As of the date of this post, we're currently two weeks from this year's Tolkien Reading Day, with the theme of 'Hope and Courage'.
If you're reading this article and wondering what exactly Tolkien Reading Day is, then here's a bit of an intro: Tolkien Reading Day is an event celebrated every year since 2003, when it was created by the Tolkien Society. Each year on March 25th, Tolkien fans around the world post and talk about their favourite passages from Tolkien's work, with a theme for the year being decided by the Tolkien Society a couple of months prior (just so you've got time to prepare!), with this year's theme being 'Hope and Courage' as previously mentioned. I think it's no coincidence that given the year we've had across the world, that this theme was picked, as I can safely say that we probably all could do with a little bit of encouragement to be hopeful.
The date of Tolkien Reading Day is a significant one to Tolkien fans, as it marks the date that the Ring was destroyed and Sauron was defeated - by Shire reckoning, of course.
If you're a long-time Tolkien fan then you may already be aware of this event, and so will have already seen some of the contributions from many of the years since the holiday's inception. However, if you're new to the deeper world of Tolkien's works and haven't spent a lot of time in this community, then here's a quick catch-up of the Tolkien Reading Day themes from the last few years. (If you're not interested in seeing what's already been, skip down to the end of the post where we'll be talking about some possible ideas for readings and posts that you can talk about for this year's celebrations.)
2020: Nature v Industry
2019: Tolkien and the Mysterious
2018: Home and Hearth: The Many Ways of Being a Hobbit
2017: Poetry and Songs in Tolkien's Fiction
2016: Life, Death and Immortality
As you can see, the themes for the day's celebrations are quite varied and give a lot of room for fans to dive into the texts to find passages that sum up the theme for them. If I were to give a few recommendations of places to find some inspiration for these past themes (just in case you want a reason to dive into some of the works again), I'd suggest as follows:
Nature v Industry
For this theme, I'd take a look at a couple of different places. First would be in The Two Towers, Book III, in Chapters IV: Treebeard, and IX: Flotsam and Jetsam. These chapters are a rather on-the-nose reflection of the theme, that show the marshalling of the Ents against Isengard, as nature literally fights back against the industry of Saruman, who has been burning the forests to fuel his war machine.
As a filmmaker in my regular time, I have to mention the portrayal of this specifically in the films, with an incredibly well done adaptation and execution of this storyline. Possibly my favourite thing about this (about to get nerdy on you) is the treatment of the colours as contrast in the scenes focusing on the Ents, vs the scenes with Isengard before its fall. When Merry and Pippin feel safe in Fangorn, the colours are warm, and soft, whereas the scenes showing Isengard are at once flat and grey, but also quite harsh in contrast at the same time, with very muted, cold colours throughout. This isn't even to mention the beating steel percussion of Howard Shore's score for Isengard. Sorry, I'm getting distracted.
If you want to look outside of The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion has a few excellent places to find inspiration. Starting with Of Aulë and Yavanna, which sees the creation of the Dwarves by Aulë the Smith, and the subsequent conflict between him and his wife, Yavanna, who created the world's plant and animal life. She fears that the Dwarves, being not 'sanctioned' Children of Illuvatar brought into being by ALL the Valar, will have no love or regard for any domain outside of that of Aulë - that being the mountains and mines, forges and stone - and so pleads to have a race of her own that can protect the trees, who cannot protect themselves, as the Dwarves will take from the forests without regard for the nature around them, in order to fuel their forges.
Tolkien and the Mysterious
This one is a little trickier, as it's quite difficult to nail down specific places where Tolkien mentions something mysterious, with the entire Legendarium being filled with things that Tolkien leaves open to the imagination, or only explores in one of the many volumes of The History of Middle Earth. Two key points do stand out however. The first of these again coming from The Silmarillion, in the chapter Of the Darkening of Valinor. This chapter introduces us to the dark, Spider-form spirit known as Ungoliant. There is no concrete evidence for where Ungoliant came from, or even what species she is. She potentially is one of the fallen Maiar that followed Melkor at the beginning of time, or one of the other spirits that broke away prior to the beginning of time. She may even be a physical manifestation of the darkness itself. She is one of the most mysterious beings in the Legendarium, perhaps only rivalled by our next character.
In Chapter VI: The Old Forest of Book I of The Fellowship of the Ring, we meet Tom Bombadil, a merry and incredibly powerful- uh- person? I'm not quite sure. Tom saves the Hobbits from Old Man Willow in the Old Forest and invites them to his home. He then lets them go, only to save them from Barrow Wights in the Barrow Downs very shortly after. Tom is a very mysterious character, who, like Ungoliant, is very powerful - the One Ring having no effect on him - unable to be classified by any of the taxonomy Tolkien created for Middle Earth, and seemingly unable to place his origin, other than Tom saying that he was there before everything else, which, to be honest, doesn't really narrow it down when it comes to Middle Earth. Many say that he could be simply a Maia, similar in class to Sauron, which would explain the Ring's lack of effect on him; other's say he is Tolkien's allegory for himself in Middle Earth (if you've spent any time in the Tolkien community, you can see why this is unlikely) or even that he is Eru Illuvatar, the God of Tolkien's universe. All we know is that Tom existed literally before the Lord of the Rings was written, and was based on a doll of Tolkien's children's, so in essence, Tom's claim isn't really wrong.
