Fili barrelThe Official Day 1 of FantasyCon was yesterday, July 3 and was filled with cosplay, LARPing, music and heraldry. A few awesome Middle-earth costumers visited our booth, and we even had a Dwarf in a Barrel. The barrel and the 4 Hobbits standee proved to be quite popular with those holding a camera, especially the children.

At 11am TheOneRing.net hosted their first panel at the convention with the Preview of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies to an enthusiastic crowd. We fully expect that the trailer will be out by the time San Diego Comic Con rolls around in a few weeks, at which point our Preview panel will be dramatically updated.

Near the end of the day, the entirety of the Tolkien programming track was introduced on stage at the Middle-earth kickoff party. Artists, musicians, writers and TheOneRing.net staff on hand, plus an Avalanche of Dwarves, as John Rhys-Davies put it, a Wizard and a pair of Hobbits converged on the Main Ballroom stage to thunderous applause. Moments later, the entire room went silent, you could almost hear a pin drop, along with one wee Hobbit singing his heart out.

During the panel, numerous questions were asked of many Dwarves, Hobbits and a Wizard, but none were handled with quite so much originality as the one about the Dwarven prosthetics.

The day ended with the Red Party, a less bloody affair than the Red Wedding. Costumed denizens of Westeros and many other realms all danced the night away.

 

image A short film based on JRR Tolkien’s book The Hobbit that was made by 11 school children over their Easter holidays will debut at Saffron Screen in the UK this Sunday.

The film, called Children of the Hobbit, features eleven-year-old Richard Bellamy in the lead role of Drogo, a hobbit who teams up with his friend Etholph and an elf called Elensar in a quest to defeat the evil Orcs and return peace to Middle-earth. Continue reading “Short film Children of the Hobbit to premiere at Saffron Screen”

Cartel_certamen_ensayo_Aelfwine_2014_-_Sociedad_Tolkien_Espanola_LOW_RES News from our friends at the Spanish Tolkien Society, which has just has announced its 10th edition of the Essay Awards Ælfwine Awards 2014.

The aim of the awards is to promote and encourage the knowledge and study of J.R.R. Tolkien’s life and works. The deadline date for submission of essays is be October 1st, 2014. Follow the link below for more information. Continue reading “Spanish Tolkien Society announces Ælfwine Awards 2014”

Water DragonWednesday in Salt Lake City was set up day for FantasyCon at the Salt Palace convention center. The FantasyCon people have been setting things up for days, and when you see some of the images of the sculptures, you will know why. They have gone all out to achieve a rocking cool Fantasy atmosphere, and with the various fan groups they’ve brought in, this promises to be a memorable weekend.

They then closed the hall today at 5pm to allow vendors to leave, or go eat and come back later for the charity event. At 7pm, the doors were opened again for numerous kids and their families who are beneficiaries of various charities, including Angel’s Hands Foundation, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Kids on the Move and Hope Kids. The children and their families were escorted in by a Piper past a processional of costumed warriors, fairies, stormtroopers, Hobbits and wizards. It made for a joyous entry as they were then lead to the main stage for the unveiling of Volos, the King of all the dragons attending the convention.

There are numerous costumed combat troops that will be demonstrating and teaching during the con, there is Dragon training going on, gaming, actors on panels, loads of cosplay everywhere, a Castle, numerous Dragons, giant Sentinels, and last but not least, a Rock Monster.

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Welcome sentinels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VolosMetal dragon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bilbo and the Hound

Bilbo and Gandalf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panels begin in earnest tomorrow morning, with a Red Party capping off Thursday’s schedule. Friday opens with a Costume parade and Saturday ends the whole convention with a bang, and really really Big Bang of the Fireworks variety. Should you find yourself anywhere near Salt Lake City in the next couple of days, this may well be the funnest way you will find to spend your July 4 holiday.  http://www.fantasycon.com

oakentoon_logo_by_peckishowl-d6ljafpWelcome to this weeks episodes of the Oakentoons 🙂

Don’t forget to check out the Oakenstills and Oakencrossovers while you’re there and to say hi to Peckish Owl.

As always, just click the images to go to Peckish Owls site to see the full size images (you’ll also need to click on the longer ones once you’re on her site to see them in full size).

Continue reading “Oakentoon #79 – Even More Blades of Gondolin; Oakentoon #80 – 1,000,000 Views; Oakentoon #81 – They’re Over 100 Years Old”

Lake-town LuauFantasyCon is about to take over the airwaves here on TORn, but before it takes over completely, here is your friendly reminder about the Lake-town Luau taking place in San Diego during comic con. We are planning a number of fun and rather unique games for you all, giving everyone multiple chances to win prizes. So here are your 5 reasons to attend the Lake-town Luau.

1) Golfimbul – For the fans in LA who attend the Baggins’ Birthday Bash, you are all familiar with this game, and for those who aren’t local, you might recognize the name from the first chapter of The Hobbit. Anyhow, this game involves a baseball bat, a goblin head and some rabbits, and remember, there are NO SPECTATORS, ONLY PARTICIPANTS!!!

2) Pin the Black Arrow on the Dragon – This is a Middle-earth twist on an old game, come try your luck and see if you have what it takes to Be Like Bard.

3) Last Fan Standing – This is a trivia contest that creates pandemonium when played, especially when more than half the field is eliminated in the first question or two. Are you brave enough to try and be the Last Fan Standing?

4) Costume Contest – Speaks for itself, but you can enhance your chances for a prize if you can also quote a line or two of the character you are dressed as. This one is for the Hams out there.

5) Hobbit Hula Dancing – Well, we won’t turn down Dwarves, Elves or Orcs doing the Hula either. This event is pending until we find out if we can get an A/V system to play a little Hawaiian music.

So now that you know what is going on at the Lake-town Luau on Friday, July 25, get yourself your tickets, the prices go up after July 10.  Lake-town Luau ticketing page