J.R.R. Tolkien, whose The Lord of the Rings has sold over 200 thousand copies and has won over millions of devoted fans all over the world, was passed over for the 1961 Nobel literature prize after his books were described as second rate. Read article
To celebrate Tolkien's birthday, each year Tolkien fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast the birthday of this much loved author 21:00 (9 pm) your local time. Read article
There have been rumors around for some time about a Museum which is being build in Switzerland that is totally dedicated to Tolkien, or better said to Middle-earth the land Tolkien created. There are talks about a real hobbit hole, hundreds of original pieces of Middle-earth art, etc. Read article
This vibrant illustration is one of a set of five, painted by Tolkien in the summer of 1937 for the first American edition of The Hobbit. It is on display at the Bodleian Library until 23 December 2011. Read article
Beyond Bree is pleased to present its 2012 calendar featuring art focused on the Elves of Tolkien's Middle-earth. The calendar will feature classic art from Beyond Bree's past as well as new works by a host of artists from around the globe. Read article
Many celebrities do love books or movies and while most of the time we don't know for sure, there are many famous Tolkien fans out there. Here is a list of famous Tolkien fans and celebrities who like The Lord of the Rings. Read article
Today is 22 September and so it is Hobbit Day. We all love Tolkien and his worlds, so why not host a party at your home or office to celebrate his most beloved of characters, the Hobbits? Here are 5 Tips for Hosting a Proper Hobbit Party. Read article
D.G. Pashte of Pune-based Diamond Publications and his son Nilesh set out to secure the copyright for translating The Hobbit into Marathi six months ago. Today, the translated version is ready for a formal launch, making it the first one in any Indian language. Read article
Back in 1986 the only brick-and-mortar shop in the world entirely dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien was founded in Leiden, Holland. While we get set for the onslaught of The Hobbit movies it is time to celebrate the 25th anniversary with a nice Tolkien festival in the shop in Leiden. Read article
It is Tolkien month at the World's Stongest Librarian Blog! It is always a nice idea to write and discuss about all things Tolkien and so the World's Strongest Librarian thought it a good idea to spend one complete month discussion anything Tolkien. Guess it is time to join in and have some fun! Read article
The Journey to Middle-earth begins again in October 2011! We are delighted to announce that the UWIC Masters Level online course J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth and Middle-earth in Context will run again during the autumn semester, beginning in October 2011. Enrolment is now open! Potential students are advised to enrol as soon as possible as places are limited. Read article
Original Art by World famous illustrator Ted Nasmith is on auction at ebay! Hurry up, since there is only one day left! Ted Nasmith has credted the fully illustrated Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien calendars, many Tolkien books and scenes from the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and more recently the illustrated guide to the Universe of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin. Read article
As last week I have once again gathered some news that did not make it into blog posts. It is a variety of news items and if I missed something please do send it over to me. So here follows the latest news of all things Tolkien from 24 to 30 january 2011. Read article
As last week I have once again gathered some news that did not make it into blog posts. Once again it is a bit of everything and if I missed something please do send it over to me. So here follows the latest news of all things Tolkien from 17 to 23 january 2011. Read article
It seems since a week a new trend has started on YouTube to read Tolkien books, since in one week alone several video clips have been posted where people read a part of Tolkien's work. Some pick up The Hobbit and read it - guess we will see more of those video clips being posted as the Hobbit Movie comes closers. Other share with us their favorite parts and try to do their best to read it as nice as possible and others takes us with them… Read article
Here follows a round-up of all news items I noticed last week that might be of interest to any Tolkien fan, but did not make it into a blog post yet. Also some ideas and thoughts for the future will be posted every Sunday. In the end this year Tolkien Library will exist 10 years and I hope to make it a year to remember. Here follows news about a Tolkien desktop wallpaper, Walter Hooper, reading the History of Middle-earth, the first Inkling… Read article
John from Mind on Fire is organising a Book a Day: Giveaway... a nice idea! There is no better thing then giving away books! Today they are on day 8 and are giving away: Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-earth. Read article
After a 13 month absence, my friend Michael Kaisar is back with a new episode of Middle-earth Minutes. This is just a quick update to introduce his newest co-host. Make sure to follow this podcast, since it once again promoses to become very interesting! I'm looking forward to the new episodes - and very happy to hear the introduction of this podcast once again. Always nice to hear Tolkien's voice! Read article
Today is J.R.R. Tolkien's 119th birthday, which is as good an excuse as any to praise The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and the Professor himself. Make sure to surf to the Tolkien Society website to bring a toast and enjoy the following interview with Tolkien. Read article
