2 September 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the death of J. R. R. Tolkien, dubbed the author of the (20th) century, a literary giant by any reckoning and one of the most important fantasy writers of all time, but also a world-class philologist, medievalist, lexicographer and the literary critic known for revolutionising the scholarly understanding of Beowulf. As such, Forma de Vida marks the date with a themed section, curated by Tomás Vicente Ferreira, where we publish two texts by renowned Tolkien scholars Thomas Honnegger and Charles Moseley. Both texts derive from their authors' oral presentations at the international congress "The Road Goes Ever On and On": Commemorating J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973), which took place on 23-26 May 2023, in Lisbon. One of the texts is given here in a much briefer version, although profusely illustrated, and the other is given in its full, expanded form.