Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join in the fun!
Azog holds aloft the head of the Dwarven King, Thorin Oakenshield’s grandfather.
Last year for Comic-Con the folks at The Bridge Direct lead off their line of figures for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with the Invisible Bilbo 6″ figure. Well, today via their Facebook page they announced the figure they will be bringing with them to Comic-Con 2013. This year’s figure will go the bad guy route with the choice being Azog the pale Orc. This figure is going to come with a huge assortment of choices and stand 7″ tall. No price has been announced (but Bilbo last year was $25 so that gives you an idea). The edition size for Azog will be 26oo pieces.
Here is the full listing from The Bridge Direct’s Facebook Page:
We are excited to announce:
San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Exclusive Hobbit Collector Figure Azog
Our 7″ tall Orc Commander Azog comes in a numbered, limited edition of 2,600 pieces. Azog is depicted as he appears in the prologue scene from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In the battle between the dwarves and an army of orcs to reclaim Moria, Azog holds the severed head of the dwarf King Thror up in victory. The figure comes with interchangeable hands – the right hand that holds Thror’s head can be replaced with a hand capable of holding either his dagger or mace, and the left hand can be switched with the prosthetic spikes that replaced the hand he lost to Thorin’s sword.
The kind folks at Phoenix Comicon have invited TheOneRing.net to host a panel on The Hobbit, with our popular ‘Sneak Peak at the Desolation of Smaug’ we debuted at Wondercon earlier this Spring. Any and all new and breaking news will be included with the breakdown of Peter Jackson’s Sneak Peak, along with commentary and discussion with the audience. The panel will be on Friday at 6pm in room 122ABC, and I hope to see many of you in attendance.
This reporter, Garfeimao, will be at the convention all weekend long, but will only be participating in the one panel. The rest of the time, I can be found at one of the many Babylon 5 20th anniversary panels and events, a show that has a definite thematic tie to The Lord of the Rings. For Scifi and Fantasy fans in Phoenix and around Arizona, this is one of the biggest genre events of the year for you, and now you can add Tolkien to the mix.
There is one other Hobbit related panel, on Thursday, May 23 at 6pm there will be a Fan Panel for The Hobbit discussing the current and upcoming films, as well as mentioning previous attempts around the globe. No panelists are listed yet, but this sounds like a lot of fun since it’s more or less a ‘talk back’ session. For information regarding other guests, panels and how to attend, go to Phoenix Comicon. If any of you AZ Ringers want to meet up, feel free to email me at Garfeimao@TheOneRing.net so we can set up a little Moot.
Welcome to the latest “Getting to know” – questions that need answering. It’s based on the old Getting to know you threads that I occasionally post on the message boards here on TORn, so those familiar with them will know that the questions can be a little crazy and the answers even crazier.
This month we’re asking questions of self-described Online guy at Weta Workshop and all round top bloke, Magnus Hjert.
Art by J.R.R. Tolkien for “The Hobbit”Sometimes TheOneRing is viewed as a movie-only website and that just isn’t true. While we don’t write as much in-house material as we once did in our Green Books section (which is full of gold and mithril and worth mining) we still try to represent as much of the wide and far ranging J.R.R. Tolkien fandom as possible with our all-volunteet staff.
So it is a real pleasure to help publicize events like the 3rd Conference on Middle-earth and its Part 2 scheduled for 2014 in Westford, MA. The word is getting out now to declare that the conference is currently accepting papers. Below is the full press release with links, some of which show how many decades back the event reaches:
The 3rd Conference On Middle-earth, Part 2, to be held March 28 – 30, 2014 in Westford, MA, USA, is currently soliciting papers, presentations, paper proposals, and panel proposals from persons with scholarly interest in any aspect of the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Suggested topics are: J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, influences on Tolkien, other works based on Tolkien’s writing, criticism, teaching Tolkien in the classroom, the books’ impact on oneself and/or the world, the films and the film industry, the music, the art, the fannish side of this universe and its impact, and anything you can imagine on topic. For examples of previous papers and panels, see the programming for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd conferences: 1st Conference, 2nd Conference, and 3rd Conference.
A few areas of interest are:
• The languages of Middle Earth: how Old English (including Anglo-Saxon riddles), the Eddas, etc. influenced TLOTR.
• Elements of northern European myths that appear in TLOTR.
• The impact of World War I on Tolkien and his writing.
• The impact of The Hobbit and TLOTR on 1960s and 1970s popular music.
• Artistic visions of Middle-earth.
• The astronomy of Middle-earth. [For example, when is Durin’s Day?]
• The geography of Middle-earth.
• The geology of Middle-earth.
• The flora and fauna of Middle-earth.
• The clothing of Middle-earth both from the books and the films.
• The food of Middle-earth.
• The poetry and songs of Middle-earth.
Only members of the 3rd Conference On Middle Earth, Part 2, will be able to present and participate. Once papers and proposals have been accepted, the presenter/panelist will need to join the conference (the sooner the better, before rates go up), if they are not already members. If an author cannot be present, then arrangements can be made for a third party to read the paper. However, as indicated, the authors must be members of The 3rd Conference On Middle-earth, Part 2.
Paper Proposal: Please email a 250-word abstract including the presentation title, your name, e-mail address, your mailing address and phone number, or alternately a second e-mail address. The maximum reading time for the finished paper is 30 minutes, roughly 2000 words, though it may be less. We will confirm receipt of proposal by e-mail.
Panel Proposal: Please email the panel name and a 250-word abstract. Please include the panel title, the panel chair (who may be one of the presenters), e-mail address, the mailing address and phone number, or alternately a second e-mail address of each presenter. The receipt of proposal will be confirmed by e-mail.
Submit your proposal to: programming@3rdcome.org.
Deadline for Submissions: You may submit a proposal up through Tuesday, 31 December 2013. Participation is limited, so submissions may close early—so it’s best to get a proposal in sooner rather than later.
NOTE: Confirmation of receipt of submissions does not guarantee acceptance for presentation.
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 EMP Museum in Seattle is just about the coolest museum ever, playing host to exhibits on Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Icons of Science Fiction, The Art of Video Games, The Lure of Horror films, and now Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic. The Fantasy exhibit just opened up a few weeks ago with loads of costumes, props and interactive experiences, and one true treasure. On loan for just the first 6 months are some borrowed pages from the original manuscripts of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” from Marquette University. Here are a few images of costumes from the exhibit, and in about 10 days this reporter will be visiting the museum and will post a full recap of all the things you can see and do while exploring all of the EMP Museum’s exhibits.
If you live in Seattle or will be visiting it in the near future, check their website for all the details on location, hours and entrance fees. The Iron Throne will be there for just the first 3 months of the exhibit, so if you wish to see either that or the Tolkien Manuscripts, plan carefully. EMP Museum.