The zaniest possible adaptation of The Lord of the Rings would follow a little-known J.R.R. Tolkien novel from the 1940s. Lord of the Rings adaptations are seeing a resurgence, with Warner Bros.’ The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim movie in 2024 and The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum in 2026. Amazon Prime Video brought out The Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power TV series in 2022, diversifying LotR content from Warner Bros.’ Third Age tales into stories from Middle-earth’s Second Age. But the 1940s novel would require straying even further afield.

J.R.R. Tolkien set the standard for fantasy world-building, and it could certainly be argued that no writer has ever matched him. In his lifetime, Tolkien published The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, in three parts, sketching out the Third Age. But after Tolkien’s passing, his son obeyed him in editing and publishing Tolkien’s writing on the Second Age, the First Age, and the ageless years before that. But Tolkien went deeper into Middle-earth than the vast majority of people realize. In one unfinished novel, Tolkien showed writers of alternate universe fanfiction how it’s done.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Notion Club Papers Is The Zaniest Potential Adaptation

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Alternate Universe Story Shows Fanfiction How It’s Done

The zaniest possible Lord of the Rings adaptation would be based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, The Notion Club Papers. “AU” (alternate universe) fanfiction is massive in LotR, and all fandoms, but most people don’t realize that Tolkien actually wrote this story himself. Sauron and Elendil both feature in this Tolkien book, which may constitute the most surprising, outrageous, far-fetched, and left-of-center Lord of the Rings story available, in the best possible way. Although an adaptation could set this story in the 1940s, it would probably make more sense to set it in the modern day, as Tolkien intended.

Tolkienian Age
Event Marking The Start
Years
Total Length In Solar Years

Before time
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate

Days before Days
The Ainur entered Eä
1 – 3,500 Valian Years
33,537

Pre-First Age Years of the Trees (Y.T.)
Yavanna created the Two Trees
Y.T. 1 – 1050
10,061

First Age (F.A.)
Elves awoke in Cuiviénen
Y.T. 1050 – Y.T. 1500, F.A. 1 – 590
4,902

Second Age (S.A.)
The War of Wrath ended
S.A. 1 – 3441
3,441

Third Age (T.A.)
The Last Alliance defeated Sauron
T.A. 1 – 3021
3,021

Fourth Age (Fo.A)
Elven-ring bearers left Middle-earth
Fo.A 1 – unknown
Unknown

This novel is set in the real world in an alternate universe where Middle-earth and its stories are real in the past, or perhaps in another world, or both. Regardless, Middle-earth is real and accessible to people of planet Earth via a strange kind of lucid dreaming that enables a form of time travel. Like much of his best work, Tolkien paused this 1945 novel for other projects. Mindblowingly, the novel’s main characters are college students, which would give an adaptation the hilariously risky premise of a Lord of the Rings college drama.

What J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Notion Club Papers Is About

“The Distinction Between History And Myth Might Be Meaningless” – Tolkien

The Notion Club Papers is Tolkien’s novel about friends at college in a writing club together, and they basically go into trances and visit Middle-earth. It sounds like they may have smoked the wrong pipeweed, but this was Tolkien’s time travel multiverse story, proving how many light-years ahead of Marvel or DC he ever was with ideas like this. One of the main characters of the novel is related, in particular, to Elendil and his heirs, presenting a mysterious predicament that the students unravel over the novel’s course.

Embroiled in a Lord of the Rings mystery, the college students are deeply engaged with language, poetry, music, and history. Any adaptation of The Notion Club Papers faces a deep gorge between its source material and the modern on-screen format readiest at hand to display it. Undeniably, a college drama makes sense for The Notion Club Papers. So, a TV show probably makes more sense than a movie. While excellent college dramas have been made, they can tend toward the gossipy. However, this novel is elevated and intellectual, so the tone of the TV show would have to reflect that.

This Lord Of The Rings Story Is Unfinished (But That Hasn’t Stopped Adaptations Before)

Much Of Lord Of The Rings’ Legendarium Is Unfinished

The Notion Club Papers isn’t finished, so an adaptation would need to finish the story. Adapting an unfinished work is common – Good Omens season 3 will be based on what little source material Neil Gaiman managed to create with Terry Pratchett before Pratchett passed away, plus a conversation had between the two. But since Tolkien is no longer around to guide the material, special care would have to be taken to ensure that it was in the correct spirit of The Notion Club Papers. Tolkien’s grandson, Simon Tolkien, consults on Amazon’s The Rings of Power, demonstrating how this might be possible.

As it stands, there’s currently no reason why The Notion Club Papers couldn’t be adapted.

Rings of Power demonstrates that adaptations of Tolkien’s unfinished texts work in adaptations. Although the show is controversial, no one argues the brilliance of Celebrimbor’s death scene. This scene was as Tolkien as it got, but it was based on an unfinished work in Unfinished Tales. No one currently holds the rights to The Notion Club Papers. However, Rings of Power proves that the Tolkien Estate – who give out rights to Tolkien’s work – are giving out one-off rights to texts as needed, if they approve. As it stands, there’s currently no reason why The Notion Club Papers couldn’t be adapted.

The Notion Club Papers Could Liberate Future Lord Of The Rings Adaptations

This Story Frees Adaptations To Get Creative With Genre And Style

All moviemakers considering Tolkien’s work as source material should know about The Notion Club Papers. It doesn’t necessarily need its own movie or TV show, although that could be done well. Hollywood and streaming giants should focus first on work that Tolkien did finish and approve while alive. Besides, this project would be hard. It would have to avoid the pitfalls of an Americanized college drama, but it would also be remiss not to sensitively, moderately exploit the goldmine of joys that that subgenre could bring to this story.

Awareness of The Notion Club Papers is key for directors as it exhibits Tolkien’s interest in contemporary, sci-fi storytelling.

A modern-day setting would require near-total invention of the script, to bring the language up to date. It would have to be marketed as Tolkien-inspired rather than “based on The Notion Club Papers” to set the record straight about it being based on an unfinished work that it diverged from greatly. Awareness of The Notion Club Papers is key for directors as it exhibits Tolkien’s interest in contemporary, sci-fi storytelling. Current Lord of the Rings adaptations are exemplary high fantasy, but this novel proves the potential for innovative, meta, fourth-wall-breaking or alternate universe moments, elements, or scenes in the future.