click on the images to view larger versions and don’t forget to say hi to PeckishOwl

Of course. we can’t come to the city that never sleeps and NOT throw a party!  So on Thursday 10th October we will be holding our annual ‘Ringers Take Manhattan’ event!  This year, we’ll be at a different venue – the charming Oak Cellar at Jake’s Dilemma, 430 Amsterdam Avenue (just down the road from where we were last year).  As ever, we’ll have a generous finger food buffet, and your ticket will also include your first drink and two tickets into our raffle for the evening.

You can buy tickets for this party here.  Tickets can also be bought on the door that night, but will be $5 more expensive then – so it pays to buy in advance!  We really hope you’ll join us – we look forward to seeing many of our fellow fans in NYC in October!

[Buy tickets to Ringers take Manhattan]

What started off as a friendly chat quickly devolved into an exposé… and an attack of a clone!

Kelvarhin: How do you run a news site for 5+ years when there is no news?

Xoanon: Ah, the salad days. That was quite fun for me, I had the run of the place! There was very little…or actually NO news, so there was absolutely no studio politics involved. I think I mainly ran stories about the cast, DVD releases, game news etc..

It was quite amazing to see how fast the old gang came back together once news on The Hobbit began to hit and was real. Now there are so many amazing new volunteers and hardworking staff from the old days I cannot keep count!

Kelvarhin: What event, experience or situation has given you the most long-term satisfaction from TheOneRing?

Xoanon: I think the Oscar parties were the most fun for me, even though I did very little to help organize it…I did think they were tent-pole experiences in my life. There was something quite magical about each of those events, it was really fun.

I must also include my trip to New Zealand and having lunch with Peter Jackson, that was a great time for my wife and I…trip of a lifetime.

The fact that the site is still around and is still very important to many people, that gives me the greatest satisfaction.

Kelvarhin: What other fandoms are you interested in?

Xoanon: Wow, that is a long list! I am, and always have been a life-long devotee of Doctor Who since the early days in the mid to late 90s and of course the re-launch.

I am a huge film fan, and love everything from westers to sci-fi and crime dramas. But as far as established fandom? Let’s see… Star Wars, Star Trek, Supernatural, Arrow, The Hunger Games Series, anything comic related, Hellboy, Watchmen, Sherlock (Elementary too). I am currently finishing up the entire Sherlock Holmes original stories…that book is a bible! 1100+ pages, super small font!

Kelvarhin: Do you have a phobia about anything?

Xoanon: Good one, I have a very common phobia of failure…I think many people do. I am not good with rejection either. Oh and vomit…omg.

But more seriously, I suffer from mild agora phobia and social anxiety disorder. I can sometimes find it quite hard to do the simple things like get a haircut or go out to dinner. I have panic attacks on occasion. A mix of medication and relaxation techniques help me through rough patches. I actually insist on working quite far from work…forces me to get ‘out there’

Kelvarhin: What does it take to get you on the dancefloor?

Xoanon:  A great pair of legs and some alcohol…next question

Kelvarhin:  When did you become a Dr Who fan? And what’s your opinion of the Sylvester McCoy years?

Xoanon: I’ve been a fan since I was about 9 or 10..so 1987 or 1988. I love Syl’s Doctor for several reasons, first, I met him and got his autograph (!!!), but also I do love the mystery they put into the last few seasons. If they had gone through the Cartmel storyline, which was latter adapted into books, it would have been awesome.

I think Doctor Who at that time suffered from a general lack of fresh blood, ideas, and infrastructure on the part of BBC Drama. It took them almost 20 years to get things on par with some of the better American channels.

Kelvarhin: Who in your opinion would win in a Leela vs Ace smackdown?

Xoanon: Ace would use Nitro-9…but Leela would have Janus thorns…so I’d call it a tie.

Kelvarhin: Demosthenes said you should tell the story of XoanonFlash!

Xoanon: Ah XoanonFlash! There should be a link to that somewhere, I’ll try to find it for you. Essentially XoanonFlash is one of my first attempts at flash animation. I used a photo of myself and made an animation of me dancing to ‘kung fu fighting’…there are hip thrusts and music involved…a good time was had by all.

Kelvarhin:  No need, we found it  Enjoy people Xoanon Flash! :D *warning if reading this at work, turn off your sound! *

Kelvarhin: Did you get the name Xoanon from the Dr. Who episode, The Face of Evil?

