I’m fairly obsessed with The Hobbit’s Benedict Cumberbatch, I have been since I first saw him take on the role of Sherlock Holmes in BBC’s ‘Sherlock’. This is why it’s great to hear that Benedict will be awarded for his talent at the upcoming Britannia awards.

Benedict whose credits include ‘The Fifth Estate’, ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ and ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, as well as obviously ‘Sherlock’ and the upcoming ‘Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug’, where he’ll be playing the titular dragon antagonist Smaug, will be receiving the award for British Artist of the Year at the Britannia Awards in Beverley Hills.

The award itself is dedicated to paying tribute to the British artist who represents the best of UK talent, and looking at the year that Cumberbatch has had I’m hard pressed to think of someone more deserving. Previous winners of the prestigious award are Kate Winslet, Michael Sheen, Rachel Weisz, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Blunt and Tilda Swinton, which as you can see is a fairly impressive selection of names to be joining. It’s also nice to get another male winner to go with the fantastic actresses that have been honoured.

Also winning at the Britannia awards are George Clooney, who will receive the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film, Kathryn Bigelow, who will receive the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing and Sir Ben Kingsley will receive the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment.

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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]

The author’s reason? Spiders. Mirkwood. Beorn. Wood-elves. Lake-men. And Smaug.

No, seriously. “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is going to be the best part because hello, all the best stuff happens in it. “The Hobbit” Part Three-ie (out on December 17, 2014) is going to be the worst snooze cruise since Helm’s Deep. That’s because certain dragons are going to get whacked in the first of many hours and the rest is just going to be a big battle and then a long walk home.

Have a read of the rest and see whether you agree, or not.

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In this feature, Ringer Captain Salt assembles what we know already form various actor blog posts, video logs and magazine articles and tries to tie it all together.

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Analysing the role of The Necromancer in The Hobbit

By Ringer Captain Salt

The Dol Guldur storyline was only a minor portion of the first Hobbit film. Yet it set in motion things which will expand into a major story thread in The Desolation of Smaug after Gandalf leaves the company early on to deal with “some pressing business away south”.

Just how will the Necromancer story play out in the second film? It appears this depends on how many of the other story lines are tied into that which most serves as a direct prequel to The Lord of the Rings.

The widespread rise of evil

As Gandalf establishes in An Unexpected Journey, the rise of evil preceding The War of the Ring is not localized to Dol Guldur or Mirkwood; trolls and orcs on the move seem to spark concern that the watchful peace may be coming a close. Certainly, it seems that Azog is connected to the Necromancer, at the very least through his son/wretched offspring, Bolg. According to leaked Bridge Direct descriptions from last year:

It was said that Azog the Desecrator fell many years ago in the great battle between the Orcs and the Dwarves. But now he appears again at the top of a deadly horde of killer orcs. For Gandalf begins a race against time because he has to figure out the connection between the most dangerous orc commander and the growing evil, which takes shape in the ruins of the fortress of Dol Guldur. One thing is totally clear: no one will deter Azog from his intention to destroy Thorin Oakenshield’s companions to the last dwarf.

Bolg is the offspring of Azog the Desecrator — like his father, he is huge pale orc. He is the overseer in the dungeons of Dol Guldur — torturing is his hobby. He garnishes his armor with the bones and the blood of his victims. This husky Orc fears nothing and nobody — until he suddenly meets an unexpected opponent.

Azog — Sauron’s newest undead minion?

Azog the Defiler

Also as some have noted, during the final confrontation with the Gundabad Orcs Sting gleams brightly until Bilbo lands across the head of Azog’s warg, at which point the blade dims. Why? Because Sting recognizes that Azog is not a “living” Orc? And why is Bolg, himself a formidable Orc chieftain of the north in Tolkien’s writings, serving as Sauron’s interrogator? Does he owe the Dark Lord a debt for raising a slain Azog from the abyss?

