We’re thrilled that Willie Jenkins, aka Knewbettadobetta, has joined the merry band here at TORn as one of our volunteer staffers. We’re always delighted when he’s able to join us on panels at events, and now from time to time we’ll also be sharing his thoughts here on our homepage. (Of course, you can always find all his reels on his own Tiktok any time you want to hear more from him!) Knewbetta joined us at Dragon Con this year – and he shares here his thoughts on the convention, and the fandom in general.
I’m Willie Jenkins, better known online as **Knewbettadobetta**, a *Lord of the Rings* content creator, lore enthusiast, and now a staffer for **TheOneRing.net**. This year, I came to Dragon Con 2026 with a particular mission: to do press for TheOneRing.net and to observe, experience, and better understand the connection—the symbiotic relationship, really—between the Tolkien fandom and Dragon Con.
What I found was something I already suspected, but seeing it firsthand made it impossible to ignore – and man was I hype.
Knewbettadobetta at Dragon Con
The Lord of the Rings community is at the heart of the fantasy community, and Dragon Con has become one of the places where that heart beats loudest.
There is something uniquely special about Dragon Con. It is enormous, chaotic, colorful, weird, welcoming, exhausting, exhilarating, and deeply communal. It feels less like a convention that you attend, and more like a temporary world that you enter. And in that world, The Lord of the Rings has a place that feels almost foundational.
Dragon Con itself is, in many ways, the heart of the “con” experience. It is a fan-made convention built around the idea that fandom belongs to the fans. You can find almost anything you could possibly be interested in somewhere within its sprawling ecosystem. Every interest has a home. Every niche has a gathering. Every kind of nerd has a place to lock in and be unapologetically themselves – and this is evident from the number of POC attendees each year growing and growing, who sometimes are scared to show that side of themselves. But news reaching back each year that this is a safe and fun space has reached far and wide. Dragon Con is one big fellowship!
And that is exactly why Tolkien fits here so beautifully.
Knewbettadobetta joins a Fellowship of fans
The Heart of Fantasy
Fantasy has evolved tremendously since Tolkien introduced generations of readers to Middle-earth, but The Lord of the Rings remains one of its great foundational works. You feel that at Dragon Con.
You see it in the costumes. You hear it in conversations. You find it in panels where people can spend an hour dissecting lore, languages, adaptations, characters, mythology, and the smallest details of Tolkien’s world. You see people gathering for photographs, marches, meetups, games, and themed events.
And then, just when you think you have seen every possible version of Tolkien fandom, another Aragorn walks by.
Or a Gandalf.
Or a Nazgûl.
Or an elf.
Or an entire Fellowship.
That is part of what makes Dragon Con so much fun. It has its own culture layered over all of these individual fandoms. There are the ribbons that people collect and trade, the infamous **Cult of the Carpet**, enormous group photos, spontaneous gatherings, parties, elaborate cosplay, and the wonderfully strange moments that can only happen when thousands of passionate people are packed into the same convention ecosystem.
Yet the Tolkien fandom doesn’t simply exist alongside Dragon Con’s culture. It participates in it, it contributes to it, it becomes part of the fabric. And this year, I got to experience that from an entirely different perspective.
The High Fantasy Track and TheOneRing.net
One of the things that stood out most to me was Dragon Con’s dedication to the High Fantasy Track and, specifically, its willingness to give High Fantasy a dedicated space where TheOneRing.net could join our fellow fans as part of Tolkien-focused programming. That matters. The Tolkien fandom is enormous, but depending on the convention, it can sometimes feel like the presence of The Lord of the Rings doesn’t match the size or passion of the fandom itself.
Dragon Con feels different. Here, Tolkien has room. And when you give Tolkien fans a room, they fill it.
This year’s panels on all things Middle-earth were amazing and, for me personally, deeply fulfilling. As a POC content creator, being given a space to stand in front of a large, engaged audience and talk about something I genuinely love was meaningful on a personal level.
