Join us for a remarkable and unique celebration of Victorian designer, artist, and author William Morris's incredible proto-fantasy, history-infused enigma The House of the Wolfings. J. R. R. Tolkien's single biggest literary influence and the foundational novel of all contemporary heroic fantasy fiction, Morris's The House of the Wolfings draws from the historical record to paint an intense, feverish, and inspired tale about a community of Goths (an ancient people who spoke a language closely related to English) who fight to resist enslavement by the invading Romans. While obscure and rarely mentioned today, Morris's novel is easily one of the most influential books of all time, providing the conceptual groundwork for the entire genre of contemporary fantasy fiction, Tolkien's fantasy universe, Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, Elden Ring, and much more.

This event features performances of material from The House of the Wolfings by Devon Rawlings and musical accompaniment by Adrienne Awen with discussion from philologist Joseph S. Hopkins and an introduction regarding drawing from the Old Norse mythological record by author Gregory Amato. It also features a special message from Jane Anne Carlin at the William Morris Society and a very special performance by the Wolfings Choir.