Despite many fans’ probable preference that Azog and Smaug remain independent agents rather than thralls of Sauron, the Bridge Direct description would not mention a connection between Azog and Sauron if there were not one. Additionally, in An Unexpected Journey Gandalf makes mention that he fears “the enemy” — meaning Sauron — could use Smaug “to terrible effect”.

(As an aside, this actually ties closely with Gandalf’s thoughts on the importance of Thorin’s mission and the northern theater in Tolkien’s The Quest for Erebor as published in Unfinished Tales).

And keep in mind that even before he had signed on to the project, but apparently after he had read the then-in-progress scripts, Ian McKellen mentioned that Peter Jackson and Co. had been quite clever about tying the various elements in The Hobbit together. The implication is that we would get a more cohesive narrative than the seemingly largely unrelated linear plot-lines that played out separately in An Unexpected Journey.

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 could possibly occur that drives both men and women to the destroyed city? Surely it isn’t a flashback as the snow settling on the burnt stonework is clearly visible — and hence during the time the Company passes through Dale.

Could they be fleeing, exiles of sort — after Smaug’s attack? The man seems to be carrying a basket with him too…

For some reason, I keep thinking this is part of the third Film, possibly before the Battle of the Five Armies, which sees a skirmish between the Lake-towners and the Elves against the Goblins/Orcs — hence, why we see Gandalf, Legolas, Tauriel and Thranduil all in Dale (in the Vlog), seemingly fighting (but that could be part of the BOFA itself).

Then again, it still doesn’t explain what these citizens are doing so far away from home…

Plus, I’ve noticed that, when Luke Evans (at the end of the vlog) explains what happened to him on the first day back on set (and he almost falls in the water), he grabs hold of a man standing there with a basket — he looks very similar to the “dead” guy a few minutes before. There are some subtle differences between the two, but the resemblance is nonetheless uncanny…

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.

The New Zealand public has essentially lost access to Wellington’s Town Hall while the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra records the score for the second Hobbit movie.

The orchestra last month cancelled its Heights of Passion tour to free up time to record the score.

In a public notice today, Wellington City Council announced ”strict security” was in place at the Town Hall from now until the end of next month while the orchestra records the film score.

There will be no public access during this time, the notice said.

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There are some fabulous, exclusive pieces up for grabs – including some things which, usually, money can’t buy! Time is running out on some of our auctions too, so best check them out now. Here are just a couple that might tickle your fancy:

Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun Tolkien signed by Dwalin & Bifur

PICTURES OF AUTOGRAPHS ADDED

Autographed during 2013 DragonCon in Atlanta, GA by The Hobbit Dwarves Bifur (William Kircher) and Dwalin (Graham McTavish) in generous support of TORn’s Fundraiser. More pictures will be coming.

This is a brand new copy of a recent Tolkien publication, ‘The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun’, which was edited by Christopher Tolkien and published 2009. The hardback book is in excellent condition; there are some minor scuffs/creases to the paper sleeve, plus a slight sticky mark where it looks like a price label was removed off the back. Otherwise in perfect condition.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2009
By JRR Tolkien; edited Christopher Tolkien
ISBN: 978-0-547-27342-6

The winner may have to endure a bit of a delay in this UNIQUE bag’s shipment as it is still at DragonCon with our TORn reps. They still have a long journey home after the Convention.

Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun Tolkien signed by Dwalin & Bifur Auction

Autographed Official DragonCon Contest 1 Cert. by Bifur, Dwalin, Radagast

Autographed by 2 Dwarves and a Wizard; William Kircher (Bifur), Graham McTavish (Dwalin) and Sylvester McCoy (Radagast the Brown). This is a NEW and OFFICIAL 2013 DragonCon “Costume Contest Comedy Category” Winner’s Certificate [First Prize!]. They generously signed this certificate in support of TORn’s Fundraiser. Picture discoloration is due to lighting. Certificate color is off white as seen in picture of contestants on stage.