Xoanon: I did indeed! But not because I have an evil face…at least I hope not. WAY back when I wanted a ‘handle’ for myself, so I grabbed my trusty Doctor Who Encyclopaedia and chose a page at random. The first word I chose was ‘Ragnarok’, but I thought that might be too confusing..so I chose Xoanon….little did I know..

Kelvarhin: As you are a DW fan from way back, what, if anything, do you think of the new series?

Xoanon: Oh I love the new series, although every season has its highs and lows. My Doctor will always be Tom Baker, but of the new Doctors it is a tie between David and Matt (we’re on a first name basis here).

I do lament the worldwide phenomenon that it has become though…I sort of liked feeling like I was the only fan in the cosmos.

Kelvarhin: And of all the DW references, why choose Xoanon, the computer suffering a major identity crisis?

Xoanon: I know, right? I think it works out in the end, I am constantly of 2 (or 3) minds of everything. So perhaps it does reflect me..maybe I didn’t choose that name…maybe it chose me… Woah!

Kelvarhin: How did you come to know the other Founders?

Xoanon: I met Erica through ICQ, I think we began talking about books and our mutual interests. We both liked Kim Stanley Robinson’s ‘Mars’ series. We just starting chatting and got onto the discussion of LOTR and off we went.

Chris and Bill (Corvar) used to play MUDs together and were friends from that, one day Chris emailed us and offered to make a website for us, one better that the free-hosting site we had.

And voilà

Kelvarhin: How long did it take you to get TORn up and running having come up with the idea?

Xoanon: It was a working progression, like I mentioned above we had a green-themed site off of a free website company way back when (xoom.com or something?). When Chris approached us to make a new site we had to choose a domain and park it there. We emulated the guys at TheForce.net and chose TheOneRing.net. I can still recall Chris showing us some design mockups and getting everything working with a CMS (Content Management System) called…newsmaker? I think? This was pre WordPress days.

I think they are on TORN version 4 or 5.0 now..we’ve come so far

Kelvarhin: What does it feel like to be one of the founders of the worlds most popular Tolkien sites?

Xoanon: It is a great feeling to have that in your life, a good feeling to know that it brings joy to so many others.

Kelvarhin: How often do you browse the boards? Do you have a favourite board?

Xoanon: To be honest I haven’t spent time on the boards, or the site, for way too long now. With a demanding job and 5 year old son, things have certainly changed in my life. I don’t know how people like Chris (2 kids) and Erica (1 kid) can do it, plus all the other amazing volunteers who have a MUCH fuller plate than me, manage to keep the site running. I wish I could spend more time on it, or just visit the boards more often than I do.

Kelvarhin: What are your favourite spots in the world?

Xoanon: Certainly New Zealand, my wife and I both felt very much at ‘home’ there, we would move there if it wasn’t too far away from our families. I love my city of Montreal, it means the world to me. I often think of places I would love to visit, Vietnam, Egypt, Prague, Moscow.

Kelvarhin: How were you first introduced to Tolkien, and how did this influence your life, in the days before TORn?

Xoanon: I was given the books as a Christmas gift when I was…16? 17? Maybe? I didn’t pick them up until I had a class in college about Tolkien and his books, so naturally I raced through them and fell in love. I think one of the best experiences I had was to begin LOTR in the fall and read it though the changes of season..I felt almost part of journey with Frodo and Sam.

The key takeaways that I bring into my life from Tolkien are the themes of responsibility and duty. I truly love Sam Gamgee, and think that without his devotion to Frodo the quest would have failed from day 1. Sam felt a duty and obligation to follow Frodo into the very heart of Mount Doom, and I think we can all take a little lead from Sam when it comes to our own responsibilities and duties, especially difficult ones.

Kelvarhin: What was your favourite cartoon when you were a fledgling, and is it still your favourite?

Xoanon: Wow, change of tune from the previous answer! I was a child of the 70’s and 80’s so growing up we watched The Flintstones, GI Joe, Transformers and He-Man, those are still my favourite to this day. I actually got my son to watch some He-Man..he was all into it!

Kelvarhin: What kind of music do you listen to?

Xoanon: Good question! I am an AVID lover of music, mind you I think Bill (Corvar) has one up on me, he is always visiting bars and small clubs listening to these really obscure bands.

I am a lover of almost all types of music, and my ipod has 1200 of the most diverse music you could imagine. Hip Cop, Celtic, Movie Scores, Rock, Classic Rock, Instrumental, you name it!

