đ Middle-earth March Madness 2025 CHAMPIONSHIP
PLUS đ Tolkien Reading Day Giveaway Winners!
The board is set. The pieces are moving. We come to it at last: the great battle of our time.
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, and most recently to the Four of Power!
In the Four of Power, Ăowyn took on Helm Hammerhand and Galadriel from Rings of Power went toe-to-toe with LĂșthien: who won each matchup and advances to the finals?
The Four of Power Results
Just two characters now remain: Ăowyn trounced Helm Hammerhand 85 to 15, while the other matchup between Galadriel from Rings of Power and LĂșthien was a LOT closer. So close, in fact, that it had to go to an OVERTIME round of additional voting!
After the first vote ended in a statistical tie, 50ââ 50, I sent out another poll via email for an additional 24 hours of voting in the Galadriel / LĂșthien matchup and lit the beacons on Discord and Substack Chat for quick responses/votes!
Amazingly, the vote again remained close the whole time, with first LĂșthien opening up a small lead, then Galadriel clawing back and going up by a point or two, back and forth, lead change after lead change.
But after a tight contest from start to finish, LĂșthien narrowly defeated Galadriel 51â49 and advances to the final round to face Ăowyn!
Before we go on to more Middle-earth March Madness and the giveaway results, special shout-out and thank you to Amanda, Anna W, and Zoe W, who each upgraded to a paid subscription to the Jokien with Tolkien: Extended Edition this week! This newsletter is possible because of supporters like you: thank you!
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âMiddle-earth March Madnessâ â Final Round: The Middle-earth Championship
Ăowyn vs. LĂșthien
Ăowynâs path to the championship has seen her defeat Farmer Maggot, her own dear Faramir, Treebeard, and now Helm Hammerhand. And she entered the tournament having taken down the Witch-King of Angmar on the Pelennor Fields! But now she faces LĂșthien TinĂșviel, daughter of Thingol of Doriath and Melian the Maia, wife to Beren, the fairest maiden amongst all the Children of IlĂșvatar to have ever lived.
LĂșthien has defeated Glorfindel, Huan the Hound, her own dear Beren (âŠhmm, interesting that both our contestants faced and defeated their husbands in this tournamentâŠ), and Rings of Power Galadriel during her journey to the championship. And before the tournament she bested Morgoth the Great and Terrible himself. Will Ăowyn prove a match for LĂșthien? Or will LĂșthien prevail?
Itâs all come down to this: the champion of our The Lord of the Rings region versus the winner of The Silmarillion region, human versus elf, shieldmaiden princess of Rohan versus elf-maiden princess of Doriath!
Vote here to choose the CHAMPION of Middle-earth Madness 2025!
Tolkien Reading Day Giveaway Results
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Tolkien Reading Day giveaway!
Congratulations to Jessica C, Mary W, and Isaac M for being selected as the winning entrants! Theyâve each been contacted and have responded to claim their prizes, which I will be shipping out this week.
Iâm planning another giveaway this September for Hobbit Day (September 22), so let me know in the replies what youâd like to see as a prize for this next giveaway!
Thatâs all for today! Find out who won this yearâs tournament this Friday, when the final Middle-earth March Madness issue hits your inboxes!
Namårië,
Josh
Appendices
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Yayyy! Luthien might win!
Crazy that both defeated their own husbands haha - it's been so fun to watch this play out!