DragonCon’s Costuming Contest is a fashion show that focuses on the craftsmanship of the costumes created by Con-goers from all over the world. Hundreds of costumes are seen in the hallways, panels, and other competitions throughout DragonCon, but little attention was paid to the efforts taken to make these wearable works of art. For this reason, in 2006 the contest was created to acknowledge those efforts and abilities as opposed to just presentation skills. Each year, a panel of prestigious and professional judges in the costuming business host and judge the contest. One of the most exciting things for contestants is to receive recognition and an award for their own work from these judges.

The winner of this auction may have to endure a bit of a delay of shipment as it is still at DragonCon with our TORn reps. They still have a long journey home after the Convention.

Autographed Official DragonCon Contest 1 Cert. by Bifur, Dwalin, Radagast Auction

Not much that’s new, but it’s certainly more confirmation of divergences from Tolkien’s novel. If you’re trying to remain unaware of these little surprises, don’t read on — here be SPOILERS!

But if you like what you see, you can order your copy of the book from Amazon.

Bilbo’s travels with Thorin and the rest of The Company have taken him far from his home in The Shire. From towering mountains to cavernous depths, the heroes find themselves passing through some truly amazing places.

Beorn’s cabin

When the group are searching for somewhere to rest after their dangerous journey through the Misty Mountains, Gandalf leads them here. But after they are chased by a huge bear, Bilbo thinks that htey might have been safer if they’d stayed up a tree surrounded by Wargs!

However, the Shape-shifter Beorn reveals that he is the bear, and welcomes everyone into his home. They Company are able to rest here in peace before continuing their quest.

Mirkwood

When Gandalf heads south on a quest of his own, The Company are faced with travelling through this weird wood on their own. Blanketed in shadows and filled with decay and evil, Mirkwood has claimed the lives of many an unwary traveller. If the deadly waters of its dark rivers don’t claim you, then one of the horrible creatures lurking in the shadows surely will…

The Hall of the Elvenking

The fortress of Thranduil, the King of the Wood Elves. Thranduil sees Mirkwood as his private realm and has little patience for those who enter it without his premission — especially if they happen to be Dwarves. Built over the swift river that leads to the Long Lake, it is here Thorin and his companions are taken when they are captured by the Elves. Luckily for them, Bilbo has a trick or two up his sleeve.

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!

Here are the release dates as listed by region on the official website for The Hobbit:

North America:
USA — Dec 13

Europe:
Austria — Dec 13
Belguim — Dec 11
Croatia — Dec 12
Cyprus — Dec 13
Czech Republic — Dec 12
Estonia — Dec 13
Germany — Dec 12
Greece — Dec 12
Italy — Dec 12
Latvia — Dec 13
Lithuania — Dec 13
Holland/The Netherlands — Dec 11
Russia — Dec 19
Serbia & Montenegro — Dec 12
Slovakia — Dec 12
Slovenia — Dec 12
Spain — Dec 13
Switz-French — Dec 11
Switz-German — Dec 12
Turkey — Dec 13
Ukraine — Dec 19
United Kingdom — Dec 13

Asia-Pacific
Australia — Dec 26
Hong Kong — Dec 12
India — Dec 13
Indonesia — Dec 13
Japan — Feb 28
South Korea — Dec 12
Malaysia — Dec 12
New Zealand — Dec 12
Phillipines — Dec 12
Singapore — Dec 12
Taiwan — Dec 13
Thailand — Dec 12

Latin America & Carribiean
Argentina — Dec 12
Bolivia — Dec 12
Brazil — Dec 13
Chile — Dec 19
Colombia — Dec 25
Mexico — Dec 13
Panama — Dec 13
Peru — Dec 12
Uruguay — Dec 13
Venezuela — Dec 13

The Middle East & Africa
Egypt — Dec 13
Lebanon — Dec 12
South Africa — Dec 13
United Arab Emirates — Dec 12

And as something to share around to celebrate that there’s only 99 Days To Go, click the link below and check out the detail on this large close-up of the official Desolation of Smaug one-sheet. I really am starting to wonder whether Bilbo is actually on the ruins of Ravenhill after all.

If you like what we do, and would like to see your Tolkien community keep growing and growing, consider making a contribution to our Pledge Drive. Every bit helps defray our costs!