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Tolkien fandom

Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fans of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. The concept of Tolkien fandom as a specific type of fan subculture sprang up in the United States in the 1960s, in the context of the hippie movement, to the dismay of the author (Tolkien died in 1973), who talked of "my deplorable cultus".

A Tolkienist is someone who studies the work of J. R. R. Tolkien: this usually involves the study of the Elvish languages and "Tolkienology". A Ringer is a fan of The Lord of the Rings in general, and of Peter Jackson's live-action film trilogy in particular. Other terms for Tolkien fans include Tolkienite or Tolkiendil.

History
Tolkien's The Hobbit, a children's book, was first published in 1937, and it proved popular. But The Lord of the Rings, first published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955, gave rise to fandom as a cultural phenomenon from the 1960s onwards.

1950s

Tolkien fandom began within science fiction fandom soon after The Fellowship of the Ring was published in 1954. Tolkien was discussed in science fiction fanzines and amateur press association magazines ("apazines"), both as single essays like "No Monroe In Lothlorien!" in Eric Bentcliffe's Triode, and in extended threads of comment such as by Robert Lichtman in his Psi Phi. Tolkien-inspired costumes were worn at Worldcons from 1958. An organized Tolkien fandom organization called "The Fellowship of the Ring" came together in Pittcon, the 18th World Science Fiction Convention in Pittsburgh on 4 September 1960. England's first Tolkien fanzine was Nazgul's Bane, produced by Cheslin. Many fanzines had little Tolkien content but Tolkien-inspired names such as Ancalagon, Glamdring, Lefnui, Mathom, Perian, Ringwraith, Shadowfax, and so on. Others had more meaningful Tolkien content. Ed Meskys' apazine Niekas turned into a full-fledged fanzine during this era. Pete Mansfield's Sword & Sorcery fanzine, Eldritch Dream Quest, included many Tolkien items.

1960s America
Foster attributes the surge of Tolkien fandom in the United States of the mid-1960s to a combination of the hippie subculture and anti-war movement pursuing "mellow freedom like that of the Shire" and "America's cultural Anglophilia" of the time, fuelled by a bootleg paperback version of The Lord of the Rings published by Ace Books followed up by an authorised edition by Ballantine Books. The "hippie" following latched onto the book, giving its own spin to the work's interpretation, such as the Dark Lord Sauron representing the United States military draft during the Vietnam War, to the chagrin of the author who talked of a "deplorable cultus" and stated that "Many young Americans are involved in the stories in a way that I'm not" but who nevertheless admitted that "... even the nose of a very modest idol [...] cannot remain entirely untickled by the sweet smell of incense!" Fan attention became so intense that Tolkien had to take his phone number out of the public directory. This embracing of the work by American 1960s counter-culture made it an easy target for mockery, as in Harvard Lampoon's parody Bored of the Rings, where Tom Bombadil becomes "Tim Benzedrine", and Bilbo Baggins becomes "Dildo Bugger". The Lord of the Rings acquired immense popularity in the emerging hacker culture from the mid-1960s, and the technological subcultures of scientists, engineers, and computer programmers. It figured as one of the major inspirations of the nascent video game industry and the evolution of fantasy role-playing games.

1970s to 1980s
Isaac Asimov, who had read The Lord of the Rings three times by Tolkien's death in September 1973, wrote a Black Widowers short story as tribute to the fellow author. "Nothing Like Murder" (1974) mentions college students forming Tolkien societies at Columbia and elsewhere.

Interest in The Lord of the Rings led to several attempts to adapt it for the film medium, most of which were largely unsuccessful. Filmmaker Ralph Bakshi succeeded in securing the rights to produce an animated feature film version, part one of what was originally planned as a two-part adaptation of the story. Bakshi produced the film using, among other animation techniques, rotoscoping, shooting a majority of the film in live-action first before transferring the live footage to animation. While the film had, and continues to have, a mixed critical reaction, it was a financial success, costing USD 8 million to produce, and grossing over USD 30 million at the box office. Despite this fact, United Artists, the film's original distributor, refused to fund a sequel, leaving the project incomplete.

1990s

The 1990s saw the conclusion of The History of Middle-earth series. A series of minor texts by Tolkien were edited in journals such as Parma Eldalamberon and Vinyar Tengwar, published by the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship since the early 1990s. In the 2000s, several encyclopedic projects have documented Tolkien's life and work in great detail, such as the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia (2006) and the twin volumes The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion and The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2005, 2006). The dedicated journal Tolkien Studies has been appearing from 2004.

2000s
Tolkien fandom changed in character with the release of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy between 2001 and 2003, attracting both a wide audience of existing fans ("book-firsters") and many people who had not read Tolkien's books ("film-firsters"). The large audience made the artistic conception of Jackson's artists influential, indeed creating a stereotyped image of Middle-earth and its races of Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and Hobbits shared by fans and artists alike. Some fans, known as Tolkien tourists, travel to places in New Zealand to visit sites where scenes in the films were shot.

A "Tolkien Reading Day", held annually on 25 March, an anniversary of the fall of Barad-dûr, was proposed by Sean Kirst, a columnist at The Post-Standard in Syracuse, New York, and launched by the Tolkien Society in 2003.

Online
Tolkien discussion took place in many newsgroups from the earliest days of Usenet. The Tolklang mailing list was started in 1990. The alt.fan.tolkien and rec.arts.books.tolkien newsgroups have been active since 1992 and 1993, respectively.

Notable points of contention in online discussions surround the origin of orcs, whether elves have pointy ears, whether balrogs have wings, and the nature of Tom Bombadil. Following the announcement of Jackson's movies (from 2001), online fandom became divided between "Revisionists" and "Purists" over controversy surrounding changes to the novel made for the movies, such as those made to the character of Arwen and the absence of Tom Bombadil.

TheOneRing.net (or TORn)

One of the most prominent fansites of Jackson's movies is TheOneRing.net, which was popular even with the cast and crew of the film. TORn, as it is called, was originally a small movie-news site that gained in prestige as movie-rumors became reality. The filmmakers put special effort into winning over the fans, not simply tolerating but actually actively supporting fansites for Ringers. The site was founded in 1999 by a group of Tolkien fans eager for the upcoming The Lord of the Rings film trilogy who were gathering information about the film. In 1998, Michael 'Xoanon' Regina and Erica 'Tehanu' Challis started a website using all of the information they could get related to the filming of The Lord of the Rings, including exclusive "spy" reports from Tehanu's visit to the New Zealand set. This activity first got her escorted off the set, and then invited back on to take an official look around and meet director Peter Jackson. In early 1999, a designer by the username of Calisuri came across the site and asked if they needed some design and technical help to grow the site and make it a central web location for other Tolkien fans. Calisuri's friend Corvar, who he was acquainted with from the Nightmare LPMud, was brought aboard to provide server and business help. Xoanon, Tehanu, Calisuri and Corvar then formed The One Ring, Inc. and are the sole owners/founders of TheOneRing.net.

The site is unique in that there was a mutual working relationship between the crew of TheOneRing.net and that of The Lord of the Rings films, and later The Hobbit films. This relationship enabled the site to bring its readers exclusive news from the set, as when Peter Jackson emailed TheOneRing.net in an effort to get his side heard when a lawsuit threatened his chance to film The Hobbit.