Have you or has someone you know, got any extreme, bizarre and downright ludicrous Lord of the Rings wish? Dreams you want to fulfil, but have never had the guts or the means to do it? Now is your chance... LET MTV MAKE THAT DREAM COME TRUE! Read article
My fellow Tolkien friends. Today my mail program suddenly decided I no longer needed all my emails and erased them all. There where however many that needed replying or needed to be posted online. I think about some Tolkien collector profiles, a translation of an interview from French, info on a book on LoTR music, and so on. Well, I all lost it know. So if you wish you can resend your questions, comments and info. Read article
Next year will be the year we will look forward to the release of the first The Hobbit movie and so this Christmas it would be a good idea to put a nice copy of the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien under the Christmas tree. I'm certain this will be a perfect gift - who does not like to read a good book? - and with the first movie coming next year I'm certain there will be a lot of people willing to read the tale before the tale is put on the silver… Read article
It is my great pleasure to announce that the new Lembas Extra, the annual magazine of the Dutch Tolkien Society Unquendor, has been released. Once again it is packed with essays on Tolkien and Middle-earth, all written in English so that all Tolkien fans across the globe can enjoy the articles. The theme of this Lembas Extra is Tolkien in Poetry and Song. There are several essays about Tolkien poetry, like Mythopoeia and The Song of Durin… Read article
The Lord of the Rings fan movie The Hunt For Gollum has now been seen by over 4 million people from all over the world. While it was only made on a very tiny budget of GBP 3000 and freely distributed through the internet it has proven to be an enormous hit. The 40 minute film, directed by the unknown Chris Bouchard, depects events leading up to the Peter Jackson trilogy, giving the Middle-earth fans some fresh material while waiting for… Read article
Full Tilt Poker has been benefitting from the extra buzz of excitement created by having a mysterious player appear out of the blue on the site one day and take on the biggest names in the business. Isildur1, the poker player, and Isildur, from Tolkiens books, seems to be kind of the same package. Read article
t took another few months, and a very long night of work, but we have finally managed to create another episode of the Middle-earth Minutes Podcast. Good thing is that we actually managed to record some other news as well, so you can expect a new episode real soon! This episode covers the news and events from the last couple of months, where Michael Kaiser and Pieter Collier (thats me) bring you up to date on specific items of interest… Read article
War of the Ring Collectors Edition will release worldwide in December 2009. A second batch will be released begin 2010. This game is limited to 2000 copies worldwide (1500 English, 500 German) and will NEVER be reprinted. Dont miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance! Read article
For fans of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Elvenquest (BBC Audio), this is the epic fantasy series first heard on BBC Radio 4 in 1980 that wonderfully parodies J.R.R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings. It contains some good ideas but the series has, these days, been largely forgotten. Here are all four episodes of the classic radio series - now available for the first time on Audio CD. Read article
It seems to become a monthly thing that Heritage Auction Galleries is selling some nice Tolkien related art. Especially the art from book covers and Tolkien calendars is coming out on the market. If only I had some very deep pockets I would have tried to buy some Tolkien art last October. Also this month one is able to place bids on a nice piece of Tolkien art, this time by Rowena. Here follows the description of that painting and the results… Read article
After a long summer sleep Im back with something nice - I was asked by Michael Kaiser, the creator of the lovely Middle-earth Minutes Podcast, to join in and to discuss news and views about all things Tolkien: Literature, Art, Film, Festivals and more. As of now I hope to be contributing to all the following Middle-earth Minutes, and I certainly hope that you will enjoy the news that we have brought you - some of which is being heard here… Read article
Amazons book blog Omnivoracious has got Fantasy Author China Mieville as a guest blogger this week. He has got several posts and a podcast up, but the best so far is his article: Here and Back Again: Five Reasons Tolkien Rocks. The article is not a real turn around, but Mieville is pretty famous for ripping into Tolkien. He now turns and even praises and thanks Tolkien. Here is a reproduction of the article and some more about China Mieville… Read article
An important association copy, inscribed by the author on the front flyleaf, with - To Stella Mills, from her old friend, J.R.R. Tolkien, - will be offered for auction at PBA galleries in San Francisco (USA) on the 25th of June. Stella Marie Mills was a student of E.V. Gordon and J.R.R. Tolkien at Leeds and she later edited and translated, under the guidance of Godron, The Saga of Hrolf Kraki an Icelandic or Viking epic, which was published… Read article
There has just been announced a fun contest by the Tolkien Team of HarperCollins. Here is your chance to win a Hobbit audio book on CD by just sending in your review of the latest Tolkien book The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun. Read article
