Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fans of the works of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes '' The Hobbit'', ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'', and ''

The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel ...

''. The concept of Tolkien fandom as a specific type of fan subculture sprang up in the United States in the 1960s, in the context of the

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

movement, to the dismay of the author (Tolkien died in 1973), who talked of "my deplorable cultus". Lev Grossman,
Feeding on Fantasy
'

Time.com ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

, 24 November 2002 A Tolkienist is someone who studies the work of

: this usually involves the study of the Elvish languages and "Tolkienology". A Ringer is a fan of ''

'' in general, and of

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

's live-action film trilogy in particular. Other terms for Tolkien fans include Tolkienite or Tolkiendil.

History

Tolkien's '' The Hobbit'', a children's book, was first published in 1937, and it proved popular. But ''

'', first published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955, gave rise to fandom as a cultural phenomenon from the 1960s onwards.

Early fandom (1950s to 1973)

1950s

Tolkien fandom began within

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

soon after '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' was published in 1954. Tolkien was discussed in science fiction fanzines and

amateur press association An amateur press association (APA) is a group of people who produce individual pages or zines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group. History The first APAs were formed by groups of amateur pr ...

magazines ("apazines"), both as single essays like "No Monroe In Lothlorien!" in Eric Bentcliffe's ''Triode'', and in extended threads of comment such as by

Robert Lichtman Bobby Sichran (real name Robert Lichtman, died February 2015) was a Jewish-American alternative hip hop musician. His music was often described as combining hip hop with several other musical genres, such as blues rock and folk music. His fusion ...

in his ''Psi Phi''. Tolkien-inspired costumes were worn at

Worldcon Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...

s from 1958. An organized Tolkien fandom organization called "The Fellowship of the Ring" came together in Pittcon, the

18th World Science Fiction Convention The 18th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Pittcon, was held on 3–5 September 1960 at the Penn-Sheraton Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The convention was chaired by Dirce Archer. Participants A ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

on 4 September 1960. England's first Tolkien fanzine was ''Nazgul's Bane'', produced by Cheslin. Many fanzines had little Tolkien content but Tolkien-inspired names such as '' Ancalagon'', ''

Glamdring Weapons and armour of Middle-earth are those of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings, such as ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion''. Tolkien modelled his fictional warfare on the Ancient history, Ancient ...

'', '' Lefnui'', ''Mathom'', ''

Perian Perian is a discontinued open-source QuickTime component that enabled Apple Inc.’s QuickTime to play several popular video formats not supported natively by QuickTime on macOS. It was a joint development of several earlier open source components ...

'', '' Ringwraith'', '' Shadowfax'', and so on. Others had more meaningful Tolkien content. Ed Meskys' apazine ''

Niekas ''Niekas'' (from Lithuanian: ''nothing'' or ''nobody'') was a science fiction fanzine published from 1962–1998 by Ed Meskys – also spelled ''Meškys'' – of New Hampshire. It won the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Fanzine, and was nominat ...

'' turned into a full-fledged fanzine during this era. Pete Mansfield's Sword & Sorcery fanzine, ''Eldritch Dream Quest'', included many Tolkien items.

1960s America

Foster (2006) attributes the surge of Tolkien fandom in the United States of the mid-1960s to a combination of the

subculture and anti-war movement pursuing "mellow freedom like that of the Shire" and "America's cultural Anglophilia" of the time, fuelled by a bootleg paperback version of ''The Lord of the Rings'' published by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

followed up by an authorised edition by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

. The "hippie" following latched onto the book, giving its own spin to the work's interpretation, such as the Dark Lord

Sauron Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middl ...

representing the United States military draft during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, to the chagrin of the author who talked of a "deplorable cultus" and stated that "Many young Americans are involved in the stories in a way that I'm not" but who nevertheless admitted that "... even the nose of a very modest idol ..cannot remain entirely untickled by the sweet smell of incense!" Fan attention became so intense that Tolkien had to take his phone number out of the public directory and eventually moved to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

on the south coast of England. This embracing of the work by American 1960s counter-culture made it an easy target for mockery, as in Harvard Lampoon's parody '' Bored of the Rings'', where Tom Bombadil becomes "Tim Benzedrine", and Bilbo Baggins becomes "Dildo Bugger". ''The Lord of the Rings'' gained a reputation as a dubious work of popular culture rather than "real literature", and postponing the emergence of academic Tolkien studies by some twenty years, to the late 1980s. ''The Lord of the Rings'' acquired immense popularity in the emerging hacker culture from the mid-1960s, and the technological subcultures of scientists, engineers, and computer programmers, and flourishes there still. It figured as one of the major inspirations of the nascent

video game industry The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , ...

and the evolution of

fantasy role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ...

s. Many fantasy series written in the period were created by fans of ''The Lord of the Rings'', such as the ''

Shannara ''Shannara'' is a series of high fantasy novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with ''The Sword of Shannara'' in 1977 and concluding with ''The Last Druid'' which was released in October 2020; there is also a prequel, ''First King of Shann ...