Events
Like other fan sites, members gather in small groups called moots, form personal friendships (even marriages), hold extended online discussions with archives, and so on. In 2003 Cold Spring Press released TORn's book The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien. Written by five major contributors to TheOneRing.net, it includes essays ranging from a spirited defense of fantasy as a genre, discussions of Tolkien's views of good and evil, an examination of cultural norms, and more. The foreword by the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, author of The Road to Middle-earth and J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, says: "The Internet, the experience of continually answering questions and receiving comments ... give the organizers of TheOneRing.net a perspective which is uniquely broad, and uniquely full of surprises, some of which would have pleased Tolkien very much, but which he could not have expected." This was followed by More People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien in 2004. Over 1,500 "Ringers" (Lord of the Rings fans) from around the world came to the TheOneRing.net Oscar party at the Hollywood, CA, American Legion on 28 February 2004. The event was attended by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Elijah Wood and many more of the cast and crew of The Lord of the Rings, several of whom skipped the official New Line party that evening. On 2 September 2004, eleven commemorative kauri trees were planted in Willowbank Park in Wellington, New Zealand, Peter Jackson's home town. The number eleven represented the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring, plus one each for Peter Jackson and J. R. R. Tolkien. Coincidentally, eleven was the number of 2004 Oscars won by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Hundreds of TORn members contributed funds for the purchase of the trees as a tangible and lasting way to give thanks to Jackson and his team for their inspiring work. TheOneRing.net teamed up with Creation Entertainment to present The One Ring Celebration (ORC) in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Its sister convention, Eastern LOTR Fan Gathering (ELF), met in the eastern U.S. in 2005 and 2006. These conventions included panels and signings by members of the cast such as Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, and John Rhys-Davies. In November 2008 and December 2011, TheOneRing.net and Red Carpet Tours staged a cruise for 14 nights from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney (the 2011 cruise was Sydney to Auckland), including several short excursions to visit locations used in the filming of The Lord of the Rings.

Other sites
TheOneRing.com (TORc), "The Home of Tolkien Online" is a Tolkien fan site that positions itself as catering more to the fans of Tolkien's literary works rather than Jackson's films. It was founded by Jonathan Watson, Ted Tschopp and David Mullich in April 1999. As of 2022, Watson has continued to run the website. The site was consulted by the Tolkien scholar Kris Swank for details of the etymology of the word lintips, which Tolkien used in his 1965 poem "Once Upon a Time".

The Encyclopedia of Arda provides a detailed online reference to Middle-earth, mirrored at GlyphWeb.

A fan edit of the theatrical cut of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers exists, called The Two Towers: The Purist Edit. Most of the changes in 2007 were incorporated into The Lord of the Rings – The Purist Edition, a fan edit which turns the entire trilogy into an eight-hour film without most of the changes.

Tolkienology

Tolkienology is a term used by fans to describe the study of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien treating Middle-earth as a real ancient history, conducting research from an "in-universe" perspective. This differs from Tolkien studies in that it ignores the real-world history of composition by the author, and assumes an underlying internally consistent Middle-earth canon. Tolkienology may include:

 * Tolkienian linguistics: Study of the most complete languages Tolkien designed for Middle-earth, (usually Quenya and Sindarin), study of the writing systems, the most known being the Tengwar, and possible reconstruction for everyday use, including by the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship.
 * debate on the "true" nature of Tom Bombadil, of balrogs etc. and debate on the "real" motivations of characters in the stories
 * Genealogies of Hobbit families and kings
 * The accuracy of Tolkien's calendars and how can they be used today
 * Reconstruction of history (of Elven kingdoms, Arnor and Gondor, Rohan or the more unknown lands)
 * Morality issues such as whether an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent Ilúvatar (God) would destroy Númenor, if the 'bad' Dunlendings had any right rivalling the 'good' Rohirrim and if Gondor committed genocides.
 * Possible census of population about each race.
 * Astronomic descriptions in the books (moon phases, positions of stars), and what can be inferred about Middle-earth geography from them.
 * Strategies of wars and battles, if they were right and what alternatives might have been
 * Possible folkloric impressions Hobbits had about places of the Shire and other whereabouts, determined by translating placenames.

Fandom and Tolkienian linguistics
The studies of Tolkien's artistic languages (notably Quenya and Sindarin) is a field where fandom and scholarly Tolkien studies overlap. The resulting friction between scholarly students of the languages focussing on their conceptual evolution and fandom-oriented students taking an "in-universe" view became visible notably in the "Elfconners" controversy of the late 1990s, involving among others the linguists David Salo and Carl F. Hostetter, the editor of Vinyar Tengwar. There is a "reconstructionist" camp, which pursues the reconstruction of unattested Elvish forms, and a "philological" or "purist" camp which focusses entirely on the conscientious edition of such fragments as can be found in Tolkien's unpublished papers. By its nature, reconstructionism aims for a "canon" of "correct" standard Elvish (Neo-Eldarin), while the philological study of the evolution of Tolkien's conceptions cannot assume that the languages had ever reached a complete or internally consistent final form. The "reconstructionist" camp is represented by Salo, who translated the poems in the libretto by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens for the Music of The Lord of the Rings film series, creating additional words in languages including Sindarin where necessary, while the "purist" camp is represented by Hostetter.

By region
Dedicated Tolkien Societies provide platforms for a combination of fandom and academic literary study in several countries.

United States
The first recorded organized Tolkien fan group was "The Fellowship of the Ring", founded by Ted Johnstone. Their first annual meeting was held at Pittcon, the 1960 Worldcon. They published four issues of the fanzine i-Palantír before the organization disbanded; the first was published a month before the Pittcon meeting, dated August 1960.

The Tolkien Society of America first met "in February, 1965, beside the statue of Alma Mater on the Columbia University campus," according to a 1967 New York Times interview with Richard Plotz, the Society's founder and first Thain. By 1967, Meskys had become Thain and the society boasted over 1,000 members, organized into local groups or smials, a pattern that would be followed by other Tolkien fan organizations. The society published a newsletter, Green Dragon, and The Tolkien Journal (edited by Plotz). In 1969, the society sponsored the first Tolkien Conference at Belknap College. The Tolkien Conference was not a science fiction convention but a scholarly event. The University of Wisconsin Tolkien and Fantasy Society was founded in 1966, and is best known for its journal Orcrist (1966–1977), edited by Richard C. West. Across the continent, Glen GoodKnight founded the Mythopoeic Society in California in 1967 for the study, discussion, and enjoyment of fantastic and mythic literature, especially the works of Tolkien and fellow-Inklings C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. The society held its first Mythcon conference in 1970, which featured readings, a costume competition, an art show, and other events typical of science fiction conventions of the day. The society's three current periodicals are Mythprint, a monthly bulletin; Mythlore, originally a fanzine and now a peer-reviewed journal that publishes scholarly articles on mythic and fantastic literature; and The Mythic Circle, a literary annual of original poetry and short stories (which replaced the Society's earlier publications Mythril and Mythellany). Alongside that was a monthly newsletter, Mythprint. Beyond Bree is the monthly newsletter of The American Mensa Tolkien Special Interest Group.

