Tuesday 25th March is Tolkien Reading Day 2026 and the theme is Unlikely Heroes. What will you be reading?
What is Tolkien Reading Day?
Tolkien Reading Day is held on the 25th of March each year. The date of the 25th of March was chosen as the date on which the Ring was destroyed, completing Frodo’s quest and vanquishing Sauron.
It has been organised by the Tolkien Society since 2003 to encourage fans to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien by reading favourite passages. We particularly encourage schools, museums and libraries to host their own Tolkien Reading Day events.
What can you do
The theme for this year’s Tolkien Reading Day is Unlikely Heroes. You can, of course, read any works by Tolkien—fiction or non-fiction—that you personally enjoy.
Join the Society on Facebook, Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Share your comments, photos and videos on any social media platform and use the hashtag #TolkienReadingDay.
Whatever you’re doing, take the opportunity to enjoy Tolkien’s works.
1. Library e-book loans
Many libraries are now granting e-book loans (university, college, school and local) so it may be worth contacting them or looking on their websites to find out what can be loaned. Also liaise with your friends and your closest Smial members about your local options.
2. Audible.co.uk
Audible houses many Tolkien works, not just The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings but other works such as The Fall of Gondolin, The Silmarillion, and Humphrey Carpenter’s Biography. The website also offers a great offer whereby if you set up an account, you can access the website for free for the first 30 days as a trial. Your account can then be cancelled on day 29 or 30 (unless you have fallen in love with their services).
3. Podcasts!
The 21st century has given rise to the podcast. In some podcasts, the hosts read out extracts from Tolkien’s texts and discuss them. Those include Athrabeth, The Prancing Pony Podcast, The Tolkien Professor and The Tolkien Road to name just two. Tolkien Gateway and Player FM both provide lists of podcast and links can be found on their websites.
4. Amazon’s ‘Look inside’
Amazon is allows potential buyers to view the ‘first pages’ of a book. This can be done with a whole host of Tolkien books, If you’ve never encountered this feature before, simply locate a copy of the book you wish to read and on the top-right corner of the book cover will be the words ‘look inside’. If you click on the cover, it will open up the book and you can read a small portion of the text. 100% legal. 100% safe.
5. Talk to a friend
This may sound simple, but arranging a call with a friend can be enough just to share your favourite passages and thoughts from Tolkien.
As The Tolkien Society we do not encourage or condone piracy or breaches of copyright in any way. We advise that any links that are shared on social media pages are those that are legal.