But what made it even more special was the audience itself.
I was surrounded by some of the smartest, most knowledgeable, and most dedicated people in the fandom. The panel I participated in on ‘Delving into the Dwarves’ really stood out for me, with how many people were interested in the lore of the dwarves – and the love they had for the dwarves over even the elves (who tend to get most of the shine!). Being able to answer questions about peoples’ loves and validate their thoughts on their favorite characters, and give new insight, knowledge and perspective on a lesser known race in the fandom, was exhilarating.
These weren’t people simply showing up because The Lord of the Rings happens to be popular (although of course there is room for those folks, too!). These were people who care. People who know the lore. People who have spent years thinking about Middle-earth, discussing Tolkien’s work, debating interpretations, studying adaptations, and keeping the fandom alive. Being able to contribute to that conversation was an honor.
And it reminded me of one of the most beautiful things about fandom: You can be the person standing on the stage, but you are still one of the people in the room. You’re still a fan.
A Place to Lock In
That is another thing I love about Dragon Con.
You can spend one night completely losing yourself in the experience, and then somehow wake up the next morning, find your coffee, put yourself together, and lock right back into your niche. That’s Dragon Con.
The nightlife is vibrant, energetic, and incredibly freeing. There is something about being surrounded by thousands of people who are also temporarily stepping outside the normal rules of everyday life. You can dance – and you better believe I danced lol, being from New York and the hip hop culture I loved the vibes at night, and the willingness of everyone to let loose and dance the night away.
You can dress up. (I’m still working on this – lmao my inner cosplay self has yet to come out!)
You can be ridiculous.
You can be dramatic.
You can be weird.
You can be your entire self.
And for a lot of us, that freedom is more important than we realize.
Life accumulates stress. Work accumulates stress. Responsibilities accumulate stress. The little frustrations and anxieties of an entire year can pile up until you don’t even realize how badly you need to exhale. Trust me, this has been one hell of a year for me – but while I was a Dragon Con I was totally free.
Dragon Con gives you a place to exhale.
The closest we’ve got Knewbettadobetta to cosplay – so far…
Then, somehow, the next morning, you wake up and do it all again. Except now you’re sitting in a panel listening to someone explain an obscure piece of fantasy lore that you have been thinking about for months.
Or you’re raising your hand to ask a question.
Or you’re sitting in the audience completely enthralled by somebody else’s passion – which is one of the most refreshing things about the whole con.
If you’re lucky enough to be a panelist, you’re standing in front of a room trying to articulate why the thing you love matters so much.
That duality is one of Dragon Con’s greatest strengths – you can play hard, nerd harder.
And then there is An Evening at Bree
If you want to understand the love the Tolkien community has for this fandom, spend a night at Bree.
The annual High Fantasy Track party, hosted by TheOneRing.net, has become one of the highlights of Dragon Con’s Tolkien experience – for some, a highlight of the whole convention – and this year’s event was no exception.
Dragon Con provides a phenomenal ballroom, security, crowd management, and line organization that allows an event like this to operate smoothly despite the sheer number of people who want to attend. The result is a party that feels both massive and intimate at the same time.
And the attendees bring it.
People show up in full Lord of the Rings attire. Costumes range from recognizable characters to wildly inventive interpretations of Middle-earth. You see the creativity and craftsmanship of the fandom everywhere you look. The ‘sexy’ versions of these characters are quite the sight! Then you can turn around and see a cosplay that took the wearer months to make, and might be some of the most complex and beautiful and thoughtful cosplays you ever seen in your life; and the beauty of it is that they both are just as valid as the other.
A fabulous Barad-dûr cosplay at the Evening at Bree
Then the music starts. People dance, sing, laugh. For a few hours, everyone gets to forget about whatever is waiting for them outside the convention.
You don’t just feel like you’re attending a party with a Tolkien theme. You feel like you’ve stepped into The Prancing Pony.
