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Gormenghast (series)

Gormenghast is a fantasy series by British author Mervyn Peake, about the inhabitants of Castle Gormenghast, a sprawling, decaying, Gothic structure. Originally conceived as a single on-going novel, the series was ended by Peake's death and comprises three novels: Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959); and a novella, Boy in Darkness (1956). Peake was writing a fourth novel, Titus Awakes, at the time of his death in 1968. The book was completed by Peake's widow Maeve Gilmore in the 1970s, but was not published until 2011 after it was discovered by their family.

Although the first two installments do not contain any overtly fantastical elements, Gormenghast is almost unanimously categorised as fantasy because of the atmosphere and pseudo-medieval setting. The series has received widespread acclaim from the speculative fiction community and mainstream literary critics.

The series has been included in Fantasy: The 100 Best Books, Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels and 100 Must Read Fantasy Novels as one of the greatest fantasy works of the twentieth century. Literary critic Harold Bloom has praised the series as the best fantasy novels of the 20th century and one of the greatest sequences in modern world literature. Gormenghast is often credited as the first fantasy of manners novel. The books have been translated into over twenty languages.

Works
The series consists of three books: Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959). A short book, Boy in Darkness (1956), tells the story of a brief adventure by the young Titus away from Gormenghast, although it does not name the castle.

Peake had intended to write a series of books following Titus Groan through his life, as well as detailing his relationship with Gormenghast. At least two other books, tentatively titled Titus Awakes and Gormenghast Revisited, were planned but Parkinson's disease and Peake's ensuing death at the age of 57 prevented him from writing more than a few hundred words and ideas for further volumes. Only three pages of Titus Awakes were coherently written and can be found in the Overlook Press edition of Titus Alone (ISBN 0-87951-427-2) and in the omnibus volume (ISBN 0-87951-628-3).

In the 1970s, Peake's widow Maeve Gilmore wrote her version of Titus Awakes, which she called Search Without End. The Peake family announced the discovery of this book in 2010, and it was published by The Overlook Press as Titus Awakes: The Lost Book of Gormenghast in 2011 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Peake's birth.

Setting
Gormenghast is a remote and reclusive earldom dominated by the huge Castle Gormenghast at its centre, and ruled by the noble family of Groan since time immemorial. The earldom derives its name from Gormenghast Mountain, and is isolated from the outside world by inhospitable regions on each side of it. To the North are marshy wastelands, to the South are grey salt marshes (and presumably then the ocean), to the East are quicksands and the tideless sea, and to the West are knuckles of endless rock.

To the West also lies the claw-like Gormenghast Mountain, with the Twisted Woods and Gormenghast River at its foot. East of them are escarpments described as "an irregular tableland of greeny-black rock, broken and scarred and empty", then desolate swamp before the vicinity of the castle is reached. Gormenghast Mountain is said to be so large that from the castle it looks at most a few miles distant, whereas in fact it is a day's ride away on horseback. However, this is contradicted by events within the story, when various characters are able to travel on foot to the castle and back within a single day. Given that it is surrounded on three sides by watery regions, it is not implausible that the entire region can be flooded, as described in the second book, Gormenghast.

At the centre of the earldom is the vast, largely deserted castle, whose remaining inhabitants centre their lives on the ritual surrounding the ruling family of Groan. The castle is described as being like an immense island of stone, its every outline familiar to the inhabitants, who know "every bay, inlet and headland of the great stone island of the Groans, of its sheer cliffs, of its crumbling outcrops, the broken line of the towers". Dominating the ivy-covered, crumbling castle is the highest tower, the Tower of Flints, which is inhabited by great numbers of owls. The castle is so huge that most of the inhabitants do not venture outside except for ceremonies. Outside the castle, clustered under the northern walls, is a hodge-podge of mud dwellings inhabited by the "Bright Carvers", villagers whose only contact with the aristocrats is their annual ritual of carving elaborate objects out of wood and presenting them to the Earl for his judging of the winning carving. They are in awe of the "Castles", as they call Gormenghast's elite inhabitants.

Some contact with the outside world is implied; Dr Prunesquallor at one point sketches an ostrich skeleton, while Steerpike procures a monkey from somewhere. Otherwise, the impression given is that Gormenghast is stagnant, insular and introspective. A recurring theme is the time-consuming, complex and pointless rituals that the inhabitants submit to regularly, the origin and purpose of which is long forgotten. Gormenghast makes a stark contrast with the industrious and technologically advanced city that is the setting of Titus Alone.

Titus Groan
The story begins with the birth of the eponymous Titus, as the heir to the throne of the House of Groan, and finishes just over a year later with his "Earling" or formal investiture as the seventy-seventh Earl of Groan, after the untimely death of his father Sepulchrave. As Titus is only an infant in this novel, he plays a minor role. The main plot therefore follows the somewhat bizarre inhabitants of Gormenghast Castle, and in particular chronicles the rise to power of Steerpike, a scheming kitchen boy. Steerpike successfully destroys the existing order of the castle by inciting the power-hungry and shunned twin sisters of Sepulchrave, Cora and Clarice, to burn Sepulchrave's beloved library. This event drives Sepulchrave into madness and eventually into taking his own life. Although Cora and Clarice are not exposed as the perpetrators of the fire, they are now under Steerpike's power. A subplot involves the feud between Sepulchrave's loyal servant Flay and the chef Swelter, which ends in a fight to the death.

Gormenghast
The second book follows Titus from the age of seven to seventeen. As the 77th earl and lord of Gormenghast, he dreads the life of pre-ordained ritual that stretches before him. His desire for freedom is awakened by the sight of his foster sister, known only as "The Thing", a feral child who lives in the woods of Gormenghast (due to her mother being banished as an outcast) and who terrorizes the Bright Carvers, the inhabitants of the mud dwellings outside the castle walls. Her life of wild freedom makes him realise that an existence is possible other than the rigid formalities and ritual of the castle. Meanwhile, Steerpike continues his rise to power by killing Barquentine, the Master of Ritual, and taking his place, but he is eventually unmasked as a traitor and murderer. The castle is flooded by a rainstorm, and in a watery duel with Titus, Steerpike is killed, leaving the way clear for Titus to reign. However, his desire to leave Gormenghast is now overwhelming, Titus flees the castle for the wider world beyond Gormenghast Mountain.

Titus Alone
The story follows Titus as he travels far from Gormenghast and finds a futuristic city dominated by scientists and advanced technology. He then travels to a region where a huge modern factory stands by a lake, filled with identical-looking workers. There is a smell of death from the factory and it is hinted that sinister experiments are taking place there. Titus is increasingly haunted by his memories of Gormenghast and begins to realise its importance to his identity. At the same time, the world he encounters is so different from his old home that he begins to doubt that Gormenghast ever really existed.

Titus is helped by mysterious inhabitants he meets, such as Muzzlehatch, the owner of a zoo, who drives a shark-shaped car and becomes a friend and mentor. He is also helped by Muzzlehatch's former lover, Juno, who in turn becomes Titus's lover for a brief period. However, Titus also becomes involved with Cheeta, the daughter of the scientist who runs the factory, and who grows to hate Titus and sets out to destroy him. This novel is more randomly plotted than its two predecessors, without a strong lead character or a fixed setting. A heavily edited first edition was published in 1959; a fuller version compiled by Langdon Jones from Peake's early drafts was issued in 1970 and forms the basis for all subsequent editions.

Characters
Peake populated his imaginary world with a large cast of characters. These include:

Ruling family
Titus Groan: The main character of the series, and heir to the Earldom of Gormenghast. He succeeds to the title of 77th Earl while still a child, but as he grows older, he develops ambivalent feelings toward his home. He is torn between pride in his lineage and the desire to escape from the castle and its traditions. Titus is born at the beginning of the first book of the series, the son of Sepulchrave and Gertrude, and is an infant throughout the whole of Titus Groan. He grows up and reaches young adulthood in the second book Gormenghast, which ends with him leaving Gormenghast after defeating Steerpike in battle. In the third book, Titus Alone, Titus discovers a world outside of Gormenghast where the castle and its inhabitants are unknown. Titus also features in another book called Boy in Darkness, which appears to take place during his youth in Gormenghast, but which is unconnected to the main story. Titus's character is one of yearning for freedom and the romance of being an ordinary person without the restrictions and responsibilities of the Earldom and the tradition that comes with it.

"As for Titus, he was almost grown now to his full height. But he was of an odd highly-strung nature -- sullen and excitable by turns. Strong as need be for his years, he was more apt to have his energy sapped by the excess of his imagination than of his body."

Lord Sepulchrave: 76th Earl and Titus's father. He is a melancholy man who feels shackled by his duties as Earl, although he never questions them. His only escape is reading. However, when the castle's Library is burnt down, he is driven insane and comes to believe that he is one of the death-owls that live in the abandoned Tower of Flints.

"... a dark figure stole forth, closing the door behind him quietly, and with an air of the deepest dejection.... His face was very long and was olive coloured. The eyes were large, and of an eloquence, withdrawn. His nostrils were mobile and sensitive. His mouth, a narrow line...."

The Countess Gertrude: 76th Countess and Titus's mother. An immense, statuesque woman with coils of dark red hair, she pays little attention to her family or the rest of Gormenghast. Instead, she spends her time locked away in her bedroom, in the company of a legion of cats and birds, the only beings toward which she shows affection. However, when required to use her intelligence she turns out to be one of the cleverest people in the castle, when (along with Flay and the doctor) she recognizes and investigates the worrying changes transpiring in Gormenghast. She demonstrates unexpected leadership qualities during the flooding of the castle and hunt for Steerpike, but once those threats have passed she retreats back into her isolated world. According to Sepulchrave's sisters, the Ladies Cora and Clarice, Gertrude is of common blood and not of the noble bloodline of the Groans.

