David Day: Difference between revisions

From Tolkien Gateway
(It's fine for me if you want to clean up a little and remove references from Reddit, but do not remove entire sections and make a disordered mix in one)
(→‎Reputation within the academic Tolkien Community: Cleaned up so this is only focused on the academic opinions and not the reviews, as their reference to Day's comment in Amazon seems to be deleted)
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==Reputation within the academic Tolkien Community==
==Reputation within the academic Tolkien Community==
Day is regarded as having a "bad reputation" amongst the academic Tolkien community.<ref name="Reddit">{{webcite|website=[http://www.reddit.com/ Reddit]|articleurl=http://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/2n9u5o/tolkien_dictionary_by_david_day_worth_buying/|articlename=Tolkien dictionary by David Day - Worth buying?|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> [[The Tolkien Society]] does not recommend any of Day's books in their suggested readings (preferring [[Robert Foster]]'s ''[[The Complete Guide to Middle-earth]]'' instead)<ref>{{webcite|website=TS|articleurl=http://www.tolkiensociety.org/author/books-about-tolkien/|articlename=Books about Tolkien|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> whilst [[David Bratman]], editor of the ''[[Tolkien Studies]]'' journal, makes the same suggestion that David Day's books are "Not Recommended".<ref>{{webcite|website=[http://home.earthlink.net/~dbratman/ David Bratman's Home Page]|articleurl=http://home.earthlink.net/~dbratman/tolkien_bib.html|articlename=Recommended books on Tolkien|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> Troels Forchammer noted in his blog that "''Day is infamous in Tolkien circles for his creative re-interpretation of Tolkien's work''"<ref>{{webcite|website=[http://parmarkenta.blogspot.co.uk Parma-kenta]|articleurl=http://parmarkenta.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/tolkien-transactions-xxxiii.html|articlename=Tolkien Transactions XXXIII|dated=1 February 2013|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> whilst [[Michael Martinez]] made the sterner observation that "''In Tolkien scholarship the worst insult one could deliver at any point for many years was equivalent to 'That sounds like something David Day wrote'.''"<ref>{{webcite|website=[http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/ Tolkien Studies Blog]|articleurl=http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/2007/03/07/why-wikipedia-content-cannot-be-trusted/|articlename=Why Wikipedia Content Cannot Be Trusted|dated=7 March 2007|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref>
[[The Tolkien Society]] does not recommend any of Day's books in their suggested readings (preferring [[Robert Foster]]'s ''[[The Complete Guide to Middle-earth]]'' instead)<ref>{{webcite|website=TS|articleurl=http://www.tolkiensociety.org/author/books-about-tolkien/|articlename=Books about Tolkien|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> whilst [[David Bratman]], editor of the ''[[Tolkien Studies]]'' journal, makes the same suggestion that David Day's books are "Not Recommended".<ref>{{webcite|website=[http://home.earthlink.net/~dbratman/ David Bratman's Home Page]|articleurl=http://home.earthlink.net/~dbratman/tolkien_bib.html|articlename=Recommended books on Tolkien|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> Troels Forchammer noted in his blog that "''Day is infamous in Tolkien circles for his creative re-interpretation of Tolkien's work''"<ref>{{webcite|website=[http://parmarkenta.blogspot.co.uk Parma-kenta]|articleurl=http://parmarkenta.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/tolkien-transactions-xxxiii.html|articlename=Tolkien Transactions XXXIII|dated=1 February 2013|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> whilst [[Michael Martinez]] made the sterner observation that "''In Tolkien scholarship the worst insult one could deliver at any point for many years was equivalent to 'That sounds like something David Day wrote'.''"<ref>{{webcite|website=[http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/ Tolkien Studies Blog]|articleurl=http://blog.tolkien-studies.com/2007/03/07/why-wikipedia-content-cannot-be-trusted/|articlename=Why Wikipedia Content Cannot Be Trusted|dated=7 March 2007|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref>


