Dr. Rebecca Davis-Lock

Oooff- I've had those days. Sending you a virtual cup of your favorite warm beverage

The Professor's words have been working overtime giving me comfort in these days: "For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

"Congeal" is a big ick for me

Congratulations! 🎉🎉🎉

PhD viva complete- I passed with minor corrections! I can honestly say it was the most enjoyable exam I have ever done 😁 I love talking about Tolkien!
#Tolkien #PhD #fanfiction

More like Freálove 🤩

Seriously- my first thought was "I didn't know James was a Swiftie!"

Happy to help! Make sure you have plenty of coffee lol

PhD thesis submitted! While I do feel a bit like butter-scraped-over-too-much-bread, it feels so good to have finished this! Now on to the viva!
#PhD #Tolkien

James: "Look, I'm not saying that Tolkien is the best, but he is the best."

Happy birthday to the book that gave us the elf named "Hot Ginger" 😁

I don't know why, but conclusions are the hardest thing for me to write. 😫

NARSIL!!!!!

You too?

The Fall of Gondolin- I kid, I kid. Cozy fires, steaming cups of tea, and a bountiful harvest.

Really quite disheartening and disappointing to see the Tolkien Society hosting a discussion on “AI in fantasy filmmaking” this year at Oxonmoot.

It feels about as morally and philosophically opposed to Tolkien’s work as a talk on the benefits of deforestation.

I haven't even gotten to the ethical issue of the lack of permission from or compensations to the artists whose work was used to train the AI. @tolkiensociety.org I respect you for your mission, but do better. Please do not promote something that is the antithesis of Tolkien and his creativity.

In effect, this presentation is akin to Saruman saying, "Hey guys, let me show you what we can do if we cut down Fangorn".

Gen AI uses massive amounts of natural resources. Its data centers lead to more pollution and deforestation than our planet needs. It speeds up the death of the woods and wild places that the Professor loved.

The @tolkiensociety.org is hosting a talk at this year's Oxonmoot about using Gen AI in fantasy filmmaking. The talk is in favor of it, based on its description, given below, and includes AI generated film apparently of Tolkien's work. To say I am shocked would be an understatement...

(channeling Regina George) "Get in loser, we're going crafting!"

My husband came in to check on me because I squealed so loudly at their scene in the finale!

Reading about the Noldor crossing the Helcaraxë and being in Oklahoma in summer has me going "eh, might not be too bad". 🥵

I totally headcanon Mandos headbanging to Blind Guardians' "Noldor" while shredding on a guitar

See, I'd like to say I am as elegant as a bow-wielding elf, but when it comes to trolls, nah, I'm going for the axe

In light of some recent behaviors from some bad actors in the Tolkien fandom community, this is a reminder that my small corner is a safe place and I work to keep it that way. If you are being harassed and need a shoulder, hug, or cup of tea, I'm here. I also offer my virtual axe.
#Tolkien

To which I’d say “Sir, you invented Tom Bombadil.”
(And I love Tom Bombadil)

And it truly shows the quality of this presentation- the very highest!

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.