The question of questions. The question sages have pondered for decades. The question that has overturned book club meetings and caused riots on message boards. The Question of the Ages. No, it’s not ‘What’s the Meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything?’. Nor is it ‘Who shot JR?’. It’s not even ‘Where’s the beef?’. Instead, we are going to ponder the imponderable, ask the unanswerable, seek that which has eluded both the wise and the extremely geeky: Who is the greatest Hero of Middle-earth?

Do you have the answer? An opinion? A suggestion? Are you firmly in the camp of the Aragorn-ites or the Frodo-ians? Do you vacillate between the students of Gandalf and the worshippers of Pippin? Do your tastes tend toward the earthy- as in Eowyn, or the sublime- as in Galadriel? (yes, women CAN be heroes too!) Perhaps you look deeper into Middle-earth’s long history toward heroes such as Beren, Turin, Hurin or Elendil. Or do you just go for the bizarre and take Gollum or Sauron for you role-model?

Wherever your affections and loyalties lie, you will have the chance to explore, expand, and expound on the merits of each this week in #thehalloffire as we discuss Middle-earth’s Greatest Hero. But be prepared to back up your assertions, because this is going to be one heck of a debate!

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Upcoming topics:

Sept 18-19: The Hobbit: Chapter 14: Fire and Water
Sept 25-26: The Downfall of Numenor
Oct 2-3: The Hobbit: Chapter 15: The Gathering of the Clouds

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Place:

#thehalloffire on theonering.net IRC server. Need instructions? Go here:
http://www.theonering.net/barlimans/instructions.html

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Chat Times:

Saturday Chat:

5:30pm EST (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday morning AEST]

Sunday Chat:
8:00 pm (20:00) CET
[also 2:00pm (14:00) EST and 4:00am Monday morning AEST]

EST = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AEST = Australian East Coast

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Hof-announce mailing list:
http://www.theonering.net/mailman/listinfo/hof-announce