United Kingdom
The Tolkien Society (UK) was founded in the United Kingdom in 1969, and remains active as a registered charity. The society has two regular publications, a bi-monthly bulletin of news and information, Amon Hen, and an annual journal, Mallorn; this began informally but switched to scholarly articles on Tolkien's work. They host annual events, including a conference held at Oxford, Oxonmoot. The society has three regular UK gatherings: an Annual General Meeting and Dinner; a Seminar with a mix of serious and lighthearted talks; and the Oxonmoot, a regular September gathering organized by the British Tolkien Society. The society's journal is Mallorn. It consists of long articles studying aspects of Tolkien's work, plus some artwork. The name is a reference to the Mallorn tree and an illustration of such a tree appears on the front of each issue. In the past it was issued every autumn, but since 2003 has been released in mid-summer.

German-speaking Europe
The German translation of The Hobbit appeared in 1957 (translated by Walter Scherf), and that of The Lord of the Rings in 1972 (translated by Margaret Carroux and Ebba-Margareta von Freymann).

The Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft (DTG) is a German association dedicated to the study of the life and works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Founded in 1997, it is based in Cologne. The DTG has more than 500 members (as of 2005) and is organized in a widespread network of local chapters. It is the main driving force of Tolkien reception in the German speaking countries (c.f. Honegger (2006); the first Swiss Tolkien Society (Eredain) was founded in 1986 and published the Aglared journal; it dissolved in 2006 and a second Swiss Tolkien Society (Seryn Ennor) was founded in 2014 and is based in Jenins; an Austrian Tolkien Society was founded in 2002). The DTG organized a seminar on Tolkien studies in Cologne in 2004, in Jena in 2005 and in Mainz in 2006. The conference proceedings are published in their Hither Shore yearbook.

Hungary
The Magyar Tolkien Társaság (Hungarian Tolkien Society) is a registered public benefit organization whose aim is to enhance public knowledge on the works and mythology created by J. R. R. Tolkien. Apart from organizing the Hungarian Tolkien aficionados into a community (choir, charity ball, creative workshops), the association has grown multifaceted since its foundation in 2002, it provides professional and technical editorial support for new publications, publishes the semiannual magazine Lassi Laurië featuring scholarly articles, interviews, and literary works, and it organizes numerous conferences, meetings and summer camps. In 2002, for its tenth anniversary, the society organized a joint conference with the Institute of English Studies of Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary entitled "J. R. R. Tolkien: Fantasy and Ethics" and published a book of studies containing the papers presented. The Magyar Tolkien Társaság maintains relations with other tertiary institutions such as the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of Eötvös Loránd University, together with whom it regularly launches courses on Tolkienian subjects ("J. R. R. Tolkien – A 20th Century Mythology")

Czech Republic
Společnost přátel díla pana J. R. R. Tolkiena (Society of Friends of the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien), often abbreviated SPDPJRRT, is the Tolkien Society in the Czech Republic founded in 1992 to commemorate the centenary of J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday. The members of the Society have the opportunity to gather at various meetings. The two main events organized by the society are: The Celebration of the Destruction of the Ring in the end of March and the Bilbo and Frodo's Birthday in September. In addition to that, there is another event called TolkienCon held in Prague annually in January since 2003. It is not officially organized by the Society, but the organizers are in close contact with the Society. It usually starts late afternoon on Friday and ends midday on Sunday. It is based at a school, including facilities for ‘sleeping rough’ in classrooms.

Slovakia
The main Slovak organization for fans of Tolkien's fiction is the non-profit civic association Spoločenstvo Tolkiena (The Fellowship of Tolkien), founded in 2002. Its main goal is to unite fans of Tolkien's works and discuss them, as well as discuss other related fantasy fiction by non-Tolkien authors. In the past, the association published its own irregular fanzine, dubbed Athelas. Other activities of the association include reenactment and live-action roleplaying, and between 2006 and 2019, serving as the co-founder and co-organiser of the annual Slovak fantasy fiction festival SlavCon (now run by its own dedicated association).

Sweden
The Tolkien Society of Sweden was the first J. R. R. Tolkien society in Europe. It was started in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1968 by members of Club Cosmos. They published the members' magazine Långbottenbladet. Originally it was just called "The Tolkien Society" but when the British society of the same name was created the members added "of Sweden" to its name.

The Tolkien Society Forodrim (Sindarin for "People of the North") was founded in Sweden in 1972 and is one of the oldest Tolkien fan organizations. The Forodrim was founded in a public toilet during a science fiction convention (possibly SF-Kongressen 1973) as a name change of Sam J Lundwall's Hyboria. Co-founders were Jörgen Peterzén and Anders Palm.

Denmark
In Denmark, Tolkien became well known in the 1970s; his works have since considerably influenced Danish language fantasy literature. In 1977, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark illustrated The Lord of the Rings. There are two Danish Tolkien societies; Bri, the Danish Tolkien Society, and the online Imladris community.

Norway
The Hobbit appeared in Norwegian translation in 1972 and The Lord of the Rings followed from 1973 to 1975 (Tiden Norsk Forlag). Both translations were harshly criticized for errors and inconsistencies and complaints resulted in a new translation of The Lord of the Rings, published in 1980/81. By the late 1980s, Tolkien's works were well known to the Norwegian public. A translation of the Silmarillion appeared in 1994. The unsatisfactory Hobbit translation was replaced only in 1997. By the mid-1990s, the popularity of Tolkien had risen to a level that made viable translations of his minor works.

Arthedain – The Tolkien Society of Norway was founded in Oslo in 1981.

Finland
The Finnish Tolkien Society Kontu (Suomen Tolkien-seura Kontu ry in Finnish) is a registered society based in Helsinki, Finland. The society was originally two different societies that unified at the beginning of 2012. The Finnish Tolkien Society (Suomen Tolkien seura) was founded on 3 January 1992 and Kontu Internet Community (Verkkoyhteisö Kontu ry) was founded on 19 December 2006. The main focus of the society is to improve knowledge of J. R. R. Tolkien and his works in Finland as well as to maintain the virtual community and thus the website the society originated from. The various parts of the website contain a discussion forum, a wiki and an IRC channel. KontuWiki has been credited in several Finnish Tolkien related publications since 2007. Every year the society awards the Kuvastaja-prize for the year's best Finnish Fantasy book. There is much smial-activity and the society organizes meetings and other events for Tolkien fans from all over the country.

Russia
Interest in Russia awoke soon after the publication of The Lord of the Rings in 1955, long before the first Russian translation. A first effort at publication was made in the 1960s, but to comply with literary censorship in Soviet Russia, the work was considerably abridged and transformed. The ideological danger of the book was seen in the "hidden allegory 'of the conflict between the individualist West and the totalitarian, Communist East.'", while, ironically, Marxist readings in the west conversely identified Tolkien's anti-industrial ideas as presented in the Shire with primitive communism, in a struggle with the evil forces of technocratic capitalism. Russian translations of The Lord of the Rings were published only after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but then in great numbers, no less than ten official Russian translations appeared between 1990 and 2005. Tolkien fandom in Russia grew especially rapidly during the early 1990s at Moscow State University. Many unofficial and partly fragmentary translations are in circulation. The first translation appearing in print was that by Kistyakovskij and Muravyov (volume 1, published 1982).

Notable fan works by Russian writers, which often take the form of alternative accounts or informal sequels to Tolkien's published works, include The Last Ringbearer (Последний кольценосец) by Kirill Eskov, and The Black Book of Arda ("Чёрная Книга Арды"). One of the authors of The Black Book of Arda derived her pen name from Nienna, the Vala Lady of Mercy: according to Mark T. Hooker, the work proved so influential in Russia following its 1992 release that "Niennism" emerged as a term used to describe both a "distinctive literary turn and intellectual following".

