As part of its “Clash of the Gods” series, the History Channel is airing an episode tonight on what it calls “The greatest myth of modern times:” J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Similar to the other episodes in the series, this episode features an impressive array of experts on Tolkien and mythology, including Michael Drout (Wheaton College), Corey Olsen (Washington College), John Davenport (Fordham University) and many others. Readers of Tolkien’s complete mythology will be delighted that the episode branches out from the realm of The Lord of the Rings into some of the myths and legends of The Silmarillion. But beware! If you haven’t read The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy yet, major plot points are revealed!
Thanks to our friend Corey Olsen at The Tolkien Professor for alerting us that The History Channel will air an episode on J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings as part of its “Clash of the Gods” series. Corey and Michael Drout are among Tolkien scholars who are interviewed as part of the program. The episode airs at 10:00 p.m. EST, Monday, October 5 and again at 2:00 a.m. EST on Tuesday, October 6. You can see The History Channel’s schedule here and check out more about the series at the production company’s site, kpitv.com.
On Oct. 9 and 10, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring hits Radio City Music Hall in a multimedia extravaganza. Howard Shore’s Oscar-winning score will be performed synchronized with the hit film, showcased on a 60-foot screen. Conductor Ludwig Wicki will oversee 300 musicians that include the 21st Century Orchestra, which specializes in film music, The Collegiate Chorale, renowned soprano Kaitlyn Lusk and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The epic-sized event neatly dovetails with this fall’s release of Music of The Lord of the Rings Films, a book by musicologist Doug Adams. More..
The Lord of the Rings Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore had no trouble conjuring up music for great halls, evil times, or any of the scenes depicted in Peter Jackson’s epic adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s three novels about the great war for the “one ring to rule them all.” More..
From Geek Dad Matt Blum on Wired.com: Some questions have such clear answers that you know your answer the moment you hear or read it. These are of the “Who was the better James Bond: Connery or Dalton?” sort. You might even blink a few times to make sure you read the question correctly. This is not what the Great Geek Debates are all about. They are about the deep, soul-searching, tough questions — not quite Sophie’s Choice-tough, but nearly so. They challenge you to determine, once and for all, what kind of geek you truly are. More..
We have been sitting on some spectacular news that we can finally share with the world! The Literary manuscripts from Marquette University’s renowned J.R.R. Tolkien Collection, the Holy Grail of Tolkien artifacts, will be on display in New York City to coincide exactly with the “Fellowship of the Ring,” screening and concert at Radio City Music Hall on October 9 and 10. There are other Middle-earth themed programming events planned in Midtown with more details to come.
The exhibit, “The Beginnings of a Masterpiece: Original Manuscripts from The Fellowship of the Ring,” will be held at Fordham’s Gerald M. Quinn Library at Lincoln Center, located conveniently close to the history Radio City location, October 5 through November 19. Read the rest of this entry »
Fantasy Flight Games’ new boardgame, ‘Middle-earth Quest‘ is now shipping. The FFG web site has a PDF of the rulebook and a QuickTime trailer movie. This looks to be an interesting offering, not as heavy as the FFG ‘War of the Ring’ game, but certainly more complex than the Knizia ‘Lord of the Rings’ co-operative boardgame. [Trailer] [PDF]
The time period is sometime before the main events of LotR, with Sauron extending his power from Mordor; one player portrays Sauron, with up to three opponents portraying heroes who try to hinder his plans. The heroes win or lose against Sauron as a group.
Hopefully, when I have actually played the game, I will report on it more informatively. [Middle-earth Quest]
The Three Cups Hotel may become two flats if developers in the U.K. get their way. Standing in the way is a 10-year-old boy, Jeremy Irons and a nation of Tolkienites waiting to hear the news. Thanks to diedye for finding this and sharing it on our message boards. The hotel in Lyme Regis, Dorset, is derelict but the location where J.R.R. Tolkien spent time and sketched and is also famous for the film “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” and has hosted the likes of Jane Austen, Alfred Tennyson and Dwight D. Eisenhower. You can read the full story here. Any TORn readers ready to leap into the hotel business? Rally the troops in the U.K!
From Amazon.com Blogs: The Author of the Century, of course, needs no help from anyone (least of all a speck like me). No force on earth could undermine either the juggernaut implacability of his sales, nor the world-historic scale of his influence, nor the truly enormous weight of his achievement. The man puts the ‘epic’ in ‘epic win’. However–or, more accurately, because of that–every few years, certain as tides, someone will write a splenetic screed against the Professor, explaining why he’s the devil/ worst things to happen to fantasy/voice of reaction/zomg most boring writer EVER /etc. The Oedipal Resentment motivating many of these attacks may be trivially obvious, especially in those from within fantastic fiction, but it doesn’t follow that the substance of all the criticism is baseless. There are perfectly reasonable arguments to be had about the impact, nature, scale and success of Tolkien’s work. China Mieville Talks Tolkien
As part of its “Clash of the Gods” series, the History Channel is airing an episode tonight on what it calls “The greatest myth of modern times:” J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Similar to the other episodes in the series, this episode features an impressive array of experts on Tolkien and mythology, including Michael Drout (Wheaton College), Corey Olsen (Washington College), John Davenport (Fordham University) and many others. Readers of Tolkien’s complete mythology will be delighted that the episode branches out from the realm of The Lord of the Rings into some of the myths and legends of The Silmarillion. But beware! If you haven’t read The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy yet, major plot points are revealed!
The Three Cups Hotel may become two flats if developers in the U.K. get their way. Standing in the way is a 10-year-old boy, Jeremy Irons and a nation of Tolkienites waiting to hear the news. Thanks to diedye for finding this and sharing it on our message boards. The hotel in Lyme Regis, Dorset, is derelict but the location where J.R.R. Tolkien spent time and sketched and is also famous for the film “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” and has hosted the likes of Jane Austen, Alfred Tennyson and Dwight D. Eisenhower. You can read the full story 