The bands who played throughout the evening (The Brobdingnagian Bards, Landloch’d, and Beth Patterson) delivered infectious songs, sometimes directly inspired by the world and themes of Lord of the Rings, reinforcing that strange and wonderful feeling that the ballroom had somehow transformed into Bree.
This year’s cosplay contest was particularly fun, refreshing, and beautifully hosted by TORn’s own greendragon! And then, an Elf Choir performed.
It was mesmerizing.
For a moment, the party became something else entirely. The noise and excitement gave way to voices coming together, and the result felt almost reverent.
It was a beautiful reminder that fandom isn’t only about consuming stories. Sometimes it’s about creating something together – and I felt right at home. Leaving the event, a couple of fans cosplayed as the Argonath – and stood by the steps leading away from the ballroom, on either side, arms outstretched. The sight left me in awe – and brought so much weight and magic to the night. These are the special little things that make Dragon Con different.
Cosplayed Argonath
Tolkien Belongs Here
One of the most encouraging things about Dragon Con is seeing how naturally Tolkien fandom fits into the larger convention culture.
The same people collecting Dragon Con ribbons are wearing Hobbit costumes. The same people participating in giant convention photo shoots are organizing Tolkien group photos. The same people attending parties until the early hours of the morning are showing up the next day for lore-heavy panels.
There are Tolkien meetups. There are marches. There are games. There are cosplay gatherings.
There are discussions that go deep into the mythology and history of Middle-earth.
There are people who have spent years studying Tolkien’s writings, sitting alongside people who just discovered the world through an adaptation.
And somehow, it works. That’s fandom at its best.
Dragon Con understands that a convention doesn’t have to choose between being broad, and giving individual fandoms meaningful space. You can have thousands of different interests under one roof, while still allowing communities to develop their own identities. You don’t feel tied down or forced into a time slot, or forced to pick a fandom. Any and everything goes here and all are welcome – no matter your level of knowledge of a thing. If you like it, they love it for you, and let you into the fold.
That is particularly important for Tolkien fandom – because The Lord of the Rings isn’t simply another fantasy property. It is one of the pillars upon which modern fantasy fandom was built. So when Dragon Con gives Tolkien fans a home, it isn’t merely acknowledging a popular franchise. It is nurturing one of the traditions that helped make the fantasy community what it is.
The Symbiotic Relationship
That was ultimately what I came to Dragon Con to examine: What is the relationship between Tolkien fandom and Dragon Con?
After experiencing this year’s convention as a TheOneRing.net staffer and content creator, I would describe it as symbiotic.
The Tolkien community – like many other fandoms represented there – brings knowledge, creativity, cosplay, scholarship, humor, passion, and history to Dragon Con.
Dragon Con provides the infrastructure, audience, space, and community for that passion to thrive.
Each benefits from the other. Dragon Con gives Tolkien fandom a platform; Tolkien fandom gives Dragon Con another deeply passionate community that contributes to the larger culture of the convention.
Middle-earth cosplayers for Dragon Con’s annual ‘Bunny Hutch’ party
That relationship becomes especially important as new Tolkien media – and new generations of fans – continue to emerge. Fandom doesn’t stay alive simply because a story was popular decades ago. It stays alive because people keep talking about it.
They keep creating.
They keep dressing up.
They keep writing.
They keep making videos.
They keep hosting panels.
They keep asking questions.
They keep arguing about lore.
They keep singing.
They keep dancing.
They keep showing up.
Dragon Con creates a place where all of that can happen, in one long weekend.
The Heart Still Beats
My time at Dragon Con 2026 left me with a pretty simple conclusion:
The Lord of the Rings community is the heart of the fantasy community, and Dragon Con is one of the places where that heart can beat loudly, proudly, and freely.
There is something incredibly powerful about seeing Tolkien fandom represented alongside the countless other communities that make Dragon Con what it is: the Klingons, the Whovians, the robot builders, the horror lovers…
The ribbons, the giant photoshoots, the meetups, the panels.
The late nights and the early mornings!
The bizarre conversations with strangers that somehow become friendships. (We literally found another group from asking about their Dungeon Crawler Carl attire and boom! – we were inseparable the entire con!)
Friends old and new
The moments where you realize you have been standing in a hotel hallway for forty-five minutes talking about a fictional language.
That’s Dragon Con. And that’s Tolkien fandom.
Both are built around the same fundamental idea: people who love something coming together and turning that love into a community.
Dragon Con is a fan-made convention where you can find a place for almost anything you love. It is wonderfully expansive without losing the intimate feeling of fandom. I was proud to be there this year representing TheOneRing.net, not just as a content creator, but as a fan. And it is good to see Dragon Con continue to show focus and dedication to one of fantasy’s great mainstays.
Because Middle-earth isn’t going anywhere.
The fans aren’t going anywhere.
And as long as there are places willing to give that fandom room to gather, create, celebrate, debate, dance, sing, dress up, and tell stories of its own, the heart of fantasy will keep beating.
Join TheOneRing.net Friday, October 9th at 7:30pm as we return to NYC for our annual gathering of fans! [Tickets] This year, we’re delighted to be teaming up with our good friends at The Lord of the Rings Official Fan Club, LOTR.com, for a night of fellowship, food, prizes, and geekery! Details below.
Once again, we’ll be at our favourite venue, the Joyce Public House in Times Square (W 39th St), for a party of special magnificence! Join us FRIDAY 9th October, 7.30-10.30pm. All welcome, no NYCC pass required to attend.
This year’s gathering has a particularly Hobbity focus. Come along for food, fun, and fellowship with your fellow fans. An appetite worthy of a Hobbit is encouraged. There will be dessert!
Tickets are $45, which includes your first drink, a buffet (including dessert), and two tickets for the raffle, drawn on the night. PLUS every party goer will take home a “goody baggins” filled with treasures from our friends. AND we’ll be shipping a special surprise directly to every attendee!
The Joyce Public House – New York City, NYC
To claim your special mathom, look out for the link in your confirmation email. Follow the link to Shopify and arrange for your gift to be mailed directly to you. While you’re there, have a browse through our temporary store. Perhaps a Tom Bombadil and Goldberry 2026 shirt will find its way into your order, too!
We’ll have more raffle tickets available to purchase at the party. We’re keeping extra raffle ticket sales for the night itself this year, so come ready to try your luck! Check out some of the generous folks providing prizes and goodies below.
Raffle prizes include items from…
Oscha
Shire Post Mint
Geek Orthodox
Kings Wild Project
Bottle Neck Gallery
And more…!
Our “goody baggins” will include items from…
Ares Games
Restoration Games
Kings Wild Project
Plus your special surprise shipped to your home… and more!
All this for $45. Now there’s a reason to raise a glass!
You never know who will turn up at one of our events. We hope to see YOU there! Numbers are limited, and we expect tickets to go fast. Grab yours now!
Dragon Con, Atlanta’s annual gathering of pop culture enthusiasts, is upon us. A Labor Day fixture, Dragon Con celebrates fascinations from science fiction to fantasy, gaming to comics, literature to art, and music to media. The Con attracts roughly 75,000 fans spread across multiple downtown hotels and much of the city’s AmericasMart. It also offers 35 different “tracks”, or mini-conventions. They focus on everything from Anime to Young Adult Literature.
One of Dragon Con’s founding fandoms has focused on J.R.R. Tolkien and the creative passion that his works have inspired. Whether it’s part of the programming now scheduled for D*C’s “High Fantasy” track, or Elvish (etc.) enthusiasm spilling out across the broader fandom, there will be much Middle-earth merriment in this 40th installment of Atlanta’s Geek-Fest (Nerdi-Gras?)!
Here’s a quick overview of what’s happening for Tolkien fans!
