The final stop(s) of my England trip was the mythical Stonehenge. I took the bus tour from Salisbury, that took me to the Stonehenge visitor centre, and then the local shuttle bus to the stones. The ravens and blackbirds perching on the Stones looked kind of ominous under the cloudy sky and reminded me of Erebor ravens. Due to shortness of time, I did not have a chance to explore all the historical sites in the fields around, so I at least went to the Cursus barrows. Being ba

It is said that the side door of St Edward’s church in Stow-on-the-Wold and the two trees next to it were an inspiration for Tolkien’s door of Moria, so I had to see it for myself. And I wasn’t the only one. There were many Tolkien fans stopping by, including a couple who dressed their dog up to take some thematic photos. The inside of the door and the church Unfortunately, while the town center has some interesting old buildings, besides the church there is nothing much to s

Unusual for this site, I divert now from Tolkien to another literary "bard" of English literature — William Shakespeare himself. After Oxonmoot, I visited his birthplace and the museums dedicated to him. There I learnt a lot about him which is not a common knowledge. For example, that he comes from a family of a merchant father, who run a glove making business before turning to local politics, and whose business talent Will inherited. Thanks to his business and house renting,

The closing evening event was great, from a costume competition to all the amazing performances. Here you can see the Oxonmoot choir, Varda, Galadriel, Radagast, Éowyn, Mayor of Laketown’s wife, Hobbit Barbie, She-Orc, all crotchet dwarf, the Polar Bear and Father Christmas, Tar-Palantír and Elendil with the white tree, Sauron and his Nazgúl, and two Nazgúls’ wives. And here is the closing visit to Wolvercote cemetery And also my own obligatory visit at the Hollywell cemetery

Now pictures from the lectures. The first two are from Michael Drout’s talk. Some pictures from a table talk with Sarah Brown, a debate on "Why Fëanor was wrong", and from a game of Middle-earth pictionary. We also had a chance to watch a part of a new documentary about Verlyn Flieger, that people from Signum University prepared, and you can already preorder. #jrrtolkien #middleearth #oxonmoot #oxonmoot2026 #oxford #tolkienscholars #tolkiensociety

Again I got to come to and present at Oxonmoot this year. So here are the obligatory reports from the event :) Let’s start with the overview of the grounds, again at St Anne’s College. The art room and my artistic creations from there. The artists’ room The sellers’ room One of these rooms also included a diorama of the battle of Helm’s Deep And this hand-stitched Tree of Amalion flag. It’s maker had also a unique selfmade T-shirt. And another visitor had this lovely bag. A

At the occasion of coming to Oxford again, I booked a tour in C. S. Lewis’s house The Kilns in Headington. Here are some pictures from the outside and the inside. Outside, nearby lake, and the garden. The Kilns got its name after ceramic ovens called "kilns" that used to be part of the grounds long before Lewis moved in as the place was originally a farmstead with a couple of adjacent workhouses, such as the ceramics workhouse. The inside of the house does not contain origina

This weekend I attended a fantasy festival Tam a zase spátky, organised by Elaris, that took place in Czech Republic at Ptení castle. I presented there my book Cardinal vices in Middle-earth in conversation with a Czech Tolkien propagator Starý Bral. The Ptení castle served as a nice, authentic background that helped the visitors feel like in they indeed travelled back in time as it featured some historical furniture. In one room, there was even a display of paper models of o

Between 22 and 25 January 2026 I attended the Prague Tolkiencon, presenting there my book Cardinal Vices in Middle-earth . The following pictures were taken by Metaflora from the Hungarian society, all the rest were taken by me. As is the case with such conferences, there were many interesting events awaiting the visitors. You can see the program here . On Friday, I attended the program in the gym room - the opening of the con and concerts of bands Poetické hudební společenst

The Oxonmoot also has a room for artists to show and sell their work, another one for buying books, and one where you can create your own art. This is how it looks: Selling all the copies of my book I had with me, naturally I spent all the money on buying some other books. Here is my haul: And I painted this thing, featuring Bilbo hiding from Lobelia. In the little free time I had, I stopped by the Weston Library and their shop, which also offers a wide selection of Tolkien-t

Friday and Saturday were full of interesting lectures... ...including my own book presentation on Saturday morning... Besides academic talks, there were also many opportunities for socialisation and meeting new people, such as the first timers reception and speed-moot. The entertainment strain of Oxonmoot consisted of a 1 Minute game, in which 4 leading figures of Tolkien scholarship and artistry - Dimitra Fimi, Sarah Brown, Brian Sibley, and Jay Johnstone - had to speak for

With the book out, I got an opportunity to present it at Oxonmoot 2025, which was held at St Anne’s College in Oxford. This was my first attendance at Oxonmoot ever, and it was a wonderful and kind of overwhelming (but in a positive sense) experience. For practical purposes, I was accommodated on site of the event. After all, who wouldn’t want to experience living at a Oxford college dormitory? Here are pictures from the college, its dining hall, local cats, and my room. The

I haven’t been much active on this page lately as I was busy with work and life. But as a reward for all the work, I gifted myself for my...

Preparations When I learnt that the Bodleian Libraries were going to organize an all Tolkien exhibition providing an opportunity to see his manuscripts and other personal items as comes only once in a generation, I was strongly tempted to go. However, there were two problems. One of them was that I live in Slovakia while the exhibition was to take place in Oxford, England; so naturally, I questioned whether it would be worth the travel. I did not want to miss on this one, fo

#jrrtolkien #middleearth #cirithungol #germany #minastirith #india #minastirith #turkey There is an unusual rock wall formation in Turkey...

Detailed info here: https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?target=TITAN&featureType=Mons,%20montes #jrrtolkien #notmiddleearth...

Some/many of the places existed in the Inklings' era and they frequented them. And some still exist today. #jrrtolkien #notmiddleearth...

There is a potato museum in Idaho https://idahopotatomuseum.com #jrrtolkien #notmiddleearth #potatoes #taters

"For at Erech there stands yet a black stone that was brought, it was said, from Númenor by Isildur; and it was set upon a hill, and upon...

Someone in te TS group said this reminds them of the Gates of Moria. Agree? It is actually just a sculpture relief named Taq Bostan in...