Today is the last day to pre-order your 2011 Spring Collection of T-shirts from TheOneRing.net. There are two designs in this collection: ‘TheOneRing.net Lousy T-Shirt 2011’ and ‘Mirkwood Pest Control – No Spider too Large!’  Reservations end today and we expect to start shipping on April 25th 2011. Reservations for your specific size and style are only $5 per shirt and most shirts are only $20. Proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go to our server costs, so Thank You in advance for helping keep TheOneRing.net online! If you don’t make today’s deadline, we will be doing another batch of shirts soon, so check back often! [TheOneRing.net T-Shirt Pre-Order]

 

Today is the annual Tolkien Reading Day where fans from around the world celebrate J.R.R. Tolkien and his works by simply reading. Some schools around the globe participate as do bookstores and coffee shops but many more take part in their own way, by themselves or with friends and family. How did you celebrate? There are excellent responses on TORn’s own Facebook page (and we like to be “liked”) or you can share your experience on our message boards by following the “discuss” link below. It is also an excellent time to check our our own Reading Room including this post. If you didn’t have a chance to read Tolkien today, its not too late in many time zones (and we promise not to tell if you do it a day late.)

03.22.2011– Middle-earth Network is getting ready to launch Dunedain Radio, Friday, March 25th at 8:00 PM CST. Fans of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Fantasy genre in general are invited to a special launch party the evening of “Tolkien Reading Day!” Says primary founder Mark Ostley,

“We’re having several of our freinds and celebrities phoning in live via skype that evening to say hello live to our listeners. Some will be phoning in and just saying hello and others will be staying on as they like, to take part in the launch party.” Continue reading “Dunedain Radio on Middle-earth Network”

On any given day, there could be many Tolkien related events taking place somewhere on this great big planet of ours. Sometimes we get to post about those events on our homepage, sometimes we don’t. To make things a bit easier for Ringers worldwide to keep track of upcoming (and past) events, we are announcing TheOneRing.net Event Calendar! This new calendar, maintained using Google Calendar, not only allows you to quickly and easily look through upcoming events, it allows you to subscribe and even add events to your own personal calendar. That way you can set up you own reminders and alerts ’til your hearts content! And best yet, if you have an event coming up, we do take submissions to be included on the calendar. Our goal is to make this the most comprehensive calendar for Tolkien fans worldwide, and with your help, we hope to reach that goal! Follow the link to view the upcoming events. [Event Calendar] [Google]

Tolkien Reading Day was set up to encourage people to get together and explore some of Tolkien’s stories at school, university, in reading groups, or as a family; the theme for 2011 is “Tolkien’s Trees”.

This year’s theme, “Tolkien’s Trees”, is allied with the “International Year of Forests” and encourages families and library reading groups to enjoy exploring the dark confines of Tolkien’s many forests as well as focusing on individual trees.

Readers might venture into Mirkwood in “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”; into the Old Forest on the borders of the Shire, and the Golden Wood of Lothlorien, or meet the Ents of Fangorn. Or why not read about and discuss the importance of trees and their meanings in “Leaf By Niggle”, or the ‘Two Trees’ beloved of the Elves in “The Silmarillion”, where there are more great forests and woods to discover. Continue reading “25th March is Tolkien Reading Day!”