As per our announcement earlier today, TheOneRing.net’s 2021 Middle-earth March Madness competition theme is: Battle of the Best-Dressed – a theme conceived for audience participation!
Battle of the Best-dressed in Middle-earth – Middle-earth March Madness 2021
Middle-earth March Madness is TheOneRing.net’s annual foray into the world of bracketed competitions – an event that has been running yearly since 2012. Like the NCAA March Madness competition in the US, the selection committee from TheOneRing.net chooses 64 contestants and then ranks them in regions, assigning them a seeding number based on an in-depth and exhaustive voting and discussion process.
During last night’s TORn Tuesday live stream reveal of this year’s theme, one of the commissioners (aka co-owner) of TheOneRing.net decided to throw in a curveball for 2021: this year we will feature a Wild Card round to replace one of the 64 contestants! Effectively eliminating one of the contestants for a true ‘wild card’ cinderella story.
As we approach the end of March, once again, TheOneRing.net prepares for our take on ‘sports ball type activities’; yes, Middle-earth March Madness is almost here!
Last year, we had a hotly debated contest to decide the best scene from Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films. Newly quarantined and locked down, many of us found solace and entertainment in discussing the match ups; and for the first time in MeMM’s history, we hosted live shows to discuss each round. We also shared a look back at all the previous MeMM contests – you can read that article here.
2021 is the TENTH edition of Middle-earth March Madness – and on last night’s TORn Tuesday, we revealed the theme for this year. It is ‘Battle of the Best Dressed in Middle-earth.’ Looking at costumes from Peter Jackson’s two Middle-earth trilogies, we want to know which outfit is your favourite. You can see the four ‘regions’, with 16 entrants in each, below.
Here’s the key thing: we’re hoping for lots of participation from you this year, and particularly, we want to see YOUR versions of these costumes and characters. In choosing from our ‘long list’, to decide the final 64, we thought particularly of all the amazing cosplays we’ve seen over the years. (That’s why the bracket includes characters such as Gollum and the Balrog – not exactly costumes as such, but we have seen some brilliant cosplays for these characters!) We tried to pick costumes which seem to have been popular with cosplayers; and we’d like you to campaign for your favourite. You can do this by sharing pictures of your cosplays; show us video if you have it; tell us about your creative process; whatever you’d like to share! Convince us that THIS is the costume which deserves to win, because it so inspired your own creativity.
You can share your images on our facebook page; you can email them to spymaster@theonering.net; or you can simply tag us on Twitter or Instagram, and use #middleearthbestdressed. As last year, we’ll have live shows to discuss each round, and we hope to share some of your images on these shows. Staffers are already prepping their armour, as they’re expecting some battles royale! Join in the fun: campaign for your favourite, and get ready to vote when the contest launches at the start of next week.
AND – stay tuned for an announcement coming later today, as we mix things up a bit before Middle-earth March Madness 2021 has even got going…
Welcome 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.
Just deserts
By D. McGlinchey
You would have screamed in agony. As did your victims . You would have clawed off your skin. As you did to so many. You would have cursed at the fates. As the helpless cursed you. And you would have struck blindly out. As all doomed victims do. But here you all stand now. Forever enshrined. As hard as your hearts! And as cold as your mind. No more in the shadows, your terror to spread. No more will folk fear you, and quake in their bed. The dawn it has claimed you. Forfeit to those claimed. And the sun’s touch has sealed you, With your fury now tamed. Three hunters all trapped by the prey they had caught. And your screaming and writhing has aided you naught! This was your ending, the old tales were true, When the dawn took you all, and made statues of you!
~ * ~
Pernicious Palantir
By: Crystal Dawson
Eyes affixed to the orbed glass, Denethor kept scrolling as Sauron was trolling, poisoning his mind and twisting his heart with a herald so fantastic how could it be false?
The Dark lord reckoned an end for all men that was as evil as it was inevitable. Fear seeped through the steward’s bones bending his will and back. Hunched he remained wherever he sat and his eyes were oft a glaze.
Deep were his musings, cavernous and bleak until all ends ceased in bitter despair. Had his thoughts delved wider, he may have rekindled hope, from alliances afar but not unforgot.
“Flee flee for your lives” he vehemently declared, draining all hearts who heard, of hope: For what is the use? Accept your fate and die in whatever way seems best to you. For no change will come, no hope with dawn. Only fearsome foe surround.
Against such might who could stand up and fight? Best to give up your plight and fly. You fools that march are madder than I, rallying to your kin, waving your torn banners on high.
No rival races will unite. No prodigal sons return. I have seen your future, bleak it remains, empty and void of all light. No aid will appear from sea or sky; you will die in battle this night
The fallen Maia rose in power with each hopeful light put out. Further still the Shadow reached. No great king could stop his advance. What council could ally against his fearsome countless horde?
Atop his solitary tower the flame licked slit narrowed with a gleam and glower, renewed was its eternal blaze. For what power was left in Middle earth that could divert his piercing gaze.
