I’m Harry, and I am the founder of the Fellowship of Fans. My first introduction to Tolkien was unsurprisingly through my father reading me The Hobbit when I was very young. Being able to grow FoF into a wider and uplifting community is a privilege and being able to do alongside such great team members is an honour.

Hello there! My story in Middle-Earth begins even before I was born, as my mother read and finished The Lord of the Rings just before she gave birth to me. Then, when I was 8, over around 3 months, I read the trilogy for the first time. In the coming months, The Fellowship of the Ring came out, and since then, 20+ years of watching the movies religiously and countless rereads of Tolkien’s Big Three later, I am working on my Master’s thesis about Middle-earth while also helping FoF grow and develop into an even bigger nerd-haven. 

I’m Varking! I was introduced to Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien, as a whole, by my father when I was really young. He read them to me but I didn’t really understand them at the time due to being so young. As I got older I had to read them for school and everything clicked and I fell in love with Middle-earth. Most of you that recognize me probably do from the LOTR_on_Prime subreddit or FoF streams but I also have a podcast called Green Lanterns Podcast and it’s available on all platforms.

Fredrik from Sweden. Came in contact with FoF some years ago and started talking with Harry and then got invited to London to see the premiere and has since then been a part of FoF. Working mostly behind the scenes, but I join on screen sometimes here and there, usually in the high season for watch-parties and stuff. As for many, LOTR has been my safe space since I can remember and I read/watch everything related to the Professor.

My introduction to Tolkien was kind of rocky, I’ll admit. My mom bought me the Hobbit when I was 11, but being a snobbish bookworm in my historical drama era, I thought of it as too childish. Eventually, I read it almost a year later after having finished every book in my library, and my mom refused to buy me new ones cause I had that one left. Well, I’ve been obsessed with Tolkien ever since! The Rings of Power got me into the online community, and here I am! My favorite Middle-earth-related possession will have to be the books, always books! But my goal is to have a Middle-earth sword collection at some point. 

I was first exposed to Middle Earth through the music. My elementary band teacher made us play a LOTR medley, and when we played as a full band, I was like, WHAT IS THIS EPICNESS. From there, I went to the theater and read the books. I became obsessed after listening to the Silmarillion Seminar by Corey Olsen and watching the DVD appendices. I currently collect the LOTR United Cutlery swords, autographs of the cast, Lego, and the recent illustrated editions/matte jacket versions of all the books. 

My coworker’s Gollum impressions amusingly introduced me to the films, which then introduced me to the books, but I credit Corey Olsen’s Tolkien Professor podcast for my start as a serious fan in 2010. The Silmarillion has since become my favorite book, and I’m also a fan (and amateur collector) of Ted Nasmith’s illustrations. I’m an active user, editor, and big advocate of the Tolkien Gateway wiki. Beyond the fandom, I’ve been a longtime administrator and moderator of online communities, which is what I contribute to Fellowship of Fans. My favorite aspect of the FoF community is coming together to discuss adaptations and using them to better understand and appreciate Tolkien’s works.

Hi I’m Ulmo, I’ve been introduced to the world of Middle-Earth through my father with the movies and eventually he read the Hobbit as well. I’ve never left Arda ever since.

When my mum was given The Return of the King and the Michael Hague-illustrated The Hobbit, as a farewell present from a job where she was known as a Tolkien-reader, when I was in early primary school in 1989—and I was reading The Hobbit at some point from then on. I read it to myself in 1991 over the course of two days, and I think I attempted The Lord of the Rings, or at least Return of the King, shortly after (Frodo going slowly mad in Mordor gave me nightmares…). I didn’t do a complete read until I was a little older, and have steadily read more and more of Tolkien’s complete work since the 2000s. I didn’t get actively involved in the online fandom until the late 2010s, just keeping my interest to myself and a few people close to me. I love The History of Middle-earth and how it enriches the published Silmarillion and how Tolkien’s own work in medieval languages and literature crosses over with his creative work.

My name is Nikoline, I’m a Norwegian actress and I’ve been with the council of fans and fellowship of fans since the early beginnings. I fell in love with Tolkien through school readings of The Hobbit, then with acting when I first saw The Fellowship of the Ring in theatres at 13. My admiration only grew from there. Fav story is Beren & Luthien. Fav race is elves.

My introduction to Tolkien was the Peter Jackson trilogy. I first watched The Fellowship of the Ring at 11 at home on VHS and enjoyed it, obsessed with The Two Towers DVD that I almost thought I would break the disk, and by the time I saw The Return of the King at 13 in the cinema, I knew I wanted to be involved in the film industry, create films and enjoy it as a career. 22 years later, it’s still going strong thanks to Peter Jackson and the whole team. I have The Return of the King trailer on 35mm film, my Minas Tirith model from EE DVD set, autograph, and pictures with many cast and crew.

