## Episode outline
### Fandom Facts
**Origins:**
Published between 1954-55, the Lord of the Rings is J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy story, following the adventures of Frodo and many others, hoping to stop the evil lord Sauron.
**Fandom Origins:**
The fandom started early on with letters being written to Tolkien about Middle-earth and the characters. In the 1960s, hippie counter-culture found some resonance with the book and helped it to become a best seller. Several fan groups started around this time: The Tolkien Society, and the Mythopeic Society, to name a few.
Anti-fandom seems to have existed since as early as 1969 when co-founders of National Lampoon authored their novel, *Bored of the Rings*.
Of course, there are tons of other bits of history, and the books (and fandom) have impacted music and academics alike.
Online fandom started around 1993, with newsgroups like `alt.fan.tolkien` and `rec.arts.books.tolkien`.
> He wrote of a "deplorable cultus" of fandom, and stated that ""Many young Americans are involved in the stories in a way that I'm not". He was referring to the "Go Go Gandalf" and "Frodo Lives" buttons and stickers that had cropped up on many American college campuses.
> Peter S. Beagle wrote that he'd once told the Professor about a young man who "thought he was Frodo," and Tolkien said "I've ruined their lives."
>
> — [Fanlore - The Lord of the Rings](https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings)
**Names:**
Ringer (fairly recent, limited to *Lord of the Rings*); Tolkienist (usually refers to students of Elvish languages or fans of Tolkien). LOTRians.
**Most Active:**
The fandom was probably the most active when the books came out. Based on [data from Google Trends](https://trends.google.ca/trends/explore?date=all&q=Lord%20of%20the%20Rings), it was most popular in 2004 with small spikes around December and January in 2005, December in 2012, December in 2013, and December in 2014. Coincidentally, *The Lord of the Rings* movies were released in December 2001, December 2002, and December 2003, and *The Hobbit* movies were released in December 2012, December 2013, and December 2014.
There is some evidence to support that, in general, *The Lord of the Rings* is less popular now. For example, [DragonCon removed its Middle-Earth programming track](http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/01/09/102662-dragoncon-to-dissolve-tolkiens-middle-earth-track/) in favour of general fantasy programming.
**Size of Fandom:**
Based on sales of the book, there is an upper-bound somewhere around 150 million (as the book has sold over 150 million copies).
It was hard to find *The Lord of the Rings* specific conventions and conferences, but we did come across Tolkienmoot, which has been running since 2005 and has attendance of between twenty and fifty people in person, and one hundred to two hundred online.
**Where does fandom live:**
The fandom doesn't live in one specific place; where the fandom lives depends on whether fans are more interested in the movies, Tolkien, etc. [theOneRing.net](http://theOneRing.net) remains fairly popular.
**Fanfics:**
In a rare turn of events, *Fanfiction.net* has more entries than *Archive of our own*:
- Fanfiction.net: Approximately 55 000 fanfics
- Archive of our own: Approximately 17 000 fanfics
### Are you in, or out?
**T is out.**
**Z is out... as far as *Lord of the Rings*, but *in* for Tolkien.**
**G is in... on the whole.**
### This week's spotlight
> When Dan makes Arin watch Lord of the Rings, I will donate $100 to charity. Feel free to contribute to the pool or suggest charities.
>
> — [Reddit: When Dan makes Arin watch Lord of the Rings, I will donate $100 to charity.](https://www.reddit.com/r/gamegrumps/comments/39fej5/when_dan_makes_arin_watch_lord_of_the_rings_i/)
**[The Tolkien Society](https://www.tolkiensociety.org/)**
> The Tolkien Society is an educational charity, literary society, and international fan club, devoted to p...