'' books by

Terry Brooks Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 ''New York Times'' bestsellers during his writing career, and has ...

Tolkien societies

Although there were active Tolkien enthusiasts within

from the mid-1950s, true organized Tolkien fandom only took off with the publication of the second hardcover edition and the paperbacks in the 1960s. Although there are numerous Tolkien societies in different countries today, they are not endorsed or even authorized by the

Tolkien Estate The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the property of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, including the copyright for most of his works. The individual copyrights have for the most part been assigned by the estate to subsidiary enti ...

. The first recorded organized Tolkien fan group was "The Fellowship of the Ring", founded by Ted Johnstone. Their first annual meeting was held at Pittcon, the 1960

. They published four issues of the fanzine ''i-Palantír'' before the organization disbanded; the first was published a month before the Pittcon meeting, dated August 1960. Articles on ''The Lord of the Rings'' appeared regularly in the 1960s science fiction fanzine ''

'', edited by Ed Meskys. The Tolkien Society of America first met "in February, 1965, beside the statue of Alma Mater on the Columbia University campus," according to a 1967 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' interview with

Richard Plotz Richard Plotz (commonly known as Dick Plotz) (b. 1948) is the co-founder of the Tolkien Society of America, which in 1972 was merged with the Mythopoeic Society. Plotz is known for his interview with J. R. R. Tolkien in the late 1960s under the ausp ...

, the Society's founder and first Thain. By 1967, Meskys had become Thain and the society boasted over 1,000 members, organized into local groups or ''smials'', a pattern that would be followed by other Tolkien fan organizations. The society published a newsletter, ''Green Dragon'', and '' The Tolkien Journal'' (edited by Plotz). In 1969, the society sponsored the first Tolkien Conference at Belknap College. The Tolkien Conference was not a science fiction convention but a scholarly event. The University of Wisconsin Tolkien and Fantasy Society was founded in 1966, and is best known for its journal ''Orcrist'' (1966–1977), edited by

Richard C. West Richard Carroll West (August 13, 1944 – November 29, 2020) was an American librarian and one of the first Tolkien scholars. He is best known for his 1975 essay on the Interlacing in The Lord of the Rings, interlace structure of ''The Lord of the ...

. Across the continent,

Glen GoodKnight Glen GoodKnight (1941-2010) was the founder of the Mythopoeic Society and the editor of its journal, ''Mythlore'' between 1970 and 1998; in that time the publication grew from being a fan magazine to a peer-reviewed academic journal. He was an exp ...

founded the Mythopoeic Society in California in 1967 for the study, discussion, and enjoyment of fantastic and mythic literature, especially the works of Tolkien and fellow-

Inklings The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who pra ...

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

, and Charles Williams. The society held its first

Mythcon The Mythopoeic Society (MythSoc) is a non-profit organization devoted to the study of mythopoeic literature, particularly the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and C. S. Lewis, all members of The Inklings, an informal group of write ...

conference in 1970, which featured readings, a costume competition, an art show, and other events typical of science fiction conventions of the day. The society's three current periodicals are ''Mythprint'', a monthly bulletin; '' Mythlore'', originally a fanzine and now a peer-reviewed journal that publishes scholarly articles on mythic and fantastic literature; and '' The Mythic Circle'', a literary annual of original poetry and short stories (which replaced the Society's earlier publications ''Mythril'' and ''Mythellany''). Alongside that was a monthly newsletter, ''Mythprint''. Also available from th
Chicago Tribune
''Beyond Bree'' is the monthly newsletter of The American Mensa Tolkien Special Interest Group. ''Orcrist'' and ''The Tolkien Journal'' published three joint issues (1969–1971). ''The Tolkien Journal'' and ''Mythlore'' published several joint issues in the later 1970s and eventually merged.

The Tolkien Society The Tolkien Society is an educational charity and literary society devoted to the study and promotion of the life and works of the author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien. It began informally in 1969, and held its inaugural meeting in 1970. It ho ...

(UK) was founded in the United Kingdom in 1969, and remains active as a registered charity. The society has two regular publications, a bi-monthly bulletin of news and information, ''Amon Hen'', and an annual journal, ''Mallorn'', featuring critical articles and essays on Tolkien's work. They host several annual events, including a conference held at Oxford,

Oxonmoot Oxonmoot is a conference and fan convention organized by The Tolkien Society devoted to celebrate and study the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien. It takes place every year in Oxford, England, around 22 September, the date of Bilbo and Frodo Ba ...