Hi! I’m Gregory, and I’ve been involved with Fellowship of Fans since the filming and production of Season 1. My introduction to Tolkien was The Hobbit, which my mom gave me when I was 8. I was blown away and quickly moved on to reading The Lord Of The Rings a year before the fantastic Peter Jackson films came out. I have worked with FoF as part of the Twitter team, YouTube streams, and as part of FoF’s famous “information gathering” team.

Hi, I’m Francesco, and I’ve been a proud member of FoF team since last year. My passion for Tolkien books started when I was 9, when my elder cousin gave me a DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It was love at first sight, and then I read the books, and I fell in love with Middle Earth much more. Those tales of elves, dwarves, hobbits, humans and orcs became, through the years, a lifestyle to me, and have deeply changed my life. To be part of this team is such an honour for me, and, as a journalist, I’m very proud to write about Tolkien for our fans and followers.

Jason Charles Miller here!  My introduction to Tolkien started when my mom gave me her copy of the Lord of the Rings (2nd American edition!) when I was 10 years old, but I was told to read The Hobbit first, of course. Since then, I’ve had a life-long passion for all things Tolkien and Middle-earth, with a big focus on the 1st Age.  As a voice actor, I even got to voice the Uruk Commander Ugthak in the game ‘Lord of the Rings: Rise to War,’ a feather in the cap, to be sure.  I love being a part of the Fellowship of Fans and contributing as much as I can, especially during our lively round table discussions!

Wesaþ ġé hále! I have long appreciated Tolkien’s works, both directly and through the interpretation of other artists. Perhaps my first introduction to Tolkien’s works was the calendar artwork of the Brothers Hildebrandt, which fired my youthful imagination even before I had read LotR. As I grew old enough to read Tolkien on my own, I was impressed by the amount of world-building information available in the Appendices to LotR, which eventually helped steer me to study linguistics. I enjoy learning more about the interplay between Tolkien’s scholarship and his writing, which were not two separate worlds but continually informed each other and may help us as fans to be better informed about what Tolkien really thought.

I lurked on fan message boards around the time the Peter Jackson films were released, but I didn’t become actively involved in any fan communities until shortly before RoP began production. I joined FoF in 2021. My favorite part of the community is the discussions and learning the different perspectives people have. My favorite Tolkien-related possessions are books, both books by Tolkien and books about him and his creations.

Peter Jackson’s adaptations were my intro into the World of Tolkien, but it wasn’t until I read The Fellowship of the Ring (my favorite book in the Legendarium) that I finally got it. I finally understood what made this world so special. It was the charming characters, the dense world-building, the classical prose, and the simple yet satisfying story that hooked me and has kept me hooked ever since.

In addition, FOF’s community has also helped with that hook in that it’s a great place to talk all things Tolkien with fellow fanatics. The discussions we have, the variety of thought, and the shared knowledge between everyone is all so refreshing and remarkable to me that nothing else even comes close to matching it in terms of fan spaces.

Hi, I’m Jaron. I write things. A lot of things. Especially things about Tolkien. I started reading Tolkien when I was 12, and I’ve never stopped cycling through LOTR since. “The Hobbit” is my favorite book. Peter Jackson’s movies are iconic. I write about all things Tolkien over at Looper. I love my life.

Hello, it’s Proode! I’ve been enchanted by Middle Earth since I was a little kid, thanks to the popularity of the movies and the PS2 games in the early 2000s. And as I grew up, I’ve taken the time to immerse myself in it more. I read The Hobbit when I saw my friend reading it in class, and I asked if I could borrow it; she gifted it to me with a cute note on the front page, and I realized there’s even more joy to be found in the books. Middle Earth is literally a second reality for me and an escape from the actual reality, so being able to share this sentiment with many others is amazing! I was given the opportunity to write for this beautiful fellowship, and I hope you enjoy what I write as much as I enjoy writing them! 

I grew up with the films, but it was only after I was no longer scared of seeing Gollum on screen (I would constantly fast-forward the VHS) that I appreciated them for what they were. This led me to read the books, discover the Silmarillion, and fall in love with the entire legendarium. However, I wasn’t actively aware of the fandom until Amazon dropped that infamous still of Tirion and the two trees. The rest was history. I remember coming across the word ‘Eucatastrophe’ once, obsessing over it, which led me to read ‘On Fairy Stories’ which immediately became my favourite of his writings, alongside Ainulindale as his ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read both.

My introduction to Lord of The Rings was through the Lego Video game, I’ve been a huge fan of Tolkien ever since.