<P> Tolkien discussion took place in many newsgroups from the earliest days of Usenet . The Tolklang mailing list was started in 1990 . The alt. fan. tolkien and rec. arts. books. tolkien newsgroups have been active since 1992 and 1993, respectively . </P> <P> Notable points of contention in online discussions surround the origin of orcs, whether elves have pointy ears, whether balrogs have wings, and the nature of Tom Bombadil . Following the announcement of Jackson's movies (from 2001), online fandom became divided between "Revisionists" and "Purists" over controversy surrounding changes to the novel made for the movies, such as those made to the character of Arwen and the absence of Tom Bombadil . </P> <P> The Lord of the Rings gained a much broader audience with the release of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy . These were released serially in three successive years, from December 2001 to December 2003 . Since then, a large number of fans have also arisen who have not read any of the books, and have been only exposed to Tolkien through the films and its merchandise . </P> <P> Tolkien - related games, especially computer and video games have also increased in number and in popularity . Popular culture references to Middle - earth have also increased, as well as satires and parodies of it . </P>

How many lord of the rings fans are there