Welcome to Tolkien and Brews. As I learn more and more about website building, coding, and running a blog, my hope is this will grow as a place of commerce of both LoTR and beer enthusiasts. Or some sort of healthy medium. After all, many of Tolkien’s ideas he ran through with his friends (The Inklings – a group of scholars we can get into on another post) were shared over copious amounts of beers and cigars at the local pub. Undoubtedly, this outlet propelled Tolkien to expand the legendarium of Middle-Earth and bounce ideas off of some of the greatest fantasy writers ever. Yet I’m not sure that was always the goal!
Tolkien compared himself to that of a hobbit, and a hobbit loves nothing more than sharing stories over a pint, with good company. Beer plays a prominent role in the social life of a hobbit – which could be as lively as a night at the Prancing Pony or as withdrawn as a pint near the fireplace. There’s freaking songs about it for Iluvatars’ sake!
O! Water cold we may pour at need
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, “A Conspiracy Unmasked”
down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;
but better is Beer if drink we lack,
and Water Hot poured down the back.
So as you dive in to our content, which yes is lacking and will be for a bit while I work on creating more and more, I hope you pour yourself a beer and open up for conversation and any questions you may have. I want to build out a beer directory and fair review site, so I could really use some suggestions for beers and breweries to try! I’m really excited to get started. Talk soon ~
AJ