Barliman's Chat This Saturday at 6pm ET, Hall of Fire will explore the link between J.R.R. Tolkien and one of the things he most loved — trees.

There is no doubt that trees had a special place in Tolkien’s heart. In Middle-earth they whisper, they walk, and before Sun and Moon was made, two trees gave light to the world.

The forces of darkness, like Saruman and his orcs delight in cutting the woods down, but in Middle-earth the trees themselves can go to war, led by those most curious of Tolkiens creations: the shepherds of the trees.

Trees and Tolkien

Some of the most enchanted places in Tolkien’s world, like Lorien and Ithilien, were covered with woods. Where else find Galadriel and the heart of Elvendom than in a golden wood of mallorn trees?

And the elves were not the only ones who gave special significance to trees. The very symbol of the Numenorean culture is a White Tree. When Aragorn, whose name means ‘royal-tree’, ascends the throne of Gondor, a sapling of the White Tree is sought out and found.

It is therefore not surprising that when Tolkien set out to write an allegory about storytelling, he chose to compare a story with a Tree. Most fitting when considering how The Lord Of The Rings branches out as we move from the gardens of Bag End.

Join us this weekend in #thehallofire as we explore the topic of Tolkien and Trees.

Upcoming topics

June 7: Tooks and Brandybucks
June 14: What fascinates you most about LoTR and Middle-earth?


tree of gondor

Time zone conversions

Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help. Alternatively, check our handy Event Announcer over on Time and Date for the correct time in your area.

America:
6.00pm EDT (New York)
5.00pm CDT (Chicago)
4.00pm MDT (Denver)
3.00pm PDT (Los Angeles)

Europe:
11.00pm BST (London)
Midnight CEST (Paris)
1.00am EEST (Helsinki)

Asia-Pacific
8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane
9.00am AEDT (Sunday) Sydney, Melbourne
11.00am NZDT (Sunday) Wellington

How long do your topic chats go for?

Our chats usually last from an hour to ninety minutes, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation! However, our main room, #theonering.net is open 24 hours a day. We don’t always talk Tolkien there, but if you have a burning question, you’ll usually find one or two of “the regulars” up for a chat!

Where — connection details

Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net — the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our embedded Mibbit client that works inside your web browser.

Alternatively, you can install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer and just plug in the following connection details.

Server: irc.theonering.net
Port: 6667
Channel: #thehalloffire