Home and Hearth: The Many Ways of Being a Hobbit
Similar to the previous theme, this one is very much reflected consistently throughout the most famous of Tolkien's works, namely The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Pick any passage by Bilbo about home, or from Sam as he reflects on The Shire's many comforts, or take many of Bilbo's poems, as even those that talk of adventure often have a very Hobbit-like comfort in their contrast to the humble Shire. As for a personal recommendation of mine, I want to suggest Tolkien's poem, I Sit Beside the Fire and Think, for this theme. Although not tied to the Legendarium, the poem is very apt for Bilbo Baggins, reflecting on a life well lived, with all his adventures behind him as he looks toward the future, in the comfort of home once again.
Poetry and Songs in Tolkien's Fiction
There are many poems and songs within Tolkien's writings, some of which are full works in and of themselves. The best places to start with this theme for me is The Hobbit. There are plenty of songs and poems here to get you started with Tolkien's poetry, with songs like Blunt the Knives, and Misty Mountains Cold, which many film viewers will be familiar with. The Hobbit also contains an early version of Bilbo's Roads poem, the completed version of which is one of my personal favourites, as featured in The Lord of the Rings.
If you want to step outside this comfier level of poetry, I recommend the Lay of the Children of Hurin, a poem written in Alliterative Verse, as opposed to any traditional rhyming pattern you may be familiar with. This is a slightly different style of poem that dates back to a specifically West Midlands style in the mid-late Medieval period (If I remember correctly). Tolkien himself grew up in Staffordshire and the West Midlands (as did I), and became interested in this poetic art form that is very closely tied to the history of his home counties. The alliterative style of the poem (featuring sets of words beginning with the same letter or sound - maybe I'll do a post specifically about this one day) has a very martial feel to it, perfectly fitting for the quite dour tone and wartime setting of the story.
Life, Death and Immortality
I feel almost spoiled for choice with this one, as it feels like if you open The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion to a random page, then it's very likely that you'll land on a passage that is reflective on the nature of life, death and immortality. If I were to pick a couple of places to reference, I would definitely head straight to The Silmarillion.
The first of these suggestions is something that most people, even those who haven't read The Silmarillion, will know. The story I suggest you look into is Chapter 19: Of Beren and Luthien. Told somewhat in The Lord of the Rings, and even mentioned in the Extended Editions of the films, this is the story of a mortal man who falls in love with an immortal elf (sound familiar?). The elf, Luthien, chooses to give up her immortality, and take upon herself the fate of Men, which is to die and leave the circles of the world. This story puts into question a lot of the explanations behind the nature of elves and men, how they relate to one another and the ways they differ in life and in death.
The second of these is slightly different in the way it presents this theme. This suggestion takes you to Chapter 12 of The Silmarillion: Of Men, and shows the discovery of the early men by Finrod Felagund, a lord of the Noldor in the First Age and brother of Galadriel. Finrod discovers men and watches them curiously, unsure of what to make of them. He befriends them, teaching them much of what he knows, and their chieftain, who would be known as Beor the Old, takes Finrod as his Lord. The two are close friends, and the reflection of the theme comes in the ageing and eventual death of Beor. This marks the first time Finrod, or any of the Eldar, has seen a death due to the natural expiration of the body. Elves live on, even until their spirit burns through their bodies, but they still live on, unless killed beforehand, and for someone who is already hundreds, potentially thousands of years old, this is a huge moment to see his friends deteriorate and die after only a few decades. I like this second choice, because, not only is it one of my favourite moments in The Silmarillion, but it also shows the perspective of an elf and how they respond to the death of men, as opposed to the choosing of one's own fate, which we have seen in both The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings.
So what about 2021?
2021's theme, 'Hope and Courage' is a similar theme that has many instances throughout Tolkien's work, as it is a consistent theme of his stories. You can dig for some very obscure quotes to tie tangentially to this theme, or you can look for the quotes that are simple and to the point, which I find to be best with this topic specifically.
"Courage is found in unlikely places." - Gildor Inglorion, The Return of the King
This is a very simple quote from Gildor Inglorion in The Return of the King, but it hits the nail on the head for this theme. If you want something with a little more power behind, or with perhaps with a bit more of that Tolkien way with language you've come to love:
‘In this phial,’ she said, ‘is caught the light of Eärendil’s star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out. - The Fellowship of the Ring, Farewell to Lorien
I'm fond of this passage for a couple of reasons. The first is that message of "a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out" which is an excellent passage about hope in and of itself, but also for the reflection of this on the further story of Eärendil, one of my personal favourite characters in The Silmarillion. Eärendil's story shows that determination that we see in Frodo and Sam in The Lord of the Rings. He makes a journey beyond all hopes and expectations of success, because elves and men are all on the brink of destruction. The war against Morgoth has, for all intents and purposes, been lost. The only hope is for Eärendil to journey across the sea and get help from those who had previously given up on the Children of Illuvatar. This passage shows that Eärendil stands as a shining light of hope, even millennia after his heroic journey, and reminds us, both in his own story, and in Frodo's that light can indeed be found in the darkest of places.
A huge thanks to you if you made it all the way through this post. I really hope it was of any interest to you and I don't blame you if you skipped my recap of the last five years of Tolkien Reading Day. If you've stuck around this long, let me know your opinions on my picks and also what passages you're going to be reading for the theme of 'Hope and Courage'.
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