Thank you Xo, for taking the time to talk to us this month.

As always a big thank you to all our message board regulars, DanielLB, Ataahua, Brethil, elaen32,  Ziggy Stardust, dernwyn, grammaboodawg and zarabia, and Staffers, Demosthenes, MrCere and Justin for our questions this month.

If you would like to ask any questions yourself, just head over to our Message Boards, the sign up process is pretty painless. A lead post for questions is made at the beginning of each month on the Main board, if you don’t want to sign up to the boards just email me your questions at kelvarhin@theonering.net.

Till next time from TORn’s resident Tiger.

Kelvarhin

Join us by the hearth and enjoy!

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net
One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors. 

3 Trolls in 6 (Movie-verse)

by: The Grey Elf

#1
A stooped trio peered into a kettle
Wiped clean from licks many and spittle
“It’s empty,” observed tall one-ton
“So’s yer ‘ead” said Bert Sr.’s son
A grocery list indeed they must settle….

#2
Scabby carrion and pickled summer moss
Fungal goo drops, very pure, plus vermin dross
From rabid jaws, fresh squeezed slaver
For a blood sauce, marrow of cadaver
And gray mouse tails so they can thoroughly floss.

#3
“Me apron’s on, Tom, get yer to market”
“Kindlin’s cold, Bill, grab a flint and spark it”
“‘Where’s me purse?” cried simple Tom
Upon his face, Bert slaps a palm,
“T’were written out!” and clouts his slow target.

#4
By and by, Bill raised up from his latrine
“Did yer wash yer hands? Are they squeaky clean?”
“Did I wha’?” asked wafty Bill
“Good lad! Yer can have yer fill.”
See, Bert wasn’t all couth-less and mean.

#5
A fetid soup sat reeking before them
“Time fer grace,” Bert said, discharging some phlegm
“Give us gold, give us grog,
“Give us grub and a mad dog ” –
“Now fall in, lads, let us swill to the brim.”

#6
With bellies bulbous, three trolls digested
Their pastime was now closely contested
“Oi’d like a tale!”, “‘Oi’d like a smoke!!”
Tom piped, ” ‘ow ’bout karaōke!!!”
An all-out brawl proved what answer bested.

~~~~~

THE ELVES LAMENT

by: RangerLady23

[1st Age]

This land is beautiful
so untamed
so many lands
that have no names.
Trees to plant
and grass to grow
and other things
we’ll never know.
Songs to write
like none before
that shall be sung
forever more.
Birds and beasts
to fill the land
things to awaken
with a gentle hand.
Elven kind
so young and brave
have much to learn
but many days.
And so we danced
content with peace
knowing not
fear or grief.
The age’s end
was drawing near
we felt that good
was always here.
First age is past
and next begun
but two will be
as good as one.
Or so we thought
but we were wrong
our downfall’s sung
in many songs.

[2nd Age]

The Elves were blind
he tricked us all
and now we fear
the world shall fall.
What have we done?
Why did we trust?
His kindly words
have turned to dust.
His evil ways
were always set
and we have naught
except regret.
Seven rings
he has them all
nine for Men
obey his call.
The Elven three
are hidden well
and not an Elven
soul will tell.
The One is His
and His alone
One for the Dark Lord
on His Dark Throne.
Another age
is passing by
and very soon
the Elves will fly.
To the Havens
then set sail
and trees will die
that once were hale.
But ere we sail
to peace and calm
we’ll help the Men
to right our wrongs.

[3rd Age]

The One is lost
or so it seems
“It’s mine! “It’s mine!”
we hear him scream.
Searching near
and off away
it will return
to him one day.
Our days grow thin
our glory fades
our happiness
will pass away.
Lothlorien
and Rivendell
Mirkwood fair
but also fell.
All will pass
when we are gone
but be remembered
in our songs.
This age will fade
and fourth draw near
a King will come
in battle gear.
This age for Men
and not for Elves
we’ve saved the land
but not ourselves.
The Three are safe
and so we planned
their powers faded
from our hands.
we give our blessings
to mankind
and hope that they
will someday find.
The beauty of
this Middle-earth
the living things
and all their worth.
To the Havens
we go in haste
but do not weep
this is our fate.
So here at last
we say fare well
to Lorien
and Rivendell.

