Hall Of Fire Chats This Weekend
Frode @ 6:48 am EST

It seems that the hottest topic among those that have seen 'The Return of the King' is Denethor, the Steward of Gondor. Those that haven't seen the movie can stop reading now and get themselves to a theater pronto.

Perhaps no other character from Tolkien's books has been changed so
greatly. Denethor, a proud but honorable man fighting for his soul and
sanity, is now depicted as utterly mad. But what is the reason for his
madness? How is this madness depicted and explained? And how has his
personality been altered by this change? Most importantly, for what
purpose may these changes have been made in the first place?

Changes beget other changes. The characters that interact with the Steward have also been altered. Perhaps most strikingly is the change in Gandalf. Rather than respectful discourse between two stewards ("For I also am a steward, did you not know?"), Gandalf ends up beating a madman into silence. Just as dramatic is the change in Gandalf's interactions with others and in assuming leadership of the Gondor troops. Join us in #thehalloffire as we debate the hows and whys surrounding Peter Jackson's portrayal of Denethor.

Upcoming topics:

weekend 030104-040104
The Return of the King; How is Aragorn portrayed in the final movie?

weekend 100104-110104
Peter Jacksons 'The Lord of the Rings'; the trilogy as a whole

Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm ET (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 9:30am Sunday (09:30) AET]

Sunday Chat:
7:00 pm (19:00) CET
[also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 5:00am (05:00) Monday morning AET]

ET = Eastern Time, USA's East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian East Coast

Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at
halloffire@theonering.net