With the Oscar hype reaching new levels as of late, its’ easy to forget about this week’s Hall of Fire, but the topic for this weekend is a good one: the Nature of the Ring of Power. The One Ring which Frodo brings from the Shire to Mordor, that thousands of men and elves have died for ever since Sauron forged it in secret.
Despite the well documented forging of the One Ring in the Silmarillion, it’s appearance in The Hobbit and it’s pivotal role in the Lord of the Rings, the nature of the One Ring itself has often been a mystery. Though it is said that a lot of Sauron’s power went into it as it was forged, it is often described more as having a life of its own rather than being an inanimate object, with it ‘betraying’ many of its owners throughout the years. Peter Jackson deliberately portrayed the ring like this in the Fellowship of the Ring, even giving it a voice of its own.
And also the powers that the One Ring grants seem to vary from one owner to another. The ring also seems to have the ability to corrupt even the strongest of wills with delussions of grandure, from Galadriel to Gandalf. Only Boromir is foolish enough to not respect the ring’s potency to corrupt and pollute. And even then, was he so ignorant in not fearing a simple ring? Perhaps Boromir was amazed at the amount of respect being afforded to ‘such a small thing’.
Does the One Ring reflect an intricate flaw in the moral fibre of human beings? Does it reflect all the bad things about our character..greedy, hate and desire? You can discuss all of this and more as we discuss this great topic this weekend!
Upcoming Discussions Mar 30 & 31: FotR and the Oscars Apr 06 & 07: TTT – The Riders of Rohan Apr 13 & 14: LotR, Stereotypes & Racial Class Apr 20 & 21: The Two Towers – The Motion Picture Apr 20 & 21: Literary Merits of LotR
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
With the Oscar hype reaching new levels as of late, its’ easy to forget about this week’s Hall of Fire, but the topic for this weekend is a good one: the Nature of the Ring of Power. The One Ring which Frodo brings from the Shire to Mordor, that thousands of men and elves have died for ever since Sauron forged it in secret.
Despite the well documented forging of the One Ring in the Silmarillion, it’s appearance in The Hobbit and it’s pivotal role in the Lord of the Rings, the nature of the One Ring itself has often been a mystery. Though it is said that a lot of Sauron’s power went into it as it was forged, it is often described more as having a life of its own rather than being an inanimate object, with it ‘betraying’ many of its owners throughout the years. Peter Jackson deliberately portrayed the ring like this in the Fellowship of the Ring, even giving it a voice of its own.
And also the powers that the One Ring grants seem to vary from one owner to another. The ring also seems to have the ability to corrupt even the strongest of wills with delussions of grandure, from Galadriel to Gandalf. Only Boromir is foolish enough to not respect the ring’s potency to corrupt and pollute. And even then, was he so ignorant in not fearing a simple ring? Perhaps Boromir was amazed at the amount of respect being afforded to ‘such a small thing’.
Does the One Ring reflect an intricate flaw in the moral fibre of human beings? Does it reflect all the bad things about our character..greedy, hate and desire? You can discuss all of this and more as we discuss this great topic this weekend!
Upcoming Discussions Mar 30 & 31: FotR and the Oscars Apr 06 & 07: TTT – The Riders of Rohan Apr 13 & 14: LotR, Stereotypes & Racial Class Apr 20 & 21: The Two Towers – The Motion Picture Apr 20 & 21: Literary Merits of LotR
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
For years, the topic of Balrog wings has been hotly debated by Tolkien experts and geeks alike. Due to the ambiguity of his writing, the debate over whether a Balrog has physical, touch-with-your-hand wings or not depends, as with quite a lot of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, on the mental image of every single individual. Even Peter Jackson made sure that Weta created a Balrog that appealed to all spectrums of the debate, in an attempt to give the fans the best adaptation of Tolkien’s work possible without restricting the individual’s ability to create their own Middle-Earth with their imagination, as generations before have.
We have the chance to discuss the Balrog now after seeing the big screen interpration of it in Fellowship of the Ring: why not use it? Now’s a good time as any to bring back that debate of ‘wings of shadow’ versus physical wings. Where do you stand? Do you believe that Tolkien had actual wings in mind when he wrote the ‘Bridge of Khazad-Dum’, or did he deliberately write it so that fans could debate the subject, like right now? Is it good to have a bit of mystery in Lord of the Rings? Or do you think its a topic not even worth talking about? This weekend, come join us as we discuss one of the oldest arguments in the history of Middle-Earth itself.
