300 Tolkien fans from around the world are meeting in Oxford this weekend to celebrate the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The event, taking place at St Antony’s College, Oxford from Thursday 20th to Sunday 23rd September, has sold out due to the increasing popularity of Tolkien’s works. The event follows last month’s publication of The Fall of Gondolin and coincides with the Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth exhibition at the Bodleian Library.
The event itself will include talks from leading Tolkien scholar – including writer John Garth – quizzes, workshops, an art exhibition, a masquerade, a Hobbit bake-off, a party and a visit to the exhibition at the Bodleian Library. The weekend concludes, as always, with Enyalie, a ceremony of remembrance at Tolkien’s grave in Wolvercote Cemetery on Sunday morning. With attendees from 25 different countries, this year’s Oxonmoot takes place following the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, The Fall of Gondolin, proving the continuing popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien as author relevant in the 21st Century. Tolkien’s best-known work was The Lord of the Rings, which has been translated into over 50 languages and estimates put sales at over 150 million copies worldwide.
Founded in 1969 by Vera Chapman, The Tolkien Society is an educational charity and literary society with the aim of promoting the life and works with J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien himself supported the organisation and gave it his seal of approval by agreeing to become The Tolkien Society’s President. On Tolkien’s death the family recommended he stay as President, so, to this day, he remains The Tolkien Society’s Honorary President in perpetuo. The Society has over a 1,600 members and hosts events up and down the country every week.
Shaun Gunner, Chair of The Tolkien Society, said: “This is the largest ever Oxonmoot, and this is testament to the growing popularity of Tolkien and his works, and ever-increasing numbers shows that people want to share their passion for Tolkien with others. Oxonmoot has been going for over 40 years and provides an excellent opportunity for hundreds of fans from around the world to come together for a weekend of fun and fellowship in Oxford, a location so important to Tolkien.” He added, “Oxonmoot always takes place in September to coincide with the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo, but this year we have a record number of attendees coming to St Antony’s College to enjoy the longest-running Tolkien event in the world.”
Although Oxenmoot 2018 is sold out, if any of our readers are lucky enough to be going, we’d love to get a report on how the weekend went! You can send it to spymaster@theonering.net.
It’s that time of year again, when SoCal Shire Folk gather together to celebrate the joint Bilbo and Frodo Baggins birthday on September 22. All gentlefolk are requested to gather at the Mineral Wells location within Griffith Park this Saturday beginning at Noon, and running until about 5-6pm.
As usual, there will be good food, a Middle-earth themed cake contest, lots of good fellowship and cheer, and costumes are always welcomed and encouraged. This event is a potluck, so please check our Facebook event page for details on what is being brought and what is still needed. That page will be updated all week long, so keep checking to see if there is something needing to be brought. Also, down at the bottom of the event page are directions and a link to map in case you are a first time attendee.
Last but not least, we will have some guests from a combat league that use padded weaponry to simulate medieval combat, and they will be available to train anyone, young or old, in some sword play.
You may RSVP on the Facebook event page, saying how many people are coming and what food or supply items you intend to bring, or you can email me at Garfeimao@theonering.net
New York Comic Con is just around the corner; and TheOneRing.net will be there! We’ll have a booth at the Javits Center, where we’ll be selling tshirts and buttons, chatting with fellow fans, and giving out some amazing prizes… You can find us at booth number 1678, October 4-7. Be sure to come and find us!
We’ll also be teaming up with Sideshow to host a party in Manhattan! This year our Ringers take Manhattan event is on FRIDAY 5th October (nb not Thursday this year), 8-11pm. The party will be at Tir na Nog pub in Times Square – that’s 315 West 39th Street. You can expect a great atmosphere, with fun decor and even some themed drinks!
You don’t have to be attending New York Comic Con to come along – all are welcome! Tickets are only $15 this year! – and include your first drink, finger food throughout the evening, and two tickets for the evening’s exciting raffle. You can buy tickets by clicking here.