Japan
The Hobbit appeared in a Japanese translation in 1965 (Hobitto no Boken) and The Lord of the Rings from 1972 to 1975 (Yubiwa Monogatari), both translated by Teiji Seta (1916–1979); they were revised by Seta's assistant Akiko Tanaka in 1992. In 1982, Tanaka translated the Silmarillion (Sirumariru no Monogatari). Teiji Seta was an expert in classical Japanese literature and a haiku poet, and the Tolkien scholar Roberto Arduini regards the Seta and Tanaka translations as "almost perfect".

Greece
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were published in Greek by Kedros during the 1970s, each by different translators. In the mid-90s Aiolos published Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. In 2001, shortly before the release of the movies, the first Greek on-line community was formed in a promotional web site which in 2002 founded an official group of fans under the name The Prancing Pony. The group is unofficially divided in two 'smials', in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Tolkien Society was officially established in 1998 when the Bulgarian Tolkien Fan Club Rin Ennor was first registered as a non-profit non-governmental organization by a few students from the Sofia University. Apart from the larger communities in the big cities, the Bulgarian Tolkien Society has local clubs and groups.

Turkey
Interest in Turkey awoke to The Lord of the Rings in the late 1980s, long before the first Turkish translation. A translation of The Lord of the Rings into Turkish was published as Yüzüklerin Efendisi in 1997. After the release of the movies, other Tolkien-related books such as The Silmarillion were translated into Turkish.

Pakistan
Interest in Prof Tolkien's work developed in Pakistan soon after its earliest inception as a separate nation and has existed sporadically over the years. Interest grew manifold after the release and completion of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and in 2003–04, the 'Lahore Tolkien Reading Group' was established there.

Italy
The Italian Tolkien Society (Società Tolkeniana Italiana - STI) was founded in February 1994, after a series of lectures about Tolkien's thought and works made in Italy in 1992 by the Tolkien Society archivist, Patricia Reynolds, on the centenary of Tolkien's birth. She stimulated the creation of the new Society, of which she became a godmother. Priscilla Tolkien also became an honorary partner. During the years the Society managed to grow enough to have hundreds of members and a lot of constant activities. It publishes two six-monthly magazines (Terra di Mezzo and Minas Tirith) and organizes two competitions for narrative and images (The Silmaril Awards), from which various publications (such as the volume Frammenti della Terra di Mezzo, a collection of the best stories) are derived. In collaboration with Italian national publishers it also publishes illustrated calendars whose beauty been recognized not only in Italy but internationally as well, for example by HarperCollins (Tolkien's publishing house) that drawn some images from them for their book "Realms of Tolkien". Every year, in September, usually on its first weekend, they organize the Hobbiton, a great three-days feast with conferences, meetings, debates, concerts, dances, costume re-enactments, film screenings, treasure hunts and other Middle-Earth realated activities. They also founded the Palantír publishing house.

In 2021, a pastry chef, Nicolas Gentile, bought a piece of land at Bucchianico in Abruzzo, and walked with friends in costume as the members of the Fellowship of the Ring to throw a ring into the crater of Mount Vesuvius. He has built a hobbit-style house and is seeking crowdfunding to build more. In his view, the people of the region "have always lived as hobbits" close to nature.

title: Tolkien fandom


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ISO 3166-2:RU

ISO 3166-2:RU is the entry for Russia in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for some of the names of the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1. ISO 3166-2:RU contains no codes for the Russian-administered Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Sevastopol, and Zaporizhzhia, which are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine and do have codes in Ukraine's entry in ISO 3166-2.

Currently for Russia, ISO 3166-2 codes are defined for the following federal subjects:
 * 21 republics
 * 9 administrative territories
 * 46 administrative regions
 * 2 autonomous cities
 * 1 autonomous region
 * 4 autonomous districts

Each code consists of two parts, separated by a hyphen. The first part is RU, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of Russia. The second part is either of the following:
 * two letters: republics
 * three letters: all other subdivisions

Current codes
Subdivision names are listed as in the ISO 3166-2 standard published by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA).

Click on the button in the header to sort each column.

 * Notes

Changes
The following changes to the entry have been announced by the ISO 3166/MA since the first publication of ISO 3166-2 in 1998. ISO stopped issuing newsletters in 2013.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: ISO 3166-2:RU


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ISO 3166-2:TR

ISO 3166-2:TR is the entry for Turkey (spelled "Türkiye") in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.

Currently for Turkey, ISO 3166-2 codes are defined for 81 provinces.

Each code consists of two parts, separated by a hyphen. The first part is TR, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of Turkey. The second part is two digits:
 * 01–67: provinces as of mid 1980s
 * 68–71: provinces created in 1989
 * 72–73: provinces created in 1990
 * 74: province created in 1991
 * 75–76: provinces created in 1994
 * 77–79: provinces created in 1995
 * 80: province created in 1997
 * 81: province created in 1999

The digits are currently used in vehicle registration plates and postal codes. The codes 01–67 are assigned in Turkish alphabetical order, except Mersin, Kahramanmaraş and Şanlıurfa, whose codes are assigned based on their historic names, İçel, Maraş and Urfa respectively.

Current codes
Subdivision names are listed as in the ISO 3166-2 standard published by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA).

Subdivision names are sorted in Turkish alphabetical order: a-c, ç, d-g, ğ, h, ı, i-o, ö, p-s, ş, t-u, ü, v-z.

Click on the button in the header to sort each column.

Changes
The following changes to the entry have been announced in newsletters by the ISO 3166/MA since the first publication of ISO 3166-2 in 1998:

title: ISO 3166-2:TR


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Salt River

Salt River may refer to:

Caribbean

 * Salt River (Guadeloupe) (French: Rivière Salée), a narrow sea channel separating Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre Island
 * Salt River (Jamaica)

South Africa

 * Salt River (Garden Route)
 * Salt River (Western Cape)

United States

 * Salt River (Arizona), the largest tributary of the Gila River
 * Salado culture
 * Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community
 * Salt River (California), an altered tributary of the lower Eel River, being restored
 * Salt River (Kentucky)
 * Salt River (Michigan), two rivers, one in Macomb County and one in Midland/Isabella counties
 * Salt River (Missouri), a tributary of the Mississippi River in eastern Missouri, United States
 * Salt River (United States Virgin Islands)
 * Salt River (Wyoming)

Elsewhere

 * Salt River (Canada), flows into the Slave River, near Fort Smith, Northwest Territories in Canada
 * Salt River (Western Australia)

United States

 * Salt River, Kentucky, an unincorporated community
 * Salt River, Missouri, an unincorporated community
 * Salt River Township, Adair County, Missouri
 * Salt River Township, Audrain County, Missouri

Elsewhere

 * Salt River, Cape Town, a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa

Other uses

 * Salt River (politics), a colloquial political slogan or catchphrase
 * Salt River railway station, in Salt River, Cape Town, South Africa
 * Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, on St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands
 * Salt River Range, a mountain range in western Wyoming, United States

title: Salt River


text:
Mattersburg

Mattersburg (formerly Mattersdorf, Nagymarton, Croatian: Matrštof) is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is the administrative center of the District of Mattersburg and was home to former Bundesliga football team, SV Mattersburg.

