Please accept my apologies for not writing earlier, I had to wait until I could
see how much time I had.
Best
wishes
John
We want
to reassure you that we are doing our best to find a replacement, although this
seems rather impossible given the lateness of the date. Still, even with a
slight change in programming our event will go on as planned. We
are making the final preparations for the arrival of all our dear participants
from abroad and will most definitely have a good event and a great time.
With
your support we’ll surely make this…an October to remember!
Thursday, 02 August 2007
The time has come, now that most details are straightened out, to announce
the program of our event. If any small changes occur later on, we will inform
you immediately.
Friday, 5 Oct
18:00-18:30 Gathering at Rafina Port.
19:15 Ship departs for Andros.
19:30 Get together on
board. First introductions.
Reading.
21:15 Arrival at Gavrion Port. Departure with
bus to Hora.
22:00 Arrival at hotel
«Paradise».
Registration
and accommodation.
Saturaday, 6 Oct
10:00 Welcome-official start of the event.
10:15 Beginning of the costume contest.
10:30 “The fall of Numenor- Is Fantasy more
important than Knowledge?”
- presentation by Stamatis
Matsinos and Konstatinos Dasyllas.
11:30 Short coffee
brake.
12:00 John Howe – presentation,
discussion, book signing.
13:30 Noon brake.
18:00 “Tolkien and Teutonic Mythology” –
presentation by Thomas Mastakouris.
19:00 Panel discussion on fantasy novel
writing with Vaso Christou – Evelyne Okonnek
- Thomas
Mastakouris.
19:30 QUIZ
21:00 Announcement of the winners of the QUIZ
and the costume contest.
21:30 Gala dinner.
Sunday, 7 Oct
10:30 “Tolkien and Romantic Literature” -
presentation by George Shinas.
11:30 “Tolkien and the First World War” -
presentation by Marcel Buehles.
12:00 Sword-fighting
demonstration.
12:30 Cutting of the birthday cake and
goodbye.
15:00 Departure of the bus to Gavrion port.
16:30 Ship
departs to Rafina.
18:30 Arrival at
Rafina.
Dear friends, now that the first registration period is over,
we would like to thank you for your immediate and quite impressive response.
Your support means a lot to us and helps us to continue our efforts with the
hope of a very good event. There is already an impressive number of
participants, who took advantage of the special offer we had till May 31st.
This, of course, does not mean that the subscription period is over. Anyone can
subscribe up to the end of September. So even those, who cannot make plans
earlier can attend. All are welcome! Let us remind you of the participation
costs structure:
| Deadlines |
FEES |
| Till May 31st
|
EUR 180 |
| June 1st – August 31st |
EUR 200 |
| From September 1st |
EUR 220 |
| One-day participation fee |
EUR 30 (no meals) |
|
Cancellation request deadline: 31 July 2007 |
In a few days we will announce the official
program!
Sunday, 13 May 2007
The TolkienShop
Our dear friend Rene van Rossenberg of the famous TolkienShop will
participate in our October event. Due to the very long distance, he cannot drive
his magic bus to Andros, but he promised to bring anything we would like to
order until then. So please, visit
www.tolkienshop.com, check out the merchandize and place your orders by
email to Rene!
Tuesday, 10 April 2007
Application Deadline Extended Dear friends, we would like to thank
you for the support you have shown us by sending your registration forms in
time.
We have decided to extend the initial registration and payment deadline till
May 31st, so that others may profit as well from its special price, which is
150 euros for memebers and 180 euros for non-members of our society and
includes:
- Roundtrip boat tickets Rafina-Andros-Rafina
- Rountrip transportation between the port and 3star hotel "Paradise" in
Hora, Andros
- 2 overnights in double room with full American breakfast
- 1 gala dinner on Saturaday evening
- Participation in all planned events
All this, combined with our very special guests, make this an especialy
attractive offer. We hope to see all of you in Andros and celebrate together our
fifth anniversary. Still more surprises to come.....
Sunday, April 1st 2007
Special Guests
We are very proud and honored to announce that our event will be enriched by the presence of three very special guests, who have accepted our invitation. They are:
Mr. John Howe, world-famous illustrator, who specializes in fantastic landscapes, mythological worlds and heroes of epic literature. He is one of the artists, who worked with Peter Jackson and defined the aesthetic representation of Middle-earth in the film trilogy “Lord of the Rings”.
Mr. Marcel Buelles, president of the German Tolkien Society (DTG), philologist, doctoral student in the University of Cologne, Germany and visiting professor of Wheaton College, USA.
Mr. Thomas Mastakouris, lawyer, author of articles and books on the world of Tolkien, one of the first persons in Greece to realize the importance of the fantastic genre and translator of many such novels in Greek.
During the event we will have the pleasure to attend their presentations, discuss all matters Tolkien with them and spend time in their company. We, as the organizing committee, will try our best to make them welcome and we hope that they will enjoy our event as much as we will enjoy their participation. Soon we will give you full details about our guests and their program.
The Greek Tolkien Society – "The Prancing Pony" invites you to an international event for the celebration of its fifth anniversary, which will take place on 5-7 October 2007 at the beautiful island of Andros.
Spend with us a weekend full of professor Tolkien's spirit, with literary discussions, special presentations by well known Greek and foreign guests, knowledge and costume contests, fencing demonstrations by specialized members of our society and many more activities and surprises.
Information on the offer, the fees, our society in general and the island of Andros can be found in the pages of this site. News and updates on our guests and the program will be regularly announced here.
We will be very happy to see you!
"This will be an October to remember…"
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