Mallorn

Mallorn is the journal of the Tolkien Society. It is the more scholarly sister to Amon Hen and is usually sent out to all members annually. It has been published regularly since 1970 and is a beautiful glossy A4 journal of artwork from Tolkien artists, articles from Tolkien scholars, and reviews of the latest books and films. (ISSN 0308-6674).

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The editor can be contacted through our Contact page.

For more information about the staff and editors, please see our editorial board page.

Guide for Authors

The following list describes the different types of material Mallorn usually accepts:

  • Articles – this section includes scholarly articles on Tolkien, his life and times, his works, his influence, the works of his colleagues and so on. Articles typically include a number of references to scholarly material (which should be provided inline as much as possible). These submissions go through peer review (see explanation of the peer review proccess below), so please be patient while we consider your article. Generally around 5,000-10,000 words.
  • Notes – these are shorter research pieces, usually covering a topic of interest to the Tolkien community. They are most suitable for extensions or updates on previously published research, descriptions of projects that have important insight but did not lead to a full article, descriptions of new resources for Tolkien scholars, presentation of new Tolkien-related material that may be built on by further research. These are reviewed by the editor, but are not typically peer-reviewed. Generally around 1,000-3,000 words.
  • Reviews – of books, films, theatre shows, art, websites, radio, exhibitions, anything of possible interest to readers of Mallorn in the widest sense. These are not sent through peer review. Generally around 1,000 words.
  • Letters to the Editor – these may discuss material previously published in Mallorn or elsewhere.
  • Artwork – Mallorn gratefully receives all artwork, whether paintings, drawings, or photographs. We cannot guarantee when the artwork will be used, so please note that you are sending art to be placed into a repository that we can access for later use.

Please note that Mallorn does not accept fiction at this time.

Mallorn only accepts material that has not been previously published (this includes in print and online).

For any writing that does not fall within the guidelines listed here, we recommend contacting Amon Hen, the other publication from the Tolkien Society.

Submission Guidelines

All material should be submitted using the Mallorn website.

You will need to create an account, and follow the directions on the submissions page.

All submissions require very brief autobiographical note as well as an abstract of the submission.

All standard word-processing file formats are accepted (including Microsoft Office Word and OpenOffice Writer).

Mallorn is published using MHRA style. We do not require initial submissions to conform to this style, and we will work with writers to format everything properly once their contribution has been accepted for publication. For more information about MHRA, please see the online guide.

You can address any questions to the editor at mallorn [at] tolkiensociety [dot] org.

Peer Review Process

Manuscripts are submitted to the Editor-in-Chief, who screens each manuscript and can reject unsuitable or poor-quality submissions at this point. Any articles accepted for peer review are then sent to 2 – 3 reviewers which the Editor-in-Chief or members of the editorial board select. Reviewers are asked to review a submission if they are experienced researchers and have expertise in the content area of the manuscript. The reviewers are sent a copy of the manuscript and Mallorn‘s review guidelines, to which they are asked to adhere. The identity of the author(s) and any affiliation details they have are not included in order to ensure a blind review. We ask reviewers to complete the review within four weeks of receiving the manuscript. When they are finished, reviewers submit their feedback to the Editor-In-Chief, along with their recommendation on the readiness of the paper for Mallorn. The editor collates the review reports and makes a decision on the status of the paper accordingly. Please note: the Editor-in-Chief has final decision on the acceptance or rejection of all manuscripts.

Manuscripts may be: accepted (subject to minor or no revisions); declined; returned to the author(s) for revision (to address all reviewer comments in detail, with the possibility of resending for peer review depending on the nature of the reviewer comments); or invited for re-submission altogether. Authors are not made aware of the identity of a reviewer unless insisted upon by the reviewer for transparency.

Back Issues

All members of the Society have access to a digital archive of Mallorn and it is a good way to access content from more recent issues. Mallorn is also available electronically through some databases, including EBSCO and JSTOR.

If you are not a member of the Society, or you want an article not available in the digital archive, you could use the interlibrary loan service available at most public and university libraries. Alternatively you can order articles directly from the British Library. Please note that it might be cheaper to purchase back issues from the Society, but this is dependent on availability.

Subject to availability, you can order back issues from the Society. Have a look at our publications sales page.