A number of people have expressed interest in what the status of the Tolkien/New Line lawsuit is, and whether it still represents a threat to the Hobbit films. Because Douglas C. Kane had written about the subject before, I asked if he would be willing to write a brief update on the situation now. He was happy to do so. Thanks Douglas! Read article
The Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies is one of the four awards given by the Mythopoeic Society. It is given to books on J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis or Charles Williams that make significant contributions to Inklings scholarship. The finalists for the 2009 Mythopoeic Awards have just been announced and feature once again the best authors and books in the field of Inkling scholarship. Tolkienlibrary.com would like to congratulate… Read article
These days Tolkien lovers think Facebook is an ideal place for connecting up, to learn to know new friends and keep track of what others are doing. Many Tolkien societies have opened up Tolkien groups and many Tolkien lovers have inscribed themselves to Facebook. Here is an article that lists all Tolkien Societies on Facebook and talks about the phenomenon Facebook and Twitter. Read article
Time flies when you are having a good time! 2008 was a year which started of with a large amount of paperbacks editions of all major Tolkien works. The middle of the year was the period when we saw the release of some books by Tolkien scholars and the end of the year we saw audiobooks and the Tales of the Perilous Realm come out. All together a very interesting year it was. Let us walk through it again in chronological order. Read article
To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Hobbit Presse they have invented a very fun contest to win a fantastic prize, a special limited edition of Herrn der Ringe. Write an original letter to the author J.R.R. Tolkien! Write down the words you always wanted to say to your favorite writer, or ask the questions you always wanted to ask. Read article
HarperCollins is to publish a new book by the late Lord of the Rings author J R R Tolkien. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, edited and introduced by Tolkiens son Christopher, will be published in hardback in May 2009. Read article
GTC Roadshow AG announces the acquisition of the most expensive Tolkien book ever sold; a signed first edition of The Lord of the Rings dedicated to the Queen of the Hobbits, for 104.000 USD. A further 5 lots were acquired in the same auction: the first translation of The Hobbit dedicated to E. Griffiths, a signed US first edition Lord of the Rings, P. Baynes original art, a signed map of Middle-earth and a book dedicated to Tolkiens son… Read article
GTC AG, a Swiss based company, announces the acquisition of the second most expensive Tolkien book ever sold; a signed Hobbit bought from Peter Harringtons for GBP53,000 setting a new benchmark for a signed book. This signed Hobbit will be one of the showpieces for the largest private Tolkien collection to be exhibited around the world beginning in 2011 by the GTC Roadshow, which coincides with the release of the new Hobbit film. Read article
It is the season again when nights gets longer and over here in Europe all leaves have fallen from the trees, the cold weather is back and we all huddle together around the fire. The quest has begon again to find an original gift? This year Im going to make some nice suggestions, by creating two lists which will help you find a perfect gift for any Tolkien and Hobbit lover or collector. Part I will cover all items related to The Hobbit,… Read article
Hazael Design are pleased to announce an exhibition of limited edition furniture handmade from the timber reclaimed from JRR Tolkiens last home, Woodridings. Also The Tolkien treasures discovered in Poole go on display next saturday, on the 15th November, at Hazael Design, unit 12 Mill Lane Wimborne, England. I will myself come over to the opening of the exhibition and hope to see many Tolkien fans there. It would be great to discuss all… Read article
Every year The Mythopoeic Society gives away their prestigious Literary and Scholarship Awards. The most interesting award for Tolkien fans is The Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies. It is given to books on J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis or Charles Williams that make significant contributions to Inklings scholarship. This year it was given to The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana… Read article
For hours I tried writing something about Pauline Baynes, Tolkiens favourite illustrator. The news of her passing away touched me deeply. The few letters we wrote each other really showed me why so many people did adore here. Brian Sibley has put a tribute to Pauline on his blog which in all respects is better then anything I could write. The artist is gone; but the artwork that she created lives on... Read article
On August 1st Tolkien will go mobile and the following OMA Tolkien Editions will be available: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Children of Hurin, The Silmarillion and many more... Read article
Tolkiens former home in Poole is going to be demolished and the last remaining features have been removed by the demolisher. These include a wonderful Adam-style fireplace, some garden decorations, doors and a postcard he found behind the fireplace. Here is now your chance to own a piece of Tolkien history because all the items recovered from the house are now up for sale in the Tolkien Library Store. Read article