Upcoming Discussions Mar 23 & 24: The Nature of the Ring of Power Mar 30 & 31: FotR and the Oscars Apr 06 & 07: TTT – The Riders of Rohan Apr 13 & 14: LotR, Stereotypes & Racial Class Apr 20 & 21: The Two Towers – The Motion Picture Apr 20 & 21: Literary Merits of LotR
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
While the release of The Two Towers is December 18th, months and months away, preparation in anticipation for the next installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy begins already in the Hall of Fire as we begin our already succesfull chapter by chapter discussions on The Two Towers and its first chapter: The Departure Of Boromir
In an odd twist, the beginning of The Two Towers is where the Fellowship of the Ring motion picture left off, as Aragorn finds Boromir mortally wounded near Parth Galen, repentant of his deeds as his live extinguishes, the bane deemed by Iluvatar to be suffered by men. With the prince of Minas Tirith dead Aragorn desperately tries to piece together the events that took place and the whereabouts of the four hobbits. Lamenting Boromir’s death and giving him the ceremony worth of a prince who would one day be the steward of Minas Tirith in his father’s place, Aragorn Gimli and Legolas are faced with a difficult decision: follow the Ringbearer and Sam to Mordor or track down Pippin and Merry on the way to Orthanc?
The first chapter of The Two Towers is as much a tribute to the death of the first member of the Fellowship as it sets in motion the events in the book itself. Come join us this weekend as we discuss this chapter and how it was portrayed in Fellowship of the Ring!
Upcoming Discussions Mar 16 & 17: Peter Jackson’s Portrayal of the Balrog Mar 23 & 24: The Nature of the Ring of Power Mar 30 & 31: FotR and the Oscars
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
With the rapid growth in popularity of DVDs over the last three years and nearly becoming a standard medium, Tolkien fans were relishing the idea of a Fellowship of the Ring DVD even before the film was released. The attraction was not just the excellent quality picture that DVDs provide, but the range of extra features that have become an essential part of a complete DVD. Rumours of a Peter Jackson Director’s Cut, commentary from the cast, lost and deleted scenes and ‘making of..’ documentaries have all been mentioned when referring to this topic. This weekend, the Hall of Fire crew invite you to join us in discussing the FOTR DVD: The Wanted and Expected Features.
If there is one thing to be learned from the last three years, its that New Line Entertainment and Peter Jackson both acknowledge and value the fans of Lord of the Rings, and seem to be continously working in their best interests on this amazing project. Therefore, the expectation that New Line and PJ will deliver some extremely satisfying material on the Fellowship of the Ring DVD is very high, and many an article has been written on what *could* and *should* be on the DVD. Concrete information is only becoming available on what features will be added.
And what do you think should be on the DVD? PJ fans have cried out for a Director’s Cut of the film, and Peter himself has dropped hints on New Zealand TV that he is presently recording a commentary track on the film. What about the standard fare for DVDs, like Behind the Scenes documentaries? And what fan can go without the deleted scenes that didn’t make it into the final cut of FotR: how can the film be complete without the gift-giving at Lothlórien, or the extended sequences in Bree and the Midge Marshes? It’s for you to decide as we discuss the dream Fellowship of the Ring DVD this weekend.
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
As soon was Fellowship of the Ring was released into theaters around the world on December 19th 2001, movie fans and Tolkien fans alike compiled their lists of the mistakes Peter Jackson made in the filming of his three hour epic. However, these ‘mistakes’ have been hotly disputed as to whether they are really mistakes, to the extent that the New York Daily News even wrote an article on it. This weekend the Hall of Fire crew discuss the mistakes in The Fellowship of the Ring, and how they can be explained.
One of the most popular ‘mistakes’ that were discussed after December 19th was Gandalf’s staffs. Saruman took Gandalf’s staff during their battle in Isengard, and he was staff-less when Gwaihir swept down and rescued him from the top of Orthanc. Yet when Gandalf led the Fellowship into the mines of Moria, he had a staff with him once again which he used as a light in the darkness. However, this was soon shot down as it became clear that Gandalf used two clearly different staffs.
Similarly, fans believed that Gimli’s axe magically repaired itself when he used it later in the battle with the Cave Troll after he used it at the Council of Elrond in a failed attempt to break the One Ring. However, the eagle-eyed movie fans noticed that it he took the axe from one of his Dwarven colleagues, and did not use his own. These are just a couple of examples where the ‘mistakes’ in Fellowship of the Ring have been corrected by the fans. This weekend, we’re asking you to explain and correct some more of them.