Our Marquee Hobbit: Sean Astin
Here on the 25th anniversary of Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring, it’s wonderful to have such an excellent and admirable cast member joining us. Sean will be available for autographs and photo opportunities, and will also be a featured panelist over the course of the Con. One of those panels will focus on his experiences embodying Sam Gamgee. Saturday, 9/5 at 11:30 am in the Hyatt Centennial Ballroom II-IV
Hobbity Home bases:
Staffer deej has got all your answers, plus t-shirts and buttons!
If you simply need some help orienting to the sprawling splendor that is Dragon Con, you can find help here:
The OneRing.net fan table, located on the Exhibit Level of the Hyatt Regency, right across from the Art Show entrance. Find staffers greendragon, deej, and Wee Tanya there, along with buttons, t-shirts, links to some of our favorite purveyors of Middle-earth merchandise, and maybe a few surprises!
The High Fantasy Track Room, on the Lobby Level of the Marriott Marquis, rooms 401-403 (just across the hall from Dragon Con Safety). Staffer Madeye Gamgee also volunteers for the track, and several Tolkien inspired panels will take place there this weekend.
Parties!
An Evening in Bree (photo courtesy of Tim Lenz)
A unique hallmark of Dragon Con is an abundance of fan-forward partying opportunities. The Tolkien fandom will not miss out!
An Evening in Bree: A long-term landmark for partying periannath, Bree is back in all its glory. That includes a high fantasy costume contest (you can fill out entry forms at TheOneRing fan table or the High Fantasy track room – please do SIGN UP IN ADVANCE), a choral performance of special magnificence by the wondrous Elf Choir, and of course dancing! The three featured performers this year are the Brobdingnagian Bards, Landloch’d, and Beth Patterson. Friday, September 4, 8:30 pm in the Courtland Grand Ballroom
Hobbit Drinking Songs: billed as a concert, breakout dancing and partying is an inevitability whenever the Brobdingnagian Bards are involved. Let those furry feet fly! Sunday, September 6, 7:00 pm on the Marriott Atrium level, A 601-602
The Goblin Ball: Hosted once again by our OneRing DJ deej, the theme this year appropriately celebrates the music of the mid-80s and the 40th anniversary of Labyrinth’s Goblin King throwing a ball of his own. The cosplay mashups should be spectacular. Sunday, September 6, 10:00 pm on the Marriott Atrium level, A601-602
Panels!
Remembering panels in Covid times…
This is the ten-year mark for the High Fantasy Track at Dragon Con, now the Con’s home for Tolkien content, which always ranges from the playful to the profound. This year’s lineup includes:
Rings of Power Season 3 Speculation. With Prime Video’s latest installment of the Second Age saga now scheduled for a November release, rumors and speculation on what’s in store are swirling. Greendragon will be moderating, with Madeye Gamgee and other close OneRing friends participating, to bring Dragon Con fans up to speed! Friday, September 4, 1:00 pm, Hyatt International South
Sing with the Elf Choir. Another Dragon Con classic, this is less of a musical panel and more of a choral rehearsal as a host of Middle-earth denizens prepare to bring their harmonious offerings to The Evening in Bree. Come and learn your part for two or three staples in the high fantasy musical canon! Friday, September 4, 5:30 pm, Courtland Grand Ballroom
Who Could Resist? A smorgasbord of speculation as panelists consider the corollary to “Who could wield Thor’s hammer”, but through the lens of being able to withstand the power of the Ring. Was Aragorn right about the Ring answering to only one Master? Or is Steve Rogers, Jean-Luc Picard, or Aslan up for the challenge? Saturday, September 5, 1:00 pm, HF Track Room
An Hour with TheOneRing.net. Greendragon, joined by staffers deej and Madeye Gamgee, along with Tolkien Lore Master Willie Jenkins (knewbettadobetta), will unpack as much as we can cover in an hour about what’s coming up for Middle-earth fans, from media to merchandise, publications to parties. We’ve been polishing our palantíri, so expect secrets and rumours! Saturday, September 5, 4:00 pm, Hyatt International North
The Greatest Swordsman. In this tournament-style panel, attendees will get to choose who is the greatest wielder of the blade in all of High Fantasy. After Aragorn, of course. Sunday, September 6, 10:00 am, HF Track Room
