Wikipedia:WikiProject Middle-earth/Standards

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This is a style guide for Tolkien-related articles. For general article guidelines, see Manual of Style.

This is a style guide for Tolkien-related articles in an effort to organise and standardise Tolkien-related articles, lists, categories, templates, and other items in general. Please note that this may change according to WikiPolicy or participant consensus.

Participants can quote the style guide by the following: WP:MeS 1.6.2. (WP:MeS - Middle-earth Standards, section 1, subsection 6, number 2).

  Please do not edit the following without proposing a change in the standard's talk page and a participant consensus is reached.

[edit] General rules

[edit] Abbreviations

1. Abbreviations of names of books, movies, series, people, etc. should not be used in articles or lists (e.g. write out The Lord of the Rings, not LotR).

[edit] Bolding

1. Always bold the topic of the article at first mention in the article.

[edit] Capital letters

1. Use capital letters according to British English. Wikipedia's Manual of Style states to "...use rules appropriate to the cultural and linguistic context".
2. Use capital letters when writing about the races of Middle-earth, but lower-case when writing about individuals or groups of individuals i.e. Elves, Dwarves, Men, Hobbits, Orcs, Istari, Valar, etc. (e.g. "the hobbits walked down the road", "Hobbits have hairy feet", "the hobbit jumped over the fence", "the Elf lord bowed before them", "the orcs were running over the plain").

[edit] Categories

See also: ME:S 5.1.2

1. Before creating a category, please check to see if there is a same existing category or subcategory in Category:Tolkien.
2. Generally, do not categorize things twice (e.g. Since Category:Middle-earth Dúnedain is the parent category of Category:Dúnedain of the North, only the latter should be used in the Aragorn article). However, if two or more categories from different sub-branches apply, then it would be proper to use both (e.g. List of Hobbits should be categorized in both Category:Middle-earth lists and Category:Middle-earth races).

[edit] Italics

1. Always use italics for titles of books, series, movies, game, etc. (e.g. The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings, etc.)
2. Use italics for "isolated words and phrases in other languages". In terms of Tolkien-related articles, this would include anything in the Languages of Middle-earth as well as Old English (e.g. Quenya, Sindarin, Rohirric, Khuzdul, etc.) For inserting translations of words in another language, see ME:S 6.3.

[edit] Notability

For more information, refer to Wikipedia:Notability (fiction) and Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not

1. Be aware of fancruft and What Wikipedia is not. It may be hard not to go into detail, but Wikipedia is an encyclopedia focused on general interests, not on Tolkien's legendarium.
2. Avoid inserting your interpretation, speculation, theories, analysis, etc. As stated by Wikipedia's no policy, no original research. However, if the interpretations, analysis, speculations, etc. are those of J. R. R. Tolkien or Christopher Tolkien, please make sure to include references from reputable sources (e.g. texts by Tolkien).
3. Major characters/locations/items are given their own page only if the information on that character/location/item in the work of fiction is too long.
4. Minor characters/locations/items or those whose page cannot be expanded further (e.g. five or more paragraphs) in terms of encyclopedic information should be merged within their respective lists.

[edit] Punctuation

1. For quotations, use "double quotes" and 'single quotes' for nesting quotations a.k.a. "quotations 'within' quotations".
2. Write formally. Avoid using contractions such as don't, can't, won't, would've, they'd,.
3. Avoid using slashes to join words. Instead, spell it out.

[edit] Style

Main article: WP:WAF

1. All articles dealing with fictional "in-universe" material must be written in an Out-of-universe (OOU) perspective.
2. Any article or section that is written in in-universe perspective should be tagged with the {{ME-in-universe}} template

[edit] Tenses

1. All articles that cover in-universe material must be in past tense, as decided as a consensus here. Though it states in the Guide to writing better articles that generally fictional articles should be written in present tense, Tolkien-related articles are an exception, due to the fact that we are discussing more than just plots of novels, we are outlining the history of [what we now intepret as] a fictional world — the novels are written in past tense because they are memoirs meant to explain a mythical past of our Earth, much like the Greek Mythology. Also, take consideration into the fact that much of the information is taken not from the novels, but from informational texts (e.g. The History of Middle-earth).

[edit] Usage and spelling

1. As stated by Wikipedia's style guide concerning spelling, "if an article's subject has a strong tie to a specific region/dialect, it should use that dialect". Since Tolkien is widely affiliated with England and there are many other English texts that use British spellings, all Tolkien-related articles should use British spelling.
2. If you are unfamiliar with British spellings, use the very handy Wikipedia:Manual of Style (spelling) for reference.
3. Use the newer, phonetic spelling appearing in later texts as well as The History of Middle-earth series, as opposed to the old spellings published in older texts (e.g. Númenórean). An exception to this rule is Noldor, which will be spelled with a regular N as decided here.

[edit] Wikilinking

For more information, please refer to Wikipedia's style guide on wikilinking.

1. Create links ONLY if they are relevant to the context.
2. Do not link regular, plain old English words (e.g. queen).
3. Generally, there should not be duplicates of the same links. However, if you have made a link in captions or the infobox, it is a good idea to make the same link in the article.
4. The following should be linked: dates, places, people that have a major connection with the subject, technical terms, etc.

