The Tolkien Society Awards recognise excellence in the fields of Tolkien scholarship and fandom, highlighting our long-standing charitable objective to “seek to educate the public in, and promote research into, the life and works of Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE“.
Winners are announced during the Annual Dinner at the AGM & Springmoot, held on a weekend each April, for the previous calendar year.
As of 2023, the categories (which may vary slightly each year) are:
- Best Artwork
- Best Article
- Best Book
- Best Online Content
And
- Outstanding Contribution Award
There is no restriction on where books/articles/websites are published/hosted, but they should all be in English. The Best Book Award applies to both an edited book with multiple articles by different authors as well as a book by the same author(s) throughout. The Outstanding Contribution Award recognises individuals who have made important and exceptional contributions to Tolkien scholarship, Tolkien fandom, or the promotion of Tolkien and his works.
Previous Winners
| Year Awarded | Best Artwork | Best Article | Best Book | Best Online Content | Outstanding Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Selena Malyon, “The Party Tree“ | Sara Brown, “All that glisters is not gold” in Mallorn 63 | J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Sibley (ed.) The Fall of Númenor | Tolkien Gateway | John D. Rateliff |
| 2022 | Model by STEBRICK, design by Stefano Mapelli, assembled by BrickCreation, “Minas Tirith built from 110000 LEGO Bricks“ | Clare Moore, “A Song of Greater Power: Tolkien’s Construction of Lúthien Tinúviel” in Mallorn 62 | J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl Hostetter (ed.) The Nature of Middle-earth | The Prancing Pony Podcast | Brian Sibley |
| 2021 | Ted Nasmith, “He Beheld a Vision of Gondolin Amid the Snow“ | Verlyn Flieger, “Defying and Defining Darkness” in Mallorn 61 | J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.) Unfinished Tales (40th anniversary edition) | Tolkien Experience Podcast | Dimitra Fimi |
| 2020 | Jenny Dolfen, “The Professor“ | Kristine Larsen, “Deconstructing Durin’s Day: Science, Scientific Fan Fiction, and the Fan-Scholar“ | Oronzo Cilli, Tolkien’s Library | The Prancing Pony Podcast | Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull |
| 2019 | Ted Nasmith, “Durin’s Crown and the Mirrormere“ | Dimitra Fimi, “Was Tolkien really racist?“ | Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth | Jeremy Edmonds, TolkienGuide.com | Catherine McIlwaine |
| 2018 | Jenny Dolfen, “The Hunt“ | Dimitra Fimi, “‘Tears are the very wine of blessedness’: joyful sorrow in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings“ |
Christopher Tolkien (ed.), J.R.R. Tolkien, Beren and Lúthien | Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull, Too Many Books and Never Enough | Priscilla Tolkien |
| 2017 | Elena Kukanova, “Maglor“ | Joseph Loconte, “How J.R.R. Tolkien Found Mordor on the Western Front“ |
Dimitra Fimi and Andy Higgins (eds.), J.R.R. Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien, A Secret Vice | N/A | John Garth |
| 2016 | Tomás Hijo, “The Prancing Pony“ | John Garth, “Tolkien’s ‘immortal four’ meet for the last time“ | Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, The Art of The Lord of the Rings | Bradford Lee Eden, The Journal of Tolkien Research | Verlyn Flieger |
| 2015 | Fabio Leone, “Ulmo appears before Tuor“ | Michael Flowers, “A Hemlock by any other name…“ | Christopher Tolkien (ed.), J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary | Neil Holford, TolkienBooks.net | Tom Shippey |
| 2014 | Jenny Dolfen, “Eärendil the Mariner“ | John Garth, “Tolkien and the boy who didn’t believe in fairies“ | Book: Paul Simpson and Brian Robb, Middle-Earth Envisioned Novel: Christopher Tolkien (ed.), J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fall of Arthur |
Emil Johansson, LOTR Project | Christopher Tolkien |