September 13, 2013 at 10:03 pm by Demosthenes
This weekend the Hall of Fire will be taking a zig-zagging from books to film as we examine one of the great unknowns of The Desolation of Smaug — Dol Guldur and the PJ plan.
Radagast: But what if it is a trap?
Gandalf: It is undoubtedly a trap.
Dol Guldur. What is the PJ plan? (more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
September 6, 2013 at 11:00 pm by Demosthenes

This Saturday (at 6pm ET (New York time)), Hall of Fire will return to our chapter-by-chapter read-through of The Lord of The rings, rejoining Frodo, Sam and Gollum as they enter The Dead Marshes.
“To do the job as you put it – what hope is there that we ever shall? And if we do, who knows what will come of that? If the One goes into the Fire, and we are at hand? I ask you, Sam, are we ever likely to need bread again? I think not. If we can nurse our limbs to bring us to Mount Doom, that is all we can do. More than I can, I begin to feel.”
(more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
August 30, 2013 at 8:30 pm by Demosthenes
This Saturday (at 6pm ET (New York time)) Hall of Fire will be discussing one of the great (and tragic) heroes of Middle-earth — Boromir the Brave.
‘The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they may be beaten down. Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth to victory!’ The Council of Elrond.
(more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
August 29, 2013 at 10:15 am by newsfrombree
Everything about TheOneRing.net is big.
Just look at some of these numbers.
33,467. News articles, spy reports and features published on the TORn front page since 2007 alone.
22,300. Spy photos, movie screencaps and fan images in the old TORN scrapbook, and the new one.
616,739. Posts from 9,981 TORnsibs on the “new” TORn gossamer forums since 2007.
700. Megabytes of plain text people have written in our Barliman’s chat since 1999. That’s several million lines of type from thousands of visitors.
These numbers are constantly growing. And it’s all from the passion and enthusiasm of the TORn community.
Your community is an enormous patchwork of brilliant, clever and Tolkien-literate people from all around the world who are passionate about Tolkien and love the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies.
And they love sharing that passion with each other — through stories, anecdotes, events, videos, music and fan art.
The TORn community is you
We don’t simply mean TORn staff. The community is you, the message board posters from the USA, Canada or France. It’s you, the chatroom regulars from Finland, the Netherlands or New Zealand. It’s you, the folks from Australia, Singapore and Brazil who participate in Hall of Fire and watch TORn Tuesday each week.
If you’ve ever sent in an article, submitted a photo or report, posted on our messageboards, visited our chat, or commented on our twitter, facebook or g+, you’re the reason TheOneRing.net is among the largest and most-respected pillars of the Tolkien community on the web.
Keeping all this afloat, though, takes as much money as it does love and passion.
For new servers. For software upgrades and social media integration apps. For web hosting bills.
If you’d like to make a Pledge to help TORn cover bills to help your community continue to grow, we’d be grateful and appreciative.
Just use the links below.
If you can’t, that’s ok! Keep on contributing to your community whichever way you can — through your thoughts, comments and recommending TheOneRing.net to your friends!
Make a Pledge today
General Pledge Pledge anywhere from $5 to $20!
Bronze Pledge Pledge $25. All Bronze Pledges are listed for one year on TheOneRing.net’s ‘The Tale of Honour’ web page.
Silver Pledge Pledge $50. All Silver Pledges are listed for one year on TheOneRing.net’s ‘The Tale of Honour’ web page and receive a TORn supporter t-shirt!
Gold Pledge Pledge $75. All Gold Pledges are listed for one year on TheOneRing.net’s ‘The Tale of Honour’ web page and receive a TORn supporter t-shirt and a commemorative pin!
Platinum Pledge Pledge $150. All Platinum Pledges are listed for one year on TheOneRing.net’s ‘The Tale of Honour’ web page and receive a TORn supporter t-shirt and a commemorative pin + MORE COOL STUFF!
Mithril Pledge Pledge $400. All Platinum Pledges are listed for one year on TheOneRing.net’s ‘The Tale of Honour’ web page and receive a TORn supporter t-shirt and a commemorative pin + SUPER COOL STUFF!
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, DragonCon, Events, Fans, Headlines, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Movie, Lord of the Rings, LotR Movies, Meet Ups, Miscellaneous, Original TORn, The Hobbit, TheOneRing.net Announcements, Tolkien
August 29, 2013 at 6:53 am by Garfeimao
Beginning last Saturday and running through to September 4, TheOneRing.net is hosting a Pledge Drive (see the banner at the top) as well as a bunch of auctions for some really cool memorabilia and collectibles.
The day-to-day operation of the website, and the events we host, require a lot more resources than when we first started nearly 15 years ago. We sometimes find it hard to ask our readers for the help we need to keep running, so we began discussing what it is that makes TheOneRing.net worth helping out. It started out as a search for the Top Ten Moments of TORn, but the list got so long because each staff member had their own idea of important moments in TORn history. Here, instead, is something more encompassing: Ten Ways TORn helps serve Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fandom (listed in no specific order).