Perhaps none… but the power of one, with one, with another and another, bound in friendship, bonded in love, blind to hate and bold in fear. Faith to see an age that can be united by love of the good in this world, that is worth fighting for.
~ * ~
Untitled
By: darkkrose
I pray thee, Tulkas, lend me strength and guide my sword with sharpness, My time has come to join the fray, I need my heart be dauntless. Don’t let me tire, falter, fail, don’t let my courage dwindle, If I’m about to give up hope, the flame of hope rekindle.
And if by chance the Waiting Halls would open wide before me, Great Námo, Keeper of my fate, have pity and restore me. Don’t let me dwell too long a time in solitude and sadness, Allow me walk under the Sun and feel again its warmness.
~ * ~
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.
Middle-earth fans will not want to miss this amazing book from artist Jay Johnstone – Tolkienography: Isildur’s Bane & Iconic Interpretations (with commentary by Thomas Honegger).
It’s an amazing volume, filled with rich, luminous artwork. It was reviewed in the latest edition of theJournal of Inkling Studies (Volume 10, issue 2); here’s a little of what writer Lance A. Green had to say:
Tolkienography invites a deep immersion in Tolkien’s myth through the artwork of Jay Johnstone, who has been painting Tolkien-themed illustrations for about thirty years. Together with Thomas Honegger’s commentary, Tolkienography offers a novel artistic rendering of Tolkien’s sub-creation, provoking new interpretations of its characters and essential themes. Printed with colourful clarity, the styles and techniques of Johnstone’s pieces are different enough to avoid any redundancy for the viewer. Colours, spacing, and characters are varied with each turn of the page, as are the painting techniques, which range from more contemporary styles to those mirroring medieval forms, including frescos and Byzantine iconography. Johnstone’s oils and charcoal works certainly capture the imagination: the charcoal and chalk of the Council of Elrond (25), the oil on canvas of Isildur’s death in the river Anduin (35, 39), and the binding of Melkor (41) all wonderfully convey character and scene. An immense oil and gold-leaf rendering of Gandalf atop Shadowfax riding into Helm’s Deep (49–50) is one of the most striking paintings in the book, afforded two full pages in order to capture its immensity. Yet the artwork that crowns and guides Tolkienography is the Byzantine-styled iconographic paintings of Tolkien’s characters.
Lance A. Green, Journal of Inkling Studies Vol 10 Issue 2
The Journal is published by Edinburgh University Press; you can find more of the article here. If you’d like your own copy of Johnstone’s beautiful book, don’t delay – it’s a limited print of 500 copies! At only £45 – and signed by the artist! – it really is a steal for such a spectacular book. You can order it – and see more art from Johnstone – at his website, here.
Welcome 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.
Upon the Mossy Bank
By: Rebecca Ayers
A voice on the wind, so fair Drifting in through the door Evokes visions of rain in the air Which moves the young scribe to his core
Dust stirs around his feet As he explores the library’s stacks He finds the source of the sound so sweet A forgotten tome left open, marred by drops of wax
Clear water rushes over him in a flash Submerging him in a shimmering pool A white hand grips his collar, as he begins thrash And hauls him back to land, where the moss beneath him is cool
Smiling down at him is a beautiful maid Robed in a silken gown of deep, forest, green Her golden hair is woven with flowers, held back in a braid Her visage most wondrous to be seen
She greets the scribe with a voice soft as dew And bids him welcome to her home Inside sits a jolly man, in a tunic bright blue Who pours them ale with fragrant foam
Adventure awaits the scribe in this land Though his purpose is not yet said By dawn he shall join a courageous band To be trained in the ways of magic and languages long dead
The library is far away now The dust and ink washed from his fingers His hosts lead him to a comfortable bed beneath an evergreen bough Outside, the beckoning song lingers
~ * ~
Lament for Lalaith
By: Eruthiawen Telcontar
When the ground was wet with dew And Tilion began to flee; When black of night gave way to blue And Arien was once set free:
The lightest footsteps ever heard; They rushèd past, and light they blurred.
When brightest was the noonday sun And laughing ran the little stream; When the morning’s light was done And tired eyes slipped into dream:
Her heart was full, her face was bright She laughed at each and every sight.
When dark was stream and pale was moon And weary were the Edain; When houses swelled with drowsy tune And blessed sleep found those within:
With open ears she listened long Her heart was filled with many a song.
Her arms were lithe and strong and free With meadow-flow’rs she wove her hair; An elven-maid she seemed to be With radiant face so bright and fair:
Her spirit left and passèd on From Dor-lómin she now is gone.
