Mythopoeic award finalists (good reading) announced

May 25th, 2012 by admin | Discuss | | No Comments »

Note: This comes from our newest contributor Momosanla. Look for more great stuff from her soon.

If you’re looking for a good book to read on your summer holidays – fire up those digital readers because you’re in luck. The finalists for the 2012 Mythopoeic Awards were announced on Tuesday, May 22. Past award winners have included the Harry Potter series, Orson Scott Card for “Seventh Son” and Neil Gaiman for “Anansi Boys”. With a track record like that, you’re sure to find a quality read amongst the nominees.

The Mythopeoic Society, founded by Glen GoodKnight in October of 1967, is a group dedicated to the discussion of and the study of the literary genre of mythopoeia: authors who create an entirely “new and transformative” mythology or “incorporate and transform existing mythological material.” Specifically the society focuses on the works of Inklings members J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams. Each year, since 1971, they have honored outstanding examples in both adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction studies.

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Collecting The Precious – Sideshow Collectibles Ringwraith Premium Format

May 24th, 2012 by elessar | Source: Sideshow Collectibles | No Comments »

In today’s Sideshow Collectible newsletter Ringers get a chance to view a preview of an upcoming Premium Format for The Lord of the Rings. The character or I should say characters making the jump into the 1:4 Premium Format line will be the Ringwraith on his very scary steed. Fans will be getting a chance to preview this item on May 29th and then pre-order what should be an amazing collectible on Thursday, May 31st. Once the preview goes up with more information we will let you know! [Click Here]

LOTR Grads and Dads Sale at WBShop.com

May 24th, 2012 by newsfrombree | Source: WBShop.com | Discuss | Comments Off

The WBShop.com is celebrating graduates and fathers with their ‘Dads and Grads Sale.’ The sale is quite extensive, featuring:  $5 OFF the catalog of The Lord of the Rings (and Hobbit!) shirts, $5 OFF LOTR iPhone cases, 20% OFF LOTR keepsake boxes, 10% OFF LOTR jewelry, 50% OFF Blu-Ray, and 20% off canvas prints. Yup – sounds like a great time to build your LOTR collection. These specials are only available for a limited time, so we suggest checking out asap! [WBShop.com Dads and Grads Sale] [LOTR Shirts] [Official Hobbit Shirt]

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U.S. Tolkien book publisher files for bankruptcy

May 23rd, 2012 by MrCere | No Comments »

Some news from Publisher’s Weekly that shouldn’t impact readers of J.R.R. Tolkien but might be discomforting all the same. Long-time U.S. Tolkien publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt “officially filed for pre-packaged bankruptcy Monday morning, citing debts and liabilities of over $1 billion.”

The venerable company, in the publishing world for well over 100 years, has published every one of Tolkien’s works since “The Hobbit,” in 1938 which includes novels, essays and poems. The same company has published many noteworthy books about the author’s works including all 12 volumes of “The History of Middle-earth,” by Christopher Tolkien. (You can see the company’s Tolkien website if you click these words and you can read the rest of the Publisher’s Weekly story right here. Just a hunch but “The Hobbit,” will probably sell even more copies after December.

Getting to know Kristin Thompson

May 17th, 2012 by Kelvarhin | No Comments »

Welcome to this months “Getting to know…” questions that need answering.  It’s based on the old Getting to know you threads that I used to post on the message boards here on TORn, so those familiar with them will know that the questions can be a little crazy and the answers even crazier.

This month we’re asking questions of author of “The Frodo Franchise” and TORn Staffer, Kristin Thompson.

Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s The Lord of the Rings Magnets

May 16th, 2012 by elessar | Source: WETA Workshop | Discuss | | No Comments »

The artisans at Weta have introduced a new range of collectibles from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. These new collectibles are some of the coolest magnets you can ever collect. The announced magnets so far are: Bag End Door, The Green Dragon Sign, The Prancing Pony Sign, Red Book, No Admittance Sign, Hobbit Feet, Sting/Scabbard, and of course the Dark Lord Sauron. You can buy each magnet individually for $15 or in two sets of four for $60 each (Set 1 and Set 2). These items are in-stock and should ship very soon after order. Time to start decorating your fridge with The Lord of the Rings!

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Product Review: ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO® Set

May 14th, 2012 by Calisuri | Source: LEGO® | No Comments »

…the most loathly shape that he had ever beheld…Most like a spider she was, but huger than the great hunting beasts…Great horns she had, and behind her short stalk-like neck was her huge swollen body, a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging between her legs; its great bulk was black, blotched with livid marks, but the belly underneath was pale and luminous and gave forth a stench. Her legs were bent, with great knobbed joints high above her back, and hairs that stuck out like steel spines, and at each leg’s end there was a claw…

Shelob.

