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Kelly themiddlepage

@themiddlepage

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📖Tolkien academia, book recs, deep dives ☕️ cozy vibes
📚Substack bestseller: A Year of Tolkien ⬇️

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Hoping this works because I just want to connect with all the badass girlies who love Lord of the Rings. 🖤

If you’re new around here, I’m Kelly and this little corner of the internet is where I share my experience studying Tolkien’s works, nerd out about Gandalf (I’m now the proud owner of a Glamdring replica sword ⚔️), and do what I can to teach others about all of Tolkien’s works, even the texts you may never have heard of before!

I know that sometimes it can feel daunting to step into this fandom, but around here you don’t need to know all the detailed lore, don’t need to have seen every movie or read every book. Whether you’ve read it all or have yet to start, welcome 🖤

And if you’ve stuck around, thank you for being part of this community, ILY 💕

#tolkien #jrrtolkien #lordoftherings #lotr by @themiddlepage

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6 months ago

My big announcement is here!! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be doing this: a year long book club dedicated to slowing down, connecting with each other, and reading Tolkien.

Creating a sort of curriculum for reading and studying Tolkien has been something I’ve always dreamed of doing and it took me a long time to realize that there’s no reason not to just do it. So here I am! Scroll through to see the reading schedule and some of the texts we’ll be reading and how to join.

If you’ve ever been curious about Tolkien’s wider works beyond The Lord of the Rings, are interested in the field of Tolkien studies, or if you simply want to slow down in 2026 and read more, this book club is for you.

I hope you’ll join me for a year of enchantment, a year of connection, a year of Tolkien. 🖤

#tolkien #bookclub #jrrtolkien by @themiddlepage

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a year ago

Just a girl and her stack of Tolkien books ✨

So strange to think about how I read this book as a child and it changed the course of my life. But that’s the beauty of the written word, the magic of how a story can pierce your heart and transform your soul. This stack of books is taller than me by far, with many books not even in this picture; it’s a physical representation of my ever growing love for Lord of the Rings. Bit by bit my collection grew as I started studying Tolkien and my love for this world has only gotten deeper as the years pass. By nature I’m hobbit sized but if my collection of books becomes– like my love of Middle-earth– something bigger than myself, I won’t be mad about it 🖤

Anyway I love the Lord of the Rings, dunno if you could tell.

#tolkien #jrrtolkien #tolkiencollection #lotr #lordoftherings #middleearth #hobbit by @themiddlepage

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2 years ago

You + me and choose any book from this bookshelf 🖤

Really though, I’d love to do a live or something where I read from my Tolkien bookshelf! Maybe a chapter from The Lord of the Rings?

#tolkien #lordoftherings #jrrtolkien #tolkiencollection by @themiddlepage

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an hour ago

Snapshots of this past week reading and writing about medieval stories, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Faerie ✨

The introductory article on Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Sir Orfeo is going out this weekend and will have everything you need to get started reading these medieval texts. I’m really just so excited to dive into these with everyone. And I know that sometimes older works can be more intimidating but my greatest hope is that I can help make Tolkien’s works more approachable. I think the intro article will really help anyone who is reading this for the first time! 🖤

Side note: would anyone be interested in a Fall Personal Curriculum for Tolkien’s Medieval Faerie? A list of books, articles, podcasts, etc to learn more about Tolkien’s faerie inspirations, just to have handy if you want to deep dive into it this fall/winter?

#tolkienstudies #tolkien #sirgawainandthegreenknight by @themiddlepage

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a day ago

If I’m reading about the Faerie Otherword, the court of King Arthur, and medieval castles, I’m absolutely going to put on some Enya.

This book has two of my favorite medieval stories, Sir Orfeo and Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, both translated by J.R.R. Tolkien. I’m reading and writing about both this month and I’ve loved every minute of revisiting these poems.

#tolkien #jrrtolkien #lotr #middleearth by @themiddlepage

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2 days ago

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval Arthurian poem that Tolkien worked closely with throughout his career. Originally written in Middle English, Tolkien translated and lectured on this poem.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells the tale of a knight of King Arthur’s court, Sir Gawain, who answers the challenge of the Green Knight, who wants to play a deadly game. Gawain delivers a blow to the knight and agrees to receive the same in return a year and a day later. To uphold his bargain, Gawain travels in harsh terrain until he comes across a castle in the mist. The lord and lady of the castle take him in but he is swept up in another game of having his loyalty and chivalry tested. When Gawain eventually faces the Green Knight, he answers to these tests: did he pass or did he fail?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation is often published alongside his translation of Pearl and another Middle English poem from around a similar time period, Sir Orfeo.

Really excited to read this story with everyone this month!

#tolkien #jrrtolkien #lordoftherings #tolkienstudies #medievalliterature by @themiddlepage

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4 days ago

Books, coffee, plants, re-reading stories I love, writing about Tolkien’s life and imagination and doing what I can to help others understand the world of Middle-earth 🖤

#tolkien #lordoftherings #jrrtolkien #middleearth The Lord of the Rings | The Hobbit | Academia | Annotating by @themiddlepage

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7 days ago

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells the tale of a knight of King Arthur’s court, Sir Gawain, who answers the challenge of the Green Knight. Gawain travels in harsh terrain, has his loyalty and chivalry tested, and faces the Green Knight. The poem is known for its beautiful interlacing of the hunting and bedroom scenes, and we see a gruesome hunting scenes play out between scenes where Gawain is tested intimately in his bedroom by the lady of the castle.

Tolkien’s translation is often published alongside his translation of Pearl and another Middle English poem from around a similar time period, Sir Orfeo (which is a medieval fairy retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice).

This October is all about reading these dark Faerie translations from J.R.R. Tolkien. I can’t wait to dive into these with everyone 🖤

#tolkien #jrrtolkien #sirgawainandthegreenknight #medieval by @themiddlepage

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8 days ago

The deep dive for our Tolkien’s short stories segment is here!

As two stories that are vastly different from one another, Leaf by Niggle and Farmer Giles of Ham really help showcase the artistic range in J.R.R. Tolkien’s storytelling. It’s been really interesting to read these two stories together this month!

Because our guest post focused on Leaf by Niggle, this deep dive goes more into Farmer Giles of Ham, a story that is both a lighthearted tale about a reluctant farmer-turned hero and a story that is deeply concerned with the importance of earning one’s reputation.

In this deep dive you’ll find:

• Insights into Farmer Giles as a mock medieval hero tale
• Some connections between Giles and Bilbo
• A closer look into the Latin names and titles of characters
• Discussion questions
• Nature prompts

🔗 on my page to read in full

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these stories! Don’t forget that the soundscapes by @jordanellisrannells for both Tolkien texts are available for you to listen to as you read!

Up next: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (I’M SO EXCITED!)

#tolkien #tolkienstudies #jrrtolkien #yearoftolkien by @themiddlepage

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9 days ago

September snapshots for the feed 🖤

It’s been a very busy month (feels like everyone is feeling this?) but I’ve been trying to capture some cozy moments when I can. Been coloring a bit, put up a medieval ish window cling in front of my desk, and reading as much as I can 🖤 by @themiddlepage

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12 days ago

Can attest, this is quite the lovely way to spend the morning 🖤

I remember when I first got Tolkien’s collected poetry I had randomly woke around 5am and decided to spend the morning reading the introduction until the sun came up and it was just the loveliest morning.

#lordoftherings #jrrtolkien #middleearth #tolkien tolkiencollection by @themiddlepage

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14 days ago