The Oxford Tolkien Society, or Taruithorn (Tolkien's elvish name for Oxford), is a student-run society within the University of Oxford. Founded in 1990 by Sarah Wells (née Sturch), our main purpose is to further interest and enjoyment in the life and works of the late Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, C.B.E., all while having fun (and plenty of free cake!). See our Facebook page!
During term, we meet every Friday, usually in Christ Church. Our meetings take a variety of forms, but all are fun and sociable and include food provided by our Lembas Reps. The current termcard has more information on our planned meetings. Common events include:
Anybody is welcome to attend our meetings, although several are members-only and those attending on a weekly basis are encouraged to sign up as a member of the society. Current membership rates are £8 for the first year, and £13 per year after that, and most of this money goes towards the food which is provided at each meeting and other running costs of the society.
One question we are frequently asked is how big a fan you need to be to attend society meetings - the answer is that everyone is welcome, from those who have read the Silmarillion multiple times, to those who have just seen the films, or maybe only have a budding interest in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Taruithorn has no entry requirements: we simply want people to come along and have fun - if you happen to learn something new about Tolkien along the way, all the better!
The running of the society is organised by the committee. The committee is elected by the society at the AGM every Hilary, and all members of the society are invited to come and exercise their democratic right and have their say on the running of the society.
Miruvor, our society magazine, is now published in a digital format as a blog here and submissions are welcomed by the editor - see the blog for details. Some old issues are held in digital form in our Digital Archive, while others exist as paper copies in the Society Archive, accessible on request.
Our Digital Archive holds a variety of important or interesting documents, including the constitution, past termcards and varsity quiz questions, old issues of Miruvor, the society's list of Heroes, and the old version of this website, which was overhauled in 2013.
To contact the society, or to sign up to one of the mailing lists, please email us at taruithorn@gmail.com.
The committee would like to note that we are an inclusive society where all are welcome and, as such, any form of bigotry or discrimination, including, but not limited to, racism, sexism, transphobia, heterosexism or ableism, against any human, elf, orc, dwarf, hobbit, Ent, Ainu or other sentient being of this or any other world, will not be tolerated. Anyone ignoring these warnings can and will be removed from the society by the committee under clause 6 of the constitution. We would ask any member to please let a member of the committee know if someone's behaviour is making you uncomfortable, or is otherwise inappropriate.