TROY , AL —Participants in Troy University ’s 2005 Mythology Symposium will travel to “Middle-Earth” and examine the struggle for the “Ring of Power” on April 26, as the event celebrates the 50^th anniversary of J.J.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

“Myth and Middle-Earth: A Celebration of the Lord of the Rings” is the theme for this year’s symposium, which is scheduled from 1 to 6 p.m. and will be held in the Hawkins-Adams-Long Hall of Honor on the Troy Campus.

The event will examine the mythic heritage and aspirations of The Lord of the Rings and will include paper presentations from faculty members Dr. Peter Howard, Dr. Glen Robert Gill and Dr. Richard Scott Nokes, as well as from students.

The Mythology Symposium, begun by Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert Pullen in an effort to take advantage of the university’s wealth of expertise in the field of myth studies, is in its second year. Last year’s event focused on the mythology of the Native American tribes of the southeast.

Calling Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings “the supreme achievement in myth-making in the 20th century,” Dr. Gill said the idea for the theme evolved from a course he is teaching on Myth and Popular Culture.

“Being longtime Tolkien fans like me, the rest of the symposium committee were as enthusiastic about it as I was, and we realized that we were on to something,” Dr. Gill said. “Tolkien’s work has been brilliantly adapted in the three films by Peter Jackson. The emphasis in this symposium is on our work on Tolkien, but there is also going to be a musical performance, refreshments, and several copies of Tolkien’s novel, including a leather-bound collector’s edition, are going to be given away in a prize drawing. It sounds cliché, but this symposium has something for everyone.”

TROY senior April Jacobs of Smiths Station will present the musical performance, and a Tolkien trivia contest and group discussion will also be a part of the symposium.

The symposium is free and open to the public. For more information contact Dr. Glen Robert Gill at grgill@troy.edu or go to http://spectrum.troyst.edu/~mythsymposium.