"As the candles guttered or flared so the shadows moved from side to side, or up and down the wall, and with those movements behind the bed there swayed the shadows of four birds. Between them vacillated an enormous head. This umbrage was cast by her ladyship, the 76th Countess of Groan. She was propped against several pillows and a black shawl was draped around her shoulders. Her hair, a very dark red color of great luster, appeared to have been left suddenly while being woven into a knotted structure on the top of her head. Thick coils still fell about her shoulder or clustered on the pillows like burning snakes. Her eyes were of the pale green that is common among cats. They were large eyes, yet seemed, in proportion to the pale area of her face, to be small. The nose was big enough to appear so in spite of the expanse that surrounded it. The effect which she produced was one of bulk...."

Lady Fuchsia Groan: Titus's older sister. Fanciful, impatient, immature, and self-absorbed, she can also be impulsively warm and caring. She at first resents Titus but develops a deep bond with him. Of all Titus's family, she is the one he loves most. Fuchsia also experiences a brief bond with her father, Lord Sepulchrave, during his mental breakdown after the library fire. Broken by years of loss, disappointment, and disillusionment, she is killed as she accidentally slips from the windowsill where she was standing contemplating suicide. As she falls, she strikes her head on the stonework, and drowns unconscious in the floodwaters surrounding the Castle.

"... a girl of about fifteen with long, rather wild black hair. She was gauche in movement and in a sense ugly of face, but with how small a twist might she not suddenly have become beautiful. Her sullen mouth was full and rich -- her eyes smoldered. A yellow scarf hung loosely around her neck. Her shapeless dress was flaming red. For all the straightness of her back, she walked with a slouch."

Cora and Clarice Groan: Titus's aunts (sisters of Sepulchrave) are identical twins. They experienced spasms and 'fits' in their youth that temporarily paralysed the left-hand sides of their bodies. Their personalities appear indistinguishable and their combined conduct and conversation devoid of insight or intelligence — although Cora believes that she is slightly cleverer than Clarice, their thoughts and motivations run along the same lines. Both crave political power and bitterly resent Gertrude, who they believe has robbed them of their rightful place in the hierarchy of Gormenghast. Their witless desire for the adulation they believe due to them by inheritance and their thirst for revenge against their brother's consort lead them to become Steerpike's pawns.

"She and her sister were dressed in purple with gold buckles at their throats by way of brooches, and another gold buckle each at the end of hatpins which they wore through their gray hair in order apparently to match their brooches. Their faces, identical to the point of indecency, were quite expressionless, as though they were the preliminary layouts for faces and were waiting for sentience to be injected."

Other Castle dwellers
Alongside the ruling Groan family there is a large population within the castle who service its daily needs. Although the "Castles", as they are known (to distinguish them from the Bright Carvers), are all commoners, they are nevertheless highly socially stratified, from the socially respectable Dr. Prunesquallor and the Professors to the lowly Grey Scrubbers, whose sole job is to clean the walls of the kitchen. However lowly the position of the "Castles" may be, they consider themselves to be far superior to the Bright Carvers who live outside the castle walls. Steerpike: A youthful outsider, beginning as a kitchen boy, who worms his way into the hierarchy of Gormenghast for his own personal gain. Ruthlessly murderous, with a Machiavellian, highly intelligent and methodical mind, and a talent for manipulation, he can appear charming and sometimes even noble. But due to his fundamentally evil nature, he has natural personal enmity with Titus. He is finally hunted down and killed by Titus, who holds him responsible for the death of his sister, Fuchsia.

"His body gave the appearance of being malformed, but it would be difficult to say exactly what gave it this gibbous quality. Limb by limb it appeared that he was sound enough, but the sum of these several members accrued to an unexpectedly twisted total. His face was pale like clay and save for his eyes, masklike. These eyes were set very close together, and were small, dark red, and of startling concentration."

Mr Flay: Lord Sepulchrave's personal servant, who believes in strictly holding to the rules of Gormenghast. Nevertheless, he is not completely hard-hearted and cares a great deal for Titus and Fuchsia. He is eventually exiled from Gormenghast for throwing one of the Countess's cats at Steerpike. However, he secretly keeps an eye on the doings in the castle, and plays a crucial role in Steerpike's eventual unmasking as a traitor.

"Mr Flay appeared to clutter up the doorway as he stood revealed, his arms folded.... It did not look as though such a bony face as this could give normal utterance, but rather that instead of sounds, something more brittle, more ancient, something drier would emerge, something more in the nature of a splinter or a fragment of stone. Nevertheless, the harsh lips parted. 'It's me,' he said, and took a step forward, his joints cracking as he did so. His passage across a room -- in fact his passage through life -- was accomplished by these cracking sounds, one per step, which might be likened to the breaking of dry twigs."

Dr Alfred Prunesquallor: The castle's resident physician. He is an eccentric individual with a high-pitched laugh and a grandiose wit which he uses on the castle's less intelligent inhabitants. Despite his acid tongue, he is an extremely kind and caring man who also is greatly fond of Fuchsia and Titus. (Several times, Prunesquallor's first name is given as "Bernard", but this inconsistency is considered an error on Peake's part.) Although he appears at first to be foppish and weak, the doctor later shows himself to be both intelligent and courageous, and he plays an important role in defeating Steerpike.

"The doctor with his hyena laugh and his bizarre and elegant body, his celluloid face. His main defects? The insufferable pitch of his voice; his maddening laugh and his affected gestures. His cardinal virtue? An undamaged brain."

Irma Prunesquallor: Doctor Prunesquallor's sister. Though she is anything but pretty, she is considerably vain. She desperately desires to be admired and loved by men. She becomes romantically involved with Bellgrove.

"Vain as a child, thin as a stork's leg, and, in her black glasses, blind as an owl in daylight. She misses her footing on the social ladder at least three times a week, only to start climbing again, wriggling her pelvis all the while. She clasps her dead, white hands beneath her chin in the high hope of hiding the flatness of her chest."

Abiatha Swelter: The fat, sadistic head chef of Gormenghast. His profound hatred for Flay leads him to attempt his murder; however, he is killed by his intended victim.

"Abiatha Swelter, who wades in a slug-like illness of fat through the humid ground mists of the Great Kitchen. From bowls as big as baths, there rises and drifts like a miasmic tide the all but palpable odor of the day's bellytimber. The arrogance of this fat head exudes itself like an evil sweat."

Nannie Slagg: An ancient wrinkled doll-like 'dwarf' who nurses the infant Titus and Fuchsia before him. Nervous, self-pitying, child-like and lacking both mental agility and emotional comprehension, her life has been spent in service to the revered mores of Gormenghast. When called upon to perform the ceremonies accorded to her role, the combination of her reverence for the House, her intrinsic inferiority complex and simple concern for the comfort of the children render her muddled and terrfied. With her charges, she is prone to dramas of wounded feelings but her devotion, and loving nature, means she is the only figure of affection to the young Titus and Fuschia.

"... she is so minute, so frightened, so old, so querulous, she neither could, nor would, head any procession, even on paper. Her peevish cry goes out: 'Oh, my weak heart! How could they?' and she hurries to Fuchsia either to smack the abstracted girl in order to ease herself, or to bury the wrinkled prune of her face in Fuchsia's side. Alone in her small room again, she lies upon her bed and bites her minute knuckles."

Sourdust: The Master of Ritual when the series begins. He is the one who coordinates the various arcane rituals that make up daily life in Gormenghast. After his death in the Library Fire, his position is taken up by his son Barquentine.

"His beard was knotted and the hairs that composed it were black and white. His face was very lined, as though it had been made of brown paper that had been crunched by some savage hand before being hastily smoothed out and spread over the tissues. His eyes were deep set and almost lost in the shadows cast by his fine brow, which for all its wrinkles, retained a sweeping breadth of bone."

Barquentine: Follows his father into the role of Master of Ritual. He is lame in one leg, hideous, and unbelievably dirty. He is a consummate misanthrope who abuses and insults everybody he meets, and who cares only for the rigid application of the laws and traditions of Gormenghast. He makes the grievous error of allowing Steerpike to become his assistant.

"The lynch-pin son of the dead Sourdust, by name Barquentine, Master of Ritual, is a stunted, cantankerous pedant of seventy, who stepped into his father's shoes (or, to be exact, his shoe, for this Barquentine is a one-legged thing who smites his way through ill-lit corridors on grim and echoing crutch)."

Bellgrove: School Professor. One of Titus's teachers, who eventually ascends to Headmaster of Gormenghast. In many respects, he is the standard absent-minded professor who falls asleep during his own class and plays with marbles. However, deep inside him there is a certain element of dignity and nobility. At heart he is kindly, and if weak, at least has the humility to be aware of his faults. He begins a rather unusual romance with Irma Prunesquallor. He becomes something of a father figure to Titus.

"He was a fine-looking man in his way. Big of head, his brow and the bridge of his nose descended in a single line of undeniable nobility. His jaw was as long as his brow and nose together and lay exactly parallel in profile to those features. With his leonine shock of snow-white hair there was something of the major prophet about him. But his eyes were disappointing. They made no effort to bear out the promise of the other features, which would have formed the ideal setting for the kind of eye that flashes with visionary fire. Mr Bellgrove's eyes didn't flash at all."

Bright Carvers
Also known as the Mud Dwellers or the Outer Dwellers, the Bright Carvers live directly outside the castle walls, crammed closely together in hovels of mud and straw. Their lives are hard and monotonous, and they live solely on jarl root (a kind of tree growing in Gormenghast forest), and crusts of bread lowered down from the castle walls each morning. Their sole obsession is the carving of beautiful wooden sculptures, brightly painted, which they present to the Groans on a particular day each year in June. Only three of these carvings are chosen by the Earl of Gormenghast to be kept and the rest are burnt. Fierce rivalry exists between the Carvers to present the best carvings, and their lives are dominated by this and by their own long-held feuds and grudges against each other. The Bright Carvers are a race apart from the Castle dwellers, living by their own cultural norms and customs, which are impenetrable to outsiders.

