Blog: Fandom

It may not be long now ere you hear that the Entwives have at long last been found.  If you are a member of the Tolkien Society Facebook group then you may already know to what I refer.  A quora user named Pip Willis published a partial image of a map he says his father drew and shared with J.R.R. Tolkien in 1971.  Willis says that Tolkien wrote on the map, “Here may be Entwives”, which you can see in the picture he shared.   And now the debates will begin.  Is the map authentic?  Is the writing Tolkien’s?  Does it mean anything significant? (more…)

J.R.R. Tolkien by Pamela Chandler. © Diana Willson
J.R.R. Tolkien by Pamela Chandler. © Diana Willson

As an author, J.R.R. Tolkien remains one of the most popular writers in the world, with book sales in the 250-300 million range and earning a position where he is widely regarded as the father of modern fantasy. Those book sales have not only touched millions of people the world over – and led to the creation of this Society – but spawned two blockbuster film trilogies which caused Forbes to declare Tolkien as the third highest-earning “dead celebrity” behind Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. (more…)

For those of who have enjoyed Tolkien since childhood, we are aware that every year of our lives is a year of Tolkien. 2016 was great, but 2017 looks to be an especially significant year for J.R.R. Tolkien. And here’s why. (more…)

I attended my first fan convention in 1992. It was World Fantasy Con and there I met a dear lady and now departed friend, Clara Miller, who recruited me to join the volunteers of her small north Georgia convention, Magic Carpet Con. I say “recruited” but I was a complete stranger to Clara and she to me; she handed me a flyer announcing Magic Carpet ON I. For some reason, I found myself on the last night of the MCC convention helping Clara count money in the con suite. There had been a dispute among the con staff (as sadly happens too often) and virtually the entire crew left. I promised Clara I would help the next year but I wasn’t able to take on the responsibility of being a board member.

They eventually recruited me for the board of directors for MCC III and eventually we started a new convention, Galacticon. Somewhere along the way I met one of the senior directors for DragonCon. I had heard of Georgia’s “big” convention. All my friends had attended it at least once but I was remiss in my fan experience, mainly because I kept so busy with other things. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the DragonCon guy was there looking for volunteers for the big convention. Some people criticized this practice but when I mentioned the criticism to him he pointed out that all the small cons were recruiting each other’s staff, too. (more…)

It sometimes comes as a surprise to people online that the Tolkien Society isn’t just a Twitter account and a Facebook group, but a real charity you can join and support just like the National Trust or the Boy Scouts.

The Tolkien Society has well over 1,000 members in over 30 different countries, many of whom play a full and active role in the Society. So, as the world comes together to celebrate Hobbit Day, here are some of the reasons why you should join the Tolkien Society today. (more…)

Tolkien is not exactly known for his brevity: The Lord of the Ring ranks with War and Peace, The Count of Monte Cristo and Gone With The Wind as the butt of jokes for its length; whilst Tolkien beats the Bard in terms of word-count. Without even including The History of Middle-earth or academic texts, the works of the Professor surpass over one million words. It may seem strange that I would wish for some more, but I do. (more…)