Location
Mattersburg lies in the northern part of Burgenland, east of Wiener Neustadt in the Wulka River Valley, in a rural region of the country.

Mattersburg is reachable by road using the Burgenland Highway S31 from Eisenstadt and Oberpullendorf or the Mattersburg Highway S4 from Wiener Neustadt.

Mattersburg is connected by rail with Wiener Neustadt and Sopron by the Mattersburg Railway.

Mattersburg's two boroughs are Mattersburg and Walbersdorf.

History
The site of Mattersburg was already populated in antiquity based on excavations of Roman and Longobard graveyards. The town was first mentioned in writing as Villa Martini in 1202, when it was a property of the Nagymartoni family of Aragonese origin. Its Hungarian name (Nagymarton) also refers to the church consecrated to Martin of Tours. Originally the German name was Mattersdorf and it was renamed to Mattersburg in 1924. Matter originated from Martin and also refers to St. Martin of Tours, while Dorf means "village" and Burg means "castle".

The area's original fortress had already been torn down by 1294. Mattersburg was elevated to the status of a market town in 1354. The town was destroyed by fire in the year 1774 and again in 1856. The area's wealth increased when the railway began running from Wiener Neustadt to Mattersburg in 1847. During the 19th century, the town was the site of a ceramics factory founded by János Ziegler in 1815 or 1818, producing yellow coloured wares following the style of Vienna porcelain.

The town was one of the Burgenland Siebengemeinden. The first Jews to settle in the town arrived in the 16th century, having been expelled from Sopron, and their presence in the town increased greatly over the following years. In 1671, the Jews were forced to abandon the town by the order of Leopold I. They were allowed to return to Mattersdorf, as it was then called, in 1678, although they were forced to buy back their own possessions. The self-governing Jewish community was merged with the rest of the town in 1902/03.

As with the rest of Burgenland, Mattersburg belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary until 1920 and it was the seat of the Nagymarton district in Sopron county. In late 1918, Mattersburg locals rebelled against Hungarian rule to create the short-lived Republic of Heinzenland aimed at unifying with Austria. After the end of the First World War, German West-Hungary was given to Austria in the Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon; there it formed the new province of Burgenland. Mattersburg kept the official name of Mattersdorf until June 14, 1924; on July 2, 1926, it received town privileges. In 1978, Mattersburg incorporated the village of Walbersdorf.

After the Anschluss in February 1938, the Jewish population of Mattersburg was expelled and dispossessed, so that already in the autumn of 1938, there were no more Jews in Mattersburg. In the course of the war, more than two hundred of the town's residents were missing or killed. Approximately one hundred of its Jewish residents were murdered in the Holocaust.

Politics
The Mayor of Mattersburg is Ingrid Salamon of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ); there are two Vice-Mayors: the first is Klaus Leitgeb of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the second Josef Reisner of the SPÖ. The District Mayor of the Borough of Walbersdorf is Hubert Lang of the SPÖ and Johann Wallner is the Chief Officer.

Mattersburg's municipal council has 25 seats with party mandates as follows: 9 ÖVP, 14 SPÖ, 1 Freedom Party (FPÖ), 1 Grüne, other lists 0.

Sport
Mattersburg was home to the former Austrian Bundesliga team, SV Mattersburg until its dissolution in 2020, and is the home of the Sports table football Subbuteo team, TFC Mattersburg.

Economy
One of the largest businesses in the area is the food company Felix Austria, who have their main headquarters in Mattersburg.

Notable residents

 * Pál Kitaibel, born here
 * Áron Chorin, born in Bohemia, studied here
 * Akiva Eger (aka Akiva Güns), born in Eisenstadt, studied here
 * Akiva Ehrenfeld, Orthodox rabbi, born here
 * Shmuel Ehrenfeld, the Mattersdorfer Rav, born here
 * Moses Sofer, born in Germany, was a rabbi here
 * Simcha Bunim of Peshischa, born in Poland, studied here
 * Jeremiah Mattersdorf, served as Chief Rabbi

title: Mattersburg


text:
ISO 3166-2:VN

ISO 3166-2:VN is the entry for Vietnam in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.

Currently for Vietnam, ISO 3166-2 codes are defined for 58 provinces and 5 municipalities. The municipalities have special status equal to the provinces.

Each code consists of two parts, separated by a hyphen. The first part is VN, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of Vietnam. The second part either of the following:
 * two digits: provinces
 * two letters: municipalities

Current codes
Subdivision names are listed as in the ISO 3166-2 standard published by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA).

Click on the button in the header to sort each column. Names are sorted according to the Vietnamese alphabet: a, ă, â, b-d, đ, e, ê, f-o, ô, ơ, p-u, ư, v-z (with alphabetization proceeding on a word-by-word basis, e.g. all names starting with Hà sort before all names with Hải).

Changes
The following changes to the entry have been announced by the ISO 3166/MA since the first publication of ISO 3166-2 in 1998. ISO stopped issuing newsletters in 2013.

title: ISO 3166-2:VN


text:
Salt River (Arizona)

The Salt River (Spanish: Río Salado, O'odham [Pima]: Onk Akimel, Yavapai: Hakanyacha or Hakathi:, Maricopa language: Va Shly'ay ) is a river in Gila and Maricopa counties in Arizona, United States, that is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about 200 miles (320 km) long. Its drainage basin covers about 13,700 square miles (35,000 km2). The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the 195-mile (314 km) Verde River. The Salt's headwaters tributaries, the Black River and East Fork, increase the river's total length to about 300 miles (480 km). The name Salt River comes from the river's course over large salt deposits shortly after the merging of the White and Black Rivers.

Variant names
According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Salt River has also been known as:

 * Assumption
 * Black River
 * Blau Fluss
 * Blue River
 * Rio Asuncion
 * Rio Azulrio de Lasrio
 * Rio de la Asuncion
 * Rio de las Balsas
 * River of the Rafts
 * Salada
 * Salinas
 * Rio Salado

Course

The Salt River is formed by the confluence of the White River and the Black River in the White Mountains of eastern Gila County. The White and Black rivers, and other tributaries of the upper Salt River, drain the region between the Mogollon Rim in the north and the Natanes Mountains and Natanes Plateau to the east and south. Tributaries of the Salt River also drain the Sierra Ancha and Mazatzal Mountains. The White and Black rivers drain the White Mountains in the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Together the two rivers drain an area of about 1900 sqmi. The Salt River, along with the Black River, forms the boundary between the Fort Apache Indian Reservation to the north and the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation to the south.

The Salt River is fed by numerous perennial streams that start as springs and seeps along the Mogollon Rim and in the White Mountains. The Salt River is perennial from its tributary headwaters to Granite Reef Diversion Dam near Mesa.

From the Black and White confluence, the Salt River flows generally west and southwest. It is joined by Carrizo Creek, a 25 mi perennial stream, and then flows through the Salt River Canyon. Cibecue Creek, a 36 mi perennial stream, joins the river in the canyon, flowing from the north through the Fort Apache Reservation. Between Carrizo and Cibecue creeks, the Salt River becomes the boundary between the Tonto National Forest on the south and the Fort Apache Reservation on the north. Another perennial stream joins from the north, 46 mi long Canyon Creek, followed by Cherry Creek. Just downstream from the Salt's confluence with Medicine Creek, a portion of the Tonto National Forest is designated the Salt River Canyon Wilderness. The Salt River forms the northern and western boundary of the wilderness for several miles, after which the national forest and wilderness occupy both sides of the river.

