innumerable_stars | The Notion Club Papers Promo Post

A rainy day seen through a window. The camera focused on the raindrops on the window, rendering the cityscape beyond blurry.

(written by

Summary: In 1980s Oxford, professor Michael Ramer discovers a method for the mind to travel in time and space while the body is asleep. He presents his discoveries to the Notion Club, a social group strikingly similar to the Inklings of the 30s and 40s, and while some are skeptical, others take off with the idea. Then one night, a great storm rises up out of the west, and Arundel Lowdham cries to the others, “The Eagles of the Lords of the West are at hand!” A time travel story connecting the mythological fall of Númenor to the (then) near future of the 1980s, The Notion Club Papers went forever unfinished, and by the end of it the main characters have experienced only one major dream/vision: that of Ælfwine, an Englishman from the Middle Ages. In an outline, Tolkien gestures towards the tale of Ælfwine meeting Elves on Tol Eressëa, a “Beleriand tale”, and the fall of Númenor as told through the eyes of Elendil and his friend Voronwë. Why should I check out this canon? The Notion Club Papers draws on many more famous aspects of the Legendarium and will appeal to fans of:

Númenor and its fall
Ælfwine and his meeting with the Elves
portal fantasy and contemporary fantasy
crossovers between Middle-earth and the modern day
and, of course, the Inklings.

Where can I get this? The entire text of The Notion Club Papers, including commentary by Tolkien’s son Christopher, can be found in volume nine of The History of Middle-earth, which is titled Sauron Defeated. Check your library and any local bookstores, or buy it online.

What fanworks exist already? Fanworks of The Notion Club Papers are, not surprisingly, hard to come by. fanfiction.net hosts at least one work by shakespeareanfish, which you can read here. AO3 has a recently posted piece of meta in Russian. JD-Kloosterman on DeviantArt has contributed fanart. Between these works, there’s lots of space for fans to take up a pen (or keyboard, paintbrush, stylus, etc.) and bring something new to The Notion Club Papers universe.