March 25: Tolkien Reading Day

25th March is Tolkien Reading Day!

Tolkien Reading Day was set up to encourage people to get together and explore some of Tolkien’s stories at school, university, in reading groups, or as a family; the theme for 2010 is

“Tolkien’s Seafarers”

Reading Day is an opportunity for people of all ages to read together and share their thoughts about the story. As 2010 is the International Maritime Organization’sYear of the Seafarerthe theme chosen gives people a chance to read and think about exploring the undercurrents in the Numenorean romance the “Tale of Aldarion and Erendis” from “Unfinished Tales”, the journeys and ships of the Teleri, the flight of the Noldor, and the voyages of Tuor and Earendil in “The Silmarillion”, or Bilbo’s poem about the latter in LotR. There are also the poems “The Happy Mariners” and at a pinch “Bombadil Goes Boating.”


Ideas for exploring Tolkien’s books together are available online

www.tolkiensociety.org/ed/tolkienreadingday.html



J.R.R. Tolkien’s books appeal to all ages and readers worldwide find pleasure, entertainment and deep significance in his work.

Reading together is fun, for both children and adults, and reading on a theme stimulates good conversation and vocabulary development. There is much more to Tolkien than “The Lord of the Rings” though as the list above shows. Families or library reading groups can enjoy these stories and poems or for the younger readers there are the travels and travails of the dog “Roverandom” which include a journey under the sea.

Schools can contact the Society for education packs, bookmarks and posters. Members of the public, libraries, or reading groups wishing to hold an event near to rather than on the 25th can contact the Society for free posters to help with publicising their event.

e-mail publicity AT tolkiensociety DOT org

Launched in 2003 the reading day event has sparked interest in reading and reading groups across several nations and ages from Primary schoolchildren to University students and library users of all ages. Hence the circulation of this release to the media, educational press and county library services. 25th March has significance to Tolkien’s readers, as it is the day of the Downfall of Sauron at the conclusion of the ‘War of the Ring’ in “The Lord of the Rings.”