~~~~~

Son of Gondor

by: Shannon C

Son of the steward of the white city,
eldest of his father’s heirs
warrior and defender
protector of Gondor

Marshaling his garrisons
keeping Mordor’s onslaughts at bay
courage unequaled
strength to fend off the shadow

Mighty was he in strength and stature
tall and grim
the blood of Númenor ran in his veins
he bore a horn made from that of a wild ox

United with other free peoples of Middle-earth
on a quest to oppose the enemy
to hinder the ever-growing malice
he set out from the land of Imladris with eight others

Long and terrible their quest seemed
defeated by cruel Caradhras
the fall of Mithrandir in the Mines of Moria
the Orcs pursuing their company

Upon Amon Hen his will was corrupted
drawn by lust for the One Ring
seeking to use it’s power to protect the people of his city
thus it was that the Ring corrupted Boromir son of the lord Denethor

He endeavored to seize the Ring from the halfling Frodo
to snatch that which would give him power
he attempted to undo what the council at Imladris decided
he tried to take the Ring from the ring-bearer

His lust to save Minas Tirith was too great
and the Ring’s power made his lust grow
on Amon Hen he faltered
the halfling escaped his grasp

The revelation of his great mistake came ere the hour of his death
he could not find the halfling and was told to look after the halfling’s kinsmen, Meriadoc and Peregrin
upon the struggle to help the halflings, the enemy’s forces were on the move
they reached Amon Hen
they slew the mighty warrior

Upon the great ox horn he blew mightily
alas for he was not in the boundaries of his homeland,
no help came
he fended his companions as long as he could
but at last he fell
pierced with many arrows
wounded many a time
in a valiant attempt for redemption,
the great son of Gondor fell

His time in the world was ended
upon his death bed, he received redemption from Aragorn, one of his companions,
and thus did Boromir depart from Middle-earth

There was a spike of excitement on The Hobbit Discussion Board when some spoilers were found in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Annual.  Come on in and get spoiled right here.

As we are always inspired by the music of Howard Shore, the discussion on The Hobbit Board turned to sharing favorite musical moments in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  Share your favorite moments here.

You should know that those of us at TORn really do have other interests.  That was displayed most enthusiastically when the Off Topic Discussion Board wondered:  “So how do you feel about Marvel movies?”  You can dive into the fun right here.

There was quite a milestone on the Message Boards when we reached 10,000 registered members!  That’s a LOT of people doing a LOT of discussing… and there’s always so much more to talk about!!

We’ll share more topics next week and hope you join in on the conversations!  Don’t forget, TheOneRing.net’s Message Boards NOW have over 10,000 registered fans, just like you.  Let your voice be heard!!

Gandalf & Saruman at SLCC 2013

SALT LAKE CITY — Once scheduled for a smaller venue in the suburbs, the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con filled Utah’s capital city’s largest convention venue and had it bursting at the seams Saturday. For a time the hundreds waiting outside were not allowed to enter except at a 1-out-1-in rate. Word on the dealer’s floor said it was because the fire marshal closed the space but that rumor was never confirmed.

Reports in the media called the event “record setting” for a first-year convention, and that is possibly true, but such stats aren’t readily available. In any case, it was a massive event with celebrities that included William Kircher (Bifur) and Manu Bennett (Azog) and other pop-culture icons like William Shatner and Adam West.

Azog at Weta booth, Salt Lake Comic Con 2013

TheOneRing.net was part of the fun as well, with staffer (and this writer) Larry D. Curtis (MrCere) attending with the show in his (my) hometown. the SLComic Con invited TORn to present a panel about Smaug and serve on other panels as well, with topics including Fantasy Films, all things Tolkien, Geek Culture and film school.

Bennett and Kircher were kind enough to drop by TheOneRing panel that also included author and TORn friend Paul Genesse. He helped moderate the panel and showed incredible enthusiasm for the material.

TheOneRing also managed a booth on the at time very crowded floor supported by incredible friends at Badali Jewelry and Weta Workshop making its first U.S. appearance outside of the San Diego Comic Con. TORn helped back in a small way to staff the Weta booth and send those with questions about where to purchase The One Ring to Badali’s very nearby booth. Artist David Powell was also kind enough to sign posters of his art for fans.

The Salt Palace Convention Center can be expanded and the SLCC will return next year. TheOneRing.net hopes to be part of the show. Thanks to Dan McBride and Blonde Ninja for their support of the TORn booth. Thanks also to the many financial supports at the event and to Salt Lake Comic Con for letting us be a part of the show. If you attended and would like TORn to return, you can use the contact info here to let them know.

