J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, will be commemorated with a new memorial in Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner, joining C.S. Lewis, the Narnia series author, who already has a plaque nearby. The memorial, a 2.5-metre tall ornate carving of a magical tree, is set to be unveiled next spring to mark the 90th anniversary of Tolkien’s The Hobbit and the 50th anniversary of The Silmarillion, which was published posthumously.

The design, dubbed the “Tree of Tales” or the “Tree of Amalion” by Tolkien himself, symbolizes the interconnected legends, poems, and stories that formed his literary world. Each element of the carved tree—its leaves, flowers, and fruits—represents different facets of his imagination.

Created by Broadbent Studio in Chester under the direction of designer Stephen Broadbent, the memorial will be crafted from mostly British woods using detailed marquetry and hand-carving techniques. Of particular significance, it will incorporate a piece of black pine known as “Tolkien’s tree,” felled from the Oxford Botanic Garden in 2014, a tree reportedly favored by Tolkien. The piece will also feature ancient bog oak, dating back up to 5,000 years and preserved beneath the East Anglian fens, while a rich blue coloration will be produced with oak gall ink—a durable ink derived from growths on oak trees, similar to that used to write the Magna Carta.

The project involves dozens of specialists and will require around a thousand hours of work to complete. The design was developed in consultation with Tolkien scholars and the author’s estate to ensure fidelity to the writer’s vision. The carving itself will be manufactured by Silverlining Furniture in Wrexham.

The Very Reverend Dr. David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, emphasized Tolkien’s stature as a “master storyteller, a scholar, a man with a Christian imagination,” and noted how his writing conveyed that “a commitment to life and virtue might be costly and courageous.”

Tolkien died in 1973 at the age of 81 and is buried in a Catholic cemetery in Oxford, reflecting his faith. Lewis, who died in 1963 at age 64, was also buried in Oxford but was honored with a memorial in Poets’ Corner in 2013.

This memorial will mark the first time Tolkien is formally commemorated within Westminster Abbey, bringing him symbolically alongside Lewis, with whom he shared a close friendship and intellectual companionship during their years in Oxford.