As some of you might know I am quit a big fan of Tolkien Audio Books. I have an hour drive to work every day and if not listening to BBC World I tend to listen to Audio Books. It makes the drive to work a lot more fun and enjoyable. Now it seems I will be able to add some very nice Tolkien Audio Books to my collection. Here is an overview of new Tolkien Audio Books to be released this year. Read article
The son of JRR Tolkien will try next week to halt Hollywood plans to follow the critical and commercial triumph of the Lord of the Rings trilogy by filming The Hobbit and a sequel. Christopher Tolkien, 83, is calling for one last crusade in a long-running court battle against the producers of The Lord of the Rings only weeks before carpenters are due to begin work in New Zealand on the sets for the latest Middle-earth epic. He claims the… Read article
HarperCollins UK is interested in setting up a permanent online store featuring J.R.R. Tolkiens works including his complete library, signed products and exclusives. They have opened a little survey, which is not very long but very interesting. All Tolkien collectors should spend a little time in answering the seven questions and let us hope something nice comes from this. Read article
After winning the 2007 Imperishable Flame Award the wonderful book by Diana Glyer has now been nominated for a Hugo Award, as Best Related Book. Read article
The Queen of Hobbits, a very rare 1937 first issue of the first edition of J.R.R. Tolkiens much-loved classic The Hobbit was sold today (18 March) by international fine art auctioneers Bonhams in London for a staggering GBP 60,000 (USD 120,800), twice its presale estimate and a new world record price at auction for an inscribed copy of the book. Read article
Original manuscripts from Tolkiens Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Mary Shelleys Frankenstein will be among a number of national treasures put on display in a new exhibition hall. The new centre will be named the Blackwell Hall. Read article
On Monday The Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins Publishers sued New Line Cinema to claim their long-forgotten gold in Los Angeles Superior Court. New Line refused to say whether the Tolkien Estate legal action would have an immediate impact on the development of The Hobbit movies. But if successful, the lawsuit has the potential to toss the films into the fires of Mt. Doom. Read article
A signed first impression of the Hobbit and the last known photograph by Tolkien will be sold at Bonhams Printed Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Photographs sale in New Bond Street on 18th March 2008. The signed and dedicated first edition of the Hobbit, from the library of Elaine Griffiths, has been valued at 20.000-30.000 British Pounds. Read here why this Hobbit can be called the Queen of Hobbits. Read article
Daily Records tells us that a rare Tolkien book worth GBP 5000 was handed to an Oxfam shop in Troon, Ayrshire, by a mystery donor. It seems they have noticed the book is special but are complete off when it comes to the value of this book. Read article
These days the books The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are put to the test. We are talking about the translations into the Dutch language, In de ban van de Ring and de Hobbit. They have a chance to be choisen as the best Foreign book and the best children book. Let us have a look at these chances and some important polls in the past. Read article
With a short delay The North East Tolkien Society has announced this years winners of the Imperishable Flame Awards. The awards cites the accomplishments of individuals in each of 3 categories, Tolkien/ Inklings Scholarship, Tolkien/ Inklings Fan Appreciation and Tolkien/ Inklings Inspired Creativity. Since I won the Tolkien Fan Appreciation Award last year, I was also asked to nominate some people I thought would deserve to win an Award… Read article
Yesterday a lot of fabulous Tolkien books and one letter were sold at an auction held by Sothebys in London. While the Tolkien books and letter fetched very high prices, the real highlight of the auction was a book by J.K. Rowling called The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Read article
Here you can see a very fine example of Tolkiens well know flourishing signature. It is most probably the very last signature J.R.R. Tolkien put inside a book before he died. The book will be sold by auction on Wednesday 13 November 2007 by Bonhams. Read article
Also this year the readers of herenistarion.org have a chance to vote for the nominees in three categories. This years polling will run until December 1st, 2007. Read article
Now here is something you do not see everyday. These are the rare proof copies of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien to be sold by auction on Wednesday 24th October 2007 by Bloomsbury. Read article
RRauction will offer a very interesting Tolkien letter in which he discusses the name Honeybourne, describes Smith of Wootton Major and Pippins ride with Gandalf. Read article
A few months ago on the Mythopoeic Society mailing list, someone pointed out that a fanzine titled Romenna Meeting Report was cited multiple times by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull in their new book, The Lord of the Rings: A Readers Companion. But what was this fanzine, and where could it be found? The author of Romenna Meeting Report, Margaret Dean is still a member of the Society, and stepped forward to explain. Romenna was a reading… Read article
To begin the 2nd Annual Award Nomination process The North East Tolkien Society spoke with last year winners to get their thoughts on who should be nomintated for the 2006-07 awards. See the nominees for this year and read what the previous winners are up to today. Read article
