Tolkien Reading Day (celebrated every March 25th) was established by the Tolkien Society as an opportunity for book lovers to revisit his works and remember why they keep buying yet another edition of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) with a slightly different cover. But 1892-born Tolkien’s influence extends far beyond Middle-earth, shaping the very fabric of modern literature, cinema, and pop culture in ways that are unbelievable.

If there is one thing that can be said about The Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien, it’s that he took world-building very seriously. He took it so seriously that he created entire languages, mythologies, and histories before even getting around to writing the actual stories. The author ended up creating a literary legacy so vast that it has influenced almost everything involving swords and wizards.

The Books Is Where It All Began:

Then came The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), an epic saga so dense with lore that it makes even the most ambitious fantasy series look like a casual diary entry. It introduced readers to the concept of a detailed fictional world, complete with its own languages, cultures, and geopolitics, all of which made it simultaneously one of the greatest literary achievements of the 20th century and one of the most daunting books to get through without a map and a snack break.

Long before elves were fashionable and dragons became standard video game bosses, Tolkien was busy scribbling away in Oxford, UK, creating the most detailed fictional universe ever attempted by one man with a typewriter. The Hobbit (1937) was the book that started it all, ostensibly written for children but, in reality, for anyone who enjoys watching small creatures get bullied into grand adventures by wandering wizards.

The Polyglot Who Invented Languages for Fun:

His passion for philology (the study of languages) led him to create multiple fully developed languages for Middle-earth, the most famous being Quenya and Sindarin, the two primary Elvish tongues. Unlike the usual fantasy gibberish that authors cobble together, Tolkien’s languages had actual grammatical structures, phonetic rules, and evolving histories.

Tolkien was a full-blown linguistic wizard. A professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, he was fluent in multiple languages, including Latin, Gothic, German, Finnish, and Welsh to name just a few. But mastering existing languages was apparently not enough, so he decided to invent his own.

He didn’t just create words... he created civilizations to speak them. This dedication to linguistic authenticity is one of the reasons LOTR feels so immersive, and why some particularly devoted fans can now have entire conversations in Elvish.

While The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are Tolkien’s most famous works, they are far from his only contributions to literature. His expansive mythology was further explored in The Silmarillion: a posthumously published collection of legends and histories that serve as the foundational lore of Middle-earth, chronicling the creation of the world, and the wars that shaped the realm long before Bilbo Baggins ever found his infamous ring.

Tolkien also wrote Unfinished Tales, a collection of incomplete stories that provide deeper insights into the characters and events of his legendarium. For those who want a more fairy tale-like experience, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Smith of Wootton Major showcase the author's lighter, whimsical side. His academic interests also led him to translate Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and write extensively on Norse and Anglo-Saxon literature, proving that his love of language and mythology was not just a hobby but a lifelong obsession.

He Made Fantasy Respectable:

Before Tolkien, fantasy fiction was largely confined to folklore, fairy tales, and the occasional fever dream of a poet. But LOTR changed that. It proved that fantasy could be serious literature, paving the way for authors like George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones), J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter), and countless others who saw what Tolkien did and thought, “Yes, but what if we added more morally ambiguous characters and unexpected deaths?”

Martin, in particular, took Tolkien’s intricate world-building and injected it with political intrigue, while Rowling borrowed heavily from the “ancient evil vs. plucky underdog” trope. While neither series features quite as much detailed elvish poetry as Tolkien might have liked, their success proves the literary foundation he laid down.

Pop Culture:

If Tolkien could see the sheer scale of his influence today, he would need to sit down with a strong cup of tea. His works have inspired not just direct adaptations but entire franchises and genres. The LOTR film franchise by Peter Jackson (2001-2003) turned Tolkien’s already beloved books into a multi-billion-dollar cinematic phenomenon, complete with battle sequences so grand that they made history professors weep.

Much before that, sci-fi movie franchise Star Wars borrowed heavily from Tolkien’s themes of the reluctant hero, the ancient evil, and the wise old mentor with a fondness for cryptic advice. Practically every modern fantasy film, TV show, and video game owes some debt to Tolkien’s world-building—whether they admit it or not.

Even music hasn’t escaped his grasp. Bands like Led Zeppelin wove Middle-earth references into their lyrics for Ramble On and Battle for Evermore, and countless orchestral compositions have sought to capture the grandeur of Tolkien’s worlds.

You know you’ve made an impact when your books indirectly lead to an entire generation of rock musicians screaming about Mordor.

So why does Tolkien’s work endure? Perhaps because, at its core, his stories show that even the smallest person can change the course of history. Tolkien Reading Day is the perfect occasion to return to Middle-earth, whether by re-reading his books, watching the films, or simply quoting “One does not simply walk into Mordor” at every available opportunity (LOTR fans will get the reference). So raise a mug of ale or a nice cup of tea, iand celebrate the man who made fantasy what it is today.

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