The Tolkien Society
| Established | 6 November 1969 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Vera Chapman |
| Legal status | Educational charity |
| Focus | Education |
| Location |
|
|
Region served
|
Global |
|
President
|
J.R.R. Tolkien (in perpetuo) |
|
Vice-President
|
Priscilla Tolkien |
|
Chairman
|
Shaun Gunner |
| Affiliations | Alliance of Literary Societies |
| Website | www |
The Tolkien Society is an educational charity and literary society devoted to the study and promotion of the life and works of the author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien.
In the November 1969 issue of The Middle Earthworm, a letters of comment fanzine mainly aimed at British members of the Tolkien Society of America, Vera Chapman announced "if not quite the birth, at least the hopeful conception of a Tolkien Society of Britain". This was supplemented by a personal column by Chapman in the New Statesman published on 7 November which ran "TOLKIEN SOCIETY of Britain — write Belladonna Took [Chapman's pseudonym], c/o Chapman, 21 Harrington House, Stanhope St. London NW1". Since this would have hit news-stands a day before publication, the Tolkien Society's informal beginning has been placed at Thursday 6 November 1969.
The Tolkien Society gradually took shape over the following years. December 1969 saw the publication of Belladonna's Broadsheet, which after three issues was replaced by The Mallorn in October 1970. This was conceived as a quarterly publication, and the first issue was joined by The Tolkien Society Bulletin, which was to be produced on a six-weekly basis. The Society's official bulletin was replaced in January 1972 with Anduril, but was quickly supplanted by Henneth Annûn after three issues (the first had been numbered 0 and it continued independently until issue number 7). This new publication changed its name to Amon Hen with the second issue, seemingly for no particular reason. It, together with Mallorn (the definite article having being dropped from issue 2), are still published by the Tolkien Society.
The "inaugural" meeting of the Tolkien Society was hosted by the Hobbit Society of University College London (UCL) on 29 January 1970, where the name of the new society was discussed and the first committee was appointed. A constitution was considered at the first general meeting of the Tolkien Society on 20 November 1970 at UCL, but was ultimately rejected. The Tolkien Society did not become a legal entity until a constitution was finally ratified on 15 January 1972. It later obtained charitable status in England and Wales on 7 July 1977.
An AGM has been held each year since 1972, and since 1973 has featured a talk from a guest speaker. It is one of the three main annual Tolkien Society events, the largest and most popular being "Oxonmoot". In the December 1973 issue of the fanzine Nazgul, contributor John Abbot asked, "[w]hat do you think of the idea of Oxford Moot this year?" The 1974 AGM approved the idea, and the first Oxonmoot met at The Welsh Pony 13–15 September later that year. The first (near-)annual Tolkien Society "workshop" was held on 22 March 1986, morphing into the "Tolkien Society Seminar" from 1989 onward. The more informal "Summermoot" was held on an irregular basis in the 1980s and 1990s, occasionally hosted by Joanna Tolkien and Hugh Baker at their farm in Wales. According to their son (and Tolkien's great-grandson) Royd Tolkien,
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