. Both the UK Tolkien Society and the Mythopoeic Society are organized into "Special Interest Groups", focusing on one area such as languages, and into local or regional groups which meet on a regular basis. The journal '' Parma Eldalamberon'', founded in 1971, is a publication of one such special interest group of the Mythopoeic Society. There is a long tradition of organized Tolkien fandoms in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

. The Tolkien Society of Sweden was founded in Gothenburg in 1968 ("of Sweden" was added in 1969 to avoid confusion with the UK society) and The Tolkien Society Forodrim was founded in Sweden in 1972. Denmark has two Tolkien societies, Bri, the Danish Tolkien Society and Imladris, which is a virtual community only. Some fans, known as Tolkien tourists, travel for the purpose of visiting ''Lord of the Rings'' and Tolkien-related sites.

1970s to 1980s

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

, who had read ''The Lord of the Rings'' three times by Tolkien's death in September 1973, wrote a Black Widowers short story as tribute to the fellow author. "Nothing Like Murder" (1974) mentions college students forming Tolkien societies at Columbia and elsewhere. Tolkien's son

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

began the publication of posthumous material, beginning with the '' Silmarillion'' (1977) which was being prepared for publication by Tolkien but left unfinished at his death, followed by ''

The History of Middle-earth ''The History of Middle-earth'' is a 12-volume series of books published between 1983 and 1996 that collect and analyse much of Tolkien's legendarium, compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. The series shows the development over ti ...

'' series (1983 to 1996). '' J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography'' (1977) and ''

The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien ''The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien'' is a selection of J. R. R. Tolkien's letters published in 1981, edited by Tolkien's biographer Humphrey Carpenter assisted by Christopher Tolkien. The selection from a large mass of materials contains 354 lett ...

'' (1981) provided biographical information. These publications provided the raw material for in-depth Tolkien research, pioneered by Tom Shippey's ''

The Road to Middle-earth ''The Road to Middle-earth: How J. R. R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology'' is a scholarly study of the Middle-earth works of J. R. R. Tolkien written by Tom Shippey and first published in 1982. The book discusses Tolkien's philology, and then ex ...

'' (1982). Interest in ''The Lord of the Rings'' led to several attempts to adapt it for the film medium, most of which were largely unsuccessful. Filmmaker Ralph Bakshi succeeded in securing the rights to produce an

animated feature film These lists of animated feature films compiles animated feature films from around the world and is organized alphabetically under the year of release (the year the completed film was first released to the public). Theatrical releases as well as ...

version, part one of what was originally planned as a two-part adaptation of the story. Bakshi produced the film using, among other animation techniques,

rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...

, shooting a majority of the film in live-action first before transferring the live footage to animation. While the film had, and continues to have, a mixed critical reaction, it was a financial success, costing USD 8 million to produce, and grossing over USD 30 million at the box office. Despite this fact,

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

, the film's original distributor, refused to fund a sequel, leaving the project incomplete.

1990s to 2000s

The 1990s saw the conclusion of ''The History of Middle-earth'' series. A series of minor texts by Tolkien were edited in journals such as '' Parma Eldalamberon'' and ''

Vinyar Tengwar The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship (E. L. F.) is a "Special Interest Group" of the Mythopoeic Society devoted to the study of the constructed languages of J. R. R. Tolkien, today headed by the computer scientist Carl F. Hostetter. It was founded by ...

'', published by the

Elvish Linguistic Fellowship The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship (E. L. F.) is a "Special Interest Group" of the Mythopoeic Society devoted to the study of the constructed languages of J. R. R. Tolkien, today headed by the computer scientist Carl F. Hostetter. It was founded b ...

since the early 1990s. In the 2000s, several encyclopedic projects have documented Tolkien's life and work in great detail, such as the ''

J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia The ''J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment'', edited by Michael D. C. Drout, was published by Routledge in 2006. A team of 127 Tolkien scholars on 720 pages cover topics of Tolkien's fiction, his academic works, hi ...

'' (2006) and the twin volumes '' The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion'' and ''

The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide ''The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide'' is a 2006 reference book by the husband and wife team of Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. It provides a detailed chronology of Tolkien's life in volume 1, and a reader's guide in volume 2. The s ...

'' (2005, 2006). The dedicated journal '' Tolkien Studies'' has been appearing from 2004. A "Tolkien Reading Day", held annually on 25 March, an anniversary of the fall of

Barad-dûr In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and to t ...

, was proposed by Sean Kirst, a columnist at '' The Post-Standard'' in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, and launched by the Tolkien Society in 2003.

Peter Jackson movies

''The Lord of the Rings'' gained a much broader audience with the release of

's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. These were released serially in three consecutive years, from December 2001 to December 2003. Since then, a large number of fans have arisen who have not read any of the books, and have been only exposed to Tolkien through the films and its merchandise. Tolkien-related

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, especially

computer and video games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

have increased in number and in popularity. Popular culture references to Middle-earth have increased, as well as satires and parodies of it.

