Jokien with Tolkien âMiddle-earth March Madnessâ 2025 Champion
Characters from all across Middle-earth have faced off in the first few rounds of Middle-earth March Madness. And what was once a group of 32 contestants narrowed to the Company of 16, then to the Fellowship of the 8, the Four of Power, and then the Championship!
Just two characters remained, Ăowyn facing off against LĂșthien for the chance to become the Champion of Middle-earth March Madness! The winner?
All hail Ăowyn, this yearâs Champion!
It was a narrow margin of victory (only her victory over Faramir was a closer final result), but Ăowyn took down LĂșthien 53 to 47.
Now Ăowyn is no longer just the winner of the Lord of the Rings region of the bracket: she reigns as the winner over all the contestants from each of the other regions (The War of the Rohirrim, The Silmarillion, and The Rings of Power) as well!
Here is our completed bracket for this year:
Ăowyn joins last yearâs champion, Samwise Gamgee, as the second member of the coveted âChampion of Middle-earth March Madnessâ club!
Thank you all so much for participating in and following the 2025 Middle-earth March Madness Tournament: Iâve again had a blast with it this year and will definitely aim to do it again next year.
Have any ideas for next yearâs tournament? Let me know in the comments!
As much fun as all that March Madness wasâŠweâll be going back to our regularly scheduled programming now. Just one post a week most weeks, including a humor piece, essays (including one exclusively for Extended Edition members), and any Tolkien-related news or updates I come across and think youâd all appreciate. See you all next week!
Namårië,
Josh
Appendices
Special shout-out and thank you to each and every Jokien with Tolkien: Extended Edition member this week! This newsletter, including âeventsâ like March Madness and giveaways like the Tolkien Reading Day and Hobbit Day giveaways, is possible because of supporters like you: thank you!
Want to join the Extended Edition yourself and get bonus content while supporting this newsletter? Click the button below for more details:
đ You can read more of my writing by reading my books! My latest is a collection of essays on The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and more of Tolkienâs works (and their adaptations). You can also find it and more of my books on Amazon or Gumroad
âïž If someone forwarded this email to you or you found it through social media or Google, Iâd like to invite you to join 12,000+ subscribers in the Jokien with Tolkien community: Subscribe here and get a free gift just for joining!
đč Chosen as a Substack Featured Publication in 2023
đȘ Official merch available in the Jokien with Tolkien store
â All typos are precisely as intended
đ Links may be affiliate, which is a free-to-you way to support this newsletter where I earn a small commission on items you purchase
đïž Canât wait till next week for more content? View the archive
đŻ Interested in writing a guest piece? Check out my submission guidelines
đ€ Want to sponsor a future issue of Jokien with Tolkien? View my rates and packages
Hail Ăowyn! Iâm raising my âI am no manâ coffee mug in her honor today. đĄïž
Three cheers for the blonde shieldmaiden from Rohan!! đ„łđ„łđ„ł