Bilbo Baggins – Renaissance Hobbit of Middle-earth. Tolkien scholar, author, and long-time OneRing mellon Constance G. J. Wagner leads a panel conversation about the “bravest little hobbit of them all”. From teacher, mentor, peacemaker, storyteller, and friend, Bilbo’s impact on the history of Arda is extraordinary for such a little fellow in a wide world. Sunday, September 6, 11:30 am, Hyatt Centennial I
Delving Into Dwarves. It’s been a minute since the High Fantasy track considered the Sons and Daughters of Durin. But “khazâd ai-mênu!” The dwarves shall be upon us indeed! We may even figure out just how discourteous Gimli was being in the Extended Edition scene. Sunday, September 6, 4:00 pm, HF Track Room
Too Beautiful to Let Go: The Cost of Creation in Middle-earth. Tolkien content will wrap up for this year’s Dragon Con with a more deeply philosophical conversation around the broad theme of “Subcreation gone wrong”. This panel will consider artifacts of extraordinary beauty, but also with deeply and sweepingly corrupting power, and the where’s and wherefores that had the Professor integrating them into his Legendarium. Monday, September 7, 10:00 am, HF Track Room
Beyond the Panels
Like TheOneRing.net, Dragon Con markets itself as a “by fans, for fans” experience. This leads to one of the most unique and entertaining dynamics of the Con: the near certainty that nerdish enthusiasm will break out in unscheduled, often enduringly viral ways. Dragon Con first-timers may not understand the “Cult of the Marriott Carpet” or “Saint John the Deliverer” (our friends at Geek Orthodox certainly do!), but even newbies should keep a sharp eye out for the exuberance that happens outside of “our regularly scheduled programming”. For Middle-earth fans, that includes:
The Dragon Con Parade, a riotous and colorful celebration of all things nerdish. Open to everyone to watch, with no badges required, the downtown Atlanta crowds swell into the six figures as Superheroes, Troopers, and Spartans (oh, my) travel down Peachtree Street in costumed glory. Tolkien fans have been longtime participants, marching behind the “Arms of Middle-earth” banner. This year, at least 20 of us will be representing the Legendarium we love. Be sure to wave! Saturday, 10:00 am, down Peachtree Street from North Avenue through a U-turn into the Marriott Marquis We’d suggest arriving early to grab a good viewing spot!
The “Passing of the Elves” Procession. A more focused choral ensemble that’s closely connected to the “Sing with the Elf Choir” programming, this group practices particularly elvish music, all dress in elvish attire, and process around the halls and connecting bridges between Dragon Con hotels in their melodious passage toward the West. Lanterns and bells mark their ethereal comings and goings. The Procession typically occurs on Sunday evenings. You can find out more by searching for the Elf Choir on social media platforms.
The Lord of the Rings Fan Club. New this year! TORn is working with our friends at the Fan Club to finalize a series of quests designed especially for members attending Dragon Con. If you’re part of the Club already, stay tuned on the app for announcements! If you’re not, there will also be ways to sign up at the Con! Collect those mathoms and join the fun!
See you in the belly of the beast – Dragon Con may be 40 but we’re all still young at heart!
Recently we shared news of the newOfficial Lord of the Rings™ Fan Club – where ‘everyone is welcome, as long as they welcome everyone'! We are excited to join the club as one of their ‘Heralds’ – and we want to invite YOU to join us! May we entice you with a special mathom…?
Since TheOneRing.net started out – in the dim and distant past that was the late 20th century! – we’ve always sought to create a positive atmosphere. We aimed to have our little corner of the interwebs be a place where folks could meet, chat, support each other, and celebrate shared passions together. In recent years, however, you may have noticed toxicity creeping in to the online experience! If you weren’t around to share in the heady, early days of online fandom, now is your chance to experience another kinder, more generous-spirited place to interact online – a place after TORn’s own heart. That, at least, is the goal of the new Official LotR Fan Club – spearheaded by none other than one of our own founders, Calisuri. So of course TORn wanted to be part of it!