Online

Tolkien discussion took place in many newsgroups from the earliest days of

Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...

. The

Tolklang The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his fantasy writings. These encompass ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion'', along with his legendarium that remained unpublished until after ...

mailing list was started in 1990. The alt.fan.tolkien and rec.arts.books.tolkien

newsgroups A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distinct ...

have been active since 1992 and 1993, respectively. Notable points of contention in online discussions surround the origin of

orcs An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially ''The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly, a ...

, whether elves have pointy ears, whether

balrog A Balrog () is a powerful demonic monster in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. One first appeared in print in his high-fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings'', where the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of the Ring encounter a Bal ...

s have wings, and the nature of Tom Bombadil. Following the announcement of Jackson's movies (from 2001), online fandom became divided between " Revisionists" and "

Purist Purism is an arts movement that took place between 1918 and 1925. Purism may also refer to: *Purism (Spanish architecture) (1530–1560), a phase of Renaissance architecture in Spain *Purism (company), company manufacturing Librem personal comput ...

s" over controversy surrounding changes to the novel made for the movies, such as those made to the character of Arwen and the absence of Tom Bombadil.

TheOneRing.net (or TORn)

One of the most prominent fansites of Jackson's movies is TheOneRing.net, which was popular even with the cast and crew of the film. TORn, as it is called, was originally a small movie-news site that gained in prestige as movie-rumors became reality. The filmmakers put special effort into winning over the fans, not simply tolerating but actually actively ''supporting'' fansites for ''Ringers''. The site was founded in 1999 by a group of Tolkien fans eager for the upcoming ''

'' film trilogy who were gathering information about the film. In 1998, Michael 'Xoanon' Regina and Erica 'Tehanu' Challis started a website using all of the information they could get related to the filming of ''

'', including exclusive "spy" reports from Tehanu's visit to the New Zealand set. This activity first got her escorted off the set, and then invited back on to take an official look around and meet director

. In early 1999, a designer by the username of Calisuri came across the site and asked if they needed some design and technical help to grow the site and make it a central web location for other Tolkien fans. Calisuri's friend Corvar, who he was acquainted with from the Nightmare LPMud, was brought aboard to provide server and business help. Xoanon, Tehanu, Calisuri and Corvar then formed The One Ring, Inc. and are the sole owners/founders of TheOneRing.net. The site is unique in that there was a mutual working relationship between the crew of TheOneRing.net and that of ''

'' films, and later '' The Hobbit'' films. This relationship enabled the site to bring its readers exclusive news from the set, as when

emailed TheOneRing.net in an effort to get his side heard when a lawsuit threatened his chance to film '' The Hobbit''.

Events

Like other fan sites, members gather in small groups called moots, form personal friendships (even marriages), hold extended online discussions with archives, and so on. In 2003 Cold Spring Press released TORn's book ''The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien''. Written by five major contributors to TheOneRing.net, it includes essays ranging from a spirited defense of fantasy as a genre, discussions of Tolkien's views of good and evil, an examination of cultural norms, and more. The foreword by the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, author of ''

'' and '' J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century'', says: "The Internet, the experience of continually answering questions and receiving comments ... give the organizers of TheOneRing.net a perspective which is uniquely broad, and uniquely full of surprises, some of which would have pleased Tolkien very much, but which he could not have expected." This was followed by ''More People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien'' in 2004. Over 1,500 "Ringers" (Lord of the Rings fans) from around the world came to the TheOneRing.net

Oscar party An Oscar party is any of the several parties, usually held by entertainment-media corporations, immediately following the broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony. Some sponsors, such as '' Vanity Fair'', are known for holding such a party every yea ...

at the Hollywood, CA,

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

on 28 February 2004. The event was attended by

, Fran Walsh, Elijah Wood and many more of the cast and crew of The Lord of the Rings, several of whom skipped the official

New Line New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

party that evening. On 2 September 2004, eleven commemorative kauri trees were planted in Willowbank Park in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand, Peter Jackson's home town. The number eleven represented the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring, plus one each for Peter Jackson and J. R. R. Tolkien. Coincidentally, eleven was the number of 2004 Oscars won by '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''. Hundreds of TORn members contributed funds for the purchase of the trees as a tangible and lasting way to give thanks to Jackson and his team for their inspiring work. TheOneRing.net teamed up with

Creation Entertainment Creation Entertainment is an American for-profit entertainment company located in Glendale, California, which produces fan conventions for fans of various films and television series, mainly in the science fiction, Horror (genre), horror, and Fanta ...

to present The One Ring Celebration (ORC) in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Its sister convention, Eastern LOTR Fan Gathering (ELF), met in the eastern U.S. in 2005 and 2006. These conventions included panels and signings by members of the cast such as Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, and John Rhys-Davies. In November 2008 and December 2011, TheOneRing.net and Red Carpet Tours staged a cruise for 14 nights from

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

to Sydney (the 2011 cruise was Sydney to Auckland), including several short excursions to visit locations used in the filming of ''The Lord of the Rings''.

