I Palantir

Zine
Title:	I Palantir
Publisher:	Bruce Pelz
Editor(s):	Ted Johnstone, Bruce Pelz
Date(s):	1960-1964
Frequency:
Medium:	print
Size:
Fandom:	Tolkien
Language:	English
External Links:
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cover of issue #1, John Harness

I Palantir was the gen Tolkien anthology published by the first organized Tolkien group, The Fellowship of the Ring.

This zine is credited as the first fanzine solely devoted to Tolkien. It had a sister zine called Nazgul's Bane, which was published in the UK for the club's British members.

There were four issues of "I Palantir" before the organization was disbanded.

Ted Johnstone was the group's founder. "Ted Johnstone is the pseudonym for David McDaniel, author of a number of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. novels and at least one The Prisoner novel."

Issue 1

I Palantir 1 was published in August 1960 and contains 17 pages. The cover is by John Harness. This issue contains material by by George Heap, Arthur R. Weir, and Richard Eney, including the two oldest known works of Tolkien fanfiction.

• "Departure in Peace" by George Heap
• "A Study of the Hithlain of the Wood-elves of Lorien," article by Arthur R. Weir
• "A Faithful Servant Named Sam" by Richard H. Eney - compares Sam with Sam Weller from The Pickwick Papers (actually by Hal Lynch, miscredited in the original issue)

Issue 2

cover of issue #2, George Barr

I Palantir 2 was published in August 1961 and contains 24 pages.

• Cover illustration by George Barr
• "The Jewel of Arwen" by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• "The Fellowship, First Annual Meeting" by Jack Harness
• "High Fly the Nazgul, Oh!" cycle song by Ted Johnstone and others
• "Haiku Portraits" by Don Studebaker, Ted Johnstone and others (in Tengwar and English)
• Minutes of the first annual meeting of The Fellowship

Issue 3

I Palantir 3 was published in April 1964. It has a cover by Bjo Trimble

• "The Parting of Arwen" by Elfride Rivers, a pseud of Marion Zimmer Bradley
• "Haiku Portraits" by Don Studebaker, Ted Johnstone, and others (only one Haiku, in Tengwar and English)
• "Ethical Patterns in The Lord of the Rings" by Patricia Meyer Spacks; reprinted from Critique 3:1
• "No Monroe in Lothlorien" by Arthur Weir (reprinted from Triode #17, with some of the comments it drew there, by J. R. R. Tolkien and others)
• "Hobbits and Heroes" by Anthony Curtis (short article on an interview with J. R. R. Tolkien, reprinted from the Sunday Telegraph, November 10, 1963)

Issue 4

I Palantir 4 was published in August 1964. It has a cover by Dian Pelz.

• "Whither/wither Tolkien Fandom" by Bruce Pelz
• "The Bridge of Khazad-Dum" graphic art strip by Richard Glass
• "The Bridge of Khazad-Dum: An Explanation" by Doc Weir (same as in Eldritch Dream Quest #1)
• Addenda to 'No Monroe in Lothlorien" by Doc Weir (from I Palantir #3, 1964)
• Hello Frodo, or What Ever Happened to Sauron's Ring" by Kathleen Huber (a one act musical with fourteen songs, all tunes borrowed)