Continuing its westward course, the Salt River is joined by Pinal Creek from the south, just before leaving the Salt River Canyon Wilderness. The river continues to flow through the Tonto National Forest until leaving the mountains near Mesa. Below the Pinal Creek confluence, the Salt River enters Theodore Roosevelt Lake, the first of four reservoirs on the river. Tonto Creek joins the Salt River in Theodore Roosevelt Lake. Below Theodore Roosevelt Dam, the Salt River passes through the canyon between the Mazatzal Mountains and the Superstition Mountains and is impounded by Horse Mesa Dam (forming Apache Lake) then Mormon Flat Dam (forming Canyon Lake) then Stewart Mountain Dam (forming Saguaro Lake). These four reservoirs are part of the Salt River Project. The water is used by the Phoenix metropolitan area for municipal, industrial, and agricultural purposes. The storage capacity of the reservoirs is 2910200 acre.ft for Roosevelt, 245100 acre.ft for Apache, 57900 acre.ft for Canyon, and 69800 acre.ft for Saguaro.

As the Salt River passes through its reservoirs, it flows by the Four Peaks Wilderness, near the Four Peaks. A few miles downstream of Stewart Mountain Dam, the last of the four Salt River Project dams, the Verde River joins the Salt from the north. Fountain Hills is located a few miles to the northwest. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community is located near the Verde–Salt confluence. The Tonto National Forest ends a couple miles below the Verde River confluence, and the Salt River enters the eastern edge of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Less than 1/2 mi from the national forest boundary, the Granite Reef Diversion Dam diverts all remaining water in the Salt River into the Arizona Canal and Southern Canal, which deliver drinking and irrigation water to much of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The dam and canals are part of the Salt River Project.

Below the diversion dam, the bed of the Salt River is dry, except following rain or upstream runoff. The USGS stream gage at 51st Avenue, Phoenix, records no flow at all on many days—in 2009, for example, there was no flow for most of the year, except during parts of February and March when the river's discharge reached an average of 87 cuft/s. The diversion capacity at Granite Reef Diversion Dam is 3600 cuft/s, with 2000 cuft/s for the Arizona Canal, and 1600 cuft/s for the Southern Canal.

Below Granite Reef Dam, the Salt River leaves the mountains and flows past the cities of Mesa, Tempe, and Scottsdale, then south of downtown Phoenix, where it passes north of South Mountain Park. With the exception of Tempe Town Lake, the riverbed winding through the cities is usually dry, except when heavy rains upstream force Stewart Mountain Dam to release more water than can be diverted at Granite Reef Dam. The Salt River joins the Gila on the southwestern edge of Phoenix, approximately 15 mi from the center of the city. Monument Hill overlooks the confluence of the two rivers and is the site of the Initial Survey point for Arizona, the Gila and Salt River Meridian.

River modifications
The Salt River formerly flowed through its entire course year-round. However, the free-flowing river would frequently flood, including a massive flood in 1891. This flood, as well as others, led to the construction of several dams, beginning with the Theodore Roosevelt Dam, have caused the river to become intermittent in many parts.

Despite the dry river bed, or arroyo, dangerous flash floods occasionally occur, especially during monsoon storms in late July and early August. Flood waters can wash out roads. Bridges have been damaged, notably in 1980, 1993, and 2005. The natural flow of the Salt is 2570 cuft/s at its mouth. However, except after rainfall, the Salt is dry or a small stream below Granite Reef Dam. The river was formerly navigable throughout its course by small craft. The river is still navigable in the majority of the area where it still carries water.

The river was used for irrigation by the pre-Columbian Hohokam culture, by later Native Americans, and by early Euro-American settlers in the 19th century. It currently provides a major source of irrigation and drinking water for Phoenix and surrounding communities through the Salt River Project. The river's water is distributed over more than 1000 mi of irrigation canals, used primarily for the growing of cotton, alfalfa, fruit, and vegetables.

Ecology

North American beavers (Castor canadensis) historically flourished on the river. In an historical account, George C. Yount, a fur trapper with the Pattie expedition, wrote on 1 February 1863, "...we began to ascend the Black River [Salt River]... We found it to abound with beavers... We followed up this stream to where it forks in the mountains; that is to say, about 80 miles from its mouth."

2022 fish kill in three lakes has been caused by golden algae.

Water quality
There are turbidity problems along many stream reaches in Salt River's watershed; these are related to rangeland management, recreation, mining, sand and gravel operations, and other sources. High levels of fecal coliform bacteria and ammonia have been reported for Carrizo Creek and the White River.

History
In ancient times, the river was home to the Salado culture and the Hohokam culture. The Akimel O'odham, also known as the Pima people, lived along the Salt River and dug canals, using irrigation to provide water to their villages and farms in the arid environment. The river was known to the authorities of New Spain as the Río Salado. The United States government recognized the territory of the Pima people by way of executive order signed by President Rutherford B. Hayes. A subsequent executive order also signed by President Hayes reduced the size of the Salt River portion of the reserve from approximately 680,000 acres to 46,627 acres. Today the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community live alongside the bank of the Salt River maintaining their traditions and way of life from before European colonization.

Boating facilities
Cherry Creek to Roosevelt Lake: Paved, gravel and trail access, live bait fish (restrictions in effect), no motors allowed, primitive parking area, camping allowed, area mostly inaccessible.

Below Saguaro Lake: Paved and dirt access, live bait fish, swimming, no motors allowed, parking area, tables, restrooms, camping allowed. Several camp and picnic areas, drained in winter.

The above facilities are maintained by the Tonto National Forest.

Tempe Boat Rentals at Tempe Town Lake: Small passenger boats including kayaks, pedal boats, electric powered pontoons and fishing boats. This is an independent contractor and not managed by the City of Tempe.

Fish species

 * Cherry Creek to Roosevelt Lake (15 fishable miles): largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, sunfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish, carp

 * Below Saguaro Lake (11 fishable miles): rainbow trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, yellow bass, crappie, sunfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish, blue catfish, yellow perch, walleye, tilapia, black crappie, carp, bullfrogs, desert sucker, sturgeon

title: Salt River (Arizona)


text:
ISO 3166-2:CS

ISO 3166-2:CS was the entry for Serbia and Montenegro in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.

Serbia and Montenegro was officially assigned the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code CS before it was dissolved in 2006, and the entry was deleted from ISO 3166-2 as a result. The two republics, Montenegro and Serbia (Srbija), became independent and are now officially assigned the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes ME and RS respectively.

Before 2003, the name of the country was Yugoslavia, and it was officially assigned the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code YU.

Note that while the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code CS was used to represent Czechoslovakia before it was dissolved in 1993, this predated the first publication of ISO 3166–2 in 1998.

Changes
The following changes to the entry had been announced in newsletters by the ISO 3166/MA since the first publication of ISO 3166–2 in 1998:

title: ISO 3166-2:CS


text:
Total War (video game series)

Total War is a series of strategy games developed by British developer Creative Assembly for personal computers. They combine turn-based strategy and resource management with real-time tactical control of battles. Rather uniquely for real-time strategy games, flanking manoeuvers and formations factor heavily into gameplay. The first of the series, Shogun: Total War, was released in June 2000. The most recent major game released was Total War: Pharaoh on October 11, 2023. As of April 2021, the series had sold over 36 million copies.

