Why make another Tolkien-oriented page ? This one is conceived as a kind of introduction for the newbies into the world of Tolkien's Middle-earth, as well as a report on the status of Tolk-lore in Slovakia (or, to be more precise, the degree of public awareness and appreciation of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien).

It is a general assumption that you must be living in a hole if you have not heard of Tolkien. This is only half the truth in Slovakia, because only *one* translation exists in Slovak, and that is 'The Hobbit'.

This page intends primarily to bring a bibliography of works of the Master published in Czech and Slovak languages, as well as links to the best Tolkienian sites available on the net. It is my hope that they will prove useful to someone. If you have any comments or criticism, or if you just want to chat to a fellow Tolkienian, please let me know.
 
 

TOLK-LORE IN CZECHIA AND SLOVAKIA

 

As far as I can tell, admiration of Tolkien's works underwent an expansion in the nineties which to some degree paralleled that in the Western world thirty years earlier. Until that time, Tolkien was virtually unknown to the public here, perhaps except for science-fiction fans. Publication of The Hobbit in the seventies did not draw much attention.The turning point was the year 1990, when at first The Silmarillion was published for the needs of the Tolkienian seminar at Parcon in Bratislava. Also that year, The Fellowship of the Ring came out in Czech, published by a large and solid publishing-house. The remaining volumes of The Lord of the Rings, as well as other works followed and the trend continues until now. That is, of course, in the Czech Republic. The Slovak publishers are still turning their backs to Tolkien, most probably out of sheer ignorance. Nothing new there...

Nevertheless, at the begining of the nineties Middle-earth captured the imagination of a whole new generation of fantasy fans, mostly high school students, both in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia. Dungeons&Dragons-inspired role-playing games became the latest craze and even strengthened the fantasy fandom. Yet Tolkien's popularity has still not reached the level it has in other countries.

The Czech founded their Tolkien Society whose activities include publishing three magazines and organizing four all-republic festivities annually, besides more frequently held local smials. They accept members also from Slovakia, as far as I know (as I am not one of them), which is very fortunate as there is no such thing as a Slovak Tolkien Society. Again, AFAIK. You can prove me wrong by mailing me. You can also visit the web-page of the Czech Tolkien Society.

In Slovakia, every now and then a group of students organize some minor event but I personally have no knowledge of an attempt to organize similar events regularly and on a larger scale.

On the Internet, you can find a mailing-list dedicated to discussions of Tolkiens works in Czech and Slovak. Many of the listers are The Czech Society members. There are few Tolkien sites in Czech and still fewer in Slovak. In fact, I am aware of the existence of only *one* Tolkien site on the Slovak 'net besides mine. Do you know of more ? If so, let me know.
 
 

If you have already read everything concerning Middle-earth and wish to get more background knowledge on one of the main sources of its creation, then visit MIDDANGEARD The Old English Poetry Pages

Castokrat som sa presvedcila, ake obtiazne je vysvetlit nezasvatenemu, o com vlastne Tolkien je. Je to 'cesta tam a zase zpatky', t.j. do Stredozeme a naspat do sveta realneho. Tym, ktori ju absolvovali, len tolko: Elen síla lumen omentielvo ! Ak by ste chceli vediet, ake je to triast sa strachom pred Ciernymi Jazdcami, alebo uzasnut nad krasou Lothlorienu, mam pre Vas len jednu radu: otvorte svoju mysel a srdce, a citajte. To je jediny sposob, ako sa tam dostat. Nezalezi na tom, ci zacnete 'Hobbitom', 'Panom prstenov', alebo 'Silmarillionom'. Su to tri sposoby rozpravania -- rozpravka, epicke rozpravanie, a mytologia ci legendy -- ale v skutocnosti len predstavuju tri brany do tohto sveta. Ak chcete vstupit, a potrebujete pomoc na potulkach 'vo svete tienov spletenych', ponukam Vam prehlad Spisov o Stredozemi vydanych v jazyku ceskom a slovenskom, a Odkazy na ine stranky na Internete, cez ktore tiez vedie Cesta do Stredozeme.
 
 

Cesta jde porad dal a dal kupredu, pryc jde od mych vrat. Daleko uz mi utekla a musim za ni pospichat. Na lehkych nohou dam se vest az k ceste vetsi, nezli znam, tam, kde se styka mnoho cest. A potom kam ? To nevim sam.

Stastnu cestu Vam praje

Llewellyn