Being a ‘Herald’ means we have our own official page, with a ‘sub-community’ at the club. It will allow TORn to share news to a wider fanbase, through the club. Fear not – we are certainly not giving up our own places for fans to gather! (In fact, if you haven’t dropped by our message boards lately, you should definitely swing by: they are all shiny and new, thanks to the hard work of supremo First Age staffers Altaira and BG!) And you’ll still be able to find us on our discord; the Fan Club just gives us another way of letting fans know what we’re up to, and of sharing the love of this Fellowship.
We hope you’ll pop by and check out the Fan Club. There are fun ‘fireside chats’, bulletin boards, and daily puzzles to be solved! (Riddles in the dark, anyone…?) And for those of you who love to collect – there are many amazing ‘mathoms’ you can gather, to create a record of your own Fan Club journey. Use this referral link to head over to the Club and you’ll secure TORn’s very own, exclusive mathom! And look for more fun mathoms to collect during DragonCon, later this week!
Come on in – you are welcome any time, don’t bother knocking!
If you couldn’t make it to San Diego Comic-Con 2026, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! In the Middle-earth Tour video linked below, we’re taking Tolkien fans on a tour of some of the convention’s biggest destinations for Middle-earth collectibles, giving you an up-close look at the incredible statues, figures, and artwork that had collectors buzzing all weekend long.
Whispers and rumours were heard a couple of weeks ago; and now the way is open at last! The shiny new Lord of the Rings Official Fan Club from Middle-earth Enterprises is here. And what’s more, one of TORn’s own Four Founders, Calisuri, is building it! We’re feeling like it’s those early days of online fandom all over again, seeking out friends on the internet and geeking out together. There are quests to be fulfilled and mathoms to be collected – some of which will be found at San Diego Comic Con this weekend! So get your questing boots on! Head on over to LOTR.com to join the fun.
Here’s what the official press release tells us:
Middle-earth Enterprises Announces the Official Fan Club for The Lord of the Rings ™
Free to join at LOTR.com, the new official community opens in early access this July with Quests, Fellowships, collectible Mathoms, daily games, and a shared San Diego Comic-Con program
LIVERMORE, CALIF. — Middle-earth Enterprises today announced the official fan club for The Lord of the Rings ™ , a free community opening in early access this July at LOTR.com.
Even before any official public announcement, fans around the world had already discovered the hidden entry at LOTR.com and joined the waitlist, underscoring the demand for a welcoming official home for Middle-earth fandom.
Built for fans of The Lord of the Rings ™ , The Hobbit ™ , and the wider world of Middle-earth, the fan club is designed to give members an active role in a new official community at LOTR.com. Members will be able to complete Quests, earn digital keepsakes called Mathoms, form Fellowships, play daily games, follow official brands and creators, and keep a personal record of their fandom journey.
The fan club is also being built to support the fan groups, creators, channels, and websites that already make Middle-earth fandom so strong. Known inside the club as Heralds, they will be invited to create their own spaces within LOTR.com. The goal is to lift up what already exists, help more fans find it, and give those groups new ways to gather followers, share updates, and create experiences inside the official fan club.
“For decades, fans have built extraordinary communities around Middle-earth with creativity, care, and remarkable commitment,” said Jay Komas, General Manager of Middle-earth Enterprises. “LOTR.com is an opportunity to recognize that passion, support the communities that have helped carry it forward, and create an official space where fans, creators, licensees, and community leaders can participate together.”