Hope to see lots of folks in Manhattan – let’s take the Big Apple by storm! See you in a few weeks!
I feel it in the water… I smell it in the air. The beast has emerged from its lair, and DragonCon is here again! Here’s what you can expect from Middle-earth fandom, and from TheOneRing.net, this weekend:
We’ll have our usual ‘fan table’ in our normal spot, in the Hyatt hotel opposite the entrance to the Art Show. There we’ll have buttons and shirts for sale; here’s a glimpse of our merchandise for this year:
We’ll also have other goodies for you to look at, maybe a few giveaways, and we’ll be happy as ever to chat with our fellow fans!
The High Fantasy track will be in L401-403 in the Marriott, and there are various panels which will be of interest to Tolkien fans; such as a discussion about The Inklings (Saturday 2.30pm), ‘Valar-ous Women of Middle-earth’ (Sunday 5.30pm), and TORn’s own ‘They’re taking the Hobbits to Amazon!’ panel (Sunday 4pm, in a bigger room – Marriott A601-602).
Then of course Friday night is the EVENING AT BREE! From 8.30pm in the Grand Salon West (Hilton), join us for music and revelry! Bands Toucan Dubh and Landloch’d will play, the Elf Choir will sing, and we’ll have the ever popular costume contest – possibly with a celebrity host or two…
(Don’t forget, if you want to sign up for the costume contest, you need to do it IN ADVANCE of the ‘Evening at Bree’. Go to the High Fantasy Track Room (Marriott L401-403) or visit the TORn fan table before 6pm on Friday to sign up to participate.)
Middle-earth celebrity guests this year are Graham McTavish (Dwalin), John Noble (Denethor), Dean O’Gorman (Fili), and Craig Parker (Haldir). On Sunday morning, 11.30am in the Marriott Imperial Ballroom, TORn staffer greendragon will be hosting these gentlemen in the ‘Heroes of Middle-earth’ session.
In addition to all that, there will be lots of Tolkien characters marching in the Parade on Saturday morning, and there will be all the usual opportunities to spend far too short a time among such excellent and admirable fans! Hope to see you there – let the fun begin!
If you are still looking for something to do this Labor Day weekend, you might check out Regal Cinemas’ screenings of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films in their extended editions on RPX screens, in select theaters. The screenings run from Friday, August 31 through Thursday, September 6, and each day they change the order of the films. This will allow people with limited time off to find a time that works best for them in order to get to see each of the films, if they are not able to do a 12 hour marathon. And the best part? Each film is only $5 in most cinemas, but the screenings are on the RPX screen, which is one of the large format theaters, meaning you get a huge discount over the current blockbusters sharing time in the theaters this weekend.
For more details on which theaters will be showing the trilogy and to buy tickets, please go to the
One of my favorite pieces from Comic-Con 2018 was the amazing Balrog bust that showed up Saturday of the show. I got to see this piece up close both as what you can order now and a pre-prototype. I have to say that I very much prefer what fans will be able to order. The clear resin flames that light up are so freaking cool and well done. Our friends at Weta Workshop have done a superb job of using the right paints to make sure these look just right, which is tough when you go for the clear resin on flames. Jamie Beswarick as usual knocks the overall sculpt of the Balrog out of the park and as a fan of the character I love his work on this creature. Fans can order this piece right now for $699 and with an edition size of 888 he won’t be around too long. As a bonus fans won’t have to wait too long to get him as he’s due to ship in November of this year. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Balrog, Flame of Udun Bust Pre-Order”
Founded in 1969 by Vera Chapman, The Tolkien Society is an educational charity and literary society with the aim of promoting the life and works with J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien himself supported the organisation and gave it his seal of approval by agreeing to become The Tolkien Society’s President. On Tolkien’s death the family recommended he stay as President, so, to this day, he remains The Tolkien Society’s Honorary President in perpetuo. The Society has over a 1,600 members and hosts events up and down the country every week.
