Tolkien fandom


Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fans of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. 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 movement, to the dismay of the author, who talked of "my deplorable cultus".
A Tolkienist is someone who studies the work of J. R. R. Tolkien: this usually involves the study of the Elvish languages and "Tolkienology". A Ringer is a fan of The Lord of the Rings in general, and of Peter Jackson'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. However, The Lord of the Rings, first published in 1954 through 1955, would give rise to the fandom as a cultural phenomenon from the early to mid-1960s.

Early fandom (1950s to 1973)

Fandom prior to the paperback publication of ''Lord of the Rings''

Serious admirers and fans of Tolkien came into existence within science fiction fandom soon after the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien was soon being discussed in various science fiction fanzines and apazines, both as continuing threads of comment and as single pieces such as "No Monroe In Lothlorien!" in Eric Bentcliffe's Triode. Tolkien-inspired costumes were worn at Worldcons as early as 1958. Some enthusiastic Los Angeles fans had been discussing creating a Tolkien-specific society as early as 1959.
An organized Tolkien fandom organization called "The Fellowship of the Ring" came together at a 49-minute meeting during Pittcon, the 18th World Science Fiction Convention in Pittsburgh on September 4, 1960. Those people who provided accepted research papers to the group's fanzine, I Palantir, would become "members." Non-members could purchase the magazine, of which Ted Johnstone was elected editor and Bruce Pelz publisher. Ken Cheslin, British agent of The Fellowship, wrote, "I would say that the Tolkien society wasn't an offshoot… it consisted of fans who regarded JRR as, I think, a little something extra, a little area of interest in addition to the then fandom, not an alternative or a replacement, substitute, etc." England's first Tolkien fanzine was Nazgul's Bane, produced by Cheslin. It was a "newszine" for those British members of The Fellowship. As Worldcon art shows started, The Fellowship Ring provided prizes for Tolkien-inspired artwork.
Since most of the contributors to fanzines at the time came out of science fiction fandom, speculative articles and articles of fiction often took off in the direction of science fact. The drowning of Beleriand, the creation of the orcs, the evolution of the elves, the chemical composition of hithlain rope, or the make-up of the morgul-blade was all open to some scientific explanation. Attempts to add a flavor of lofty writing style in many pieces resulted in stilted phrasing. Major articles on Tolkien's literary sources appeared through multiple issues of Xero. Lin Carter later used this as a basis for his 1969 book, Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Rings had its detractors in fandom, including both those who found the books unreadable and those who simply argued that Tolkien fans were taking things too far, with attempts to complete glossaries of Middle-earth already underway. A major defender and advocate of Tolkien in this era was Marion Zimmer Bradley, with such articles as her 1962 “Men, Halflings, and Hero Worship” in Astra's Tower. She wrote two Tolkien pastiches and one crossover story with Aragorn entering her own created world of Darkover. She published what would be a single issue of her own Tolkien fanzine, Andúril.
During this time, science fiction fandom produced many fanzines with little or no Tolkien content but Tolkien-inspired names: Ancalagon, Glamdring, Lefnui, Mathom, Perian, Ringwraith, Shadowfax, Silmé, and undoubtedly others. Others had more meaningful Tolkien content. Ed Meskys' apazine Niekas turned into a full-fledged fanzine during this era, with heavy Tolkien content as well as discussion of Gilbert & Sullivan, science fiction conventions and other topics. Pete Mansfield's Sword & Sorcery fanzine, Eldritch Dream Quest, included many Tolkien items. Science fiction fandom produced many high quality examples of Tolkien writing in their fanzines during these years.

1960s US

Foster attributes the surge of Tolkien fandom in the United States of the mid-1960s to a combination of the hippie 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 followed up by an authorised edition by Ballantine Books.
The "hippie" following latched onto the book, giving its own spin to the work's interpretation, such as the Dark Lord Sauron representing the United States military draft during the Vietnam War, 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
Fan attention became so intense that Tolkien had to take his phone number out of the public directory and eventually moved to Bournemouth 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 also from the mid-1960s acquired immense popularity in the emerging hacker culture, and the technological subcultures of scientists, engineers, and computer programmers, and flourishes there still. It also figured as one of the major inspirations of the nascent video game industry and the evolution of fantasy role-playing games.
Many fantasy series written in the period were created by fans of The Lord of the Rings, such as the Shannara books by Terry Brooks.

Tolkien societies

Although there were active Tolkien enthusiasts within science fiction fandom 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 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 Worldcon. 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 Niekas, 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 interview with Richard Plotz, 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. In 1969, the society sponsored the first Tolkien Conference at Belknap College. The Tolkien Conference was not a science fiction convention but rather a scholarly event.
The University of Wisconsin Tolkien and Fantasy Society was founded in 1966, and is best known for its journal Orcrist, edited by Richard C. West.
Across the continent, Glen GoodKnight 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 C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. The society held its first Mythcon 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.
Orcrist and The Tolkien Journal published three joint issues. The Tolkien Journal and Mythlore published several joint issues in the later 1970s and eventually merged.
The Tolkien Society 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.
Both the UK Tolkien Society and the Mythopoeic Society were and remain organized into "Special Interest Groups", focusing on one area such as languages, and into local or regional groups who continue to 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.
Beyond Bree is the monthly newsletter of The American Mensa Tolkien Special Interest Group.
There is also a long tradition of organized Tolkien fandoms in Scandinavia. The Tolkien Society of Sweden was founded in Gothenburg in 1968 and The Tolkien Society Forodrim was founded in Sweden in 1972. Denmark has two Tolkien societies, and , 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

, 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" mentions college students forming Tolkien societies at Columbia and elsewhere. Tolkien's son Christopher began the publication of posthumous material, beginning with the Silmarillion which was being prepared for publication by Tolkien but left unfinished at his death, followed by The History of Middle-earth series. and The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien provided biographical information. These publications provided the raw material for in-depth Tolkien research, pioneered by Tom Shippey's, The Road to Middle-earth.
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 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, 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, 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, published by the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship 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 and the twin volumes and The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide. The dedicated journal Tolkien Studies has been appearing from 2004.