“Quests” are one of the main ways members can take part in fan club experiences. A member might scan a code at a convention booth, check in at a panel, answer a lore question, enter a secret phrase, complete an online challenge, or help unlock part of a larger shared adventure. Completing Quests can earn members “Mathoms,” digital keepsakes named after the term for a treasured object in the world of Middle-earth. In the fan club, Mathoms are not simply points or badges. They are a record of participation: a show attended, a creator discovered, a fan group joined, a challenge completed, or a moment shared with fellow fans. Some Mathoms will be common, while others will be genuinely rare, giving each member’s collection its own history and character over time.
The first major community program, Gather the Fellowship, will launch this July around San Diego Comic-Con. Fan Club members will be able to form or join Fellowships and collaborate across online and in-person activities. Attendance at San Diego Comic-Con will not be required to participate. A fan at the convention may complete part of the adventure from the show floor, while another member joins from home. Together, the Fellowship moves forward.
Members will also find games with a Middle-earth twist, including a daily riddle and a palantír-inspired lore challenge, giving fans a reason to return, play, and build their Fan Club record over time.
Official licensees, known inside the club as Merchants, will have a place within LOTR.com to build a page, post announcements, offer rewards, run promotions, and create co-branded Mathoms tied to events, products, booths, packaging, and other fan experiences.
The club will also recognize members of the early 2000s fan club whose names appeared in the Extended Edition film credits, allowing them to search for their name in a special archive and claim a commemorative keepsake. A launch campaign, Give Us a Gold Ring, will invite members to support a formal proposal for a plain gold ring emoji, to be submitted to the Unicode Consortium by the close of San Diego Comic- Con.
A NEW COMMUNITY STANDARD
Everyone is welcome, as long as they welcome everyone.
Newcomers and longtime fans, readers and film fans, gamers, collectors, creators, and community leaders will participate on equal footing.
As part of its commitment to genuine fan engagement, Middle-earth Enterprises brought on longtime community builder CHRIS PIRROTTA as VP Marketing & Fan Experience. Pirrotta co-founded TheOneRing.net in 1998 and helped grow it alongside a global volunteer community that has supported Middle-earth fandom for nearly three decades. He also spent 25 years at Sideshow, where he helped grow one of the world’s leading collector-focused fan businesses. TheOneRing.net continues to operate independently through its volunteer team, while Pirrotta’s day-to-day focus is now on building the official fan club at LOTR.com.
“When we started TheOneRing.net in 1998, the internet still felt like a place you went to find your people,” said Pirrotta. “A lot has changed since then. Too much of the modern internet rewards outrage, pile-ons, and the loudest voice in the room. LOTR.com is being built for something different, inspired by the community at the heart of Middle-earth: a place where everyone has a part to play, whether they arrive as royalty, a seasoned Wizard, a loyal gardener, or someone taking their first step out the door. No one is above anyone else here. That is what makes this work with the Middle-earth Enterprises team so meaningful. This is not just about opening an official site. It is about opening the door wider, with a welcome to all.”
The official fan club for The Lord of the Rings will be free to join. Early access invitations will begin ahead of San Diego Comic-Con, with additional members welcomed in over time as the community grows. New licensees, creators, Heralds, Merchants, and fan groups will be added on an ongoing basis. Fans can visit LOTR.com now to join the early access waitlist.
ABOUT MIDDLE-EARTH ENTERPRISES Middle-earth Enterprises owns exclusive worldwide rights to motion picture, merchandising, stage, and other rights in certain literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Middle-earth Enterprises works with partners around the world to support high-quality films, games, merchandise, stage productions, location-based entertainment, events, and other experiences inspired by these works.
ABOUT EMBRACER GROUP Embracer Group is a global group of creative and entrepreneurial businesses in PC, console and mobile games, as well as other related media. The Group has an extensive catalog of over 400 owned or controlled franchises. With its head office based in Karlstad, Sweden, Embracer Group has a global presence through its operative groups: THQ Nordic, PLAION, DECA Games, Dark Horse, Freemode and Crystal Dynamics – Eidos. The Group includes 53 internal game development studios and engages over 6,000 talents across nearly 30 countries.