For every Tolkien fan, the name leaps from the pages (and screen) of Middle-earth to invade a commonly held fear in our everyday life – the fear of an impossibly large, eight-legged, creepy-crawly finding us in the dark. *shiver* According to Wikipedia, it is estimated that 55% of women and 18% of men are Arachnophobic. You can count me among those with a mild fear of spiders, which basically means I have to ‘act’ the role of father/husband when it comes disposing of them. I can’t very well unleash a high-pitched scream and run away now can I…

So when I first saw the ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO® Set at the 2012 Toy Fare, I have to admit…I was a bit creeped out. Yes, its LEGO® blocks, but the piece is still surprisingly life-like. In fact, one of the reporters getting the sneak peek at this set could not go within 5 feet of the display. Yes, he was that Arachnophobic!

Before we get to the meat of this review, I will warn you ahead of time, that I am in no way a LEGO® Set expert. To be honest, I haven’t touched the popular construction toys for possibly 10 years, so I’m a bit behind the times when it comes to the licensed themed sets. However, I can tell you, within 1 minute of opening the box, the wonderful memories of LEGO® set building came swooping back.

While unboxing the Shelob Attacks LEGO® Set…

May 11th, 2012 by Calisuri | No Comments »

In preparation for a product review, I found myself last night eagerly unboxing one of two upcoming The Lord of the Rings LEGO® Sets. I was pleasantly surprised to find this mini-teaser in the back of the instruction pack for the ‘Shelob Attacks’ Set and thought I should share it quickly…so I posted it on our official TheOneRing.net Facebook. Well, it has gotten quite a stir over there, so I figured I should share it with you this morning. The ad confirms the long assumed notion that we would see a The Lord of the Rings LEGO® Video Game from long-time LEGO game producers Traveler’s Tales.  So let this been 100% confirmation of the games existence, and I’d be willing to bet we’ll see a The Hobbit game in the future as well. As for my quickie review of the ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO Set: Building a gigantic realistic LEGO spider, complete with shooting string and eight extremely posable legs, was one of the most fun activities I’ve had in years! (Full review with pics will be coming soon!)

Some thoughts on the Irish language Hobbit…

May 10th, 2012 by greendragon | No Comments »

Yesterday we heard that, later this year, The Hobbit will be published in Latin, and you will remember that we reported a while back about the Irish language version of Tolkien’s book.  Ringer spy Ealbhchara (‘Elf-friend’ in Irish Gaelic) was at the official launch of the new translation, in Dublin, and he sent along a report.  Though Ealbhchara has nothing to do with the translation and publication, he prefaces his report with a confession:  ‘I hope you will forgive me if my report sounds promotional – in a way it is: I am keenly interested in promoting the Irish language (currently a minority language) and the publication of The Hobbit raises the status of the language significantly. Not to mention that I want An Hobad to sell well enough so that they’ll translate The Lord Of the Rings next!’

Ealbhchara’s full report follows after the break – it’s a fascinating read!  Many thanks to him for sending it along!

Help Recover LOTR Prop-maker’s Stolen Memorabilia

May 9th, 2012 by Altaira | Source: Stuff.co.nz | No Comments »

Ringers unite! A grievous wrong has been done to Dallas Poll, jeweler and prop-maker for the Lord of the Rings movies. On international Star Wars Day (May 4) thieves made off with thousands of dollars of movie memorabilia from his home in Paraparaumu, New Zeeland, including a replica sword he wielded while acting as an Aragorn double, and his precious stormtrooper outfit.

According to stuff.co.nz: Mr Poll, a jeweller, spent seven years in the police but over the past decade has worked mostly as a prop maker on The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, the Narnia films and Avatar. “We have been well and truly done over,” Mr Poll said yesterday. “They seemed to know what they were looking for.”

Please read the stuff.co.nz article and if you come across any suspicious collectibles for sale, email the New Zeeland police.  Read More…

Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Strider Statue

May 4th, 2012 by elessar | No Comments »

Tonight, the artisans from Weta released the latest statue in their mini-statue line. The character chosen to join the line-up, accompanying Gollum and Gandalf the Grey, is none other than the future King of Gondor, Strider. This adaptation of the character, features Strider as we first see him in Bree. This is the first time we’ve seen Strider captured in this pose and looks to be a must own The Lord of the Rings collectible. This statue will cost $75 and will be shipping sometime in September/October.

J.W. Braun’s Bookshelf – May

May 1st, 2012 by celedor | No Comments »

This month,  J.W. Braun reviews the new fantasy book, Deep Into the Heart of a Rose, by G.T. Denny and gives away another prize. Also, he answers your questions (including a couple about the upcoming Hobbit movies) in his new mailbag section below.