Shogun: Total War
Released in June 2000, Shogun: Total War is the first game in the series. The game is set in feudal Japan. The single-player game includes interactive videos that represented possible decisions by the player, such as converting to Christianity. The original Shogun was not a mainstream product, but attracted a dedicated fan base. An expansion pack, The Mongol Invasion, was released with the original in the Warlord Edition.

Medieval: Total War
Medieval: Total War was released in August 2002. Using the same game engine as Shogun, the game takes players to medieval Europe. The expansion pack is called Viking Invasion, and the combined edition is called the Battle Collection. It was one of the best-selling games in the Total War series.

Rome: Total War
Released in 2004, Rome: Total War is set in the Roman Republic. This was the first game to encompass what would become one of the most fundamental additions to the Total War series, free map movement as opposed to earlier versions where all movement was province-based. The game also featured the first 3D map. The first expansion pack, Barbarian Invasion, was released on 27 September 2005. Rome: Total War Gold Edition, which combined the fully patched versions of the original game and its first expansion into one DVD (instead of the original game's three CD-ROMs), was released on 14 February 2006. A CD-ROM version (a total of four CDs) was also produced. A Mac version of Rome: Total War Gold Edition, developed by Feral Interactive, was released 12 February 2010. A second expansion pack, Rome: Total War: Alexander, was released on 19 June 2006. A compilation of the original game and the two expansions, Rome: Total War Anthology, was released on 16 March 2007. The series has also spawned several popular mods such as Europa Barbarorum and Rome: Total Realism each of which seeks to create more historically accurate settings. This game was also added to mobile, offering a simplified version of the original game. Rome: Total War has won many strategy gaming awards for its realistic campaign and battlefield animation and interface. Total War: Rome Remastered was released on 29 April 2021 by Feral Interactive.

Medieval II: Total War
Medieval II: Total War, a sequel to Medieval: Total War, was released on 10 November 2006 in Europe and on 14 November in North America. The game includes much more detailed characters and features the Age of Discovery (and colonisation of the Americas) and the Mongol and Timurid invasions. An expansion pack, Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms, was announced on 30 March 2007. It was released on 28 August 2007. The Gold Edition of the game, containing the original game and the expansion pack, was released on 1 February 2008. The Kingdoms expansion pack contained 4 campaigns: the Britannia Campaign, set in the British Isles in 1258, during the reign of Henry III of England; the Crusades Campaign, set in the Middle East in 1174; the Teutonic Campaign, set in the Baltic region of Eastern Europe in 1250; and the Americas Campaign, set in the New World in 1521, during the decline of the Aztec and Maya civilisations.

Empire: Total War
Empire: Total War was announced on 22 August 2007 by Sega and had been secretly in development since the release of Barbarian Invasion. Players choose an 18th-century faction and set out to achieve domination over the known world through military force, diplomacy, espionage and economics. For the first time in a Total War game, players have the ability to play real-time 3D naval battles. Also a feature that had been developed in the game was the decentralisation of provinces, adding greater realism in that many features, from production to technological advancement, would occur outside of the capital of the province. Empire: Total War was released on 3 March 2009 in North America and 4 March in Europe. The expansion pack, Empire: Total War: Warpath, was released in October 2009. Warpath is set in the Americas where it is possible to control one of five different Native American nations. While the game was critically acclaimed due to its innovative game play, the game has been subject to most of the criticism of the Total War series by many critics and fans after its release due to bugs; Sega claims nearly all issues have been resolved. The issues have been explained by Creative Assembly several months after the game's release. It was the first in the series to use Valve's Steamworks DRM and achievements system, thereby requiring Steam to be played.

Napoleon: Total War
Napoleon: Total War was released in North America on 23 February 2010, and in Europe on 26 February. The game focuses on the politics and major military campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars in the late 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century. Napoleon was released with several editions: the Standard Edition (as well as a limited edition version of the Standard Edition), Imperial Edition, and the Emperor's Edition (available in Australia and New Zealand only). Players assume the role of Napoleon Bonaparte or one of his major rivals on a turn-based campaign map and engage in the subsequent battles in real-time. As with its predecessor, Empire: Total War, which included a special episodic United States story line, Napoleon features three separate campaigns that follow the general's early Italian and Egyptian campaigns as well as the European campaign and the Battle of Waterloo.

In the grand campaign, "Campaigns of the Coalition", the player plays as Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, or Russia in a map that spans Europe. There is also a second campaign available as DLC, the "Peninsular campaign", in which the player vies for control of the Iberian peninsula. The campaign is playable as either France, Spain, or Great Britain. Napoleon: Total War Gold Edition premiered for Macs on 3 June 2013.

Total War: Shogun 2
On 2 June 2010 Creative Assembly released a full preview of Total War: Shogun 2 set in the middle of the 16th century in Medieval Japan during a period of isolation and military conflict called Sengoku Jidai (the warring states period). The new battle engine supports up to 56,000 soldiers in a single battle, making them significantly larger than in Napoleon. Shogun 2 is the first game of the series to feature the franchise's name appearing as the primary title in an effort to increase brand awareness. The game was released on 15 March 2011.

Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is a stand-alone expansion to Total War: Shogun 2 released in March 2012. The game explores the conflict between the Imperial throne and the last Shogun around the time of the Boshin War in 19th-century Japan, 300 years after the events of the original game in a clash of traditional Samurai culture with the power of modern weaponry. There are six new playable clans (Satsuma, Tosa, and Choshu, Imperial and Aizu, Nagaoka, and Jozai Shogunate) plus four DLC clans (Tsu, Saga, Obama, and Sendai), supporting either the Imperial throne or the Tokugawa Shogunate. Also portrayed in a limited role are Britain, United States, and France, with each of whom trade deals can be struck (given the proper infrastructure) and from whom marines can be recruited. A new feature is the land and sea unit interactions which includes the ability to call in offshore artillery support barrages, coastal gun emplacements that target enemy ships, and the ability to call in campaign map bombardments – bombarding armies and cities in adjacent coastal areas of the campaign map. Other new features are railway networks, ironclad warships, improved siege battle mechanics (with upgradable tower defences, each with their own specialty), new agent types, the ability to control two armies on the battle map at the same time, a third-person shooter for torpedo gunboats, coastal batteries, Gatling guns and cannons, and a multiplayer overhaul.

Total War: Rome II
On 2 July 2012, Creative Assembly announced Total War: Rome II with a live-action trailer that features different scenes with the theme "How far will you go for Rome?". Work on the title began during the development of Total War: Shogun 2. Creative Assembly announced that the game would have a bigger map than its predecessor, "go more to the east", have many new game features, and new camera views in-battle, allowing the player to see the battle from almost every angle. They further claimed that the game was developed using a new programming system, which allows it to achieve better graphical quality, including dynamic facial expressions. The game was released on 3 September 2013. This title hit record high pre-order sales for Creative Assembly, with the Greek States Culture Pack unlocking Sparta, Athens, and Epirus in the campaign as a pre-order bonus. The initial release suffered from significant performance issues as well as having many bugs that severely affected gameplay.

Total War: Attila
On 25 September 2014, Creative Assembly announced Total War: Attila at the Eurogamer Expo. Using the same engine as Total War: Rome II, the game followed the life of Attila the Hun during the Dark Ages of Europe, much like Napoleon: Total War did with Napoleon's life after Empire: Total War. According to Creative Assembly, Total War: Attila would implement an "apocalyptic" atmosphere, with hostile weather and darker lighting. Total War: Attila was released on 17 February 2015.

