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!
Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – February 5, 2012”
Category: Creations
This performance by violinist Lindsey Stirling landed in our mailbox today and we were just blown away. We hope you are too. Check out her blog and YouTube channel for more tunes from Lindsey.
TORn has discovered a Tolkien-inspired children’s picture book called “Nimpentoad“ by Henry Herz and his young sons Josh and Harrison. Five years ago, Henry began drafting a story which he shared with his sons, and they would give their dad ideas on how to improve it. The boys began creating and naming the characters, including the main creature and title’s namesake… Nimpentoad. Being avid fans of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films and J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, their imagination was fueled by those works as their fantasy world took shape. Working together, they created a mysterious forest called Grunwald filled with mean Goblins, hungry Neebels, thundering Rhinotaurs, huge Orcs, a frustrated Giant, and the smallest of the inhabitants… Niblings. The most resourceful and brave of the Niblings is Nimpentoad.
Chemical Engineering student Emil Johansson has an amazing passion project he developed mapping out the genealogy of everybody in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Called the LOTR project, it provides a great big family tree for Tolkiendom. Its scope is amazing as is the effort and organization, although it is still a work in progress. We asked Johansson to tell us more about his project and this is what he had to say:
“I first read the Lord of the Rings when I was eleven years old, just in time for the first movie to come out. At that point it’s not fair to say I was passionate about it but rather that I found it a good way of escaping reality for a while. I was the kind of kid who lived a lot in my imagination.
The first family tree I made was probably six years ago and consisted of two huge papers, 1 by 1 meters. I quickly realized this was something I wanted to share, but my knowledge of the web was too poor to allow it. I was not until November last year that I decided to give it a try. Even though much of the research already had been done, programming the site and adding the characters into the database have taken a lot of time. Too much for me to want to think about it.
I still have a massive amount of work left before I’m finished and I will not give up until it is perfect.”
The site is a MUST VISIT.
The Hobbit trailer hit last month (as most of you know!), and besides the stunning visuals and memorable character introductions, the two and a half minute video also featured some glorious bits of music – some familiar, some new.
If, like us, you too can’t wait until the official soundtrack for The Hobbit releases, here’s something to tide you over.
Dan from Germany alerted us to a YouTube video that he created. He writes:
It’s a little orchestral suite using the new musical themes from Howard Shore that were introduced in the trailer for the hobbit.
So, how is 2012 treating you so far? We’re just a few days into the year, but I bet more than a few of you are realizing while it may be ‘Hobbit year,’ we’re still a loooooooonnng way off from December. Sob.
Well, to help you mark the time between now and then, we asked TORn staffer magpie to design some desktop calendars for the TORn community. She rose to the challenge and created two wallpapers — one Bilbo, one Thorin — which we hope you all will love as much as we do. Please click through and choose the image best sized for your monitor. And enjoy!