Radcliffe Camera and All Souls College, University of Oxford, England

© atiger/Shutterstoc

Ring in the fun. Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!

'Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.' Today, on Tolkien Day, fans around the world honour the master storyteller who crafted the epic adventures of Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien. While Tolkien may have started the tale, it's his readers who carry it forward, generation after generation, diving into the pages of 'The Hobbit,' 'The Lord of the Rings' and beyond. For today's featured image, it is only fitting to visit a place that might have inspired the literary legend: the Radcliffe Camera, or Rad Cam, at the University of Oxford in England.

Originally a science library, the domed, circular building now serves as a reading room for the Bodleian Library. This 18th-century building is said to be an inspiration for Sauron's temple to Morgoth on Númenor in Tolkien's fiction. Though Tolkien himself didn't study there—he was a student at Exeter College—he would have passed by the Rad Cam countless times during his years as a professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford. In a similar vein, Amish Tripathi, a former banker, has taken up the mantle of storytelling, weaving India's mythological heritage into modern blockbusters. Hailed as 'India's Tolkien' and 'Asia's Paulo Coelho,' he continues the tradition of crafting epic sagas that captivate readers and inspire a devoted following.