💎 Tolkien Treasures #005: March 2023

What I've Been Enjoying This Month and Some Funny Recent Tweets

March Tolkien Treasures

Hello all! As I do at the end of every month, today I’m going to share a few things that I’ve been enjoying this past month. Here they are:

1. Where the Lion and the Witch Met the Hobbit (New York Times)—this article that explores “the sites in Oxford where C.S. Lewis, the writer of over 30 books, including the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ series, found faith, inspiration and a life-changing friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien” is a must-read for any fan of Lewis, Tolkien, and The Inklings.

   

2. Tolkien Trewsday— Tolkien Trewsday (“Trewsday” being the fourth day of the week on the Shire Calendar, equivalent to Tuesday) is a weekly event organized by Tim Bolton (on twitter at @timboltonuk) that Tim describes on a page on his blog as a “themed sharing of our Tolkien love via art, relevant blogs, thoughts, quotes, fiction, cosplay, poetry and whatever else you can think of.” Basically, every Tuesday a bunch of Tolkien Twitter shares Tolkien-related content on a theme and uses the hashtags #TolkienTrewsday or #TolkienTuesday

   

   
   Here’s his summary of the themes from the past few weeks:

   

   It’s been so fun to both participate in this weekly celebration of Tolkien and his works and see what other people have shared each week as well. Check out the hashtag #TolkienTrewsday and #TolkienTuesday on Twitter next week to see for yourself!

3. Sauron vs Galadriel—

   

   Absolutely love this depiction of Sauron and Galadriel facing off, which feels like a nod to Fingolfin’s duel with Morgoth and maybe a hint of Éowyn versus the Witch-king too. You can find the artist’s page here.

4. Bilbo’s Last Song—I had never heard of Bilbo’s Last Song, so imagine my delight when I came across this TikTok of someone not just reading it to you but singing it!

   

   @violingrlI really just want a melody to do the lyrics and illustrations justice. #bilboslastsong #tolkientok #lotr #lordoftherings #hobbit #hobbitsong #folksongs #Inverted

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5. Welcome to Brandon Sanderson's Fantasy Empire (Esquire)—a week or so ago there was a profile in WIRED on Brandon Sanderson that read more like a hit-piece than anything resembling journalism. I won’t bother linking to it, but if you want to know what an actual piece of journalism on the most prolific author in fantasy today (who is also probably in the running for most popular too), check this profile in Esquire on Sanderson out. I found it all to be fascinating, but particularly loved the details about how Sanderson is attempting to challenge the publishing status quo and show publishers that a reader-centric model has potential.

There we have it, my Five Faves for March. Your turn: what is something you’ve been enjoying this month?

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Giveaway Winners!

Speaking of giveaways, on Tuesday I announced on Twitter the TWO winners of my Tolkien Reading Day giveaway:

J.R.R. Jokien 🗡️🏹🪓 @joshcarlosjosh

When it came right down to it, I couldn't just give away one copy of this Hobbit/LOTR set: so I decided to give away TWO! Congratulations @1telos and @PaulPIII for winning the giveaway! And thank you to all who participated. I'll for sure do more in the future, so look for those!

J.R.R. Jokien 🗡️🏹🪓 @joshcarlosjosh

Yesterday I started a giveaway of The Hobbit And The Lord Of The Rings: Deluxe Pocket Boxed Set for Tolkien Reading Day! Entries are open from now through tomorrow. Enter by retweeting this tweet and/or subscribing to my substack and Insta. More details: https://t.co/WP1XTApmAg https://t.co/mPHVNaaiAP

Thank you all for participating! Like I mentioned in the tweet, I’ll definitely be doing more giveaways this year: probably at least two more for a total of four in 2023.

And if you didn’t win but simply need that gorgeous box set, why not treat yourself?

Favorite Recent Tweets

The Wonder of Tolkien (@TolkienWonder on Twitter) put together a great thread highlighting some wonderful Tolkien accounts across various different platforms. Check it out if you’re looking for more quality Tolkien content. It starts here (click on the embedded tweet or here for the rest):

The Wonder of Tolkien @TolkienWonder

To celebrate #TolkienReadingDay I want to honor some of the folks that are spreading love for Tolkien: @nerdoftherings1 for amazing in-depth & yet accessible content on his YouTube channel. @TeawithTolkien with her thoughtful content on her blog, her resources & her book club.

111st*

Jakud @jacobkuddes

Bilbo at his 111th birthday party

Cardi B @iamcardib

I’m not as mean as I could be and I want people to be more grateful for that.

This Pedro Pascal eating a sandwich meme has been going off on TikTok for a while now but I’m just now seeing it spill over to Twitter this week.

Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation @OKWildlifeDept

Us watching you attempt to outrun something you tried to pspspspspspsps after we specifically said not to

This cartoon is Kafkaesque

kcg @kcgreenn

“ya boy gregor”

Boromir hates this idea

John Belk @belkthepoet

TIL learned about the Walk to Mordor where you watch all 3 extended edition Lord of the Rings movies while walking on a treadmill 💀💀💀

That’s all for today. Farewell, friends, and have a wonderful end of the week and weekend! Special shoutout and thank you to wverbanic, Joshua G, Jill D, Justin D, Lisa, Nia, Matt T, Joolz, jmoran, just_chris, and Eric B for upgrading to a paid subscription this week! This is a reader-supported newsletter so if you enjoy these updates each week, please consider supporting this Substack by upgrading to a paid subscription.

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Appendices

• My latest essay for paid subscribers, Wounds that Cannot Be Wholly Cured, will remain unlocked through this Friday, March 31st.

All typos are totally on purpose. Links may be affiliate.