Barliman's Chat This Saturday at 6pm ET, Hall of Fire rejoins our four heroic Hobbits as they begin the long journey home to the Shire.

‘I know what you have come to say, Frodo: you wish to return to your own home. Well, dearest friend, the tree grows best in the land of its sires; but for you in all the lands of the West there will ever be a welcome. And though your people have had little fame in the legends of the great, they will now have more renown than any wide realms that are no more.’

The Return of the King: Book VI, Chapter VI: Many Partings

The Hobbits and their comrades leave Minas Tirith in the company of many of Rohan and Gondor’s nobility. Galadriel, Celeborn, Elrond and their folk accompany them — an honour guard that escorts Theoden’s body on its final journey to Edoras. There, the late King of Rohan is buried with his ancestors, a great feast is held in the Golden Hall and Eowyn and Faramir are troth-plighted.

The company leaves Edoras and continues North. Along the way, new allies and old friends part, and at Isengard they discover Saruman gone. Months later, the four Hobbits reach Rivendell and are re-united with Bilbo.

Why do you think that Treebeard let Saruman free? How does Tolkien show how the world is changing into a new Age? And what does Saruman mean by the Wise having ‘pulled down their own house’?

Join us in #thehalloffire today at 6pm ET as we explore Chapter VI of The Return of the King; ‘Many Partings’.


Orthanc in the Second Age, by Ted Nasmith
Treegarth of Orthanc by Ted Nasmith.

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, Sydney, Melbourne
10.00am NZST (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. It is based on internet relay chat technology (that means it’s hella old skool). It’s a text-only, moderated chat room full of eccentric Tolkien fans. We’re open 24/7 (although some times are busier and more active than others).

There are many ways to connect to the chat server. However, the easiest is generally to use a browser-based client. We usually direct folks to Mibbit:

* TORn Mibbit Widget
* Mibbit direct (as opposed to the widget above, this allows you to see others joining and leaving)

If you’re more oldschool or technically adept, you can install one of the scores of standalone chat clients that available for desktop and mobile devices. Just plug in our server details (see bottom) into the client and connect.

* Xchat: http://xchat.org/ (Windoze PC and Linux. Free)
* mIRC: http://www.mirc.com/ (Windoze PC. 30-day trial)
* AndChat: http://www.andchat.net/ (Android app for mobile. Free)
* Colloquy: http://colloquy.info/ (Mac OS and Apple mobile devices. Free)

Our server details:
IRC server name: irc.theonering.net
Channel/room name: #theonering.net
Port: 6667 (6697 for SSL connections)