Keda: A woman from the Bright Carvers' village just outside the walls of Gormenghast. She is chosen to be Titus's wet nurse, but eventually leaves this position. She has two lovers, Braigon and Rantel, who fight a duel and both die for her, but not before one of them impregnates her. Eventually, she kills herself by leaping off a crag, after giving birth to a daughter — The Thing.

"Dark, almost lambent like a topaz, she is still young, her sole disfigurement the universal bane of the Outer Dwellers, the premature erosion of an exceptional beauty — a deterioration that follows with merciless speed upon an adolescence almost spectral."

The Thing: The daughter of Keda, foster sister of Titus. Due to her illegitimacy, she is an outcast who becomes a feral child living in the wilderness surrounding Gormenghast. She is fierce and untameable, living only for herself, and takes her revenge on the Bright Carvers by mutilating their carvings. Believing that she is in every way the opposite of Gormenghast, Titus becomes infatuated with her. She is killed by a bolt of lightning.

"No: the face was more mask-like than expressive. It symbolised her way of life, not her immediate thoughts. It was the colour of a robin's egg, and as closely freckled. Her hair was black and thick but she had hacked it away, a little above her shoulders. Her rounded neck was set straight upon her shoulders, and was so flexible that the liquid ease with which she turned it was reminiscent of a serpent."

Beyond Gormenghast
In Titus Alone Titus leaves Gormenghast and after a time spent wandering comes to the city, a futuristic place of glass and steel buildings, flying machines and other modern technology. Titus is disoriented by the huge contrast between the city and his old home, particularly since none of the people he meets have ever heard of Gormenghast or show much interest in it. In his journey through the city Titus meets a large number of characters, some friendly and some hostile. Later Titus leaves the city and travels to a land dominated by a sinister factory beside a lake.

Muzzlehatch is a man who drives around the city in a large shark-like car, who comes upon Titus lying faint on the waterfront and brings him home with him. He initially helps Titus not because he cares for him, but because he hates the city's police authorities, who are pursuing Titus as a vagrant. Muzzlehatch has a zoo at his house, and when not driving his car, he rides about on some of his animals, such as a stag or a llama. Despite his initial indifference, he becomes a mentor to Titus and helps him navigate his way about the city's confusing and dangerous life.

"The Driver, a great, gaunt, rudder-nosed man, square-jawed, long-limbed, and muscular, appeared to be unaware of the condition of his car or of the danger to himself or to the conglomeration of characters who lay tangled among their nets in the rotting 'stern' of the dire machine."

Juno is a former lover of Muzzlehatch, who agrees to be Titus's guardian when he is captured and put on trial, in order to save him from going to an institution. Although she is twice his age, she and Titus become lovers, in a passionate but brief affair. However, after the initial excitement of their liaison, Titus feels increasingly trapped and leaves Juno to strike out into the city on his own.

"Juno was a silhouette against the lighted entrance. From the full, rounded, and bell-shaped hips which swayed imperceptibly as she moved, arose the column of her almost military back; and from her shoulders sprang her neck, perfectly cylindrical, surmounted by her classic head."

Cheeta is a woman of about Titus's own age, who finds Titus wandering in a fever and nurses him back to health. In the process she becomes infatuated with him, and fascinated by his fevered ravings about Gormenghast. She is the daughter of a scientist who runs the factory where it is hinted at that sinister experiments are taking place. Although Titus is attracted to her, he spurns her advances, and she resolves to take her revenge. After hearing Titus telling many stories of Gormenghast, she arranges a mocking pageant or parade with grotesque caricatures of the inhabitants of the castle in order to humiliate him and unhinge his mind.

"For hers was a presence not easily forgotten. Her body was exquisite. Her face indescribably quizzical. She was a modern. She had a new kind of beauty. Everything about her face was perfect in itself, yet curiously (from the normal point of view) misplaced. Her eyes were large and stormy grey, but were set a thought too far apart; yet not so far as to be immediately recognised. Her cheekbones were taut and beautifully carved, and her nose, straight as it was, yet gave the impression of verging, now on the retroussé side, now on the aquiline. As for the curl of her lips, it was like a creature half asleep, something that like a chameleon would change its colour. Her mouth, today, was the colour of lilac blossom, very pale."

Reception
The first book, Titus Groan, was published in 1946 to ecstatic reviews and the series has continued to grow in its critical reputation since Peake's death. Contemporary reviewers praise it for its iconic imagery and characters, and it is often cited as one of the greatest fantasy novels of all time. Anthony Burgess called the series uniquely brilliant and stated that it has rightfully been hailed as modern classic. In their review Punch opined that the series constituted "the finest imaginary feat in the English novel since Ulysses, while editor Langdon Jones commented that it was the sort of novel that one remembered for the rest of one's life and that he felt it should be required reading in secondary schools. The Daily Telegraph has described Steerpike as one of the all-time greatest villains in western literature.

Accolades

 * Gormenghast — 1950 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize
 * Gormenghast — 1951 Heinemann Award
 * Gormenghast — #6 Locus 1998 All-Time Fantasy Novel List
 * Gormenghast — #84 The Big Read

Radio
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation produced a dramatization of all three Gormenghast novels. It was first broadcast in 1983 as eight one-hour episodes, and repeated in 1986 in four two-hour parts. This is the first adaptation that includes Titus Alone in addition to Titus Groan and Gormenghast.

In 1984, BBC Radio 4 broadcast two 90-minute plays based on Titus Groan and Gormenghast, adapted by Brian Sibley and starring Sting as Steerpike and Freddie Jones as the Artist (narrator). A slightly abridged compilation of the two, running to 160 minutes, and titled Titus Groan of Gormenghast, was broadcast on Christmas Day, 1992. BBC 7 repeated the original versions on 21 and 28 September 2003.

In 2011, Brian Sibley, who had previously adapted the book for radio in 1984, adapted the story again, this time as six one-hour episodes broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as the Classic Serial starting on 10 July 2011. The serial was titled The History of Titus Groan and adapted all three novels written by Peake and the recently discovered concluding volume, Titus Awakes, completed by his widow, Maeve Gilmore. It starred Luke Treadaway as Titus, David Warner as the Artist and Carl Prekopp as Steerpike. Also starring were Paul Rhys (Sepulchrave), Miranda Richardson (Gertrude), James Fleet (Prunesquallor), Tamsin Greig (Irma Prunesquallor), Fenella Woolgar (Clarice Groan), Adrian Scarborough (Flay) and Mark Benton (Swelter).

Television
In 2000, the BBC and the PBS station WGBH of Boston produced Gormenghast, a four-part serial based on the first two books. The cast included Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Steerpike and Christopher Lee as Mr. Flay. The series achieved success on British television.

Also made in 2000, the 30-minute TV short film A Boy in Darkness (adapted from Peake's novella Boy in Darkness) was the first production from the BBC Drama Lab. It was set in a "virtual" computer-generated world created by young computer game designers, and starred Jack Ryder as "The Boy" (a teenage Titus Groan), with Terry Jones narrating.

In 2018 it was announced that Neil Gaiman and Akiva Goldsman would adapt the series into a television series for FremantleMedia.

Theatre
The minimalist stage version of 'Gormenghast' dramatised by John Constable (writer) was performed by the David Glass Ensemble. Having premiered at the Alhambra Theatre Bradford in 1992, the play was performed at Battersea Arts Centre, The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, on UK and British Council international tours. Constable's stripped down stage adaptation is published by Bloomsbury. It was directed by David Glass, combining mime with melodrama and magic realism, designed by Rae Smith with music by John Eacott. A revival of 'Gormenghast' toured UK theatres during 2006 and 2007.

A stage version of Titus Alone was produced at the University of Sussex in 2001, using sound and physical theatre to evoke the strange world beyond Gormenghast Castle. It focused on themes of madness and the nature of reality to question whether Titus's memories of the castle are real, or merely fantasies of a damaged mind. It was particularly inspired by Mervyn Peake's loss of his mental faculties due to Parkinson's-induced dementia.

Carabosse Theatre Company produced a stage version of the first two books of the trilogy called 'Gormenghast' in October 2014 at the Chrysalis Theatre in Milton Keynes. The project was officially endorsed by Fabian Peake (Mervyn Peake's son) and the Mervyn Peake estate. Co-writers of the company's adaptation included its director Sally Luff and the actor Tim Dalgleish. This production used projection mapping, an elaborate set (designed by the artist Shelley Wyn-de-Bank) and colourful costume. http://www.carabosse.org

Music
Irmin Schmidt, founder of the seminal German experimental group Can, composed a three-act opera, Gormenghast, based on the novels. It premiered at the Opernhaus Wuppertal in 1998 and was released on CD the following year. A number of songs, including "Stranger Than Fiction" and "Titus" by New Zealand rock group Split Enz and "The Drowning Man" by The Cure, have been inspired by Peake's work. The British progressive rock group Strawbs feature a Ford/Hudson composition called "Lady Fuschia" (sic) on their 1973 album Bursting at the Seams, about one of the protagonists of this trilogy. Northern Irish progressive rock band Fruupp included a song called "Gormenghast", inspired by the novels, on their 1975 album Modern Masquerades. The early 1970s folk rock band Fuchsia was named after the character in the novels. The song "Room of Roots" on Al Stewart's 1970 album Zero She Flies is inspired by the chapter in Titus Groan about the tree roots painted by the sisters Cora and Clarice Groan; Mervyn Peake is credited in the sleeve notes. The 1970s progressive rock band Titus Groan took their name from the first volume of the trilogy and two songs were named after two book's chapters, "Fuschia" (sic) and "Hall of Bright Carvings".

Influence
The Gormenghast series has influenced other fantasy works.
 * M. John Harrison's Viriconium novels were inspired by Peake's trilogy.
 * Michael Moorcock's 1978 novel Gloriana, or The Unfulfill'd Queen is an homage to the Gormenghast series. Moorcock dedicated the novel "to the memory of Mervyn Peake".
 * China Miéville's 2000 novel Perdido Street Station was influenced by the Gormenghast trilogy.
 * In George R. R. Martin's book series A Song of Ice and Fire a House Peake is mentioned, ruling the castle of Starpike. The present Lord Peake is called Titus. Tales of Dunk and Egg feature a Lord Gormon Peake, and The World of Ice & Fire mentions Lord Unwin Peake's bastard brother Mervyn Flowers.
 * In the album From the Mountain, from the Stream the band Barons makes use of literary themes and characters from the first two books in the trilogy.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Gormenghast (series)


text:
Alfred Schütz

Alfred Schutz (born Alfred Schütz, ; 1899–1959) was an Austrian philosopher and social phenomenologist whose work bridged sociological and phenomenological traditions. Schutz is gradually being recognized as one of the 20th century's leading philosophers of social science. He related Edmund Husserl's work to the social sciences, using it to develop the philosophical foundations of Max Weber's sociology, in his major work Phenomenology of the Social World. However, much of his influence arose from the publication of his Collected Papers in the 1960s.

Biography
Schutz was born on 13 April 1899 in Vienna, Austria, as the only child in an upper-middle-class Jewish family. Following his graduation from high school, he was drafted into the Austrian Army where he quickly rose to the American equivalent rank of second lieutenant. His army regiment was dispatched to fight in a series of heavy battles on the Italian front (WWI).

Education and later life
In 1918, Schutz enrolled at the University of Vienna, where he earned his law degree. He also enrolled at the Viennese Academy of International Trade from 1919 to 1920, specialising in international law. During his time at the University of Vienna, attending lectures given by Max Weber, Schutz came to the conclusion that Weber had left the problem of meaning unexplicated. As noted by Helmut Wagner (1983), Schutz's fascination with this problem was a result of his experience in combat, combined with returning to starving and economically decimated Vienna.

Schutz married Ilse Heim in 1926. Partly because there were few academic posts available, he developed a well-established and prominent career in international banking, He became the chief financial officer for Reitler and Company, the Vienna banking firm. His academic work was done in his spare time. He was once described by Edmund Husserl as “a banker by day and a philosopher by night.” In 1933, the threat of Adolf Hitler's rise in Germany caused Schutz and other Viennese intellectuals to flee Austria and seek asylum in allied countries. Schutz and his family relocated to Paris in 1938 in political exile. He continued to work for Reitler and Company as an international lawyer. He moved to the United States in 1939, where he became a part-time faculty member of The New School. There, he taught sociology and philosophy, as well as serving as chair of the Philosophy department. Schutz received a substantial amount of assistance from his wife, Ilse, who transcribed his working notes and letters from his taped dictations.

Schutz died on 20 May 1959 in New York City at the age of 60. Four volumes of Collected Papers were published posthumously, along with the draft of a second book he had been working on prior to his death.

Intellectual career
Schutz was strongly influenced by Ludwig von Mises, Henri Bergson, William James, and Edmund Husserl, as well as Max Weber.

Drawing on phenomenology, Schutz's principal aim was to create a philosophical foundation for the social sciences. While Schutz's work paralleled George Herbert Mead’s analysis of the meanings within social interactions, Schutz was highly critical of Mead’s behavioristic approach. Although Schutz was never a student of Husserl, he and colleague Felix Kaufmann intensively studied Husserl's work in order to seek a basis for Weber's interpretive sociology and for Austrian economic theory.

In 1932, Schutz’s efforts resulted in his first published book, Der sinnhafte Aufbau der sozialen Welt ('The Meaningful Structure of the Social World') which was published in English as The Phenomenology of the Social World. Schutz argues that social science must be grounded in analysis of what Husserl referred to as 'the natural attitude', the assumptions that structure everyday perceptions and actions in the social world. Schutz retains Weber's conception of social science as properly committed to the principle of value neutrality, but also to value relevance, and that its investigations must rely on “ideal types”. He viewed the technique of bracketing, drawn from Husserlian phenomenology, as a way beyond the limitations of ideal-type analysis. This publication brought him to the attention of Husserl, whom he visited frequently and corresponded with until Husserl's death in 1938. Even so, when Husserl asked Schutz to be his assistant, he was unable to accept the offer at Freiburg University for personal reasons.

Schutz's main area of concern was the ways in which people grasp the consciousness of others while living within their own streams of consciousness. He spoke much about intersubjectivity, in a broader sense, using it in reference to the social world, specifically the social nature of knowledge. A great deal of his work deals with the "lifeworld," in which people create social reality under the constraints of preexisting social and cultural factors and structures. He was very focused on the "dialectical relationship between the way people construct social reality and the obdurate social and cultural reality that they inherit from those who preceded them in the social world."

Schutz is also known for his belief that humans attempt to typify everything; i.e., to categorize people and things to better understand them within the context of society. He believed that the various typifications we use inform how we understand and interact with people and objects in the social world.

Schutz's theories and conceptions are illuminated through an intense and insightful correspondence with Harvard scholar Talcott Parsons. The thrust of the discussion centered on the meaning of the concept "social action." Whether the Schutz-Parsons correspondence can be characterized as “dialogue” rather than “debate” has been analyzed by Rehorick (1980). Further insights into the fundamental differences between Schutz and Parsons is provided by a critical examination of original correspondence that brought in a third scholarly voice—that of Eric Voegelin. This discussion shows that conceptual and theoretical differences between Schutz and Parsons stem from different “ways of knowing,” implying fundamentally different orientations toward social scientific thought.

Legacy
Schutz's writings have had a lasting impact on the social sciences, both on phenomenological approaches to sociology and in ethnomethodology (through the writings of Harold Garfinkel). Heavily influenced by Schutz's work as his student, Thomas Luckmann ultimately finished Schutz's work on the structures of the lifeworld by filling out his unfinished notes after Schutz died. As noted by Farganis (2011), Peter L. Berger, also a student of Schutz's, was arguably the best-known living sociologist influenced by Schutz, especially through his creation of the social construction theory, which explains how the processes of externalization, objectification, and internalization contribute to the social construction of reality. Berger and Luckmann went on to use Schutz's work to further understand human culture and reality, through the development of a new form of the sociology of knowledge.

Phenomenology
Phenomenology is the study of things as they appear (i.e., phenomena). It is also often said to be descriptive rather than explanatory: a central task of phenomenology is to provide a "clear, undistorted description of the ways things appear."

Phenomenology originated with Edmund Husserl, who Schutz studied and even met. There are many assumptions behind phenomenology that help explain its creation. First, it rejects the concept of objective research: phenomenologists would rather group presumptions through a process called phenomenological epoche. Second, phenomenology believes that analyzing the daily human behavior will provide one with a comprehensive understanding of nature. The third assumption is that persons, not individuals, should be explored and questioned. Sociologically speaking, this is in part because persons can be better understood by the unique ways they reflect and symbolize the society they live in. Fourth, phenomenologists prefer to gather capta, or conscious experience, rather than traditional data. Finally, phenomenology is considered to be oriented on discovery, and therefore phenomenologists gather research using methods that are far less restricting than in other sciences.

Social phenomenology
Social phenomenology is concerned with how people use ordinary, everyday interactions to produce a feeling of reality and intersubjectivity. Most of Schutz's work concerned the methods used for the construction of reality through everyday experiences. The social construction of reality and ethnomethodology are disciplinary extensions beyond the social phenomenology of Alfred Schutz.

As noted by Farganis (2011), phenomenological sociology is characterized as particularly subjective in nature because its emphasis of understanding reality through the perspective of the acting subject rather than through the lens of the scientific observer. Rather than attempting to uncover and document the social structures which influence our social world Schutz and other sociological phenomenologists seek not only to identify the content of our consciousness related to our conception of the social reality of everyday life but also, how this reality comes to assume the form it is.

In essence, Schutz and social phenomenologists are principally concerned with the happenings of everyday life, or what Schutz refers to as the lifeworld, “an intersubjective world in which people both create social reality and are constrained by the preexisting social and cultural structures created by their predecessors." Within this world, relationships between the social and natural world are what come into doubt. There is this existence of meaning that comes into play, yet most people simply accept the world how it is and never second guess the concept or problem of meaning. Schutz delves even more into specific relationships such as the difference between intimate face-to-face relationships and distant and impersonal relationships.

The four divisions of the lifeworld
Schutz's division of Husserl's lebenswelt (the mundane 'lifeworld') into four distinct sub-worlds is perhaps his most influential theoretical contribution. The theory of the lifeworld is that social experience creates a world that is separated between:

 * 1) the social reality that has been directly experienced; and
 * 2) social reality that is on the horizon of direct experience.

The former consists of the umwelt ('environment'), the environment defined through the perception and action of agents. The latter refers to an environment of consociates, or fellow-men; of the man who "shares with me a community of space and a community of time."

In contrast, those who Schutz did not deem his fellow-men, he put them in three classes:

 * 1) the world of contemporaries (mitwelt);
 * 2) the world of predecessors (vorwelt); and
 * 3) the world of successors (folgewelt).

The last two represent the past and the future, whereas one's contemporaries share a community of time, if not space, and are different from the predecessors and successors because it is possible for them to become fellow-men or consociates.

Schutz was interested in documenting the transition from direct to indirect experience and the series of experiences in between. He also wanted to map the progressive anonymisation of the contemporaries (mitwelt), which was a measurement of increasing anonymity of "my absent friend, his brother whom he has described to me, the professor whose books I have read, the postal clerk, the Canadian Parliament, abstract entities like Canada herself, the rules of English grammar, or the basic principles of jurisprudence." Schutz argued that the more one goes into the contemporary world, the more anonymous the contemporary inhabitants become, with the most anonymous being artifacts of any kind that hold meaning, context, and suggest there are unknown people.

In his later writings, Schutz explored how everyday social experiences that pertain to these dimensions are most often intertwined in varying degrees of anonymity. For instance: "[I]f in a face-to-face relationship with a friend I discuss a magazine article dealing with the attitude of the President and Congress toward China, I am in a relationship not only with the perhaps anonymous contemporary writer of the article but also with the contemporary individual or collective actors on the social scene designated by the terms, 'President', 'Congress', 'China'"

Selected bibliography
1932: Der sinnhafte Aufbau der sozialen Welt: eine Einleitung in die verstehende Soziologie. Wien: J. Springer.

1941: "William James' Concept of the Stream of Consciousness Phenomenologically Interpreted." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 1:442–51.

1942: "Scheler's Theory of Intersubjectivity & the General Thesis of the Alter Ego." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 2: 323–47.

1944: "The Stranger." American Journal of Sociology 49(6):499–507.

1945: "On Multiple Realities." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 5:533–576.

1948: "Sartre's Theory of Alter Ego." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 9:181–199.

1951: "Choosing Among Projects of Action." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 12:161–84.

1953: "Edmund Husserl's Ideas, Volume II." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 13: 394–413.

1953: "Die Phänomenologie und die fundamente der Wissenschaften. (Ideas III by Edmund Husserl: A Review.)" Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 13:506–14.

1953: "Common-sense and Scientific Interpretation of Human Action." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 14:1–38.

1954: "Concept and Theory Formation in the Social Sciences." Journal of Philosophy. 51:257–72.

1957: "Max Scheler's Epistemology and Ethics: I." Review of Metaphysics 11:304–14.

1958: "Max Scheler's Epistemology and Ethics: II." Review of Metaphysics. 11:486–501.

1959: "Type and Eidos in Husserl's Late Philosophy." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 20:147–65.

1962–66: Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality, edited by M. A. Natanson and H. L. van Breda. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

 * Collected Papers II. Studies in Social Theory, edited by A. Brodersen. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
 * Collected Papers III. Studies in Phenomenological Philosophy, edited by I. Schutz and A. Gurwitsch. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

1967: The Phenomenology of the Social World. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

1970: Reflections on the Problem of Relevance, edited by R. Zaner. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

1970: On Phenomenology and Social Relations: Selected Writings, edited by Helmut R. Wagner. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

1971: Das Problem der Relevanz. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

1972: Gesammelte Aufsätze: Band I. Das Problem der Sozialen Wirklichkeit Translated by B. Luckmann and R.H. Grathoff. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

1972: Gesammelte Aufsätze: Band II. Studien zur Soziologischen Theorie, translated by A. von Baeyer and edited by A. Brodersen. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

1972: Gesammelte Aufsätze: Band III. Studien zur Phänomenologischen Philosophie, translated by A. von Baeyer and edited by I. Schutz. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

1973: The Structures of the Life-World [Strukturen der Lebenswelt], with Thomas Luckmann, translated by R. M. Zaner and H. T. Engelhardt, Jr. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

1976: "Fragments on the Phenomenology of Music." Music Man 2:5–72.

1977: Zur Theorie sozialen Handelns: Briefwechsel Alfred Schutz, Talcott Parsons, edited by W. M. Sprondel. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

 * 1978: The Theory of Social Action: The Correspondence of Alfred Schutz and Talcott Parsons, edited by R. Grathoff. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

1982: Life forms and meaning structure [Lebensformen und Sinnstruktur], translated by H. R. Wagner. London: Routledge & K. Paul.

1985: Alfred Schutz, Aron Gurwitsch: Briefwechsel, 1939-1959, edited by Ludwig Landgrebe. München: W. Fink.

 * 1989: Philosophers in Exile: the Correspondence of Alfred Schutz and Aron Gurwitsch, 1939-1959, translated by J. C. Evans and edited by R. Grathoff. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

1996: Collected Papers IV, edited by H. Wagner, G. Psathas, and F. Kersten. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

2010: Zur Methodologie der Sozialwissenschaften. Werkausgabe Alfred Schütz, 4: Hrsg.: Jochen Dreher, Thomas Eberle, Gerald Sebald. UVK-Verlag: Konstanz, ISBN 9783896697455.

2011: Relevanz und Handeln 2.Gesellschaftliches Wissen und politisches Handeln. Werkausgabe Alfred Schütz, 6; Hrsg.: Andreas Göttlich, Gerald Sebald, Jan Weyand. UVK-Verlag: Konstanz, ISBN 9783896697424.

2013: Schriften zur Literatur. Werkausgabe Alfred Schütz; 8; Hrsg.: Michael D. Barber and Jochen Dreher. UVK-Verlag: Konstanz, München; ISBN 9783896697400.

title: Alfred Schütz


text:
Dipperu National Park

Dipperu is a scientific national park in Queensland, Australia, 754 km northwest of Brisbane. The elevation of the terrain is 176 metres.

Wildlife
226 species of animals have been recorded in the park, of which 7 are endangered species. Also 260 plants have their habitat here.

title: Dipperu National Park


text:
Epping Forest National Park

Epping Forest is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 855 km northwest of Brisbane. The park is a scientific national park so it is not open to the public. Only scientists, rangers and volunteers may visit the park. The park lies within the Brigalow Belt North bioregion. It is within the Drummond Basin geological basin and the Belyando River water catchment area. The park was established to protect a species of wombat, the northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) that is the world’s largest burrowing herbivore.

Restricted access is used to ensure Epping Forest remains very much undisturbed as it is the sole remaining natural habitat of the endangered Northern hairy-nosed wombat. The last census of the animal, undertaken in 2007, estimated there was a population of about 138 of the species. In the 1970s the population was estimated to have reached a low of somewhere between 20 and 30 wombats.

Most of the park is eucalypt woodland with patches of sandy soils that are used by the wombats for burrowing.

The wildlife in the park consists of 251 species of animals and 103 species of plants.

The elevation of the terrain in Epping Forest Park is 230 metres.

title: Epping Forest National Park


text:
Mount Bauple National Park

Mount Bauple is a scientific national park in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia, 190 km north of Brisbane.

The park's main purpose is to protect the area's exceptional scientific values. Mount Bauple shares its name with the bauple or bopple nut, the local name for the nut from the commercial Queensland nut tree Macadamia integrifolia; both the nut and mountain in turn come from Baphal, the Dreamtime caretaker from the Budjilla people indigenous to Fraser Island, Queensland. While the bauple plant is cultivated extensively in Queensland and overseas, its natural distribution is extremely limited, and its status in the wild is listed as vulnerable. The commercial value of the species adds considerably to the importance of protecting the wild population.

title: Mount Bauple National Park


text:
User:MQ31

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Hello, my name is Marc.

I live near Toulouse in France. I'am 48 years old.

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title: User:MQ31


text:
Palmgrove National Park

Palmgrove is a national park in south-central Queensland, Australia. It lies about 185 km north-north-east of Roma and 458 km north-west of Brisbane. It is listed as a National Park (Scientific) under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, so giving it the highest level of protection possible under the Act. It was established in order to protect species and ecosystems of exceptional scientific value. It is located within the Dawson River catchment area.

Description
Palmgrove lies in moderately dry, dissected sandstone country. The vegetation includes a variety of eucalypt woodland and forest communities as well as vine and Acacia thickets. The area is rugged and isolated; access is difficult and the park is not open to the general public.

Flora and fauna
Threatened ecosystems present in the park include:
 * Acacia harpophylla - Eucalyptus cambageana open forest to woodland on fine-grained sedimentary rocks
 * Semi-evergreen vine thicket on fine grained sedimentary rocks
 * Acacia harpophylla and/or Casuarina cristata open forest on fine-grained sedimentary rocks
 * Macropteranthes leichhardtii thicket on fine grained sedimentary rocks
 * Semi-evergreen vine thicket in sheltered habitats on medium to coarse-grained sedimentary rocks

Northern quolls have been recorded in the park.

Important Bird Area
The park has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports an isolated, and the westernmost, population (over 10 pairs) of black-breasted buttonquails, listed as vulnerable. The rare and threatened ecosystems contained in the park are buttonquail habitat. Glossy black cockatoos, also considered to be vulnerable, are present.

title: Palmgrove National Park


text:
Taunton National Park

Taunton National Park is situated near the town of Dingo approximately 135 km inland from Rockhampton in eastern Central Queensland, Australia. The park encompasses an area of 11626 ha within the Northern Brigalow Belt bioregion of Queensland; a region widely recognised to contain considerable biodiversity.

Taunton National Park is designated as a strictly scientific nature reserve due to its importance in ensuring the ongoing survival and protection of the endangered bridled nail-tail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata). The wallabies protection has facilitated natural regeneration processes within reserve boundaries, protected ecosystem communities from further agricultural disturbances in the surrounding landscape, provided habitats for native fauna and helped conserve a wide range of biodiversity.

Region description
Cracking clay soils and brigalow vegetation species are dominant in the northern region of the park, while texture-contrast soils in combination with Eucalypt communities dominate the western region. The parks topography is reasonably even, with a gradual slope from the north and western ends of the park towards the eastern and southern margins. The regions climate is described as subtropical and semi-arid; with a mean annual rainfall of 711 mm, half of which is confined to the summer months - December to February. The distribution of rainfall over such a condensed period leaves the area prone to droughts; with a sustained drought event occurring, on average, once a decade. The most recent drought of significance occurred between 1991 and 1995 with detrimental impacts on the surviving bridled nailtail wallaby population.

As is typical of the tropical savannah in the Northern Brigalow Belt, a combination of open, grassy Eucalypt woodlands, transitional zones and regrowing Acacia shrub-lands and forests comprise Taunton National Parks main vegetation zones. The most common vegetation associations within the park and surrounding areas, tend to be dominated by either brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) or poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea) species, which commonly occur along with other Acacia and Eucalyptus spp. Water-bodies present within the park boundaries consist of 15 dams and a small number of creeks.

History
The region in which Taunton National Park is located, was (and still is) subject to long-term, wide-scale agricultural development and associated disturbances. During the 1950s and 1960s extensive clearance of brigalow scrub began to take place in order to establish pastoral grasses for grazing domestic sheep and cattle. buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) was widely sowed for fodder in the cleared areas, and rapidly became irreversibly established.

A governmental initiative called the 'Brigalow Development Scheme' provided great incentive for increasing agricultural development in the Brigalow region and accelerated the rate and scale of vegetation clearance for conversion to buffel grass. The success of this scheme resulted in agricultural system adjustments so that more intensive land use practices became common, with smaller properties and higher stock numbers. The cumulative effects of this land use change resulted in a considerable reduction in remnant vegetation patch size and occurrence. This in turn reduced the availability of habitat, food and shelter for native fauna, and altered the natural vegetation composition.

Park establishment
In 1973 a bridled nail-tail wallaby was sighted on a cattle property named 'Taunton' and reported by a fencing contractor. There had been reports of a significant decline in the wallabies population numbers during the early 1900s with no recorded sightings since the 1930s, and subsequently the species had been presumed extinct. Following this sighting, Taunton was purchased in 1979 and established as a scientific reserve, solely to ensure the protection and survival of the endangered wallaby. Then in 1984, another cattle property 'Red Hill', situated adjacent to Taunton, was added to the reserve and the whole area later became officially named 'Taunton National Park'.

Biology and ecology
The park occurs in the Northern Brigalow 'Tropical Savannah' ecoregion, which is so named for the predominant flora species of the region; 'brigalow', hereafter referred to as Acacia harpophylla. Vegetation clearance throughout this district and in fact the whole Brigalow Belt, has resulted in an extensive loss of biodiversity and overall ecosystem degradation. Despite considerable regional agricultural and pastoral development, a large proportion of the park's vegetation remained intact or was exposed to minimal disturbance prior to the reserve being established. The park has high regional significance today as only 17% of vegetation within the park had been removed by 1975 (approximately), thereby conserving once prevalent, regionally representative ecosystems and vegetation communities, which are now often restricted to bush fragments and reserves.

The region that the park is located in has been demonstrated to have one of the highest rate of annual clearance, when compared with other subregions within Queensland. This high clearance rate has contributed to a number of Brigalow-typical ecosystems becoming otherwise at risk or endangered, which highlights the importance of the parks biodiversity, as 12 of the regions ecosystems are represented within the reserve. Endangered open forest or woodland ecosystems in the park include; vegetation associations dominated by A. harpophylla with either belah (Casuarina cristata) or dawson gum (Eucalyptus cambageana), or in combination with wilga (Geijera parviflora) and false sandalwood (Eremophila mitchellii). Brigalow shrubland/forest assemblages of A. harpophylla with yellow-wood (Terminalia oblongata) and false sandalwood, are also endangered, having undergone wide-scale clearing throughout the 1900s. Ecosystem communities represented within the park which are considered to be 'of concern' include; open and grassy woodlands dominated by poplar box (E. populnea) and grassy or scrubby woodlands that are dominated by Eucalyptus spp. with or without Corymbia spp.

Flora
The reserve supports a wide diversity of flora, with over 190 species recorded. Typical brigalow communities which are found in the park include; grassy and shrubby woodlands or open forests, whipstick brigalow, sucker brigalow, and open forests where A. harpophylla and another species such as yellow-wood, belah or various Eucalyptus spp. dominate. Endangered plant species protected inside the park include the Solanaceae Solanum adenophorum and the Solanaceae Solanum elachophyllum. In addition to these, another two species have been identified as 'near threatened'; the Apocynaceae Cerbera dumicola and the Poaceae Dichanthium setosum.

Dense acacia forests or 'brigalow scrub' encompass 30% of the parks area, with species typical of the endangered Brigalow shrubland/forest ecosystem described previously, or can include combinations of A. harpophylla with dawson gum or poplar box. The most dominant vegetation association, covering 39% of the parks area, is the grassy eucalypt woodlands which are dominated by poplar box in combination with the silver-leaved ironbark (E. melanophloia), the narrow-leaved ironbark, (E. crebra), the long-fruited bloodwood (E. polycarpa) and the grey box (E. moluccana). The transitional zones between the Acacia dominated forests and Eucalpyt dominated woodlands are composed of combinations of characteristics particular to each ecosystem type, and only contribute to 14% of the parks total area. The remaining land was previously cleared and is undergoing natural regeneration, primarily by A. harpophylla.

Fauna
The protection of Taunton National Park has provided an important refuge and habitat for a wide range of biodiversity including various macropod species (kangaroos and wallabies etc.) and other mammals, over 70 species of bird and numerous reptiles and snakes. Notable bird species known to inhabit the reserve include the vulnerable Southern subspecies of squatter pigeon (Geophaps scripta scripta) and the migratory rainbow bee-eater (Merops ornatus), which is protected under various international migratory bird agreements. Reptile species of significance inhabiting the reserve include the vulnerable brigalow scaly-foot lizard (Paradelma orientalis) and the arboreal golden-tailed gecko (Strophurus taenicauda) (NPRS) which is classified as near threatened. In addition to the bridled nailtail wallaby, a number of macropods have a distribution range which extends through the reserve. These can include the black-striped wallaby (Macropus dorsalis), the eastern grey kangaroo (M. giganteus), the common wallaroo (M.robustus) and the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolour). Other mammals found in the park include the large-eared pied bat (Chalinolobus dwyeri), which is listed as vulnerable, and the iconic Australian koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) More common bird species found in the park include; populations of spotted bower bird (Chlamydera maculata), the variegated fairy-wren (Malurus lamberti), superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) and red-backed fairy-wren (Malurus melanocephalus).

Bridled nail-tail wallaby
The park contains the only naturally occurring population of Australia's most endangered macropod; the bridled nailtail wallaby. The wallaby is now restricted to less than 1% of its former distribution, which originally extended from the Murray River near the New South Wales border, up to Charters Towers in northern Queensland. Causes for the original population decline are complex, but are generally thought to have arisen from a combination of interacting factors including predation and drought. The wallaby population impacts from these processes have been further exacerbated by habitat fragmentation and degradation caused by wide-scale vegetation clearance, and increased competition for food resources with domestic animals, particularly sheep.

Between 1979 and the late 1980s, population numbers were estimated to be between 1000 and 1400 individuals. Despite concerted efforts and various management approaches population numbers have continued to decline, a situation which is often attributed to the sustained drought which occurred in the early 1990s. Droughts are known to directly impact the wallaby through the reduced availability of food resources, while also indirectly increasing predation pressure as the level of protective habitat cover is decreased and overall prey numbers continue to decline. Known predators of the wallaby include; feral cats and dogs, dingoes (Canis lupus) wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) and large pythons. To reduce predation, dingo and wild dog baiting is regularly conducted, and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia also carries out hunting expeditions, targeting the feral species and dingoes in the park and surrounding areas.

More recent population estimates for the bridled nailtail wallaby suggest that numbers within the park are around 500 individuals. Two translocated wild populations exist; one at Idalia National Park and the other a privately owned cattle property - 'Avocet', with additional captive breeding populations in Townsville, Rockhampton and the Gold Coast. All of these external populations were originally sourced from Taunton National Park, with the aim of increasing the range extent and total number of populations, to reduce the risk of any chance event causing extinction. In spite of these contingencies, the wild population at Taunton National Park is still considered the most important for the continued survival of the species as it has the highest levels of genetic diversity, and is therefore an important source for supplementing gene pools of the translocated populations.

Environmental threats
Taunton National Park and the biodiversity it supports are subjected to various threatening processes, particularly in regard to predation or competition with introduced feral species and invasive plants. Bridled nailtail wallabies are regular prey of the dingo, which preferentially targets adult individuals and is recognised as posing a significant threat to the species long-term survival. Contrastingly, feral cats appear to target juvenile wallabies, effectively reducing the number of individuals which survive long enough to contribute to the breeding population, thereby contributing further to declining numbers.

Invasive plant species pose increasing threats to the parks biodiversity. Particularly notorious weeds invading the park include; giant rats tail grass (Sporobolus spp.), Mother of Millions (Bryophyllum spp.), buffel grass, harissia cactus (Eriocereus martini), parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorus) and the rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora). In particular, advancing encroachment of the pastoral buffel grass is significant due to its capacity to alter the structure of the shrub understorey in the native vegetation, and its capacity for vigorous growth and drought resistance can result in the creation of impenetrable walls of grass which also hinders through-movement by smaller mammals. Buffel grass is also highly competitive with herbaceous species such as legumes, native grasses and forbs; which reduces native food availability and biodiversity. Fire threats compound the issue, as Buffel grass growth is stimulated by burning, which not only raises the risk and severity of fires by increasing fuel availability, but also burns at higher temperatures than the Acacia overstorey can tolerate, which reduces and degrading the natural habitat.

Management
Management of Taunton National Park is conducted by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), under the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DERM). To ensure that cultural heritage values are protected with park management decisions, there is an ongoing partnership between the QPWS and the indigenous land owners; the Kangoulu and Ghungalu people. General objectives of park management include ensuring the protection and preservation of the parks ecological and biological diversity and values, and ensuring the continued survival of the bridled nail-tail wallaby through provision of predator control and adequate habitat and food resources. Pest plant management is ongoing in order to control the range and establishment of invasive plant species, and reduce competition with native plants. In addition, regular predator control measures are implemented to lower predation pressures on the wallaby, and continued monitoring is conducted to assess the effects and success rate of these pest management strategies. Domestic stock animals are excluded from the park via fencing, to reduce competition for the wallabies food resources as well as preventing ground and vegetation compaction via trampling. Wallaby population abundance is monitored by quarterly 4-day surveys which span the entire park, to ensure rapid management responses to notable declines in numbers, while issues arising from fire threats, such as destruction of the wallabies brigalow shrub habitat, are managed through fire breaks and controlled burn regimes.

title: Taunton National Park


text:
Talk:Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem

William of Tyre
William clearly acknowledges the adulterous relationship between Melisende and Hugh. The sources that suggest that the revolt of 1134 was caused by Fulk's reorganization of the nobility include: Ibn al-Qalanisi and Orderic Vitalis.

The article reads:

"Thereafter, wrote the historian William of Tyre, Fulk 'never tried to initiate anything, even in trivial matters, with her foreknowledge.'"

Should this be 'without' rather than 'with', perhaps? Andre Engels 13:00 Oct 17, 2002 (UTC)

Adam, we were in at the same time! Sorry but can you copy edit again!! :)

Also.. is there a wiki-way as to why we reduce the second word in a heading back to lower case? As it introduces a second chapter I would think it would be capitalized. Also.. can you help me link up certin things.. like the Melisende Paslster and other important names and events in the text?

Thanx much, Drachenfyre... oh and I have more to list for sources!

 * I'm not sure, that's just the Wikipedia style...they're not really "chapters" as such, it's not a book. Also, we only have to link to things once, the first time they appear, so if they occur again you can leave them unlinked. Adam Bishop 05:45, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Alberia
Alberia Torkenkluvim, where did you get the image you posted on the Melisende page? I am very courious and, if I inturpet correctly, it relfects a Queen accepting fealty from a vassel yes? Is this Melisende?

Thank you very much!

Eleanor and Melisende
I removed the section about Eleanor and Melisende, it's entirely too speculative and doesn't really belong here. I don't think we should include what "may have" happened. Adam Bishop 7 July 2005 19:58 (UTC)

 * Yes Adam I do see your point. It is certin they did meet though, and according to Eleanor biographer Alison Wier Melisende was hostess to the King and Queen of France and Louis is documented in the historical record touring Jerusalem with Melisende. Eleanor was in discrace, according to Wier, and thus she was not mentioned when the couple entered capital. For those that might have liked to see the text in question Here is the text origionally:

 * Despite the military and diplomatic setbacks caused by the Second Crusade, in Jerusalem the meeting between Melisende and Eleanor must have had an impact on both women. Melisende was undisputed queen by right, head of a nation and subject to no man. The palace was well appointed with all the Oriental splendor and comforts that western Europe's draughty castles and poor sanitation lacked. From fine quality Persian carpets and wall tapestries, fine silk sheets and clothing, mosaic floors, to bathing and grooming habits, the Jerusalem of Melisende must have seemed a kind of paradise to western Europeans. Eleanor, sure of herself and with the nerve of her youth and renowned beauty, must have been influenced by this. This meeting between the two queens with their shared experiences may have engendered a kind of 'kindred spirit' friendship between them, though Eleanor was in disgrace for alleged infidelity with her uncle in Antioch. Eleanor may have seen Melisende's successes as inspiration, influencing her dealings with her husbands and sons, even with the governance of Aquitaine once Eleanor returned to Poitou. After 11 months Eleanor and Louis departed for France, ending the Second Crusade.Drachenfyre 01:25, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

Translation to English would be Helpful
My Latin isn't good enough to do it myself, but would someone be able to translate the following section of the article into English: "Of Melisende, William of Tyre wrote 'reseditque reginam regni potestas penes dominam Melisendem, Deo amabilem reginam, cui jure hereditario competebat.'" Without a translation, it is quite hard to know what is being conveyed. Magic1million (talk) 18:52, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

 * It is the same William of Tyre quote found in the first subsection: "the rule of the kingdom remained in the power of the lady queen Melisende, a queen beloved by God, to whom it passed by hereditary right". I have removed the Latin text. W. Tell DCCXLVI ( talk to me!/c ) 16:40, 31 March 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem


text:
Talk:Externality

Wikipedia Ambassador Program assignment
This article is the subject of an educational assignment at University of Kentucky supported by WikiProject United States Public Policy and the Wikipedia Ambassador Program during the 2011 Spring term. Further details are available on the course page.

Above message substituted from on 14:32, 7 January 2023 (UTC)

Negative of cellphone at school
Negative of cellphone at school 196.207.37.208 (talk) 17:00, 10 May 2022 (UTC)

Negative Production Externality Figure Incorrect?
This url shows a different figure for negative externality in production. https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/market_failures/externalities.html/

Logically, the wiki figure is incorrect. A negative externality in production means that the socially optimal production should be lower and the equilibrium price should be higher. The figure has all of this backwards. An example to consider is pollution from a factory; negative externality in production. Society would be better off with less production from the factory with less pollution and a higher price for the factory output. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Opulent1 (talk • contribs) 23:21, 10 May 2022 (UTC)

 * I've decided to remove it, along with the positive production externality figure, as it is also incorrect. Surprised it wasn't removed earlier. ARandomName123 (talk) 15:26, 15 May 2023 (UTC)

Mas-Colell formula
I have removed the Mas-Colell formula because (a) it is probably a verbatim copy of the material in the cited book, which contravenes WP:COPYVIO unless it is a loose paraphrase (which is highly improbable if not impossible); (b) Wikipedia is not an economics text book and the level of prior knowledge required to understand the working is far more that we expect of the general readership, making it wp:UNDUE (and even designed to intimidate); (c) it is a WP:SINGLESOURCE and a WP:PRIMARYSOURCE.

If anyone really thinks it should be restored, please respond to these challenges first. 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 15:06, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

Incorrect production externality graphs
Both graphs for the positive and negative production externalities are incorrect.

Please see: Negative externalities (economicsonline.co.uk) and Positive Externalities - Economics Help.

The creator of the graphs seems to have flipped private marginal cost and social marginal cost. I've decided to remove both graphs, but a second opinion would be appreciated, along with a check of the other two graphs. ARandomName123 (talk) 15:25, 15 May 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Externality


text:
User talk:MQ31

coucou la france !

Welcome to Wikipedia! There's lots to do around here; I hope you have fun. Check out Help if you get stuck, or ask a question at the Village pump. You also might be interested in http://fr.wikipedia.com. Cheers! -- Stephen Gilbert 13:32 Oct 17, 2002 (UTC)

title: User talk:MQ31


text:
Talk:League of Augsburg

I would recommend tidying the coverage of the naming of the 17th/18th century wars making clear that the naming after British Monarchs is American usage.

 * The War of the Grand Alliance (redirect from War of the League of Augsberg) = King William's War
 * The War of the Spanish Succession = Queen Anne's War
 * The War of the Austrian Succession (subsuming War of Jenkin's Ear) = King George's War
 * The Seven Years War = The French and Indian War (King George II still being on the throne at the outbreak).

Finally, note that the North American aspect of all four wars are collectively called the French and Indian Wars (plural). My source is volume 2 of Isaac Asimov's history of North America.

-- Alan Peakall
 * I don't understand your complaint. I think the text clearly says that the North American phase of this war is called King William's War. Americans call the part that occurred in Europe the War of the Grand Alliance, just like Britons do. Am I missing something? Are you claiming that Europeans don't call the North American phase of the war King William's War? It may be true, I don't know. --rmhermen

 * My point was a general one relating to the cross referencing of pages in Wikipedia. I believe that I started out at the List of wars page where some of the above wars are resolved and some are not.  Influenced by Asimov's history, I viewed these wars and their correspondence with European wars as a group.  I suspect that I might more usefully have made the comment on another Talk Page.  Now that I have registered as a user, I guess its up to me to act.  I favour creating a new page French and Indian Wars with the above tabular correspondence, and links to entries for specifically European and North American wars. I will check back here for your feedback before acting. Alan Peakall 17:18 Oct 18, 2002 (UTC)

title: Talk:League of Augsburg


text:
Middle-earth Role Playing

Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP) is a 1984 tabletop role-playing game based on J. R. R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit under license from Tolkien Enterprises. Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) published the game until they lost the license on 22 September 1999.

System
The rules system of the game is a streamlined version of I.C.E.'s generic fantasy RPG, Rolemaster.

Characters have Attributes and Skills rated between 1 and 100 on a percentile die (d100) or two ten-sided dice (2d10). Skills can be modified to a rating above or below these limits (i.e. under 1 or over 100, with open-ended MERP options to add or subtract additional d100). An attack roll consists of a percentile roll, to which the attacker's skill rating and appropriate attribute rating are added and the defender's dodge rating is subtracted. The result is compared to the defender's armor type and looked up on a table to determine success or failure. A separate critical table is used in the initial chart result called for it.

Spellcasters learn lists of ten spells as a unit. Each of the spells is based on a theme (e.g. healing spells).

History
I.C.E. published the first edition of MERP ruleset in 1984 and a second edition in 1986. A collector's edition was published in 1993, based upon the second edition with twice the number of pages. I.C.E. was working on the third edition that was never published, along with many adventure and campaign modules, until Tolkien Enterprises revoked the license for games based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in 1999. I.C.E. declared bankruptcy in 2000.

A related quarterly magazine, Other Hands Magazine created by Professor Chris Seeman, supporting the MERP community, was also sent a desist by Tolkien Enterprises and ceased publication in 2001.

A second magazine named Other Minds Magazine created by Hawke Robinson, (named in recognition of the previous Other Hands quarterly, both about a quote from J. R. R. Tolkien's Letters ) began publication in 2007. It also supports the role-playing community using ICE's MERP, Decipher's LotR, Cubicle 7's The One Ring Roleplaying Game, and other Tolkien-centric role-playing game systems.

In 1991-1993, I.C.E. also published the Lord of the Rings Adventure Game. It used a simpler system than MERP and was intended to introduce new players to role-playing.

A UK edition was published by Games Workshop in 1985. It featured the First Edition rules, with a new box and booklet art by Chris Achilleos, along with 25mm floorplans for the sample adventure. Both the first and second edition ruleset and most of the adventure modules were translated for a German edition as Mittelerde-Rollenspiel (MERS) by Citadel Verlag, later Laurin Verlag, later Queen Games, starting in 1987. In Sweden a translated version called Sagan om Ringen: Rollspelet was released in 1986 by Target Games, followed by several translated modules. In Japan a translated version was released in 1987 by Hobby Japan. A Finnish language edition (Keski-Maa Roolipeli or KERP) was published in 1990. The first and second edition ruleset were translated for a French edition as Jeu de rôle des Terres du Milieu (JRTM) by Hexagonal, starting in 1986.

In the summer of 2005, a new annual convention began known as Merpcon (Middle-earth Role Playing Convention). It initially used the ICE MERP and ICE Rolemaster role-playing game systems.

1st edition MERP supplements

 * Angmar: Land of the Witch King (1982)
 * A Campaign and Adventure Guidebook for Middle-earth (1982)
 * Umbar: Haven of the Corsairs (1982)
 * The Court of Ardor in Southern Middle Earth (1982)
 * Isengard and Northern Gondor (1983)
 * Northern Mirkwood: The Wood-Elves Realm (1983)
 * Southern Mirkwood: Haunt of the Necromancer (1983)
 * Bree and the Barrow-Downs (1984)
 * Combat Screen and Reference Sheets (1984)
 * Dagorlad and the Dead Marshes (1984)
 * Hillmen of the Trollshaws (1984)
 * Moria: The Dwarven City (1984)
 * The Tower of Cirith Ungol and Shelob's Lair (1984)
 * Erech and the Paths of the Dead (1985)
 * Goblin-Gate and Eagle's Eyrie (1985)
 * Haunted Ruins of the Dundlendings (1985)
 * Moria, the Dwarven City (1985)
 * Rangers of the North: The Kingdom of Arthedain (1985)
 * Riders of Rohan (1985)
 * Lords of Middle-earth, Volume I (1986)
 * Lórien & The Halls of the Elven Smiths (1986)
 * Phantom of the Northern Marches (1986)
 * Thieves of Tharbad (1986)
 * Trolls of the Misty Mountains (1986)
 * Assassins of Dol Amroth (1987)
 * Brigands of Mirkwood (1987)
 * Dunland and the Southern Misty Mountains (1987)
 * Ents of Fangorn (1987)
 * Gates of Mordor (1987)
 * Havens of Gondor ... Land of Belfalas (1987)
 * Lords of Middle-earth, Volume II (1987)
 * Lost Realm of Cardolan (1987)
 * Pirates of Pelargir (1987)
 * Rivendell: The House of Elrond (1987)
 * Sea-Lords of Gondor ... Pelargir and Lebennin (1987)
 * Weathertop, Tower of the Wind (1987)
 * Woses of the Black Wood (1987)
 * Creatures of Middle-earth: A Bestiary of Animals and Monsters (1988)
 * Far Harad, the Scorched Land (1988)
 * Halls of the Elven-King (1988)
 * Minas Tirith (1988)
 * Mirkwood: The Wilds of Rhovanion (1988)
 * Mouths of the Entwash (1988)
 * Raiders of Cardolan (1988)
 * Shadow in the South (1988)
 * Teeth of Mordor (1988)
 * Dark Mage of Rhudaur (1989)
 * Denizens of the Dark Wood (1989)
 * Empire of the Witch-King (1989)
 * Forest of Tears (1989)
 * Ghosts of the Southern Anduin (1989)
 * Lords of Middle-earth, Volume III (1989)
 * Middle-earth Adventure Guidebook II (1989)
 * Mount Gundabad (1989)
 * Perils on the Sea of Rhûn (1989)
 * Treasures of Middle-Earth (1989)
 * Warlords of the Desert (1989)
 * Angus McBride's Characters of Middle-earth (1990)
 * Calenhad, a Beacon of Gondor (1990)
 * Ghost Warriors (1990)
 * Gorgoroth (1990)
 * Greater Harad (1990)
 * Hazards of the Harad Wood (1990)
 * Rogues of the Borderlands (1990)
 * The Necromancer's Lieutenant (1990)
 * Minas Ithil (1991)
 * Nazgul's Citadel (1991)
 * River Running (1992)
 * The Grey Mountains (1992)

2nd edition MERP supplements

 * Northwestern Middle-earth Gazetteer 2nd Edition (1992)
 * Middle-earth Role Playing Campaign Guide 2nd Edition (1993)
 * Valar & Maiar (1993)
 * Arnor (1994)
 * Creatures of Middle-earth (1994)
 * Elves (1994)
 * Middle-earth Role Playing Poster Maps (1994)
 * Middle-earth Role Playing 2nd Edition Accessory Pack (1994)
 * Minas Tirith (1994)
 * Northwestern Middle-earth Map Set (1994)
 * Palantír Quest (1994)
 * Treasures of Middle-earth (1994)
 * Moria (1994)
 * Angmar (1995)
 * Dol Guldur (1995)
 * Lake-Town (1995)
 * Mirkwood (1995)
 * The Kin-Strife (1995)
 * The Shire (1995)
 * Arnor - The People (1996)
 * Southern Gondor: The Land (1996)
 * Southern Gondor: The People (1996)
 * Arnor - The Land (1997)
 * Hands of the Healer (1997)
 * The Northern Waste (1997)

Critical reception
In the February 1984 edition of White Dwarf (Issue 50), Jonathan Sutherland reviewed the various MERP supplements available at the time, and generally liked them, although he found their price a bit steep.

A few issues later, in the October 1984 edition of White Dwarf (Issue 58), Sutherland reviewed the main rules system of MERP and thought that it "mirrors the consistently high-quality one has come to expect from ICE." Sutherland concluded that it "is a well-conceived, reasonably well-written system. I can't say it's easy and ideal for beginners but I can honestly recommend that you try it. MERP gets my vote as best new RPG this year; in fact I've not been so impressed since I first read Call of Cthulhu."

In the March–April 1985 edition of Space Gamer (Issue No. 73), William A. Barton commented that "If you haven't yet taken a trip to Middle-earth via the Iron Crown, I recommend you remedy the situation as soon as possible." In the January 1985 edition of Imagine (Issue 22), Andy Blakeman stated that "by its links with Tolkien, it cannot fail to attract many new gamers into this hobby; and I am reasonably confident that these newcomers will not be disappointed."

In the June 1985 edition of White Dwarf (Issue 66), Graham Staplehurst thought "Iron Crown has done superb development work on areas that Tolkien neglected or left unspecified." He found the rules system suitable "though not spectacularly original", and the combat system "can be rather bloody, which is no bad thing." However, Staplehurst had issues with the magic system, pointing out that in Tolkien's books, magic is a rare, subtle force only used by a few powerful characters, whereas "The MERP system gives these sorts of powers to almost anyone after the acquisition of relatively few experience points; for me, it upsets the flavor of the game and its authenticity." He concluded, "MERP can be used to recreate the great adventures of which Tolkien wrote: going with Frodo or Bilbo or Beren into the lair of evil and trying to escape alive, and it can go some way to fulfilling the desires of people who want to know more about Tolkien's world."

In the January 1987 edition of White Dwarf (Issue 83), Graham Staplehurst reviewed the second edition of the rules and applauded ICE for including more material for newcomers, such as an introductory booklet and a short introductory adventure. He also liked the rearrangement of rules, pointing out that "Much of the confusion of tables, lists, and rules has been cleared by a sensible grouping of charts onto single pages and into a larger batch on the rear of the book." He concluded, "MERP remains (for me) one of the more inventive and enjoyable roleplaying game currently available."

In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, game critic Rick Swan didn't think that MERP successfully recreated Tolkien's Midde-earth setting. For that reason, Swan thought that the game was "more likely to find favor with casual Tolkien fans than Middle Earth fanatics, because even though it's a pretty good fantasy game, it doesn't measure up to the novels." Swan concluded by giving this game a rating of 2.5 out of 4.

In a 1996 readers poll taken by the British games magazine Arcane to determine the 50 most popular role-playing games of all time, Middle-earth Role Playing was ranked 11th. Editor Paul Pettengale commented: "The popularity of the books, we would suggest, explains why the game based on Tolkien's world is so popular. The system is overly complicated (being based on the complex Rolemaster system - see number 15), and it suffers from the problem of timing. For example, at which time do you set your campaign? Set it before The Lord of the Rings and everyone knows what's going to happen, set it after The Lord of the Rings and you've got to make a whole load of stuff up. Still, the supplements are all good, if you get off on bucketfuls of detail and polished prose. Not for everyone, sure, but die-hard Tolkien fans should check it out."

In a retrospective review of Middle-earth Role Playing in Black Gate, Scott Taylor said "MERP, as it is more affectionately called, became the second leading RPG sold in the 1980s, and although miss-management and rather daunting licensing dealings with the Tolkien estate finally resulted in the games dissolution and the company's bankruptcy, the body of work put out by I.C.E. in a little over a decade remains the Middle-Earth canon for all role-players who truly take the genre seriously." Taylor also commented on the maps of the game in 2014, "There is, and unfortunately never will be again, an astoundingly beautiful game like MERP that has kept gamers coming back for over thirty years. Frankly, if you ever intend to play in Middle-Earth I suggest these books being your basis".

title: Middle-earth Role Playing