Tolkien Meta-FAQ author Steuard Jensen said about ''[[A Tolkien Bestiary]]'' that "''it is not wise to rely on this book for information on Tolkien's vision of Middle-earth''" and that "''it is important to be aware that a considerable number of other details in those vivid descriptions were invented by Day himself with little or no justification in the texts, and that these extrapolations are not distinguished from the justified facts in any way''".<ref name="FAQ">{{webcite|website=FAQ|articleurl=http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/DayBooks.html|articlename=Notes on David Day's Tolkien Books|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> In particular, ''[[A Tolkien Bestiary]]'' (and its derivative ''[[Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia]]'') has been specifically criticised for its entries on [[Beren]], [[Giants]], [[long-worms]], [[Sauron]], [[Telcontar|Telcontari]],<ref name="FAQ"/><ref>{{webcite|website=Plaza|articleurl=http://www.lotrplaza.com/archives/index.php?Archive=First%20Age&TID=83477|articlename=List of Errors in David Day’s books|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref>.
Tolkien Meta-FAQ author Steuard Jensen said about ''[[A Tolkien Bestiary]]'' that "''it is not wise to rely on this book for information on Tolkien's vision of Middle-earth''" and that "''it is important to be aware that a considerable number of other details in those vivid descriptions were invented by Day himself with little or no justification in the texts, and that these extrapolations are not distinguished from the justified facts in any way''".<ref name="FAQ">{{webcite|website=FAQ|articleurl=http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/DayBooks.html|articlename=Notes on David Day's Tolkien Books|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> In particular, ''[[A Tolkien Bestiary]]'' (and its derivative ''[[Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia]]'') has been specifically criticised for its entries on [[Beren]], [[Giants]], [[long-worms]], [[Sauron]], [[Telcontar|Telcontari]],<ref name="FAQ"/><ref>{{webcite|website=Plaza|articleurl=http://www.lotrplaza.com/archives/index.php?Archive=First%20Age&TID=83477|articlename=List of Errors in David Day’s books|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref>
 
Day acknowledges that the Tolkien community do not approve of his books: he confirms that Tolkien reviewers have described his books as "''a piece of garbage''", "''worthless''", "''junk don't bother''" and "''avoid this or any of David Day's books like the plague.''"<ref name="Amazon review">{{webcite|website=AM|articleurl=http://www.amazon.com/review/R2SBK9KKU1R5WN/ref=cm_cr_rev_detmd_pl?ie=UTF8&asin=0684839792&cdForum=Fx3UW3NBJ0HQKYH&cdMsgID=Mx3RFGEGRWW2IQ3&cdMsgNo=1&cdPage=1&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx11RAW40EDUFA6&store=books#Mx3RFGEGRWW2IQ3|articlename=David Day's reply to Nelson Goering's review of ''Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia''|dated=20 January 2015|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> Day has also cited the views of posters at [http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/default.asp The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza]:
 
{{blockquote|"Don't read it. Nothing David Day has ever written is worth buying."<br/>"I know that people despise David Day's Bestiary."<br/>"David Day is a liar, a fabricator and a down right greedy ass."<br/>"To this day I have not read any book by Day, but I agree ..."<br/>"Day is a fabricating idiot."<br/>"Luckily I never looked. No piece of David Day "facts" roaming in my head."<br/>"I read somewhere that he included stuff from the role-playing and card games."<br/>"Day never read any of Tolkien's books in their entirety. Moron that he is."<br/>"Can anyone tell me what is going on with this David Day moron?"<br/>"What he does I find absolutely disgusting."<br/>"Many other people tell me David Day is a moron, I was just quoting."<br/>"He is a filthy little thief and one mustn't buy his books."<br/>"It would be truly great to get David Day's books removed from bookshelves."<br/>"David Day is a waste of space"|David Day quoting reviews of his own books}}
 
In defending himself Day went on to claim that members of the "''Tolkien Taliban are not conducting informed literary exchanges of information, but have for years indulged in ill-informed malicious gossip, and a sustained thuggish campaign of abusive cyber-bullying.''"<ref name="Amazon review"/> It was noted by another commenter that Day had failed to provide a single reference from [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] to defend claims of inaccuracy.<ref name="Amazon reply">{{webcite|website=AMUK|articleurl=http://www.amazon.com/review/R2SBK9KKU1R5WN/ref=cm_cr_rev_detmd_pl?ie=UTF8&asin=0684839792&cdForum=Fx3UW3NBJ0HQKYH&cdMsgID=Mx2VOI0THLKU15J&cdMsgNo=3&cdPage=1&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx11RAW40EDUFA6&store=books#Mx2VOI0THLKU15J|articlename=C. Rosenthal's reply to Nelson Goering's review of ''Tolkien : The Illustrated Encyclopaedia''|dated=21 January 2015|accessed=21 January 2015}}</ref> Day asserts that his books are "''extremely popular''" and are better for "''giving the general reader an overview of Tolkien's world''".<ref name="DayReply2"/>


Most of the criticism have been to the encyclopedia style books. More recently ''The Battles of Tolkien'' has been described saying  
Most of the criticism have been to the encyclopedia style books. More recently ''The Battles of Tolkien'' has been described saying  


{{blockquote|"''One of the surprises to me is that this book contains genuinely new content; this isn’t just a rehashing of previous books. And the factual pieces of information on the battles and the characters are accurate: it was a pleasant surprise to me to find none of the painfully obvious errors that were common throughout the previous two books. Similarly, the chronologies – save for one inconsistency on the War of Wrath – were also accurate.''"|[[Shaun Gunner|Gunner, Shaun]]. "Review: ''The Battles of Tolkien''" in ''[[Amon Hen]]'' [[Amon Hen 267|267]]}}   
{{blockquote|"''One of the surprises to me is that this book contains genuinely new content; this isn’t just a rehashing of previous books. And the factual pieces of information on the battles and the characters are accurate: it was a pleasant surprise to me to find none of the painfully obvious errors that were common throughout the previous two books. Similarly, the chronologies – save for one inconsistency on the War of Wrath – were also accurate.''"|[[Shaun Gunner|Gunner, Shaun]]. "Review: ''The Battles of Tolkien''" in ''[[Amon Hen]]'' [[Amon Hen 267|267]]}}   
Having acknowledged that the book contains fewer factual errors than earlier books by Day, the reviewer describes it as "not a work of reference, but an attempt at analysis" and describing the analysis as "a bunch of clichéd theories that failed to stretch beyond a child pointing at things and exclaiming “This is like that!."  
Having acknowledged that the book contains fewer factual errors than earlier books by Day, the reviewer describes it as "not a work of reference, but an attempt at analysis" and describing the analysis as "a bunch of clichéd theories that failed to stretch beyond a child pointing at things and exclaiming 'This is like that!'."


==A Composite Study Of The Lands Of Arda Throughout The Ages==
==A Composite Study Of The Lands Of Arda Throughout The Ages==

Revision as of 08:35, 6 May 2021

David Day
Biographical information
Born14 October 1947[1]
EducationUniversity of Victoria[1]
OccupationAuthor
LocationCanada
WebsiteDavidDayBooks.com

David Day is a prolific Canadian author who has written several Tolkien-related books. Primarily known for his reference books, starting with A Tolkien Bestiary in 1978, Day's books have been published in over 120 different editions in over 20 languages.[2]

Day's books have been repeatedly criticized by the Tolkien community for their inaccuracy. Day rejects the charge of inaccuracy, though he accepts that his reference books have been repackaged and reprinted by publishers under different titles when the contents are "identical."[3]

Popular artbooks

David Day's Tolkien works are popular (rather than scholarly) works that include lot of art that are more appreciated by a popular audience still grasping the world and characters.

These books have sold over 3 million copies worldwide.[4].

Artists featured in the books include Victor Ambrus, Jacopo Ascari, Graham Bence, Jaroslav Bradac, Tim Clarey, Allan Curless, Gino D'Achille, David Franklin, Melvin Grant, Sam Hadley, David Kearney, Barbara Lofthouse, Mauro Mazzara, Ian Miller, Sue Porter, Lidia Postma, David Roberts, Neil Gower, Turner Mohan, Andrea Piparo, Sarka Skorpikova, Jeffery Thompson, Jamie Whyte, Pauline Martin, Andrew Mockett, Kip Rasmussen, Ivan Allen, John Davis, Les Edwards, John Blanche, rachel Chilton, Sally Davis, Micheal Forman, Linda Garland, Liz Pyle, and Jamie Whyte.

Reputation within the academic Tolkien Community

The Tolkien Society does not recommend any of Day's books in their suggested readings (preferring Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth instead)[5] whilst David Bratman, editor of the Tolkien Studies journal, makes the same suggestion that David Day's books are "Not Recommended".[6] Troels Forchammer noted in his blog that "Day is infamous in Tolkien circles for his creative re-interpretation of Tolkien's work"[7] whilst Michael Martinez made the sterner observation that "In Tolkien scholarship the worst insult one could deliver at any point for many years was equivalent to 'That sounds like something David Day wrote'."[8]

Tolkien Meta-FAQ author Steuard Jensen said about A Tolkien Bestiary that "it is not wise to rely on this book for information on Tolkien's vision of Middle-earth" and that "it is important to be aware that a considerable number of other details in those vivid descriptions were invented by Day himself with little or no justification in the texts, and that these extrapolations are not distinguished from the justified facts in any way".[9] In particular, A Tolkien Bestiary (and its derivative Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia) has been specifically criticised for its entries on Beren, Giants, long-worms, Sauron, Telcontari,[9][10]

Most of the criticism have been to the encyclopedia style books. More recently The Battles of Tolkien has been described saying

"One of the surprises to me is that this book contains genuinely new content; this isn’t just a rehashing of previous books. And the factual pieces of information on the battles and the characters are accurate: it was a pleasant surprise to me to find none of the painfully obvious errors that were common throughout the previous two books. Similarly, the chronologies – save for one inconsistency on the War of Wrath – were also accurate."
Gunner, Shaun. "Review: The Battles of Tolkien" in Amon Hen 267

Having acknowledged that the book contains fewer factual errors than earlier books by Day, the reviewer describes it as "not a work of reference, but an attempt at analysis" and describing the analysis as "a bunch of clichéd theories that failed to stretch beyond a child pointing at things and exclaiming 'This is like that!'."

A Composite Study Of The Lands Of Arda Throughout The Ages

A Tolkien Bestiary (1979) and later works includes a map that intentionally gives an overall view of all the lands over all the ages in a composite image. It include the Lamps, the Trees Of The Valar, Númenor, Beleriand, and the Undying Lands which never existed all at the same time.

The map is criticized for differences from Tolkien's own maps such as "Map V" from the Ambarkanta maps.[11][12][13]

The Tolkien community generally steers readers away from this map and instead towards The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad (1981, revised 1991).

Oxonmoot controversy

David Day attended Oxonmoot 2004 yet failed to pay for his attendance. In the minutes of The Tolkien Society committee meeting held on 30th October 2004 it states that:==

Chris [Chris Crawshaw, Chairman] has also written to David Day to ask him to pay his registration for Oxonmoot. She was instructed by the meeting to keep badgering him about this, since he seems to feel his 'celebrity' status exempts him from such mundane details
Amon Hen 191, p. 19

Four months later in the minutes of a committee meeting held on the 26th February 2005 it is recorded:

Since David Day has still not paid his registration for Oxonmoot, it was agreed that he should be blacklisted for future events.
Amon Hen 193, p. 17

There are no other recorded incidents of The Tolkien Society blacklisting individuals from attending their events.

Bibliography

  • Encyclopedia Style Art Books Starting With A Tolkien Bestiary
    • 1979: A Tolkien Bestiary (also published as Guide to Tolkien's World: A Bestiary, Characters from Tolkien, Creatures From Tolkien)
    • 1992: Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (updated and expanded A Tolkien Bestiary with new art)
    • 1993: A to Z of Tolkien (also published as The Tolkien Companion, A Guide to Tolkien, Tolkien: A Dictionary, A Dictionary of Tolkien) (Book #1 Tolkien Illustrated Guides)
    • 2002: The World of Tolkien (Features new art)
    • 2019: An Encyclopedia of Tolkien (derived from A Tolkien Bestiary) (Leather-bound Classics)
    • 2019: The Illustrated World of Tolkien (derived from A Tolkien Bestiary, Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, The World of Tolkien, and books #1-6 of Tolkien Illustrated Guides)
    • 2019: A Dictionary Of Sources of Tolkien (derived from earlier works)
  • 1994: Tolkien's Ring
  • 1997: The Hobbit Companion
  • 2001: The Hobbit Calendar 2002
  • 2002: The Hobbit Calendar 2003
  • 2015: An Atlas of Tolkien (Book #2 Tolkien Illustrated Guides)
  • 2016: The Battles of Tolkien (Book #3 Tolkien Illustrated Guides)
  • 2017: The Heroes of Tolkien (Book #4 Tolkien Illustrated Guides)
  • 2018: The Dark Powers of Tolkien (Book #5 Tolkien Illustrated Guides)
  • 2020: The Hobbits Of Tolkien (Book #6 Tolkien Illustrated Guides)
  • 2020: The World Of Tolkien (Boxed Set of books #1-6 Tolkien Illustrated Guides)
  • 2020: The Rings Legends Of Tolkien (based on Tolkien's Ring) (Book #7 Tolkien Illustrated Guides)

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "David Day (Author of A Tolkien Bestiary)", goodreads (accessed 21 January 2015)
  2. "DAY, David", ABC Bookworld (accessed 21 January 2015)
  3. "David Day's reply to Nelson Goering's review of Tolkien : The Illustrated Encyclopaedia" dated 21 January 2015, Amazon.co.uk (accessed 21 January 2015)
  4. "[1]", David Day's site (accessed 5 May 2021)
  5. "Books about Tolkien", The Tolkien Society (accessed 21 January 2015)
  6. "Recommended books on Tolkien", David Bratman's Home Page (accessed 21 January 2015)
  7. "Tolkien Transactions XXXIII" dated 1 February 2013, Parma-kenta (accessed 21 January 2015)
  8. "Why Wikipedia Content Cannot Be Trusted" dated 7 March 2007, Tolkien Studies Blog (accessed 21 January 2015)
  9. 9.0 9.1 "Notes on David Day's Tolkien Books", Tolkien Meta-FAQ (accessed 21 January 2015)
  10. "List of Errors in David Day’s books", The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza: Forum (accessed 21 January 2015)
  11. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Reddit
  12. "A Customer's review of Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia" dated 23 August 1999, Amazon.com (accessed 21 January 2015)
  13. "A guide to Tolkien by David Day", The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza: Forum (accessed 21 January 2015)