ian mck partick stLots of folks have already bought their tickets to join TheOneRing.net and fellow Ringers at our annual party in Manhattan!  We’re hard at work planning a special event, and can’t wait to see everyone there.  Everyone attending will receive a goody bag, and in addition to this, as ever, we will have some amazing prizes to be won; and we just got news of a very exciting giveaway to include in that raffle.   We will be giving away TWO TICKETS to see Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart on Broadway!  The lucky winner (and companion of their choice!) will be able to pick a date to go along and see Gandalf and Picard, (or Magneto and Professor X), live on stage!

There will be more amazing giveaways at the party – stay tuned for further details!  Your ticket to the party – at The Oak Cellar, Manhattan, on Thursday 10th October – includes two entries into the raffle, as well as your goody bag, your first drink, plentiful finger food throughout the evening, and of course a great time with fellow fans!  Numbers are strictly limited in our private room this year, so buy your ticket now!  We look forward to seeing you in New York in a couple of weeks.

[Click here for all details, and to buy tickets to Ringers Take Manhattan]

Gandalf and Saruman In this new TORn Library piece, our newest feature writer Gibbelins examines the difference between skill and knowledge and whether the former has an unjustly sullied reputation in Middle-earth as a result of the rash and self-seeking acts of craftsmen such as Saruman and Fëanor.

Two paths of Wisdom

by Gibbelins

The concepts I wish to discuss are best expressed with the Quenya roots ‘curu-‘ and ‘nolo-‘, but I will try not to subject you to the Elvish for the entire essay. Both of these roots have at times been translated as ‘wisdom’, and yet they represent different sides of wisdom and different inclinations. I’ll use the English glosses ‘skill’ and ‘knowledge’ as reasonable approximations. The contrast between the two ideas is, I think, fundamental to Tolkien’s understanding of how to live righteously. Continue reading “On Tolkien’s two paths of wisdom”

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.

desolation of smaug poster Various sources are indicating that the next trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will debut in very early October, and that it will be attached to the Warner Bros. film Gravity.

A first-time source of unconfirmed reliability tells TheOneRing.net that “Hobbit fans would be inclined to see Gravity.” Continue reading “New Hobbit trailer to debut at the start of October”

DSC03274As some of you remember a while back I decided to share my collection with you all. Now, I’d like to share a fellow Ringer’s collection who decided that he also wanted you all to see the passion he has for Middle-earth. I hope you all enjoy Eric’s collection and if you would like to share what you’ve gathered after years of collecting don’t be afraid to let us know.

Here’s how Eric describes his collection:

My name is Eric from Maryland, USA.  I’ve always had a love for weapons growing up.  And so when United Cutlery started making the The Lord of the Rings movie swords and props, I thought it would be a cool idea to one day club our basement and make a Middle-earth themed place to hang out.  I started collecting them in 2003.  Most of the purchases were made between 2003 – 2006, but it was only about 6 months ago that we finally finished our basement.  Until then, my collection was mostly in boxes.  When collecting, it was my goal to have a poster of each main character and to have their weapon right beside that poster.   In the TV room, we have the “fellowship” section.  It showcases the characters at the core of the fellowship, with whatever memorabilia I could collect to represent them.  In the gaming section of the basement, I have some of the original theatrical posters as well as an Elven Warrior, Rohan and Sauron sections.  Some sections are still a work in progress and I have some room to hopefully grow the collection a little over the next two years.  After seeing Elessar’s collection, ( which we really enjoyed viewing ), he invited me to share our collection. I thought it would be a good idea to share how we have celebrated Middle-earth.  I hope you enjoy what we’ve done.

 

gforum The folks of the TORn messageboard Reading Room, the section of our forums devoted to discussion of Tolkien’s literary works, have just put out for a call for papers for the second TORn Amateur Symposium (also known as TAS2).

The first TORn Amateur Symposium earlier this year published 13 essays on topics as varied as The Physics of The Hobbit, The Corrupting Nature of The One Ring and Concepts of Healing in Middle-earth.

TAS is an opportunity for those who love Middle-earth to share their ideas on Tolkien-related subjects in a longer written form. Continue reading “Call for papers: the second TORn Amateur Symposium”