There is a large company
of dwarves and a jittery wizard marching down on Wellington weekend June 1 – 3 at the Armageddon Expo. (It just so happens to be the Queen’s Birthday as well!) By purchasing an exclusive “Hobbit Upgrade” ticket you can meet the following Hobbit Cast:
Jed Brophy (Nori), Adam Brown (Ori) Mark Hadlow (Dori), Dean O’Gorman (Fili) Aidan Turner (Kili) John Callen (Oin), Peter Hambleton (Gloin), Stephen Hunter (Bombur), William Kircher (Bifur), James Nesbitt (Bofur), Graham McTavish (Dwalin).
Also Sylvester McCoy (Radagast the Brown) will be there doing a panel and is signing autographs all 3 days.
Resident hot dwarves Aidan Turner (Kili) and Dean O’Gorman (Fili) will be signing and hosting photo sessions individually on Sunday only.
Check out the official website for more info! [Official Site] [Tickets]
Posted in:
Share:
Here at TheOneRing.net we are of course huge Tolkien fans. We’re also fans of FANS – we really enjoy sharing the passion of other Middle-earth lovers! Recently we heard from film fan Brian Callahan, who, at his blog PSH for President, shared his thoughts about (as he puts it), ‘Jackson’s role as a cinematic steward of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works.’ Here (after the break) is what he had to say:
Continue reading “A fellow fan – and film blogger – shares his thoughts on Peter Jackson’s movies”
Posted in:
Share:
RingerSpy Bruta from The Netherlands shares with us his theory on the appearance of Smaug.
Just like everyone else I’ve been wondering what Peter Jackson’s version of Smaug will look like. There have been a couple of interesting articles by TORn about the appearance and size of the dragon. In TORn’s article ‘Analysis: just how big is Jackson’s Smaug?‘, Demosthenes calculated the size of the drake and Smaug appears to be immense. This is a compelling fact few can deny. Further evidence can be found in the following image of the gate of Erebor .
In comparison with Smaug’s tail, the dwarves are about the size of ants. From this it isn’t surprising that in the movie the dwarves are being crushed when Smaug enters through the front gate. In the second TORn article; “Could this be Smaug?!”, Smaug’s head is shown, but to me this is definitely not Smaug, I’ll explain why below.
The Kite theory
In my kite theory, Smaug will have some basic attributes in common with the dragonkite we see the children of Dale flying in the Prologue .
- First: the dragon will indeed be red, his eyes will be yellow, and he will have sharp large front teeth and smaller back teeth.
- Second: the scales on his skin will also be of the same shape and size, as seen on the ‘skin’ of the kite.
- Last and most interestingly: are the similarities that I believe will be shown in the shape of his nose and the number of horns on his head and chin.
The evidence
If we look at the image, where Smaug pulverizes the dwarves, you can clearly see Smaug’s head. Under the nose and on the sides of his head, you can see his horns. At least, I assume they are horns because that would be the most satisfying explanation for these ‘sticks’. The stick on his nose could also be a tooth, or maybe the end of his kitedragon-like nose. But this isn’t the best picture in which we can see his horned head. When Smaug is swimming in Thror’s gold he dives up, at that moment, in a brief second, the other horns on the top of his head are visible.
According to my kite theory, Smaug will look something like the kite dragon. When Smaug’s eye is shown we can see some small horns on his head. Based on the picture above we can estimate how many horns this magnificent dragon has. The number of big horns on his head could vary from 5 to 8 or something like that. With this information I searched the web to get the most accurate and satisfying picture of Smaug’s head, as it would look in accordance with my kitedragon theory.
Peter Jackson’s first hint of the dragon?
I think there are similarities between the dragon and the kite, mainly because they came from the same people or group, with the same style, who are creating the look of this creature. So, working on this theory, it can’t be a coincidence that the dragon and the kite would be similar. Alongside of this, the kite may have been made as some sort of illustration of the real dragon as a “visual backstory”, to show that its existence has been handed down in legend amongst the people of Dale and as such would be another reason why there are so many similarities between the two.
The kite can, in this way, serve as a hint for the viewer because they do not get to see the real dragon yet. The audience only gets quick glimpses of the dragon, small signs of the creature, like wings, claws, feet and then at the end of the movie a potentially large spoiler: Smaug’s eye. From this perspective it isn’t unreasonable to surmise that Peter Jackson chose to show the kite in the Prologue of the movie as another type of teaser/spoiler. Because in the Prologue, we haven’t really seen anything of the dragon yet! It could be the first sign.
Of course, until the release of Desolation of Smaug, this will only be a theory, time will tell. One thing is certain though, Smaug is going to be awesome!
Bruta is a psychology student from The Netherlands, who first discovered Tolkien in 2000 and has been hooked ever since. The views in this article are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of TheOneRing.net or its staff.
Posted in:
Share:
Welcome to our weekly live webcast — TORn TUESDAY — now on the 5th part of our ongoing series of discussions on the History of the Dwarves who undertake the Quest of Erebor. Today we talk about BIFUR, BOFUR and the immensely overweight and endearing BOMBUR (Go #TeamBombur on Twitter!). Bring your questions and join us LIVE for a fascinating chat about how these characters are all intertwined. Continue reading “BIFUR, BOFUR & BOMBUR Dwarven History Part 5 on TORn TUESDAY *Live* Webcast!!”
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.
Posted in:
Share:
Has your hen suddenly turned into a Nazgul? Don’t worry, she may just be broody! Join Fili to learn how to deal with these temperamental chickens! [Happy Hobbit: Broody Hens – Episode 18]
Posted in:
Share:
We told you about the new, competition based reality show “The Quest” back on April 23, please click here for that story.
They have been holding casting sessions all over the country, including Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Long Beach, and most recently in Phoenix at their Comicon, where this reporter caught up with them. There are two remaining events to earn a chance to be on “The Quest”. The first will be in New York on Wednesday, May 29 at 7pm at Times Scare NYC, located at 669 8th Ave., New York, NY. 10036. For more details and for a chance to attend, look at the flyer image posted with this article. The final casting session will be held at the Philadelphia Wizard Con taking place this coming weekend. For tickets and information about the con, please visit their website at: http://www.wizardworld.com/philadelphia.html
Not much else was mentioned at the Phoenix Comicon event that wasn’t already in the article, except to mention the time commitment. If chosen, you would be given a 5 week block of time to clear, but you would only need to be gone for 3 weeks. The filming will occur sometime during the summer, but not on where it would be, just that you would need a passport. The show will most likely air sometime in the early New Year. The interview process is pretty quick and painless, and the possible rewards endless, so if you live in either NYC or the Philly area, please do try to make it to one or the other.
Posted in:
Share:
