As you’re probably aware, Harper Collins is publishing J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Arthur in May 2013.
Edited by the Professor’s son, Christopher, the publication also includes “three illuminating essays that explore the literary world of King Arthur, reveal the deeper meaning of the verses and the painstaking work that his father applied to bring it to a finished form, and the intriguing links between The Fall of Arthur and his greatest creation, Middle-earth.”
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
The first official Tolkien Reading Day was held on March 25, 2003. A New York journalist was wondering if there was such a thing as Tolkien Reading Day and asked the Tolkien Society about this in 2002. It was decided that there should be a Tolkien Reading day, and then the only debate was ‘when’ should it be held? Please go to the Tolkien Society’s official page for Tolkien Reading Day to find out just how and why March 25th was chosen.
You will also see some very helpful tips on what types of activities can be done to celebrate Tolkien Reading Day, from discussions about common themes or settings, to fun games to engage children with. Tolkien Reading Day can be held at a home, a school, a library or a bookstore or you can even take it outside, maybe at a picnic and add a meal to the event. And while the Middle-earth stories tend to be the more popular at a Tolkien Reading Day event, his other works, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Letters from Father Christmas or Roverandam can be just as enchanting.
The theme for this year is Landscapes, a subject that Tolkien was particularly adept at envisioning and describing in wonderful detail. Middle-earth must have had very successful travel agents, how many times have you wondered what it would be like to visit some of the realms described?
Tolkien Forever, the Tolkien Smial in Southern California, will be hosting an event this Saturday, March 23. True, it is not the correct day, but a Saturday works better for drawing more people to the event in the ever busy Megalopolis that is So Cal. For those in the Los Angeles area, stop by their Facebook event page for details.
If you have a Tolkien Reading Day event happening in your area, please let us know the details so we can post it and let others know where they can go in an area near them. You can drop a line to Spymaster@TheOneRing.net.
Middle-earth March Madness moves to the round of 32 with a bit of controversy and surprise. With some victories settled by a single vote (Beorn vs. Faramir) and others knocking out favorites, the competition is really heating up!
Here are some Round 2 Highlights…
The Shire Division
(8) Huan had a major push against his first round opponent, but can he keep up the momentum against fan favorite and number one seeded (1) Galadriel? Can the most powerful of the Ainur (4) Morgoth take out the eldest ent (5) Treebeard? The story of (6) Luthien, considered by many to be one of the greatest told in Middle-earth, is profound and impactful, but can she overcome the recent Billion dollar box-office success of (3) Bilbo Baggins? And finally, can the elvenking of Mirkwood (7) Thranduil take out the head of the White Council (2) Saruman?
The Erebor Division
There are some very interesting match-ups in Erebor this round. Cinderella seed (16) Pippin takes on recent dwarven heart-throb (9) Fili. Last year’s champ (12) Sam is up against (4) Beren in what will most likely come down to a battle of familiarity with the stories of Middle-earth. (6) Elrond faces off against (14) Eowyn, one who continues to long to win renown in battle. Can she make this her next big victory!? And finally in a battle man vs. beast, (7) Aragorn faces off against the windlord (2) Gwaihir.
The Mordor Division
The Mordor division has some very powerful characters with some very intriguing competitions. (9) Gil-galad, the high kind of Noldor, has his hands full with the number one seed (1) Smaug. The Dark Lord (4) Sauron faces off against a worthy dwarven opponent (5) Dain Ironfoot. (11) Fingolfin could take on the likes of Morgoth, but can he handle the stout and stubborn (3) Thorin Oakenshield? Hot of this shape-shifter’s victory by a single vote, can (2) Beorn continue past her magnificence (7) Shelob?
The Angmar Division
The Angmare division looks like it has the most interesting match-up of Round 2. In a rematch of sorts, (1) The One Ring goes up against (8) Frodo Baggins. It can be said that The One Ring won out last time, but will Frodo accomplish the task this time?? The Eldar King (12) Manwe, an Ainur, faces off against a simple man, (4) Bard. Can Bard overccome insurmountable odds to win this match? Will the quickness and general sneakiness of (3) Gollum lead him past imposing dwarf (6) Dwalin? And last but not least, will (10) Merry finally get back at (2) Gandalf for making him wash all those dishes!
Voting starts right now and will run until March 25th at 10pm ET.
Round 1 of Middle-earth March Madness lived up to the hype as some match-ups came down to a flurry of last minute voting, and one match-up being decided by a single vote! With nearly 12,000 votes cast, round 1 will go down as one for the record books!
In The Shire division, the battle between (8) Huan and (9) Quickbeam ended up not being as close as expected, with Huan sounding beating the hasty ent. The rest of the match-ups were pretty much across the board victories for the top seeded combatants.
In Mordor, two match-ups came down to the smallest margins. (7) Shelob squeaked by (10) “Bullroarer” Took by 32 votes, but the match-up between (2) Beorn and (15) Faramir was even more epic. That’s right, Beorn out-matched Faramir by a single vote in the closest shave of the tournament so far.
In the Erebor division, (16) Pippin may be putting on the ‘Cinderella’ moniker as he out wits the division number one seed (1) Balin. In the much hyped, and highly contested battle of dwarven brothers, (9) Fili skated by (8) Kili in easier fashion than one may have expected. And in a surprisingly close match-up, number four seed (4) Beren made a last minute push to beat out (13) Boromir.
The Angmar division did not feature any close match-ups in this round, but we did have an upset or two as (10) Merry got by the division namesake (7) The Witch-king of Angmar, and (12) Manwe got by (5) Glaurung.
Voting for Round 2 will begin tomorrow and run until 10pm on March 25th.
While you wait, download the latest bracket – [Round 2 Bracket]
EW.com: Peter Jackson has exclusively confirmed that he is still interested in directing an episode ofDoctor Who. The Lord of the Rings filmmaker has also named his fee: a Dalek. The offer came in the course of Jackson’s appreciation of the British science fiction showthat appears in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly.
Jackson is a diehard Who fan who has been watching the 50-year-old series almost since it began broadcasting and who first expressed his willingness to direct an episode last year. In the EW article, he reveals that he met current Who executive producer Steven Moffat over Christmas and assured him he wasn’t joking. “They don’t even have to pay me,” Jackson writes. “But I have got my eye on one of those nice new gold-colored Daleks. They must have a spare one (hint, hint).” Jackson already owns two used-on-the-show Daleks — the most famous of the Doctor Who monsters — which you can see in the photograph above.
As you’re probably aware, Harper Collins is publishing J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Arthur in May 2013.
Later today, 
Middle-earth March Madness moves to the round of 32 with a bit of controversy and surprise. With some victories settled by a single vote (Beorn vs. Faramir) and others knocking out favorites, the competition is really heating up!
