The Reading Room on the TORn messageboards has in the last couple of days kicked-off their second TORn Amateur Symposium (affectionately known as TAS).
The first TORn Amateur Symposium earlier this year published 13 essays on a variety of topics, and the second edition of TAS features nine more of which four have been published thus far, with the remainder to debut over the coming week or so.
These essays may be philosophic opinions, scientific theories, or analytical approaches to understanding or highlighting some facet of Tolkien’s writings and world. These pieces are written with the goal of amateur scholarship at their core — thus inspiring our Symposium title. Authors may choose to include citations or footnotes, but they are by no means required. Keeping in mind the dual spirit of enjoyment and inquiry that we believe in (as much as we value cheer and song), and which is of paramount important to both the TAS team and our authors, we fully encourage discussion of the essays presented.
We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy posting it. The TAS is open for discussion, and any comments, questions or thought you wish to share about this essay can be posted in this response to this thread.
For a time in 1918, a cottage at Gypsy Green on the Teddesley Park Estate was home to J.R.R. Tolkien and his family, when the young officer was posted in Staffordshire. Now, nearly 100 years later, a local library is celebrating the area’s ties to the renowned author.
Hobbit Festival Family Fun Day will be held this Saturday, November 16, 2013 in Penkridge, Staffordshire, UK from 10 A.M. until 4 P.M at Penkridge Library. Admission for the event is free, along with many fun activities. Only face painting will cost a small charge. Continue reading “Celebrate ‘Hobbit Festival Family Fun Day’ in the (Stafford) Shire!”
Middle-earth Envisioned by Brian J Robb and Paul Simpson. Over the decades, lots and lots of people have tried their hand at envisioning Middle-earth — in artwork, stage plays, musicals, television adaptations, comics, games, fan-art and, of course, animated and live action film.
Middle-earth Envisioned is a new, illustrated book From New York Times bestselling author Brian J. Robb and Paul Simpson, TV guide writer/reporter and the former editor of the Star Trek magazine, that comprehensively documents these portrayals of Middle-earth.
TORn’s good friend and artist extraordinaire Donato Giancola, who was part of TORn’s art show in Los Angeles last February, has recently completed a new masterpiece: a commissioned painting showing a scene from The Silmarillion, when Huor and his brother Hurin are rescued by eagles. The work is huge – roughly 9 foot by 6 foot! – and perfectly showcases Giancola’s skill in capturing landscape and living beings alike. (The image of Donato himself sitting in front of the painting gives you an idea of the scale of the piece!) The majestic scenery is breathtaking, with beautiful play of light and shadow over the mountains and the valley floor. The patches of glimmering snow on the peaks in the foreground of the picture are mirrored in the white towers of Gondolin,which gleam ‘like … spike[s] of pearl and silver’.
You can read about Giancola’s inspiration for his work – from artists in the Hudson River School of landscape painters, for example – at his website, here. You can also see more of his incredible Tolkien paintings in his book, Middle-earth: Visions of a Modern Myth. Tolkien isn’t the only writer who inspires Giancola; readers who are fans of George R R Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire can look forward to a calendar in 2014, for which Giancola will create 12 new paintings inspired by that world.
Meanwhile, enjoy Huor and Hurin Approaching Gondolin.
After the worldwide Fan Event the other day, Evangeline Lilly stuck around to chat with Entertainment Weekly moderator Anthony Breznican and answer a few more questions from fans at The Grove in Los Angeles. Even if you watched the live event online, you won’t have caught this before.
Lilly had a few interesting things to say, and went into a little more depth about the background of her character Tauriel, and what motivates her. I guess that some of this might be considered background/character movie spoilers so highlight the space below to read a couple of excerpts. Continue reading “Evangeline Lilly reveals the background of Tauriel”
Glaurung the dragon, one of the chief weapons Morogth used to defeat the Eldar in Beleriand. Artwork: John Howe. In this new TORn library piece, guest writer Dr Timothy Furnish explores dragons and dragon-slaying in the Tolkien-verse. Are there reasons why only Men slay dragons in the world of Arda, and not elves or dwarves? Read on and find out!
Why did Tolkien imagine only men killing dragons?
by Dr Timothy Furnish, PhD.
Dragons were very important to J.R.R. Tolkien, who acknowledged that his very first attempt at fiction-writing, when he was seven, centered around a “great green dragon.”[1]
In his seminal work Beowulf: the Monster and the Critics, Tolkien noted that in myth “there are… many heroes but very few good dragons.”[2] And in On Fairy Stories he confessed that he “desired dragons with a profound desire.”[3]Continue reading “Why did Tolkien imagine only Men killing dragons?”
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.
The Reading Room on the TORn messageboards has in the last couple of days kicked-off their second TORn Amateur Symposium (affectionately known as TAS).
After the worldwide Fan Event the other day, Evangeline Lilly stuck around to chat with Entertainment Weekly moderator Anthony Breznican and answer a few more questions from fans at The Grove in Los Angeles. Even if you watched the live event online, you won’t have caught this before.