The Pen of Middle-Earth: Tools that shaped J.R.R. Tolkien’s worlds

Among my many interests, two have always stood out: reading and writing.
Reading Tolkien, and writing with my fountain pens.

My ink-and-pen brother, Alfonso, and I often talk about the Professor – his words, his worlds, and the peculiar beauty of his handwriting. Alfonso understands Tolkien’s scripts far better than I do; he can write in Tengwar as easily as I sign my name.

One day, he sent me a link about the pen Tolkien used to write his stories and letters. I clicked it casually and hours later, I was deep down the rabbit hole of nibs, inks, and the slow craft of creation.
That curiosity became this series.

The Pen of Middle-earth explores not just the instruments Tolkien used, but the philosophy behind them – how something as humble as a steel nib and a bottle of ink shaped entire worlds.
It’s easy to think of Tolkien as a dreamer, lost in his own mythology. But the truth is more tactile, more grounded. He was a craftsman – of language, of lore, and of line. The way he wrote wasn’t just a reflection of his personality; it was a reflection of his process. Every dip of his pen, every thick and thin stroke of ink, carried the same rhythm that runs through his stories. His calligraphy wasn’t decoration – it was architecture.
And so, what began as a casual search for “the pen Tolkien used” turned into an exploration of something deeper – the relationship between hand and mind, between the physical act of writing and the spiritual act of creation.
As I read through archives, forum discussions, and pen collector notes, I realized Tolkien’s approach to writing was almost monastic. His desk at Oxford was plain. His tools were inexpensive. His manuscripts, even the drafts, were works of art. The more I learned, the more I understood that Middle-earth wasn’t typed into existence; it was inked – carefully, patiently, deliberately.
This five-part series is my attempt to capture that journey – part discovery, part reflection, and part celebration of the craftsmanship behind the words that shaped modern fantasy.

Part I – Ink and Imagination: The Hand That Built Middle-earth
Before there was The Hobbit, there was a hand – steady, deliberate, almost calligraphic. In this first part, I explore Tolkien’s handwriting and how it reveals his creative temperament. His letters are not merely written; they are composed. Every page of his manuscripts feels alive, as though language itself were breathing through the lines.
This chapter looks closely at his calligraphy, how his academic precision met artistic flourish, and how his writing style mirrors the balance between discipline and wonder that defines his worlds.

Part II – The Instruments of Creation: Tolkien’s Pens, Nibs, and Inkwells
Tolkien’s world was built one stroke at a time. In this part, we move from his handwriting to the tools themselves – the pens, nibs, and inkwells that turned thought into texture.
From the humble Esterbrook #314 Relief dip nib, with its oblique cut and crisp control, to the later Osmiroid 65 fountain pen he likely used for correspondence, each instrument tells its own story. These weren’t luxurious tools; they were utilitarian – the kind of tools scholars and clerks used in the early twentieth century.
This section reconstructs Tolkien’s writing setup at Oxford: the worn desk, the bottles of iron-gall ink, the blotter stained with decades of labor. It’s an intimate look at how his physical environment shaped his creative one.

Part III – The Script of Arda: How Tools Shaped Language
For Tolkien, language was art and art was physical. The shape of his letters and the rhythm of his scripts were influenced directly by his tools. The oblique nib gave Tengwar its elegance, the dip pen gave Cirth its angularity.
This part explores how his instruments influenced the very structure of his invented alphabets – how the constraints of ink and metal became the design grammar for Elvish writing systems. It also draws parallels between Tolkien’s calligraphy and the medieval scripts he studied as a philologist – showing how Tengwar inherits the grace of monastic hands from a thousand years earlier.

Part IV – Recreating Tolkien: Modern Calligraphers and Fountain Pen Enthusiasts
Tolkien’s handwriting didn’t fade into history – it evolved into a quiet cult. Today, calligraphers, pen collectors, and artists all try to replicate the feel of his lines. Vintage pen communities hunt for Esterbrook nibs, and YouTube tutorials break down how to write in Tengwar with modern tools.
In this part, I explore how his influence survives not through his books alone, but through the way people write. Whether it’s the Pilot Parallel, the Sailor Fude de Mannen, or a hand-cut italic nib, enthusiasts keep chasing that perfect balance between control and flow – the same aesthetic harmony Tolkien achieved with patience and craft.

Part V – The Slowness of Creation: What Tolkien’s Pen Teaches Us
The final part turns from the historical to the philosophical. What can Tolkien’s writing habits teach us about creativity in an age of instant production?
Here, I reflect on the virtue of slowness – the deliberate pace of ink drying, the pause between sentences, the quiet humility of work done by hand. Tolkien’s pen resisted haste, and that resistance gave his imagination shape. His process reminds us that great worlds aren’t born in bursts; they are carved in time.
This closing essay is less about nostalgia and more about rediscovery – how returning to slower, tactile forms of creation can reconnect us with the patience and wonder that define lasting art.

The deeper I went into Tolkien’s handwriting, the more I realized that the magic of Middle-earth doesn’t live only in his words – it lives in his making. The ink stains, the worn nibs, the uneven lines – all of it testifies to a kind of devotion we’ve almost forgotten.
This series isn’t about collecting trivia or recreating artifacts. It’s about rediscovering a slower way to think and create. It’s about remembering that every great work begins with a single, imperfect line drawn by hand.
So whether you’re a Tolkien reader, a calligrapher, a fountain pen enthusiast, or simply someone curious about the intersection of craft and imagination, I invite you to join me on this journey – to trace the strokes that built Middle-earth, one letter at a time.

👁️ 53 views