🏀 Middle-earth March Madness Champion

PLUS: 📚 Tolkien Reading Day Giveaway Winners!

Mae govannen!

I’d first like to say thank you to everyone who participated in my Tolkien Reading Day giveaway!

The giveaway closed last night and I have already contacted the winners directly. I’ll announce their names in the next newsletter, but I need time to make sure there’s really someone on the other end of the email addresses that were selected as winners to whom I can send the prizes. So please reply to me if I’ve contacted you directly (via the email you used to enter the contest) to inform you that you’ve won!

Now let’s move on to the main event of today’s newsletter: announcing the winner of the other contest I’ve been running this month, Middle-earth Madness!

Jokien with Tolkien “Middle-earth March Madness” 2024 Champion

Characters from all across Middle-earth have faced off in each round of Middle-earth March Madness. 32 original contestants narrowed to the Company of 16, then to the Fellowship of the 8, and most recently to the Four of Power!

Just two characters remained, the Champion of the Heroes facing off against the Champion of the Villains for the chance to become the Champion of Middle-earth March Madness!

In the Championship Round Samwise Gamgee faced off against Sauron to decide who would be crowned the Champion of Middle-earth. The result?

Samwise the Champion!

Sam is now the champion of not just the heroes but of all of Middle-earth, having bested all his opponents in the Heroes of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit bracket and then defeating Sauron, the champion of the Villains, in a stunning 89 to 11 rout of the Dark Lord.

And honestly, what better outcome could there have been than for Sauron to be defeated in a contest that began on March 25th, the anniversary of the destruction of the One Ring and the fall of Barad-dûr?

Here is our completed bracket for this year:

It is indeed fitting that Sam be crowned Champion of Middle-earth, as he is central to the meaning and significance of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien refers to Sam as a “jewel among the hobbits” in Letter 76 and as “the chief hero” of The Lord of the Rings In Letter 131! He says:

I think the simple ‘rustic’ love of Sam and his Rosie (nowhere elaborated) is absolutely essential to the study of his (the chief hero’s) character, and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life (breathing, eating, working, begetting) and quests, sacrifice, causes, and the ‘longing for Elves’, and sheer beauty.

He does not elaborate on this rather remarkable claim in this letter, but in an earlier letter from 1944 to his son Christopher — Letter 93 — he has this to say about Sam:

Sam is the most closely drawn character, the successor to Bilbo of the first book, the genuine hobbit. Frodo is not so interesting, because he has to be highminded, and has (as it were) a vocation. The book will prob. end up with Sam. Frodo will naturally become too ennobled and rarefied by the achievement of the great Quest, and will pass West with all the great figures, but S. will settle down to the Shire and gardens and inns. C. Williams¹ who is reading it all says the great thing that is that its centre is not in strife and war and heroism (though they are understood and depicted) but in freedom, peace, ordinary life, and good liking.

More than anyone else in the tale, Sam represents that “ordinary life” that beats at the heart of The Lord of the Rings. He of course rises to extraordinary heights, accomplishing heroic feats worthy of song and being long remembered. But he begins the story in the ordinary and returns to it, having the honor of the final line of both the novel and the movie trilogy with, “Well I’m back.”

And as the Champion of Middle-earth March Madness, he is our jewel among contestants and chief hero now too! My friend, you bow to no one. After enjoying your hard-fought victory, you can sail off to Valinor knowing your quest is achieved!

25% off Jokien with Tolkien: Extended Edition Through 3/31

Reminder that for Middle-earth March Madness and Tolkien Reading Day, paid memberships to the Extended Edition of Jokien with Tolkien are 25% off until 3/31!

Special shout-out and thank you to the Jessyca O, Jennie Q, Tiffany T, and Mark C Z H who have already taken advantage of the sale and become members of the Extended Edition of Jokien with Tolkien this week!

Considering joining them? With a paid membership in the JwT Extended Edition you’ll receive exclusive Extended Edition essays and behind-the-scenes posts each month, full access to the JwT Discord Server, and access to the monthly Extended Edition subscriber discussions here on Substack. Plus you’ll help fund fun like the giveaway I just had!

Hit the button below for more info:

That’s all for today, friends! Thank you so much for participating in the Middle-earth March Madness Tournament: I’ve had such a blast with it this year and will definitely aim to do it again next year. Thank you also for entering the giveaway contest! There will be more giveaways this year, so keep your eyes out for those!

Namárië,

Josh

Appendices

• As much fun as all that March Madness was…we’ll be going back to our regularly scheduled programming next month haha. Just one post a week most weeks, including a humor piece, a few essays (one exclusively for Extended Edition members), and any Tolkien-related news or updates I come across and think you’d all appreciate. See you all next Thursday!

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1. Fellow Inkling Charles Williams