Other sites

TheOneRing.com (TORc), "The Home of Tolkien Online" is a Tolkien fan site that positions itself as catering more to the fans of Tolkien's literary works rather than Jackson's films. It was founded by Jonathan Watson, Ted Tschopp and David Mullich in April 1999. As of 2022, Watson has continued to run the website. The ''Encyclopedia of Arda'' provides a detailed online reference to Middle-earth, mirrored at GlyphWeb. A

fan edit A fan edit is a version of a film Film editing, modified by a viewer, that removes, reorders, or adds material in order to create a new interpretation of the source material. This includes the removal of scenes or dialogue, replacement of audio an ...

of the theatrical cut of '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' exists, called ''The Two Towers: The

Edit''. Most of the changes in 2007 were incorporated into ''The Lord of the Rings – The Purist Edition'', a fan edit which turns the entire trilogy into an eight-hour film without most of the changes.

Tolkienology

Tolkienology is a term used by fans to describe the study of the works of

treating Middle-earth as a real

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

, conducting research from an "

in-universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...

" perspective. This differs from Tolkien studies in that it ignores the real-world history of composition by the author, and necessarily needs to assume an underlying internally consistent canon. "Tolkienology" may include: * Tolkienian linguistics: Study of the most complete languages Tolkien designed for Middle-earth, (usually

Quenya Quenya ()Tolkien wrote in his "Outline of Phonology" (in ''Parma Eldalamberon'' 19, p. 74) dedicated to the phonology of Quenya: is "a sound as in English ''new''". In Quenya is a combination of consonants, ibidem., p. 81. is a constructed la ...

and

Sindarin Sindarin is one of the fictional languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the Elves. The word is a Quenya word. Called in Eng ...

), study of the

writing systems A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form ...

, the most known being the

Tengwar The Tengwar script is an artificial script, one of several scripts created by J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of ''The Lord of the Rings''. Within the fictional context of Middle-earth, the Tengwar were invented by the Elf Fëanor, and used fi ...

, and possible reconstruction for everyday use, including by the

. *debate on the "true" nature of Tom Bombadil, of balrogs etc. and debate on the "real" motivations of characters in the stories *Genealogies of Hobbit families and kings *The accuracy of Tolkien's

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

s and how can they be used today *Reconstruction of history (of Elven kingdoms, Arnor and

Gondor Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Man (Middle-earth), Men in the west of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age. The third volume of ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Return of the ...

, Rohan or the more unknown lands) *

Morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...

issues such as whether an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent Ilúvatar (God) would destroy

Númenor Númenor, also called Elenna-nórë or Westernesse, is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was the kingdom occupying a large island to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was the greatest civil ...

, if the 'bad' Dunlendings had any right rivalling the 'good'

Rohirrim Rohan is a fictional kingdom of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy setting of Middle-earth. Known for its horsemen, the Rohirrim, Rohan provides its ally Gondor with cavalry. Its territory is mainly grassland. The Rohirrim call their land the Ma ...

and if

committed

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

s. *Possible census of population about each race. *Astronomic descriptions in the books (moon phases, positions of stars), and what can be inferred about Middle-earth geography from them. *Strategies of wars and battles, if they were right and what alternatives might have been *Possible folkloric impressions Hobbits had about places of the

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

and other whereabouts, determined by translating placenames.

Tolkiennymy

Tolkiennymy is a term coined by Tolkien scholar Mark T. Hooker to describe the study of Tolkien's use of names from existing languages. This branch of study examines the

etymologies Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words and ...

(origins) of names such as Bilbo, Boffin, The Yale, and Tom Bombadil.

Fandom and Tolkienian linguistics

The studies of Tolkien's artistic languages (notably

and

) is a field where fandom and scholarly Tolkien studies overlap. The resulting friction between scholarly students of the languages focussing on their conceptual evolution and fandom-oriented students taking an "

" view became visible notably in the " Elfconners" controversy of the late 1990s, involving among others the linguists

David Salo David I. Salo is a linguist who worked on the languages of J. R. R. Tolkien for the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, expanding the Elvish languages (particularly Sindarin) by building on vocabulary already known from published works, and def ...

and

Carl F. Hostetter Carl Franklin Hostetter is a Tolkien scholar and NASA computer scientist. He has edited and annotated many of J. R. R. Tolkien's linguistic writings, publishing them in ''Vinyar Tengwar'' and ''Parma Eldalamberon''. Career NASA Carl Hostette ...

