The Lord of the Rings - Fanlore

The Lord of the Rings

Name: The Lord of the Rings
Abbreviation(s): LotR, LOTR; FOTR [Fellowship of the Ring], TTT [The Two Towers], ROTK [Return of the King]
Creator: John Ronald Reuel (J. R. R.) Tolkien (1892-1973)
Date(s): 1954-1955 (originally published in three volumes, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King)
Medium: book, film
Country of Origin: UK
External Links: Tolkien Society Biographical Sketch, Languages and Elves, The Thain's Book (encyclopedia), Encyclopedia of Arda, Tolkien Gateway, Council of Elrond, WarOfTheRing.net, The One Ring.net (TORn)
Subpages for The Lord of the Rings:

Thain · Smial · Samwise Gamgee · RPF · Peregrin Took · Middle-earth · Meriadoc Brandybuck · Hobbit · Gandalf · Frodo Baggins · FPF · Crickhollow · Aragorn & Legolas Friendship · Aragorn/Legolas · Aragorn


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Contents

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Book Fandom

1954-55 JRR Tolkien published his work, The Lord of the Rings, divided into three books: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.[1]

Letters to and from Tolkien after publication show that many readers became fans very quickly, asking questions about Middle-earth, the characters, and so on.[2]. In the 1960s, many people involved in the hippie counter-culture found resonance in LOTR, and it became not just a best-seller, but a part of the generational identity.[3] Groups of Tolkien admirers formed, including the Mythopeic society, The Tolkien Society, and shorter-lived gatherings, such as the Tolkien Fellowship at Michigan State University.[4]

Many words invented or adapted by Tolkin have become part of Fannish vocabulary, including moot, mathom, pipeweed and smial. Fans used LOTR and Tolkien's later publications including the Silmarillion to teach themselves various of Tolkien's Elvish and Dwarvish languages and scripts. [5] [6]

The novel Bored of the Rings was published in 1969, suggesting that anti-fans were also quick to seize on the book.

Music

Tolkien's writings inspired hundreds, perhaps thousands of musical compositions, from classical through death metal, perhaps most famously by Led Zeppelin,[7] [8] Rush's Geddy Lee and Motorhead's Lenny Kilmister both appeared in the Ringers documentary, talking about Tolkien's influence on them. In 2006, the Lord of the Rings Musical played in Toronto, moving to London for 2007-2008, but was not considered a success. [9]

Aca-fen and Academic Analysis of LOTR

  • Acafen started writing about Tolkien. Some were granted access to Tolkien's unpublished papers, with a resulting conflict between them and those who were not.[10].
  • other stuff here?
  • lit crit and college classes?
  • Semi-pro fans like Michael Martinez


Fannish stuff before the movies came out?

Online Fandom

  • online fandom started early, by 1993: alt.fan.tolkien and rec.arts.books.tolkien

Film Fandom

  • April 2000 TORn started up (my guess, based on their preview page)
  • fans worried beforehand, secrecy made it worse [11].
  • yes line parties for FOTR, inspired by Star Wars [11]
  • FOTR comes out, the hoyay is fabulous, and Arwen gets Glorfindel's rescue
  • Lord of the Rings FPF fanfiction ramps up
  • New Zealand fandom site tours start?
  • Extended DVDs with Fellowship of the Cast and commentaries
  • RPS! much shipping! Lord of the Rings RPF
  • Two Towers, definitely line parties
  • TORn party #1
  • Tinhats
  • Collectormanias and Comic Cons, Ring*Con and cons all over the world
  • ROTK comes out, yet more line parties, premieres, most of New Zealand
  • TORn party #2
  • a zillion Oscars
  • yet more conventions
  • trilogy showings
  • 2005 Ringers documentary
  • other stuff I'm not thinking of
  • movie of The Hobbit to come

Fandom

Fanfiction

The two broadest categories of fanfiction are Lord of the Rings FPF (about characters from the books and movies) and Lord of the Rings RPF, also known as LOTR RPS or Lotrips (about the actors who played them in the movies). Although some archives, communities, and challenges include both and some fans read and write both, many fans consider them to be separate fandoms.

Communities

Games

References

  1. ↑ Wikipedia:The Lord of The Rings
  2. ↑ Letters of JRR Tolkien
  3. ↑ Wikipedia:Tolkien fandom#1960s USA
  4. ↑ Personal communication, 2008-10-12
  5. ↑ Elvish Linguistic Fellowship
  6. ↑ Ardalambion (Tolkien's invented languages), The Tolkien Language List
  7. ↑ tolkien-music.com
  8. ↑ Works Inspired by JRR Tolkien - Music
  9. ↑ Wikipedia:The Lord of the Rings (musical)
  10. ↑ Wikipedia:Elfconners
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Fellowship of the Ring by Erik Davis, Wired, October 2001.
  12. ↑ Announcement that RPF news will be included, March 27, 2008. (Accessed October 24, 2008.)
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