Like so many of you, it’s difficult for me to comprehend that it’s already 2021, let alone the end of March. The pandemic has definitely taken its toll on me, and much of my motivation and hope for the future has suffered. But one of the things that I know will always cheer me up is Middle-earth, not only the movies/books, but the community of fans as well. When I was sick last December I had the movie soundtracks and audio books playing almost 24/7 to comfort me (and it helped!).
Even if I haven’t read the books or watched any of the films in a while—or even interacted with the fandom—I know they’re always there for me. (This is of course not unique to only me or the Tolkien fandom, but hopefully you understand what I mean.)
It feels very fitting to me that the Tolkien Society’s theme for this year’s Tolkien Reading Day is Hope and Courage, two things that I desperately need. When I heard what the theme was I immediately heard Eowyn say “Courage, Merry. Courage for our friends,” and pictured the moment in Journey to the Cross-roads where Frodo says, “They cannot conquer for ever!” Even if that moment of hope for Frodo and Sam lasted only seconds, it’s one of the most memorable parts in The Lord of the Rings for me.
There’s an incredible amount of creativity and comradery in this fandom I feel lucky to be a part of. One of the things that most recently comes to mind is @DiverseTolkien’s Diverse Tolkien Week, where creators reimagined their favorites worlds and characters. I’m still slowly catching up on what everyone made and as expected, each piece is a joy to see. You can find posts for this project with the hashtag #dvtw21 on Twitter and Tumblr. I always get excited when I see someone do their own interpretation of Tolkien’s work, it gives me an entirely new thing to love about the legendarium. Thank you to Aubrey from Diverse Tolkien for creating this much needed art campaign and to all the artists!
Another cool thing is the Hobbit Cookbook Zine, which is exactly what it sounds like: a zine of yummy Hobbity recipes. Organized by Rosie/eetrelibre and wool/MithrilShirt, this was made by a group of super talented artists and writers. You can download here and any donations will be sent to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. In true hobbit form, there’s recipes for a variety of meals: snack with Belladonna Took’s Housemade Chutney (yum!), relax with some Mulled Wine (yum!), bake some Hobbit Pumpkin Honey Pie (yum!), and treat yourself to Mrs. Maggot’s Mushroom Pie with Bacon Lattice Crust (you guessed it, yum!). I’m looking forward to trying one of the recipes soon, it’s difficult to choose one! Thank you to all involved for a truly amazing project.
I also want to give a shout out to the Tolkien Experience Podcast! If you haven’t heard about it already, here’s a quick blurb from one of the co-hosts, Luke Sheldon: “The Tolkien Experience Podcast (TEP) is an attempt to bring the fan and scholarly communities together around our shared passion: the works of J.R.R. Tolkien! Each episode features a notable scholar or member of the fan community sharing their responses to the original Tolkien Experience Project questions.” I highly recommend it! (And it’s not only because I was a guest last year, haha.) One way to support this podcast is to join their Patreon.
As lame as it sounds, seeing this fandom thrive during times as they are has been a much needed source of hope for me, even if I’m only observing from afar. And while I have my own reservations about the upcoming series from Amazon, the idea of even more people joining the fandom and bringing new voices/ideas is very exciting! So I’m going to try and hold onto what hope I can find and muster up some courage as we make our way through this year.
(As a side note, “The Greatest Adventure” from the Rankin & Bass animated The Hobbit film is a great song to listen to if you need a little cheering up, trust me. I often find myself listening to it when I need a mood booster.)
