'One Ring to rule them all / One Ring to find them / One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them / In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.'

Dirprwy Lywydd, though I haven't read the full verse, the Ring verse will be read by many people, not just in Wales but across the globe this Saturday as people celebrate Tolkien Reading Day. Why 25 March? It's the chosen date for the destruction of the ring, completing Frodo’s quest. Tolkien Reading Day has been organised by the Tolkien Society since 2003 as a way to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien by reading favourite passages.

Tolkien had a deep understanding and love for Welsh, and it played a key role in influencing the names of people and places in middle earth. One of the language's most arguably well-known influences was to one of the Elven languages, Sindarin, notably in its grammatical number and mutations.

Tolkien said that,

'The names of persons and places in this story were mainly composed on patterns deliberately modelled on those of Welsh.... This element in the tale has given perhaps more pleasure to more readers than anything else in it.'

So, whether we are travelling from Bag End to Erebor or Hobbiton to Mordor and the Cracks of Doom—