~ * ~
O Edain, Edain
By: Adam Waggener
Edain, Edain, Iluvatar’s second-born are come at last, Our wondrous new kin have risen with the sun. We Eldar welcome you here, in friendship we will hold fast, As Arien’s fire rises high, and a new age has begun. Edain, Edain, of much in the world you must learn, Of lands, lore, craft, and tongue, we Eldar will show you much. Ye seek honor and glory, after valor your hearts do yearn, In time ye will rise to heights your own, with strength you will achieve such. Edain, Edain, your lives pass by like gasps in time, Like shooting stars of night, racing briefly to fade and die. Yet brief they are, your lives brightly shine, Bright as that golden sun lighting all the endless sky. Edain, Edain, by Eru Iluvatar ye are blessed, To guide thy kin’s own destiny, a freely chosen fate. Hold fast to what is good, endure life’s every test, That your strength and valor live on once you are beyond death’s gate. Edain, Edain, Manwe rules from the sapphire sky, Closest of all Ainur to Iluvatar, his judgment ever true. His queen, Lady Varda, gave us the eternal stars on high, Those purest silver lights, the first the Eldar ever knew. Edain, Edain, Arda’s seas are Ulmo’s land, Quiet springs and raging tides all answer to his deep voice. Aule the Smith forges mighty works with his hands, The father of dwarves shapes the earth, in forging wonders does he rejoice. Edain, Edain, these strong trees and emerald leaves, Come from Yavanna, Aule’s wife, all green things she keeps. Mandos proclaims Arda’s dooms, heavy for all to receive, And guides souls past ever-looming death, guides them to their sleep. Edain, Edain, Lady Vaire ever weaves her threads, Mandos’ wife tells Arda’s tale in a tapestry so grand. Sad Nienna, Mandos’ sister, ever hang her somber head, Weeping over Arda’s wounds, comforting the dead with gentle hand. Edain, Edain, do you hear Orome’s resounding horn, The Valar’s stalwart huntsman, all monsters his spear doth pierce. I hear the hearty laugh of Tulkas, with hair as gold as the morn, A warrior of unequaled might, and ever a friend so fierce. Edain, Edain, your youth is not left to chance, Lady Vana, Orome’s wife, deems precious every life tender and young. Nessa, Tulkas’ wife, spins on in joyful dance, Faster than the swiftest arrow from any bow ever strung. Edain, Edain, be not haunted by evil dreams, May master Lorien calm thy visions, in them may you see peace. Este, his wife, heals all hurts, all wounds she redeems, By her hand may all pain and long agony at last cease. Edain, Edain, this pure world foul Morgoth has maimed, The Dark Lord seeks to destroy and corrupt, with malice dark and cruel. One day the Silmarils will be reclaimed, The Valar will yet return and end dark Bauglir’s rule. Edain, Edain, let us cherish our time as friends, Before your life ends by age, illness, or blades of steel. You face that death with courage, not frightened by that end, Your doom cannot rob you of your vigor nor your zeal. Edain, Edain, let your life shine ever bright, Like that last fruit of Laurelin, that warm, intimate sun. You will be missed my dear friend, as you go into that night, May you journey on knowing your life’s battles are won. Edain, Edain, as your years here near their end, May light guide you to that great unknown, beyond Arda’s most distant shore. In this farewell I will not despair, I hope we shall meet again, In world remade, in Eru’s light, in the new West, forevermore.
~ * ~
The Fox of Dorthonion
by Hans Howk
It had not been deliberate, the bumbling toward the demon’s trap; the fox had left Dorthonion and eastward made for Maglor’s Gap, but peaks there were at forest edge and finding not an easy way, he steered him north and soon was lost in foreign wood, the fox dismayed.
Long he searched the huddled pines and cursed his nose for aiding not, until at last the great trees broke and padding quick the traveler thought, ‘The Pass of Aglon! Thank the stars! And if I keep a steady course, the Gap of Maglor there at last and onward to great Gelion’s source!’
But fog like cobwebs hid the moon, the fox held to a faulty path, and blunted by a fool’s relief he crossed into Dor Daedeloth.
Pitch was night in Angband’s realm, the wayward traveler passing near, and careful not to tumble stone for if some wretched guard should hear the shuffling of his nightly noise and thought to check the placid plain, the fox would surely come to know the truth of tales of dread and pain.
Creeping through the browning grass a sudden urge to lay him down, to sleep a while and rest his bones bethrust the fox upon the ground.
He lay in sleep an hour at most- or was it several thousand years- and did not feel the clutching claws that lifted up his hide severe and carried him for leagues on end, up mountain roots and valleys grim, and came at last to settle by the gates of cold Thangorodrim.
The horrors impressed upon the fox no story there is fit to tell. He suffered long in fiery pits and languished in the jails of hell, until the rending was complete and rising forth to take his place among the fey sentries and ghosts that haunt the marshes and the wastes.
And in Dorthonion they say, when fog lays cool upon the pines, and clouds enshroud the winter moon, the fiend of Morgoth wanders nigh. And stout hearts dread to hear his call, the nightmare screams that ring therein are echoes of that ancient song that stalks the steps of Elves and Men.
Welcome 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.
Don’t disturb the water
By D.McGlinchey
Don’t disturb the water, it is best to leave It be. For I fear there’s something hid within its quiet serenity. Don’t disturb the water, come away now we must go. I know the calmness of the top can hide turbulence below. Don’t disturb the water, something’s watching as we go. Hasten now from the waters edge ere it drags us down below.
~~ * ~~
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.