[edit] Articles

See also: ME:S 5.1.1

[edit] Naming

For more information, please refer to the Wikipedia's official policy on naming conventions.

1. Most article titles are singular (e.g. Elf (Middle-earth)), unless the topics are merged in an article or a list.
2. Avoid overusing parenthesis in titles of articles, unless there is disambiguation (e.g. List of Middle-earth Men instead of List of Men (Middle-earth)).
3. Avoid the definite article ("the") and the indefinite article ("a"/"an") unless addressing the titles of a books, series, movies, etc. For more information, refer to Wikipedia:Naming conventions (books).

[edit] Introduction

1. Articles on in-universe material need to begin with "In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, [subject] is a fictional character/fictional place/fictional event..."
2. The [name of the] subject of the article at first mention must be bolded, preferably in the first sentence in the article.
3. The lead section, which should be about one to three paragraphs long, must not contain any spoilers.
4. All spoiler tags must be placed after the introduction but before the contents.
5. Articles cannot begin with a leadoff quote. Wikipedia has a sisterproject, Wikiquote, where quotes can be placed.

[edit] Headings

[edit] Book

1. The body sections should generally follow in this order with optional subheadings:

[edit] Character

1. All character articles must have the {{Tolkienchar}} template at the very top of the page.
2. The body sections should generally follow in this order with optional subheadings:
   1. Appearances – the character's biography
      1. Literature – the character's biography in literature; place {{ME-canonstart}} and {{ME-canonend}} at its respective places inside the subsection. This subheading nor the aforementioned templates is not needed if the character is not potrayed in another adaptation.
      2. Adaptations
   2. Characteristics – describes how the character is portrayed in fiction
   3. Names and titles – this section should only be added if a character's aliases and titles respectively exceed a quanity of five (e.g. Aragorn) and should be elaborated upon in a seperate section instead of listing them in the infobox
   4. Concept and creation – details the process on how the character was created; this includes character arc development, etymology, etc.
   5. See also
   6. References
   7. External links
3. Because all fictional articles must be in out-of-universe perspective, dates cannot be included after the first mentioned of a characters name. For more information, read the Manual of Style when writing about fiction.

[edit] Location

1. All locations should contain the {{Infobox LOTR place}} template at the very top of the page.
2. The body sections should generally follow in this order with optional subheadings:
   • Etymology
   • Geography
   • History – this would include cosmology
   • Politics
   • Economy
   • Demographics
   • Languages
   • Culture – this includes peoples
   • Regions
   • Concept and creation – details the process in which the location was created
   • See also
   • References
   • External links

[edit] Military conflicts

1. All articles must have the {{Infobox Military Conflict}} template at the very top of the page.

[edit] Race

1. The body sections should generally follow in this order with optional subheadings:

[edit] References

For more information, refer to Wikipedia:References.

1. For Tolkien-related articles and lists, notes and references/sources are combined under the same subsection: References.
2. Reference using the {{ME-ref}} template.
3. For footnotes (as well as sources), use the <ref> element.
4. When citing books or papers, it is best to include page numbers to indicate where the specific content was referenced from.
5. Do not cite secondary sources or tertiary sources; this includes the Encyclopedia of Arda, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, and A Tolkien Bestiary. Instead use primary sources (reliable sources) such as published texts by Tolkien or secondary source of The History of Middle-earth edited by Christopher Tolkien.
6. If there are any unsourced statements in an article, use {{ME-fact}}, which will automatically place the article in Category:Tolkien articles with unsourced statements.

[edit] External links

For more information, refer to Wikipedia's style guide concerning External links.

1. Remember that the External links serves as further reading, not advertisement. Wikipedia is not a link farm nor a web directory. Do not link to ten or more sites. There are exceptions to this case, but a vast quantity of external links are usually frowned upon. Three to four links are usually enough.
2. The following sites should be linked: Official sites (that majorly relate to the topic), articles about the subject of article on other encyclopedias or vast resources (e.g. Encyclopedia of Arda, The Thain's Book, Annals of Arda, The TolkienWiki), and sites that contain neutral and accurate information that has not been mentioned in the article. On controversial articles that contain multiple POV, have at least equal amount of sites presenting each POV with a detailed explanation.
3. The following sites that are occasionally acceptable: professional reviews reviewing books, movies, etc. (e.g. IMDB), ONE very informative fansite about the subject of article, web directory full of informative fansites.
4. The following should be avoided and are generally not acceptable: fanlistings (because they are not generally informative), multiple fansites, web directories (for exceptions, see above).
5. The following should not be linked on articles under any circumstance: sites with unverified original research, any form of advertising (whether it's a site or a product), any social networking sites, blogs, etc.

[edit] Lists

1. Before creating a list, please check Category:Tolkien lists.
2. Lists should be named "List of..." If the topic is disambiguous, then 'Middle-earth' should be placed prior to the noun(s) (e.g. List of Middle-earth Dwarves).
3. Lists should have a general introduction around one to five sentences.
4. All lists must contain a spoiler tag before the content and after the introduction.
5. All lists should follow the format using the {{CompactTOC5T}} template.
6. The list should contain all things related to the subject of the list. For example, if the list is about Hobbits, major characters must be included, along with the {{Main}} before the entry. In this case, the introduction of the main article should serve in the list.

