We were thrilled that our friends at Weta Workshop also sent us the stunning Coronation Arwen Classic Series to review. (You can watch the video review of the King Aragorn Classic Series statue here.) This is the version of Arwen we see at Aragorn’s crowning achievement at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This, in my view, is the best version of Arwen we’ve ever gotten; and I think is a must for any collection looking to have at least one of every character. The details, likeness, and paint are all really well done. Fans can add Arwen right now for $399 USD; and she also gets free shipping.
Our friends at Weta Workshop have sent us the amazing looking King Aragorn Classic Series statue to review here at TheOneRing.net. This version of Aragorn captures him as he takes the crown of Gondor, becoming King Elessar, at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. For me it is without a doubt one of the best versions of this character we’ve gotten from Weta. The Classic Series is a fantastic series of statues that really highlight each character in classic poses, allowing the character to really shine. I would highly encourage anyone to get this right now – for the price of $399 USD with free shipping.
With thousands of votes over all the pairings, Round One of Middle-earth March Madness 2025: The Art of Middle-earth is done; and half the wondrous works of art have been eliminated. If you joined us for any of our livestreams, you’ll know how tricky those choices were; and from here on, it only gets tougher! Voting is open now for Round Two!
Round One saw some VERY close battles – and indeed, few works won by really wide margins. In the ‘Landscapes’ bracket, Mary Fairburn’s Gandalf on the Tower of Orthanc beat Federico Cimini’s Rhosgobel by less than 1% of votes cast! That same bracket, however, saw one of the biggest victories: Alan Lee’s Edoras took 86% of votes, to defeat Paul Gregory’s Caradhras – a beautiful work which might well have made it through to Round Two, had we not set it up with such a challenging opening round battle!
Edoras by Alan Lee
Check out the bracket now, to see which pieces made it through. Then we hope you may linger a while, spending some time with the 32 remaining pieces, before you place your next votes.
How you choose is up to you! How you vote is explained below:
How does it work, you ask? Simple! Click on the button below. This will take you to the voting site, where you can view the entire bracket, and also view individual works in all their glory (and details of the artist). Place your votes for Round Two!
You have until the end of the day Wednesday March 26th to vote in Round Two; on Thursday 27th we’ll open voting for Round Three! We’ll have more livestream discussions of the featured art – and look out for some very special guests coming up, as well as some giveaways! Join us on Tuesday 25th for TORn Tuesday where Jerry VanderStelt will be our guest, to discuss his piece in the ‘Montages’ bracket, The Fellowship of the Ring. We hope to see you then – perhaps you may want to wait to vote until after that stream, in case it changes your mind…?
Our first panel, ‘Celebrating Tolkien Reading Day’ will be on Friday, March 28 at 6:00 pm in Room 207. We will be reading some selections from various Tolkien books, and there may be a few little surprises along the way. This panel, in particular, will be very family-friendly, we may even call a few children to the front to join us in storytelling. Follow the link below to see details.
Our second panel, ‘Lord of the Rings: Previewing Upcoming Projects’ will take place on Saturday, March 29 at 2:00 pm in room 211. This panel will be where we discuss all the recent and soon-to-come Middle-earth-themed shows, films, books, games, and more. The link below shows more details.
As you no doubt know, March 25th is Tolkien Reading Day – a tradition begun by The Tolkien Society in 2003. Not that we need any excuse to celebrate the works and worlds of the Professor! But on Reading Day – and the days around it – there are often special events. And this year is no exception!
You may recall that last year, composer and sound engineer Jordan Rannells (the creator of the Long-expected Soundscape: music and ambient sounds to create a world around you, as you read The Lord of the Rings) teamed up with ArdaCraft to bring us a live stream event, where parts of The Fellowship of the Ring were read over the corresponding chapters of the Soundscape. This year, Rannells is doing it again!
On Sunday 23rd March you can listen along to readings from The Return of the King, surrounded by ambient sound – immerse yourself in Middle-earth! Enjoy readings from folks such as artist Ted Nasmith, composer Stephen Gallagher, and TORn’s own Quickbeam and greendragon – plus a whole host of familiar faces and wonderful folks from the fandom.
The whole thing kicks off at 12pm EST on Sunday, and you can find it here. Set your calendar – get ready to spend the day in Middle-earth!
