BeowulfFollowing on from staffer Kili’s post, here’s the official word from UK publisher Harper Collins on the upcoming release of Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf.  The Harper Collins article contains comment from Tolkien’s son, Christopher, on how he has gathered, along side his father’s translation of the Old English poem, text from lectures given at Oxford by J R R Tolkien.  These show his fascination for Beowulf, Grendel and, in particular, the lure and power of treasure – which of course we see reflected in The Hobbit, in Thorin’s struggles against, as Richard Armitage has called it, ‘gold lust’.

This new publication will also contain Sellic Spell,  ‘a story written by Tolkien suggesting what might have been the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf, in which there was no association with the “historical legends” of the Northern kingdoms.’  This further insight into Tolkien’s desire to create English native myth, unadulterated by Norse or Germanic legends, is an exciting prospect.  Fans of Tolkien, of Anglo-Saxon, and of legendary battles, will be able to get their hands on this edition of Beowulf from 22nd May.

Read the full article from Harper Collins here, and the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (US Publisher) version here.

 

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“Ac se wonna hrefin | But the black raven
fus ofer fægum | eager over the doomed
fela reordian, | speaking many things
earne secgan | telling the eagle
hu him æt æte speow, | how he is succeeding in eating,
þenden he wið wulf | when he with the wolf
wæl reafode.” | despoiled the slain.
Thus reads a section of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, or at least, thus reads my translation of the section from my university studies. The epic is written in Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, the language of the invaders of Britain. Modern English (and German) is a direct descendant of this language because a people speak the language of their conquerors.
Continue reading “Tolkien’s Beowulf translation to be published in May”

oakentoon_logo_by_peckishowl-d6ljafpWelcome to this weeks episodes of the Oakentoons 🙂

Don’t forget to check out the Oakenstills and Oakencrossovers while you’re there and to say hi to Peckish Owl.

As always, just click the images to go to Peckish Owls site to see the full size images (you’ll also need to click on the longer ones once you’re on her site to see them in full size).

Continue reading “Oakentoon #40 – There Can Be Only One, Oakentoon #41 – Meet the Company, Oakentoon #42 – On the Matter of Secrecy”

UC3044-Proto-1aOur friends at United Cutlery have just released their latest prop replica from The Hobbit Trilogy.

If you saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and wanted to have your own set of the knives Tauriel used with deadly force against more than a couple of the Orcs, then now is the time to get your pre-order in for this beautiful replica of those deadly weapons. You can pre-order them right now for only $219 from a great retailer BUDK, with an expected release date of June this year.

IMG_8072It’s not very often that the statue of the year comes out so early in the year leaving all the rest to settle for the number two spot. But that is what has happened this year with the arrival last month of the Azog the Defiler on Warg by Weta Workshop. We got our first look at this beast of a statue during Comic-Con 2013. This was the jewel of the Weta booth last year with a steady stream of people drooling all over the glass at how amazing this looked..

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Azog the Defiler on Warg Review”