It’s easy to forget that March 25th is quite the day of significance in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.  Here are a couple of clips concerning what “happened” today in Middle Earth history.

and then

I think it was this time last year that I read that Tolkien chose this day because of the Catholic use of the church calendar.  Today many Christians celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation: the day that Gabriel visits Mary with the promise of the Messiah.  Kingdoms fall and kingdoms rise.