[edit] References

1. Everything that is mentioned in ME:S 2.4 applies for lists as well.

[edit] External links

For more information, refer to Wikipedia's style guide concerning External links.

1. Everything that mentioned in ME:S 2.5 applies for lists as well.
2. In cases of having articles on several items of the list, it is best to link the encyclopedia instead of multiple links of different articles on the same encyclopedia.

[edit] Images

For more information, please refer to Wikipedia's policy on images.

1. Always tag the image you're uploading with image copyright tags. If you are not sure of the copyright, then it is best not to upload it.
2. Always include a description of the image: where the image came from, what it is, etc.
3. if available, place book illustrations first in the article, especially in infoboxes. Screenshots and other images from adaptations properly belong in an Adaptations section.

[edit] Fair use

1. ALL images under fair use (e.g. icons, logos, drawings, maps, flags, photos, etc.) should be uploaded in PNG format.
2. Always include fair use copyright tags. A list of images with the following licenses should be uploaded can be found here. For illustrations of another artist (see number 4-6), the generic tags (e.g. {{Fair use in|Article}}) should usually be used.
3. Always include a fair use rationale as well as commentary.
4. Illustrations by the following artists can be allowed in Tolkien-related articles ONLY if the artists give permission: Catherine Karina Chmiel, Inger Edelfeldt, Anke Katrin Eißmann, Roger Garland, Michael Hague, Tim and Greg Hildebrandt, John Howe, Tove Jansson, Alan Lee, Angus McBride, Kay Miner, Ted Nasmith, and Jenny Dolfen.
   1. The following artists have been contacted and have given permission to use their works (the number of images used and found on articles are marked within parenthesis): Anke Katrin Eißmann (3), Jenny Dolfen (3), Ted Nasmith (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
5. Generally, there should be no more than 4-6 illustrations or photographs from the same artist in an article, depending on the length and popularity of the subject of the article.
6. All fair use images must be in low resolution in order to prevent piracy.

[edit] Templates

[edit] Usage

See also: Wikipedia:WikiProject Middle-earth/Templates

1. On talk pages of articles, place {{ME-project}}.
2. On talk pages of categories, place {{ME-category}}.
3. On talk pages of templates, place {{ME-template}}.

[edit] Other

[edit] Canon

[edit] Dates

1. For articles with many dates which differ from the stated standard reckoning use the {{ME-date}} template.
2. The sequence 'T.A. 2950', calendar system before year, was frequently used by Tolkien and generally followed on Wikipedia.
3. If an article contains several dates from the same reckoning period then include the sentence, "Dates are given in years of the [[Third Age]], unless otherwise noted." Subsequent references to this reckoning can then be simply numeric (e.g. '2918') with no identifying label. This system can also be used for article sub-sections which contain several dates from the same reckoning period.
4. For articles with only a few dates (or only a few differing from the stated standard reckoning for the article) it is easiest to just spell out the reckoning period in full; '37 Fourth Age'.

[edit] Terminology

1. The Lord of the Rings is not a trilogy, and is arguably (and according to Tolkien himself) not a novel either. Use the words "story" (for the story as a whole), "book", "books" (both for LotR, its volumes and the 6 books — but make clear which you are referring to), "volume", "volumes" (for the three volumes of LotR).
2. Take note of correct spellings, including diacritical marks. (e.g. Éomer, not Eomer)
3. Take note of correct singular and plural forms of terms. (e.g. an Uruk or one of the Uruk-hai, not an Uruk-hai; "Uruk-hai" = "Orc-folk")
4. Italicize non-English terms for objects and creatures (e.g. palantír, crebain), but not for peoples (e.g. Eldar). In general, follow the books.
5. When referring to adaptations, label them clearly as to avoid confusion with works of the same name (e.g. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" rather than just "The Two Towers", and "The Lord of the Rings film trilogy" instead of "The Lord of the Rings films"), and label their creators when neccessary. For films, mention the director, studio and date of release.
6. Avoid adaptation-derived terms to describe the original versions of characters, concepts, etc. Only use those terms to refer to their counterparts in adaptations, and point out that the terms are original to the adaptation {e.g. "Army of the Dead" should only be used in an adaptation context; use "Dead Men of Dunharrow" elsewhere).

[edit] Translations

1. Be aware of overusing translations for every article. Use translations only if it is relevant to the article.
2. Whenever inserting a translation of a word in another language, use the {{ME-lang}} template.
3. When translating the article title (this usually discludes characters), place the {{ME-lang}} template at the very top of the page (e.g. Nunduinë). However, there are exceptions in this case.

[edit] Works inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien

1. Any Tolkien-related material which was created by individuals other than J. R. R. Tolkien should not be included in Wikipedia unless it is part of an adaptation which is notable in its own right (e.g. Hadhafang, Madril, and information taken from The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare). Even in that case the origin of such information should be clearly labelled.