‘I wonder if we’ll ever be put into songs or tales’: Tolkien Reading Day
By Ben Bryant, 3rd Year History
‘“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”’
J. R. R. Tolkien, spoken by Frodo Baggins and Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring.
Tolkien Reading Day has been held on 25 March every year since 2003. It is a day dedicated to encouraging readers internationally to celebrate the life and writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, the author best known for his creation of Middle-Earth, the world where The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion take place. Tolkien fans are encouraged to share their favourite passages, the humble beginnings of which can be traced back to a simple email.
In January 2002, Sean Kirst, a columnist of the New York-based paper The Post Standard, wrote to the Tolkien Society about a column that he was writing. Titled ‘On the Run Again with JRR Tolkien’, the piece was written just before Kirst watched Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Two Towers, the second part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It detailed how the characters, the settings and the beauty of Tolkien’s world were burned into Kirst’s mind and how Middle Earth, despite being a world inhabited by dwarves and elves, reflects much of the real world. The Lord of the Rings is a tale of loss and war, yes, but it is also a fantastical tale of adventure and the bonds of friendship. Kirst’s article expertly captures the feelings of the millions of fans who have found a sense of escape alongside the Fellowship of the Ring.
Indeed, these feelings were shared by The Tolkien Society itself. Sean Kirst’s email to them in the wake of the release of the first film of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, describes a similar passion to his article. “The trilogy has filled a certain hole in my life. I have many friends here in New York who were equally moved by the book, reignited by the film, and we all wondered: is there any day devoted informally to readings from the trilogy, in the way that “Bloomsday” is devoted to [James] Joyce?” (the Irish novelist famous for Ulysses and its protagonist, Leopold Bloom).
The committee of The Tolkien Society loved the idea of a day entirely dedicated to Tolkien and chose 25 March 2003 to be the first official Tolkien Reading Day. The date is incredibly significant. In The Return of The King, the third and final part of The Lord of the Rings, on 25 March 3019, the Army of the West marched into the finale of the War of the Ring, a confrontation that would become known as the Battle of the Black Gate. Yet, unbeknownst to the forces of Sauron, the Dark Lord, the One Ring that contained the power of Sauron was not carried by Aragorn, or the forces of Gondor, it was in the hands of a Hobbit.
Peter Jackson’s depiction of The Battle of the Black Gate in The Return of the King (2003), with Aragorn ready to charge into battle against the army of the Dark Lord. In the distance, Mount Doom can be seen, alongside Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower of Sauron.
Whilst the Army of the West drew the Dark Lord to battle, the hobbits Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee carried the Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, as the only way to destroy the Ring was in the very fires where it was created. Just as it seemed like all hope was lost, Frodo and Sam successfully cast the Ring into the fire, the Dark Lord perished and Barad-dûr, Sauron’s Dark Tower, collapsed. For fans of The Lord of the Rings, 25 March represents the ultimate triumph of good over evil, making it the perfect day to celebrate the life of Tolkien.
Interestingly, literary analysts have placed a great amount of emphasis on dates in The Lord of the Rings. In particular, Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey wrote in The Road to Middle-Earth: How J. R. R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology that Christianity is extremely prominent in his works. Tolkien, a Roman Catholic, chose the date of the Battle of the Black Gate to be the same date as the last day of Creation, the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary of her conception, and Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion. This idea is further compounded by the fact that the date that the Fellowship of the Ring set out on their quest was 25 December. Yet, Tolkien always left this entirely up to interpretation, a factor that has certainly contributed to the longevity of his writings.
Tolkien Reading Day is self-explanatory, but fans often choose to celebrate the day with more than just reading. Feasts are cooked, toasts are held, and many fans choose to mark the day not only with the books but with the films that have adapted both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Each year, The Tolkien Society suggests a theme, and 2025’s theme is Fellowship and Community. For stories that revolve around parties of people made up of all sorts of backgrounds and races, and in a reality where the bonds of people feel ever more relevant, this theme could not be more appropriate.
‘Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the city, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of war nor of wizardry, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.
And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns, in dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.’
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King.
Edited by Scarlett Bantin