, the editor of

. There is a "reconstructionist" camp, which pursues the

reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

of unattested Elvish forms, and a "philological" or "purist" camp which focusses entirely on the conscientious edition of such fragments as can be found in Tolkien's unpublished papers. By its nature, reconstructionism aims for a "canon" of "correct" standard Elvish (Neo-Eldarin), while the philological study of the evolution of Tolkien's conceptions cannot assume that the languages had ever reached a complete or internally consistent final form. The "reconstructionist" camp is represented by Salo, who translated the poems in the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by Fran Walsh and

Philippa Boyens Philippa Jane Boyens (born 1962) is a New Zealand screenwriter and film producer who co-wrote the screenplay for Peter Jackson's films ''The Lord of the Rings'' series, ''King Kong'', ''The Lovely Bones'', and the three-part film ''The Ho ...

for the Music of ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series, creating additional words in languages including Sindarin where necessary, while the "purist" camp is represented by Hostetter.

By region

Dedicated Tolkien Societies provide platforms for a combination of fandom and academic literary study in several countries. The most notable societies in the English-speaking world are The Tolkien Society (UK) and the Mythopoeic Society (USA).

United Kingdom

'' was formed in 1969 as an educational charity in the UK, but has a worldwide membership. The society publishes a regular bulletin called ''Amon Hen'', with articles, artwork and occasional fiction. The society has three regular UK gatherings: an Annual General Meeting and Dinner; a Seminar with a mix of serious and lighthearted talks; and the

, a regular September gathering organized by the British Tolkien Society. ''

Mallorn This list of fictional plants describes invented plants that appear in works of fiction. In fiction *Audrey Jr.: a man-eating plant in the 1960 film ''The Little Shop of Horrors'' **Audrey II: a singing, fast-talking alien plant with a taste for ...

'' is an annual journal produced by and for members of The Tolkien Society. It consists of long articles studying aspects of Tolkien's work, plus some artwork. The name is a reference to the

tree and an illustration of such a tree appears on the front of each issue. In the past it was issued every autumn, but since 2003 has been released in mid-summer.

German-speaking Europe

The German translation of ''The Hobbit'' appeared in 1957 (translated by Walter Scherf), and that of ''The Lord of the Rings'' in 1972 (translated by Margaret Carroux and Ebba-Margareta von Freymann). The ''Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft'' (DTG) is a German

association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

dedicated to the study of the life and works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Founded in 1997, it is based in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. The DTG has more than 500 members (as of 2005) and is organized in a widespread network of local chapters. It is the main driving force of Tolkien reception in the

German speaking countries The following is a list of the countries and territories where German is an official language (also known as the Germanosphere). It includes countries that have German as (one of) their nationwide official language(s), as well as dependent ter ...

(c.f. Honegger (2006); the first Swiss Tolkien Society (''Eredain'') was founded in 1986 and published the ''Aglared'' journal; it dissolved in 2006 and a second Swiss Tolkien Society (''Seryn Ennor'') was founded in 2014 and is based in

Jenins Jenins ''( Romansh: Gianin)'' is a municipality in the Landquart Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Jenins is first mentioned in 1139 as ''Uienennes''. In 1142 it was mentioned as ''Gininnes''. Geography Jenins has an area, ...

; an Austrian Tolkien Society was founded in 2002). The DTG organized a seminar on Tolkien studies in Cologne in 2004, in Jena in 2005 and in Mainz in 2006. The conference proceedings are published in their ''Hither Shore'' yearbook.

Hungary

The Magyar Tolkien Társaság (''Hungarian Tolkien Society'') is a registered

public benefit organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

whose aim is to enhance public knowledge on the works and mythology created by J. R. R. Tolkien. Apart from organizing the Hungarian Tolkien aficionados into a community (choir, charity ball, creative workshops), the association has grown multifaceted since its foundation in 2002, it provides professional and technical editorial support for new publications, publishes the semiannual magazine ''Lassi Laurië'' featuring scholarly articles, interviews, and literary works, and it organizes numerous conferences, meetings and summer camps. In 2002, for its tenth anniversary, the society organized a joint conference with the Institute of English Studies of

Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary (Hungarian: ''Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem'') is a Christian university in Budapest, Hungary. The university has more than 7000 students. The university has four faculties and ...

entitled "J. R. R. Tolkien: Fantasy and Ethics" and published a book of studies containing the papers presented. The Magyar Tolkien Társaság maintains relations with other tertiary institutions such as the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University ( hu, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in Hung ...