Total War: Warhammer
Announced on 22 April 2015, Total War: Warhammer changes the rules of the series as it takes place in a setting of high fantasy. The setting comes from Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy. The real-time battles and turn-based sandbox campaigns, a staple of the series, return. Races include the men of the Empire and Bretonnia, Orcs and Goblins (Greenskins), Dwarves, Vampire Counts, the Warriors of Chaos, Beastmen, Wood Elves, and the Norscan Tribes. Sega revealed this is the first in what will be a trilogy of titles. Total War: Warhammer was released on 24 May 2016.

Total War: Warhammer II
Announced on 31 March 2017 at EGX Rezzed. It was released on 28 September 2017. It focuses on the conflicts in the New World and Ulthuan between the High Elves, Dark Elves, Skaven, and Lizardmen as they seek to control the Vortex. Later, the Tomb Kings (an Ancient Egyptian themed faction of skeletons, mummies etc.) and Vampire Coast (an undead pirate faction) were released as paid DLC. A grand campaign combining the map from the first game and the second was also released called Mortal Empires.

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia was released on 3 May 2018. The game is set in 878 AD, after the death of Ragnar Lodbrok and subsequent Viking invasion of the British Isles by the Great Heathen Army. The game focuses on the kingdoms vying for power of the Isles. The playable factions are English, Welsh, Gaelic, part of the Great Viking army, and the Viking sea kings. The game received generally favourable reviews from critics but a mixed response from users. The game holds a Critic Score of 75 and a User Score of 54 on Metacritic.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

Released on 23 May 2019,  Three Kingdoms brings the Total War series to China during the rule of the Han dynasty in 190 AD where the child Emperor Xian of Han is placed on the throne as a puppet ruler by his regent Dong Zhuo. The game centres on heroes who fight tyranny but whose ambitions may break their fragile alliance and divide China leading up to the rise of the Three Kingdoms period. The game is based on the ancient Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Players can play warlords such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei. The graphics are different. There is a new battle system enabling the player to select Records, a more realistic mode, or Romance, seen by some to be a more fun and creative way to play. In Romance, players can control their warlords who now have special abilities. The campaign has also changed. There are six DLCs available: Eight Princes, set almost a hundred years after the original campaign; Mandate of Heaven, set eight years before, in the wake of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, A World Betrayed, set four years after the original campaign, Fates Divided, six years after A World Betrayed before the war between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Yellow Turban Rebellion, which allows the player to play as the Yellow Turban Faction within the original campaign; Reign of Blood, similar to the other DLCs available in Total War: Rome II and Total War: Attila called Blood and Gore and Blood and Burning respectively. Reign of Blood adds a new variety of combat animations and blood on the battlefield. A major expansion pack, The Furious Wild is also available, adding the Nanman people with four playable factions in the southwest.

Total War Saga: Troy
While in development Total War Saga: Troy used the "Saga" moniker, as did Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia and as has retroactively been applied to The Fall of the Samurai standalone expansion for Total War: Shogun 2. It is to be the first Total War game set in the Bronze Age and was released on August 13, 2020. The game was free to claim for the first 24 hours after its release. On September 24, Amazons was released as a free DLC for Total War Access account holders alongside Epic Games Store Mod Support, while multiplayer and Blood & Glory DLC was added October 29, 2020.

Total War: Warhammer III
Announced on 3 February 2021, the conclusion to the Total War: Warhammer trilogy introduces factions based on each of the four Chaos Gods (Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Slaanesh), as well as the human civilisations of Kislev and Grand Cathay. The Ogre Kingdoms were included as a pre-order bonus. The game was released on 17 February 2022. Although, technically it is not a live service game, the Warhammer trilogy life-span means it is close to the live service genre at times.

Total War: Pharaoh
Total War: Pharaoh, focused on the New Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt, was announced on 23 May 2023 and released on 11 October 2023.

Spartan: Total Warrior
Spartan: Total Warrior was developed by Creative Assembly and released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. Spartan: Total Warrior is a hack-and-slash action title that was to bring Total War's hallmark large-scale battles to the console market. Rather than adhering to historical accuracy, Creative Assembly took inspiration from Greek and Roman mythology to craft a setting that allows for more fantastical set pieces and foes. The player takes the role of a Spartan warrior guided by Ares, tasked with defeating the invading Roman Empire. The game features both a "campaign mode" and an "arena battle" mode. The campaign mode takes place over 14 levels, while the arena battle mode tasks the players with surviving enemy assaults of increasing difficulty. An indirect follow-up called Viking: Battle for Asgard was released in 2008, dropping the Total Warrior moniker.

Total War: Arena
Total War: Arena was a free-to-play game that was discontinued in February 2019.

Total War: Elysium
Total War: Elysium is an upcoming free-to-play strategy digital collectible card game where the player controls generals from across history in head-to-head battles against other players.

Total War Battles: Shogun
Total War Battles: Shogun was released on 20 April 2012 for iOS. This game was also released for Android devices and Microsoft Windows. Set in medieval Japan, the game utilises real-time strategy and, like other Total War games, combines troop organisation and management, combat, and building management. Available troops include samurai, archers, ninja, and cavalry. The battle system uses hexagon tiles for movement and placement, and a new key feature to this game enforces the "Bushido" code of conduct where, once units are moved forward, they can no longer move backward. 1 vs 1 local multiplayer is available.

Total War Battles: Kingdom
From the team behind Total War Battles: Shogun, Total War Battles: Kingdom entered open beta on PC on 9 March 2015, following a limited closed beta. Set in medieval England, the game combines realm building and management with real-time battles and has been released for PC, Android, and iOS. Support ended on 28 April 2022 and the game is no longer available to play.

Total War Battles: Warhammer
Total War Battles: Warhammer is the upcoming third release of the Total War: Battles Series. Developed by NetEase, Total War Battles: WARHAMMER is officially licensed by Creative Assembly and Games Workshop. It aims to bring deep strategic gameplay in the epic Warhammer Fantasy Battles world to millions of mobile devices worldwide. The game will support Android and iOS Platforms.

title: Total War (video game series)


text:
Eadbald

Eadbald is an Anglo-Saxon male name, from the Old English words for rich and bold. It might refer to:

 * King Eadbald of Kent, early 7th century
 * Eadbald (bishop of London), late 8th century
 * Bishop Eadbald of Lindsey, middle 9th century

title: Eadbald


text:
Department of the Treasury

Several countries have a Department of the Treasury. These departments include:
 * Department of the Treasury (Australia)
 * Department of the Treasury (Isle of Man)
 * United States Department of the Treasury
 * Department of Treasury (Western Australia)

Many of the States of the United States, the States of Australia, Provinces of Canada, and other political subdivisions also have a Department of the Treasury.
 * Department of Treasury and Finance (Victoria), Australia

title: Department of the Treasury


text:
User:Hunter~enwiki

Hello, My name is Wolfgang and I finally decided to become a member of the Wikipedia Editor Team.

(In the past, I mainly edited Wikipedia content as an anonymous user - most edits were done at the Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Afghanistan section)

With the start of the Free Thai Encyclopedia I hope to be able to contribute with our Thai Team to get the first few hundred pages of content up and running.

title: User:Hunter~enwiki