It was February 3rd 2019 when I came up with Tolkienology on Facebook. It certainly seemed like one more attempt to make myself feel good. Despair was my best friend and sole companion. By reading fantasy I’ve escaped deep into the secondary world as the primary world offered way too little hope.
I wasn’t interested in fans or likes – I just wanted to create content that will make me laugh. I’ve started posting memes that I carefully crafted – I wasn’t really skilled at first, but the process had a sort of healing power so I was spending hours finding the most suitable scenes from movies and books. I started laughing again and when the community on Tolkienology picked up I felt slightly accomplished. The fact that there are people around the world who are enjoying my contact has given me hope – if I can build something that will make many people laugh, maybe I can make myself laugh every single day. I said to myself – maybe I can cure myself.
At that time I was crawling through o a river of shit in my life, but unlike Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption, I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. My light was Tolkien. His world was my sanctuary and my creative juices started flowing again once I dived deep into The Silmarillion and other works. While I felt like I have no space or meaning in this world, I also felt like a part of the world created by Eru Iluvatar.
In the world of Tolkien’s fans, I’ve started to shine bright.
In the last four years, I’ve posted 2000+ memes on Tolkienology that reached 100m+ users. Some of these memes are made by others and a substantial number of them were posted by Ian Lahey, our second admin. Ian is always holding the fort while I’m missing in action so these numbers are not just a result of my creativity. The community, all those people around me who decided to share an adventure, deserve huge credit for Tolkienology’s growth.
Make no mistake, Tolkienology is not just a Facebook page or a website. Through Tolkienology we witnessed some life-changing stories.
My favorite one is about Jill and Marco who met on our page and by liking each other’s comments they discovered mutual interests and LOVE. They got married last year!
I’ve also shared content about my battles with severe sleep apnea, social exclusion, and depression. Hundreds have shared their stories with us and we discovered that Tolkien’s stories indeed have healing powers. The Professor is doing an amazing job for the entire humanity every day, so sainthood is not just wishful thinking.
Lastly, Tolkienology has supported many valuable causes. We also supported Ukraine by launching the Flaming Beacon humanitarian mission in Ukraine. So, during the last four years, we witnessed a real transformation of Tolkienology – in the beginning, the page was helping only me but today it connects people in so many ways, changing lives around the globe.
Thank you, professor Tolkien, for EVERYTHING!
Thank you, you wonderful fans of Tolkienology!
Thank you, my dear colleagues and contributors, for this unique Fellowship!
Thank you all for the opportunity to create something powerful enough to change my life.
If you want to support my work, you can always Buy me a coffee!
