HobbitShop Cyber Monday 2015Don’t miss HobbitShop’s Cyber Monday sale today! They’re offering savings of up to 70% on panoramic posters, jewelry, phone cases, and more, in addition to their Buy One, Get One 50% off Shirts offer. Check out their deals here: http://www.hobbitshop.com/!

BoromirReadingYeats_RevWelcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular monthly feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets.

So come and join us by the hearth and enjoy!

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.

Continue reading “The Great Hall of Poets”

BilboChristmasListHave you finished all of your Christmas shopping yet? Or are you yet to start? If you’re like us, you’ll definitely have a few more things on your list and what better way to complete the task than buying some Tolkienesque presents. TORn’s staffers deej, Elessar, Earl, Altaira and Kelvarhin scoured the internet to find the perfect presents to celebrate the holidays  and we were astounded by how many wonderful choices there are. So, without further ado, here are some lovely gift suggestions for your favourite Tolkien fan (even if that happens to be you). All prices are in U.S. dollars.

Continue reading “TORn’s Tolkien Christmas Gift Guide for 2015”

HobbitShop Black Friday 2015Black Friday comes to Middle-earth today at HobbitShop.com, the official online shop of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies! The shop is offering savings of up to 60% on officially licensed  jewelry, phone cases, chess sets, collectibles, and more, plus Buy One, Get One 50% Off all shirts! Check it out at http://www.hobbitshop.com !

- Ryan Somma, courtesy of Scientific American
– Ryan Somma, courtesy of Scientific American

Evolutionary scientists have been studying the remains of Homo floresiensis, known as the ‘hobbit,’ due to its diminutive size, since its discovery on an Indonesian island in 2003. Early speculation was that it might be a modern human with a growth disorder. However, as reported in this article by the Scientific American, recent results from studying its teeth suggest it was a separate species. Of course, this comes as little surprise to Tolkien fans.  If further research reveals that they had wooley feet, lived in holes in the ground and smoked pipes, we’ll resist the urge to say: “I told you so.” Read More…

The long-awaited second installment of the article about Tolkien’s special hidden realms has arrived! In Part One, which you can read here, C.E High explored the hidden realms of the First Age. In Part Two, he continues on to consider hidden realms of the Second and Third Ages. Enjoy!

In the second and third ages the devices that Tolkien uses with his realms blossom into more complex symbolism with a diversity of outcomes. As men grow and diversify, this creates new problems for the other races of Middle-earth leading to a variety of realms that grow out of need and out of want. There is also that pesky Sauron, Morgoth’s second in command in the elder days, and in the absence of his master he arguably surpasses him in malice and evil deeds in the land of Mordor.

No longer do we have three hidden elven kingdoms of a similar making, we now have a variety. Eregion and Lothlorien are, at first, settlements of the displaced Noldor, which quickly become refuges against the evil now located in the east of Middle-earth. Rivendell, and the Woodland Realm to the north of Eregion and Lothlorien, round out the retreats of elves from battles with Sauron. Last, but not least, we have the newest and most intriguing hidden realm of them all: The Shire, a realm founded in the third age.

Continue reading “Tolkien’s Hidden Realms and their Meaning: Part Two”