New Tolkien’s Middle-earth history on Facebook timeline

April 2nd, 2012 by MrCere | No Comments »

One of our Facebook friends has developed a fantastic new use for the timeline feature of the site. New TheOneRing.net contributor Irfon put together a broad outline of many of the works of Middle-earth. In his own words:
In 1937, The Hobbit was published, which introduced us to Middle-earth. Since then there’s been many books, films, games etc. set in Middle-earth. In this page we take you on an journey which takes us as far back as 1892 in the History of Middle-earth.
You can like the new Faceook page to see how it works and view many of the interpretations of Middle-earth in things like games. It may also spark a lot of creative possibilities for a way to put lives, history and works into an interactive timeline. Thanks Irfon!

Elladan and Elrohir are in!?!

April 1st, 2012 by Garfeimao | No Comments »

This story was one of TheOneRing.net’s April Fool Jokes for 2012. Thank you for participating!

With the 3rd block of filming beginning in earnest this weekend, there is some surprise casting news filtering it’s way back to us. Back in December when the Trailer first appeared, TORn did a frame by frame analysis, and one of the little tidbits we identified was the Elves at Rivendell and what looks to be Elrond’s twin sons. See what was written on  Page 7 of the trailer analysis.  Word now comes to us that not only are Elladan and Elrohir in the films, but they are being played by James and Oliver Phelps, famous for portraying the Weasley Twins, which leads us to believe their roles will not just be minor set dressing. Unless, of course, this is just a bit of stunt casting, but PJ doesn’t seem overly prone to that. The nice thing about this move is that there will be real twins, two separate actors, rather than the old trick of hiring one actor and then using FX to duplicate the person. The Hobbit production will have no shortage of multiple shots for every scene with all the scale doubles they have to deal with, but having two separate actors in the roles allows for the bigger action sequences to be done and not having to worry about FX. But does that mean that the Elves of Rivendell will play a bigger part in The Hobbit? That is still one of the big questions, what with the White Council expansion and all. Stay tuned as TORn tries to sift through these snippets of news to get at the nuggets of new details.

Smaug the Golden?

March 31st, 2012 by Earl | No Comments »

Remember The Hobbit production vlog #2 that came out back in July 2011?

Well, we’ve watched it again (and recommend you do too), especially the bit between 2:05 and 2:25, where it isn’t hard to spot Peter Jackson and his crew wearing a “200 Days To Go” sweatshirt. What is hard to spot though is the logo on the front of that sweatshirt… until now.

Our Dwarves at TORn who spend their time mining the interwebs for gems of information came across an image of the hoodie that reveals the logo is none other than Smaug the Golden.

Our staffers then got down to discussing it, and some said Yes, and some said No. Some said it couldn’t be the real design for Smaug, and some said it only offered clues to what the real Smaug will look like. One staffer called Greendragon was (aptly!) drawn to this image more than the others and said it looked very much like “a John Howe Smaug“. Finally, the end of it was to put the image out for your consideration and see what you thought of it.

So, what do you think? Real or not? Mildly interesting or surprisingly faithful? Sound off on our message boards.

15K tweeters follow TORn, t-shirt follows

March 28th, 2012 by MrCere | No Comments »

TheOneRing.net reached a milestone yesterday when the 15,000th soul signed up to follow the team on Twitter. To celebrate the mark, TheOneRing.net is sending that person a shirt from the deep Dwarven mines where the website is headquartered. TORn promoted the offer on the official account with 14,999 already tagging along but warned that the only shirts currently available were small. Not only does the winner wear a small shirt, it says in her Twitter profile that she is obsessed with shirts! And it turns out she uses the our homepage regularly The website you are currently reading, Founded in 1999 by a group of like-minded Tolkien fans, carries the moniker “Forged by and for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien,” which remains true of the all-volunteer staff and not-for-profit site. Here we have a thriving message board and live chat communities and the daily news. You can also participate and support us on Facebook with over 50,000 members or on the aforementioned Twitter account. And as always, you can always send news tips to Spymaster@TheOneRing.net. Look for us at conventions around the U.S. including C2E2 in Chicago in April and the San Diego Comic-Con in July. And of course, we have big things planned for 2012 and 2013 as we look forward to the big-screen adaptation of The Hobbit, a book that we celebrating in its 75th year of publication (#Hobbit on Twitter!) We would be remiss not to thank the other 14,999 Twitter supporters and the legion of readers and friends (Facebook and otherwise) who have bolstered the community since 1999. Thanks!

TORn TUESDAY Reveals Details & Secrets of PJ’s Video Diary!

March 27th, 2012 by Quickbeam | No Comments »

Join us LIVE at 5pm PDT tonight as TORn TUESDAY host Clifford Broadway, aka Quickbeam, and producer Justin Sewell join forces to explore in-depth the (mostly) revealing video production diaries that have been posted by Peter Jackson as THE HOBBIT continues apace! There’s more than meets the eye as we inspect freeze frames and see the nitty-gritty of what PJ is up to! Today’s live webcast launches at 5:00pm PDT — There’s a built-in Barliman’s chat room or come in via Skype in TheOneRing.net’s Stickam page. Check out the broadcast in our LIVE Event section right here every week! [LIVE Event Area] (See All Times)

Handicapping round 2 of Middle-earth March Madness

March 25th, 2012 by Garfeimao | No Comments »

With just one day left in the second round of our Middle-earth March Madness, it is time to summarize the competition and do a little cheerleading for the characters.