Peter Jackson movies

The Lord of the Rings gained a much broader audience with the release of Peter Jackson'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 also 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, especially computer and video games have also increased in number and in popularity. Popular culture references to Middle-earth have also increased, as well as satires and parodies of it.

Online fandom

Tolkien discussion took place in many newsgroups from the earliest days of Usenet. The Tolklang mailing list was started in 1990. The and newsgroups have been active since 1992 and 1993, respectively.
Notable points of contention in online discussions surround the origin of orcs, whether elves have pointy ears, whether balrogs have wings, and the nature of Tom Bombadil. Following the announcement of Jackson's movies, online fandom became divided between "Revisionists" and "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 very 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. Of these, TheOneRing.net is arguably the most well-known and is probably responsible for popularizing the term Ringers.
TheOneRing.net is a fan site dedicated to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. The site was founded in 1999 by a group of Tolkien fans eager for the upcoming The Lord of the Rings film trilogy who were gathering information about the film. It has developed into an active worldwide community with a unique two-way relationship with the films' directors, producers, cast and crew. As of January 2010, TORn has over 4,200 registered users.

History

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 The Lord of the Rings, 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 Peter Jackson. 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.

Relationship with the filmmakers

The site is unique in that there is a mutual working relationship between the crew of TheOneRing.net and that of The Lord of the Rings movies, and now The Hobbit movies. This relationship enables the site to bring its readers exclusive news from the set.
For example, it was TheOneRing.net that Peter Jackson emailed in an effort to get his side heard when a lawsuit threatened his chance to film The Hobbit.

Events

The events listed illustrate projects originated or co-sponsored by TORn that reach beyond the TORn community. Like other fan sites, members also gather in small groups called moots, form personal friendships, hold extended online discussions with archives, and so on.
;Publications
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 Tom Shippey, well-known Tolkien scholar and author of The Road to Middle-earth 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."
It was followed by More People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien in 2004.
;Oscar Party
Over 1,500 "Ringers" from around the world came to the TheOneRing.net Oscar Party at the Hollywood, CA, American Legion on February 28, 2004. The event was attended by Peter Jackson, 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 party that evening.
;Commemorative tree planting
On September 2, 2004, eleven commemorative kauri trees were planted in Willowbank Park in Wellington, New Zealand, hometown of Peter Jackson. 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 also the number of 2004 Oscars won by . 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.
;ORC and ELF conventions
TheOneRing.net teamed up with Creation Entertainment to present The One Ring Celebration in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Its sister convention, Eastern LOTR Fan Gathering, 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.
;Cruise to Middle-earth
In November 2008 and December 2011, TheOneRing.net and Red Carpet Tours staged a cruise for 14 nights from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia, including several short excursions to visit locations used in the filming of The Lord of the Rings.

Other sites

Another prominent fansite is , although, in contrast to TheOneRing.net, the site tends to focus more on the literary works rather than the movies. During the filming and release of Jackson's films the site was popular with many who might be considered to have a more bent and appealed to those irritated by the film's changes to the original text.
A fan edit of the theatrical cut of exists, called The Two Towers: The Edit. Most of the changes are incorporated into The Lord of the Rings - The Purist Edition, another 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 J. R. R. Tolkien treating Middle-earth as a real ancient history, conducting research from an "in-universe" 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:
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 of names such as Bilbo, Boffin, The Yale, and Tom Bombadil.

Fandom and Tolkien studies

There is no clear line dividing Tolkien fandom and scholarly Tolkien studies. Authors of academically published studies on Tolkien may still be motivated by private enthusiasm for his works, and various Tolkien societies combine scholarly study with fandom activities. Thus, the Oxonmoot organised by The Tolkien Society includes talks, slide shows and an evening party with a costume masquerade. Similarly, the Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft caters to Tolkien fandom in German-speaking Europe,
and also co-organized seminars on Tolkien studies hosted at Jena University in 2005 and 2007.
Generic Tolkien fandom is separated from "serious" Tolkien studies by a sliding scale of awareness of Tolkien's lesser and posthumously published works. Many Tolkien fans will be aware of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and perhaps the Silmarillion. Awareness of Tolkien's short stories, his non-fiction publication, and the detailed editions of his unpublished notes since the 1980s is reserved for the more literary-minded demographic section of Tolkien fans.

Fandom and Tolkienian linguistics

The studies of Tolkien's artistic languages 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 "in-universe" view became visible notably in the "Elfconners" controversy of the late 1990s.
There is a "reconstructionist" camp, which pursues the reconstruction 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, 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 e.g. by linguist David Salo, and the "purist" camp is represented e.g. by Carl F. Hostetter, the editor of Vinyar Tengwar.