List of Topics as of 7 December 1995
When you are reading the books by Tolkien, keep this list of topics handy. Whenever you spot a passage where this idea is dealt with make note of the reference. Send the topic name with a brief description of the context of the reading together with a bibliographic reference. If you find that the topic of Evil is discussed at the Council of Elrond, then send in something like this:
Evil
The nature and extent of Sauron's Evil is discussed with respect to the history of the Ring.
1 LOTR II, 2
Its that simple.
The purpose of this is to aid people doing topic research on Tolkien's writing. Let's say that scholar X wants to write an essay on Tolkien's idea of Evil. Scholar X can come to the Tolkien Syntopicon and find the section on Good and Evil wherein a comprehensive listing of all the passages in the works of Tolkien where Evil as an idea is specifically addressed. This makes it possible for scholar X to quickly find the material they need to write their essay.
Also the above list is not complete. Please email possible topics as they occur to you and I will add them to the list.
Hypertextual System by FMI Publishing, 1995