If anybody has images of Bennett and Kircher attending the TORn panel, please send them in! We were busy having a panel and didn’t get any photos.

What Smaug might look like: A concept

By: Manuel Ferreira

I wanted to make an animation starring Smaug which harmonises between Peter Jackson’s films and my own imagination. But for that I needed references. Right now, we don’t have many, but the ones we have are enough for a concept – a concept that I wanted to share with you!

With The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug trailer, we got a clear picture of Smaug’s muzzle and eyes. In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, we saw Smaug diving into Erebor’s treasure, and although we cannot see Smaug himself, we do see his horns covered in gold. Assuming that Smaug’s look won’t change between the films, we know that he has four horns in each side of his head and one spike in the middle. Joining the horns to the muzzle we saw in the trailer gives us an idea of what his entire head would be like. I drew them together but took some precautions: Smaug was diving so his horns got ‘’stretched’’ and blurry during the picture (after all, he was at movement) so I gave them a shape. For his neck, I simply followed the spikes assuming they’re in some sort of sequence.

For the side of his face, I did the same thing, only picturing the horns side on.

Another body part of Smaug that we clearly see is his tail. It’s visible when he breaks the gates of Erebor, and one feature that caught my attention was that the tail is forked.

There are almost no images of Smaug’s body, but we can (just) see the proportions of his wings, neck and tail with his head. Mixing that with elements of the common adaptations of Smaug with a realistic tone gives us a really cool dragon. As for the color, I personally think that he is a really dark red with purple/dark tone, and exposing the color of the trailer’s Smaug to daylight, my thoughts were confirmed. This is a concept of what we can expect for the next films, but I honestly hope that PJ’s Smaug, is way cooler than mine!

For my animation I added Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice to this Smaug. You can see it here:

About the Author

Hi, my name is Manuel Ferreira, I’m 13 years old and live in Portugal. I’m a recent Tolkien fan, and discovered Middle-Earth trough Peter Jackson last year. Since then, I’ve started to read J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy and basically became a die-hard fan. Middle-Earth is currently my inspiration for my draws and videos.

Kumbuya connects like-minded individuals through common interests.  Join communities to share content and buy and sell products.  On Kumbuya, users join and create themed communities. Within each community, members connect over the things they love by posting topic-related media, comments, and user-generated content. Because communities are curated by the most enthusiastic fans, members get to engage in a beautiful medium that caters directly to their interests.

You may wonder if there is a community of Tolkien fans already on Kumbuya. The answer is Yes! In fact, it is run by TheOneRing.net’s own Quickbeam, aka Clifford Broadway. You can see that community right here. [Tolkien Community on Kumbuya]

TheOneRing.net would like to thank Kumbuya for their generous support and we are glad to include their logo as a corporate sponsor on our ‘Tale of Honour’ page for 2013/2014.

Did you want to support our pledge drive? Check out The Tale of Honour to see how you can show your support for TheOneRing.net and keep us online for years to come! [ The Tale of Honour]

• Contest is open to individuals worldwide, age 13 and up at the time of entry.
• To avoid duplicate submissions, please include your name and location on all entries.
• To qualify, submissions must be a minimum of 500 words and maximum of 2000 words, feature characters from The Hobbit and be in the style of the author/genre for that month’s contest. 
• All submissions should be emailed to mailto: rewrite_tolkien_contest@theonering.net with the entry in the body of the email.  No attachments.
• No posting your entry on the message boards or TORn’s Facebook page.
• No profanity. We realize that some authors’ styles require it, so if you MUST use profanity, please censor it with asterisks.
• By submitting, you are giving TORn permission to reproduce your entry on our website or other formats (Twitter, Facebook, etc…)
• You may submit as many entries as you want, but do not submit the same entry more than once.
• Contestants are only eligible to win once in a 12 month period.
• Entries that do not follow these submission guidelines will not be considered for the contest.

#1.Sustainable Woodland Home in West Wales

Simon Dale of Wales envisioned a sustainable woodland home in a hill on the countryside, which may be considered “cartoony” enough to match the small hobbit homes from the Lord of the Rings. The project is daring, highly practical and it only cost its owner £3,000 to build. A nice way to escape the hassle of monthly energy bills, wouldn’t you agree?

[Read More]

If you enjoy the work we do here at TheOneRing.net, and would like to see your Tolkien community keep on growing and growing, please consider making a pledge. Time is fast running out to join the Tale of Honour — there’s only a day or so left on our Pledge Drive!