, together with whom it regularly launches courses on Tolkienian subjects ("''J. R. R. Tolkien – A 20th Century Mythology''")

Slovakia

The main Slovak organization for fans of Tolkien's fiction is the non-profit civic association Spoločenstvo Tolkiena (''The Fellowship of Tolkien''), founded in 2002. Its main goal is to unite fans of Tolkien's works and discuss them, as well as discuss other related fantasy fiction by non-Tolkien authors. In the past, the association published its own irregular fanzine, dubbed ''Athelas''. Other activities of the association include reenactment and live-action roleplaying, and between 2006 and 2019, serving as the co-founder and co-organiser of the annual Slovak fantasy fiction festival SlavCon (now run by its own dedicated association).

Nordic countries

Sweden

The Tolkien Society of Sweden was the first J. R. R. Tolkien society in Europe. It was started in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden, in 1968 by members of Club Cosmos. They published the members' magazine ''Långbottenbladet''. Originally it was just called "''The Tolkien Society''" but when the British society of the same name was created the members added "''of Sweden''" to its name. The Tolkien Society Forodrim (

for "People of the North") was founded in Sweden in 1972 and is one of the oldest Tolkien fan organizations. The Forodrim was founded in a public toilet during a science fiction convention (possibly ''SF-Kongressen 1973'') as a name change of Sam J Lundwall's ''

Hyboria The Hyborian Age is a fictional period of Earth's history within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, serving as the setting for the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian. The word "Hyborian" is derived from the ...

''. Co-founders were Jörgen Peterzén and Anders Palm.

Denmark

In Denmark, Tolkien became well known in the 1970s and has considerably influenced Danish language fantasy literature since. In 1977, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark illustrated ''The Lord of the Rings''. There are two Danish Tolkien societies; Bri, the Danish Tolkien Society, and the online Imladris community.

Norway

''The Hobbit'' appeared in Norwegian translation in 1972 and ''The Lord of the Rings'' followed from 1973 to 1975 (''Tiden Norsk Forlag''). Both translations were harshly criticized for errors and inconsistencies and complaints resulted in a new translation of ''The Lord of the Rings'', published in 1980/81. By the late 1980s, Tolkien's works were well known to the Norwegian public. A translation of the ''Silmarillion'' appeared in 1994. The unsatisfactory ''Hobbit'' translation was replaced only in 1997. By the mid-1990s, the popularity of Tolkien had risen to a level that made viable translations of his minor works. Arthedain – The Tolkien Society of Norway was founded in Oslo in 1981.

Finland

The Finnish Tolkien Society Kontu (''Suomen Tolkien-seura Kontu ry'' in Finnish) is a registered society based in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The society was originally two different societies that unified at the beginning of 2012. The Finnish Tolkien Society (Suomen Tolkien seura) was founded on 3 January 1992 and Kontu Internet Community (Verkkoyhteisö Kontu ry) was founded on 19 December 2006. The main focus of the society is to improve knowledge of J. R. R. Tolkien and his works in Finland as well as to maintain the virtual community and thus the website the society originated from. The various parts of the website contain a discussion forum, a

wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pu ...

and an IRC channel. KontuWiki has been credited in several Finnish Tolkien related publications since 2007. Every year the society awards the Kuvastaja-prize for the year's best Finnish Fantasy book. There is much smial-activity and the society organizes meetings and other events for Tolkien fans from all over the country.

Russia

Interest in Russia awoke soon after the publication of ''The Lord of the Rings'' in 1955, long before the first Russian translation. A first effort at publication was made in the 1960s, but to comply with literary censorship in Soviet Russia, the work was considerably abridged and transformed. The ideological danger of the book was seen in the "hidden allegory 'of the conflict between the individualist West and the totalitarian, Communist East.'", while, ironically, Marxist readings in the west conversely identified Tolkien's anti-industrial ideas as presented in the Shire with primitive communism, in a struggle with the evil forces of technocratic

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

. Russian translations of ''The Lord of the Rings'' were published only after the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, but then in great numbers, no less than ten official Russian translations appeared between 1990 and 2005. Tolkien fandom in Russia grew especially rapidly during the early 1990s at Moscow State University. Many unofficial and partly fragmentary translations are in circulation. The first translation appearing in print was that by Kistyakovskij and Muravyov (volume 1, published 1982). Notable derivative works by Russian writers, which often takes the form of alternative accounts or

informal sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

s to Tolkien's published works, include ''

The Last Ringbearer ''The Last Ringbearer'' (russian: Последний кольценосец, italic=yes, ''Posledniy kol'tsenosets'') is a 1999 fantasy fan-fiction book by Russian author Kirill Eskov. It is an alternative account of, and an informal sequel to ...

(Последний кольценосец)'' by Kirill Eskov, and ''The Black Book of Arda (" Чёрная Книга Арды")''. One of the authors of ''The Black Book of Arda'' derived her pen name from

Nienna The Valar (; singular Vala) are characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Tolkien's legendarium, legendarium. They are "angelic powers" or "gods", #154 to Naomi Mitchison, September 1954 subordinate to the one God (Eru Ilúvatar). The Ainulindalë descr ...

, the Vala Lady of Mercy: according to Mark T. Hooker, the work proved so influential in Russia following its 1992 release that "Niennism" emerged as a term used to describe both a "distinctive literary turn and intellectual following". In contrast, Olga Chigirinskaya's ''Beyond the Dawn'' ("'' По ту сторону рассвета''") preserves the original Tolkien's Catholic point of view and considers ''The Black Book of Arda'' as an example of Melcorian

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

Japan

''The Hobbit'' appeared in a Japanese translation in 1965 (''Hobitto no Boken'') and ''The Lord of the Rings'' from 1972 to 1975 (''Yubiwa Monogatari''), both translated by Teiji Seta (1916–1979), in 1992 revised by Seta's assistant

Akiko Tanaka Akiko can refer to: * ''Akiko'' (comic book), an American comic book * ''Akiko'' (film), a 1961 Italian comedy film * Akiko (Amiga), a custom chip used in the Amiga CD32 games console * Akiko (given name) is a feminine Japanese given name. Po ...

. In 1982, Tanaka translated the ''Silmarillion'' (''Sirumariru no Monogatari''). Teiji Seta was an expert in classical Japanese literature and a

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

poet, and the Tolkien scholar Roberto Arduini regards the Seta and Tanaka translations as "almost perfect".

Greece

''The Hobbit'' and ''Lord of the Rings'' were published in Greek by ''Kedros'' during the 1970s, each by different translators. In the mid-90s ''Aiolos'' published ''Silmarillion'' and ''Unfinished Tales''. In 2001, shortly before the release of the movies, the first Greek on-line community was formed in a promotional web site which in 2002 founded an official group of fans under the name The Prancing Pony. The group is unofficially divided in two 'smials', in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Tolkien Society was officially established in 1998 when the Bulgarian Tolkien Fan Club ''Rin Ennor'' was first registered as a non-profit non-governmental organization by a few students from the Sofia University. Apart from the larger communities in the big cities, the Bulgarian Tolkien Society has local clubs and groups.

Turkey

Interest in Turkey awoke to ''The Lord of the Rings'' in the late 1980s, long before the first Turkish translation. A translation of ''The Lord of the Rings'' into Turkish was published as ''Yüzüklerin Efendisi'' in 1997. After the release of the movies, other Tolkien-related books such as ''The Silmarillion'' were translated into Turkish.

Pakistan

Interest in Prof Tolkien's work developed in Pakistan soon after its earliest inception as a separate nation and has existed sporadically over the years. Interest grew manifold after the release and completion of the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy and in 2003–04, the '

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Tolkien Reading Group' was established there.

Italy

The Italian Tolkien Society (Società Tolkeniana Italiana) was founded in February 1994, after a series of lectures about Tolkien's thought and works made in Italy in 1992 by the Tolkien Society archivist, Patricia Reynolds, on the centenary of Tolkien's birth. She stimulated the creation of the new Society, of which she became a godmother. Priscilla Tolkien also became an honorary partner. During the years the Society managed to grow enough to have hundreds of members and a lot of constant activities. It publishes two six-monthly magazines (Terra di Mezzo and Minas Tirith) and organizes two competitions for narrative and images (The Silmaril Awards), from which various publications (such as the volume ''Frammenti della Terra di Mezzo'', a collection of the best stories) are derived. In collaboration with Italian national publishers it also publishes illustrated calendars whose beauty been recognized not only in Italy but internationally as well, for example by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

(Tolkien's publishing house) that drawn some images from them for their book "Realms of Tolkien". Every year, in September, usually on its first weekend, they organize the ''Hobbiton'', a great three-days feast with conferences, meetings, debates, concerts, dances, costume re-enactments, film screenings, treasure hunts and other Middle-Earth realated activities. They also founded the Palantír publishing house. In 2021, a pastry chef, Nicolas Gentile, bought a piece of land at

Bucchianico Bucchianico (locally ''Vicchièneche'') is a comune and town in the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Geography The town is situated on a hill between the valleys Alento river and Bucchianico Foro, and has a view extending from ...

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, and walked with friends in costume as the members of the Fellowship of the Ring to throw a ring into the crater of Mount Vesuvius. He has built a hobbit-style house and is seeking crowdfunding to build more. In his view, the people of the region "have always lived as hobbits" close to nature.

References

Sources

* * Broadway, Cliff; Cordova, Carlene. '' Ringers: Lord of the Fans'' (2005 documentary; ) * * * * Kohman, Catherine. ''Lembas for the Soul: How the Lord of the Rings Enriches Everyday Life'' (2005), . * *