And, if you enjoy what we do, consider a donation (no amount too small, because every bit does help!) to keep us running!
If you can’t, that’s fine as well — keep reading, commenting and contributing. Because TORn is as much you as it is us!
If you’ve ever sent in an article, submitted a photo or report, posted on our messageboards, visited our chat, or commented on our twitter, facebook or g+, you’re the reason TheOneRing.net is among the largest and most-respected pillars of the Tolkien community on the web.
(more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Cannes 2001, Casting Rumors, ComicCon, Conventions, Costuming, Crew News, Director Rumors, DragonCon, Events, Fans, Fellowship of the Ring, Film Screenings, Green Books, Hall of Fire, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Hobbit Movie Rumors, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lectures & Education, Locations Sets, Lord of the Rings, LotR Books, LotR Cast News, LotR Movies, Make the Hobbit Happen, Meet Ups, Movie Fellowship of the Ring, Movie Return of the King, Movie The Two Towers, MrCere in New Zealand, New Zealand, Old Cannes News, Old ComicCon News, Old DragonCon News, Old Main News, Old Oscar Party News, Old Spy Reports, Original TORn, Oscar Parties, Other Events, Other Merchandise, Other Tolkien books, Peter Jackson, PJ New Line, PJ's Other Films, Production, Return of the King, Rumors Spy News, Rumours Spy News, Studios, The Hobbit, The Two Towers, Tolkien, Tolkien Reading Day, Trailer, Wellington
August 23, 2013 at 11:37 pm by Demosthenes
This weekend we return to our regular Lord of the Rings chapter discussions in the Hall of Fire as we leap into Book Four of The Two Towers, focusing on the desperate situation of Frodo and Sam as they try to find some way off the sheer, broken slopes of Emyn Muil. Worse, they realise they have a stalker. (more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
August 16, 2013 at 8:05 am by Demosthenes
This weekend the Hall of Fire will be taking a detour into the Hobbit movie minefield as we tackle possibly the topic of the moment — the appearance and character of the shapeshifter Beorn.
Standing near was a huge man with a thick black beard and hair, and great bare arms and legs with knotted muscles. He was clothed in a tunic of wool down to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe. Queer Lodgings, The Hobbit.
(more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
August 10, 2013 at 3:57 am by Demosthenes
This weekend in the Hall of Fire, we will be discussing one of the great (and tragic) stories of Tolkien’s Legendarium, Akallabêth: The Downfall of Numenor.
A land was made for the Edain to dwell in, neither part of Middle-earth nor of Valinor, for it was sundered from either by a wide sea; yet it was nearer to Valinor. It was raised by Ossë out of the depths of the Great Water, and it was established by Aulë and enriched by Yavanna; and the Eldar brought thither flowers and fountains out of Tol Eressëa. Akallbeth, The Silmarillion.
(more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
August 2, 2013 at 4:43 am by Demosthenes
This weekend in the Hall of Fire, we’ll be chatting about the final chapter of Book III of The Two Towers.
‘Go to sleep!’ said Merry. ‘You’ll get information enough, sooner or later. My dear Pippin, no Took ever beat a Brandybuck for inquisitiveness; but is this the time, I ask you?’ (more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
July 27, 2013 at 9:50 am by Demosthenes
Last weekend in Hall of Fire we discussed the hero and the heroic in Lord of the Rings. The topic proved quite popular for everyone, so by request this weekend we’ll be honing in a little more to examine heroism among the Fellowship itself.
‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.
‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given, us. A Shadow of the Past, The Lord of the Rings.
(more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
July 19, 2013 at 11:26 pm by Demosthenes

This weekend, Hall of Fire we’ll be exploring the hero, and the heroic, in the Lord of the Rings.
I think the simple ‘rustic’ love of Sam and his Rosie (nowhere elaborated) is absolutely essential to the study of his (the chief hero’s) character, and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life (breathing, eating, working, begetting) and quests, sacrifice, causes, and the ‘longing for Elves’, and sheer beauty. Letter #131, Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.
(more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire
July 12, 2013 at 7:54 pm by Demosthenes

This weekend, Hall of Fire returns to The Lord of the Rings as we continue our chapter discussions of The Two Towers and journey with Gandalf, Aragorn, Theoden and his riders to the very door of Orthanc.
‘I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.’ He raised his hand and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice. ‘Saruman, your staff is broken.’ There was a crack and the staff split asunder in Saruman’s hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf’s feet.
Book III, Chapter X: The Voice of Saruman (more…)
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire