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Tolkien Studies - The study of the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, who lived in the 20th century and is best known for his books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien Studies can be divided into two categories: academic Tolkien Studies and populist (or non-academic) Tolkien Studies.
Academic Tolkien Studies are usually charactered by an emphasis on literary theory and analysis. Many academic books and papers about Tolkien's works provide only cursory information about the details of the world depicted in Tolkien's stories.
Populist Tolkien Studies usually focus more on the details of the imaginary world of Middle-earth and its characters. Middle-earth is supposed to be our Earth in an imaginary past, although the geography of the published stories does not correlate to any real world geography.
Tolkien Studies has led to the formation of societies, the publication of many books, and the establishment of several conferences both at the academic and non-academic levels. Many serious readers of Tolkien's literature seek out information about his books on the World Wide Web. Unfortunately, most of the information that is presented on various Web sites is either incomplete, inaccurate, or deliberately misleading.
The Tolkien Studies Web site strives to provide a definitive guide to reliable, relatively unbiased sources of information concerning the works of J.R.R Tolkien.