Saint-Ursanne will be auctioning off the sculptures and the banners, as well as the ink-jet prints from the exhibition in the Cloister. Since John Howe does not sell his original art this is the closest you will ever get to a real John Howe. Here is your chance to obtain a piece of art that has been admired by tens of thousands visitors of the event in Saint-ursanne. Read article
Other Minds Magazine made available its first issue today! It is The unofficial, International Role Playing Gaming magazine dedicated to exploring J.R.R. Tolkiens Middle-earth and beyond. Read article
RRauction will offer a very interesting Tolkien letter in which J.R.R. Tolkien discusses the motivation behind his most famous creation, the Lord of the Rings. Read article
The Secrets of the Lord of the Rings is a thrilling audio podcast that takes listeners on a voyage through the mythological and religious themes that have made J.R.R. Tolkiens fictional work loved around the world. Read article
Tolkien manuscripts reside now 50 years at the Department of Special Collections and University Archives at Marquette University in Milwaukee. That of course need some celebration. As a part of the celebration a lecture will we held on October 4, 2007 at 4:00 p.m by John D. Rateliff. Read article
The finalists for the 2007 Mythopoeic Awards have just been announced and feature once again the best authors and books in the field of Inkling scholarship: Marjorie Burns with Perilous Realms, Verlyn Flieger with Interrupted Music, Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall and Edmund Weiner with The Ring of Words and Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond with The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide. Read article
Tolkien Library gives you the ability to subscribe to the content on his website. Not only can you receive all updates and Tolkien book news straight into your mailbox, you can also add it on your personal site or blog and also consume the Tolkien Library Feed through a variety of tools, like an RSS reader. Read article
Today we see the publication of a hardcover illustrated companion of The Lord of the Rings stage show, which features exclusive interviews and photographs of the creation of one of the worlds most ambitious theatre adaptations. Read article
On Saturday 28 April De kinderen van Hurin, the Dutch translation of The Children of Hurin, was officially presented at a most suitable venue, The Tolkien Shop in Leiden, Holland. The release event was a big success. Even so is the Dutch translation of The Children of Hurin, since the first 25000 copies have been sold out and the Dutch publisher is already reprinting. Read article
This is the eleventh newsletter send by the Tolkien Library. It summarizes the events of what has happened on the site in the last months and brings the latest news. Since a lot of members did not inscribe from the beginning they have now the opportunity to have a look at the old newsletters in this archive. If you have not subscribed yourself please go to the Tolkien Library… Read article
The rare Tolkien book store for serious Tolkien collectors has seen an update. The Tolkien Library Store always has a large amount of rare and collectible Tolkien books up for sale. The books in the Tolkien Library Store always have a high collectible value and are of the finest on the market. Tolkien books available include both the UK and US editions, original cloth bindings, custom fine bindings, and Signed, Numbered and Limited Editions… Read article
Have updated the Tolkien Library RSS Feed and added a link inside the Feed. So now Im able to link towards the full article. Hope this feed is better then the last one. Read article
A new thing this year are the downloadable audio books. Up to date we could all buy Tolkien Audio Books on CD or even on cassettes. Now, with the success of the iPod, Harper Collins has taken a new road: J.R.R. Tolkien Downloadable Audio Books. No wonder they made an exclusive deal with iTunes who are also having a similar deal for Harry Potter Audio Books. This year we can start downloading the most famous works, read by Rob Inglis, Martin… Read article
A small experiment. This weekend started a small blog where I will tell all about my life and about the things I am going through. All things that do not get on this site but are part of my life will be put there. You can go and visit my blog here. Read article
A Poll at TG News showed that the majority of the visitors there are looking for more Book-related news. We have now partnered with the TG Network to bring fans all the latest news concerning books related to J.R.R. Tolkien and his works. Well also be bringing weekly eBay buys and making sure visitors are aware of any rare/unique/new Tolkien books out on the market. Read article
TolkienLibrary just send out his eight newsletter. If you just missed it, or did not receive it you can always read him here. Also the links page had been slightly updated, as were some slight changes made to the color of the top menu (thanks Neil for the tip). And a final fun message: we just passed 300.000 requests since we started. Read article
New 3 days since TolkienLibrary changed looks and still a lot of improvement is going on. Most of improvements are suggested by visitors. It is nice to get nice comments and constructive (bad) comments. All suggestions are welcome! Once again TolkienLibrary.com is featured, this time at The Daily Slurp (A daily list of beautiful sites), you can see it here. In the comming days there will be some changes done to layout, but the most important… Read article
CSS Bloom is a website showcasing the best CSS based designs, we are proud to see TolkienLibrary featured on there site. Go and check it out! Read article