The first match up in the Rankin/Bass division is between Gandalf (1) and Feanor (4) and is running extremely close. You best get your votes in, this one could go either way. The second match up in the Rankin/Bass division is Galadriel (2) versus Smaug (6). Again, this one is extremely close, will it be the Lady of the Golden Wood, or Smaug the Golden, their fate is in your hands, so vote now.

In the Ralph Bakshi division, the first match up is between Bilbo (1) and Gollum (4). Bilbo has a little lead, but it is not to say Gollum couldn’t sneak up and take this contest, so get your votes out. The second match up in this division has Thorin (3) up against Aragorn (2) and it appears at the moment the current lead hero is besting the previous lead hero, so pick your favorite hero and vote, vote, vote.

Checking in on the Tolkien Family Division, Legolas (1) is taking on Pippin (4) and as you might expect, the Elf Prince has a comfortable lead. Pippin fans, where are you? The other contest in this division pits Faramir (3) against Frodo (2). Currently, the Gondorian heir to the Stewardship who could not be swayed by the ring is beating the Ringbearer, please vote for your favorite in this contest.

And finally, in the Peter Jackson division, Glorfindel (1) is up against Merry (5) and the Elf lord is handily beating out the Esquire of Rohan. Make sure this one ends the way you want it, so vote now to ensure your favorite wins. And the last contest is between Samwise (2) and Boromir (3) with Samwise beating out everyone’s favorite Son of Gondor. How will it all end, only you can determine that by voting.

Middle-earth March Madness second round voting

Celebrate Tolkien Reading today by, uh, reading!

March 25th, 2012 by MrCere | No Comments »

Join TheOneRing and the Tolkien Society, who started the event, by celebrating Tolkien Reading Day! Held annually since 2003, it is meant to encourage reading and is a great day to dust off a copy of one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s many works and dig in. (It also marks the downfall of Barad-dûr and the passing of Sauron, but that happened long before 2003.) Many schools mark the day with an in-class read, but since this year it falls on a Sunday, parents will be in charge of helping children celebrate but reading to pets, the infirm or yourself is also more than acceptable. Enjoy!

Updates on The Hobbit pub issue

March 15th, 2012 by Garfeimao | No Comments »

Since the news of problems for the long standing The Hobbit pub in Southampton surfaced a few days ago, many fans have jumped onboard to support the pub, including a few involved in the current movie production. Stephen Fry pretty much brought the story to everyone’s attention a few days back, and now Sir Ian McKellen is adding his support. You can read his reaction on his Blog.

*Breaking News*

And just as details of this latest news were coming in, reports now appear that might indicate a solution is on the horizon. You can read details at the Daily Echo. They will be updating that blog shortly with reaction from locals, so raise a pint everyone and keep your Hobbity fingers crossed this hiccup is resolved.

The Hobbit to be published in Irish

March 8th, 2012 by greendragon | No Comments »

Not quite in time for St Patrick’s Day, but shortly thereafter, fans will at last be able to read an Irish language version of The Hobbit. The book has been translated into Gaelic by Nicholas Williams, and will be published by Evertype on March 25th. More details here. Thanks to ringerspy Riccardo for the news.  Middle Earth go Bragh!

A Royal Tolkien reading in Denmark

March 7th, 2012 by MrCere | No Comments »

Bilbo and Smaug

Tolkien Reading Day in LA

March 5th, 2012 by newsfrombree | No Comments »

Tolkien Forever will hold our annual Reading Day on March 24, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., at the Cat and Fiddle, 6530 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles. Since 2012 marks the 75th year since the publication of “The Hobbit” and will also see the release of Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”, it is also not unexpected that the theme of Reading Day 2012 will be “The Hobbit”.

Editors note: The image links to a High-Res version, feel free to print and share with other fans.

Benedict Cumberbatch talks Voice Work and Mo-Cap for Smaug, Necromancer

March 1st, 2012 by Earl | Source: MTV | Discuss | | No Comments »

Speaking with MTV about working with Peter Jackson on The Hobbit, actor Benedict Cumberbatch (who’s been cast in the role of both Smaug and The Necromancer) dished a bit about the work he’s done thus far on the films.

Excerpts follow:

I was in isolation with [Peter Jackson] and this incredible tag team. And at the very cool place with that technology doing mo-cap for two characters, Smaug the dragon and another character, which will remain nameless, and it was an awful lot of fun.

I spent a lot of time recording voice as well as doing movements. So, it was sort of freeing; it was fun. It was like playing a game. It’s going to be an amazing film; it’s going to be a real treat.

Catch the entire interview over at MTV. Many thanks to message board member f00 for the heads-up!

Discuss »

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