The Much Bemusing Bloggery of Online Tolkien Scholarli

Every now and then I find myself searching with great frustration for the blogs of people who, in my opinion, have something credible and interesting to say about J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle-earth, or some of his linguistic or other classical interests. Regrettably, never having compiled such a list I inevitably return to the search engines seeking in vain for anyone else’s attempt at compiling such a list. If anyone has made the effort the search engines have been slow to recognize and reward that effort (and my own attempts to find it).

So here is my list of Tolkien scholarly blogs that I have occasionally browsed, perused, read, and referred to (or thought of referring to, should the mood take me in a moment of passionate prosaic presentation). I won’t claim that the list is comprehensive but it is as complete as I can make it and it seems a good complementary article to go along with the Tolkien Webliography I created several years ago. The chief deficiency of the Webliography is that it focuses on static Websites, most of which are at least ten years old.

Online Tolkien fandom is not without its well-written research but some people insist on drawing a firm line between the “fan scholars” and the “academic scholars” (although as Professor Michael Drout pointed out on his own blog — see reference below — some of the most well-known and highly respected experts in the field of Tolkien Studies are people who are not professors of literature or history or whatever). This list is reserved for those who have earned the widespread recognition of both fans and scholars, even if they themselves are not scholars.

Some of that “widespreadedness” may not be spread as widely as other spreadedness, but spreading recognition must begin somewhere and I have elected or chosen to begin the processing of spreading recognition for some folks here. Call me arrogant, if you will. If you disagree with my choices and preferences then publish your own list on your own blog (and you should have done that before now!).

List the First – Blogs from Tolkien Scholars

• Douglas Anderson
• Michael Drout
• Jason Fisher
• L.M. Gildersleeve
• Anne Petty
• John Rateliff
• Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
• Amy Sturgis
• Larry Swain
• Tolkien Geek

I had thought to write a little blurb about each of the bloggers when I first decided to write this post, but having now mulled over the task I think that would deprive you of the fun of learning about these people and inferring for yourself why I chose to include them here. I must point out that I haven’t had much to do with most of them (and Larry Swain and I were once quite hostile to each other but we have since laid that disagreement to rest and I have to admit I have a lot of respect for his knowledge in the field of Medieval Studies).

It doesn’t get you on the list if you publish a book that mentions my name, though some of these folks have published books that mention my name.

Now, the list is not really complete. For, you see, the Websites above are True Blogs but they are not the only Websites I have found where interesting articles have been published. In fact, what is most frustrating for me is that I have found many Websites which — much like my own network — have long been produced using classic HTML files rather than true blog software. There is nothing wrong with being so old school in presenting one’s work on the Web (in fact, I find much to admire in that tenacity). For myself, however, having published somewhere around 100,000 articles, comments, forum discussions, whatever over the past 14-16 years (and that doesn’t include news group postings, old Compuserve discussions, email, etc.) I have grown weary of static HTML files. I have finally thrown in the towel and started using WordPress (which is a good entry-level content management system).

The technical purist in me therefore balks at the idea of putting all the blogs onto the same list as the static Websites.

List The Second – Static Websites from Tolkien Scholars

• Peter Collier
• Patrick Curry
• Dimitra Fimi
• Verlyn Flieger
• Carl Hostetter and the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship
• Corey Olson

There but for the lack of the right software, the above second list would all be blogs. Corey Olson (“The Tolkien Professor”) has a popular podcast, which could almost sort of count as a blog, but I still feel reluctance about linking to iTunes (this despite the fact that I use the service — so call me a hypocrite and be done with it).

There are a few Websites that collect the works of others that should also be included here.

List the Third – Websites for Groups of Scholars or Scholarly Collections

• Heren Istarion
• Project MUSE – Tolkien Studies (the Journal)
• Tolkien Scholars and Inland Empire USA Inland Northwest Tolkien Society
• Wormwoodiana
• Walking Tree Publishers

Finally, in addition to the various sites included in the Webliography there are a few more I think you should be aware of, although the Tolkien Estate’s Website is not really used for scholarly publication or sharing much useful information about anything scholarly. It’s just nice to know that the Tolkien Estate has a Website.

List the Fourth – Websites You Should Know About Just In Case

• Jane Chance
• John Howe
• Middle-earth (yes, that’s me)
• Peter Jackson
• The Tolkien Estate

Let me explain two names on this list: John Howe and Peter Jackson. Howe is a world-renowned artist who has become closely identified with Middle-earth and Tolkien’s inspirations (although he certainly has done plenty of non-Middle-earth work). You cannot become that accomplished an artist in such a close association with a specific topic without having done considerable research. Fantastic as Mr. Howe’s artwork may be, he has earned his place on this list. I’d include Alan Lee here but so far as I know he doesn’t have an offcial Website.

Peter Jackson may be puzzling to many people. Sure, he’s a great film-maker and he made those three big, successful movies but he sent the purists screaming for their Orc-scimitars with all the changes he introduced to Tolkien’s world. So why include him here. Well, that’s complicated but let it suffice to say that when I was doing research for some folks at Weta 11 years ago (has it been that long?), I found myself repeatedly mentioning various Tolkien books. Finally, I was gently assured that “Peter has all those books and he has read them from cover to cover but he is legally constrained to NOT use the material in them because of the license (for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit)”. I have considered Peter Jackson to be a true Tolkien scholar ever since and I’m not ashamed to admit that.

Now, it may well be that people whom I would feel deserve to be on the list have been overlooked since I could not find them. Leave a thoughtful suggestion in the comments if you can think of one but I reserve the right to edit any links you place there (particularly if they link to Websites that I cannot in good conscience recommend to my visitors no matter how devoted you may be to the essays you found on such sites). I’d rather not dwell on all the foibles and follies of a feisty Tolkien fandom but let me say that there are some people whose “research” is so shabby and loose and poorly organized that they slap together whatever citations they can find and present them as if that is all that is required to be thoughtful, accurate, informative, helpful, fair, or otherwise beneficial to someone who wants to learn about Tolkien and Middle-earth.

I will not link to the essays of Orcs, Trolls, and other creatures more foul. ‘Nuff said.