Born of Hope is a prequel to the fantasy novels and tells the story of the Dúnedain, the Rangers of the North, before the return of the King. The 60-minute film, which will be released on the internet next year, focuses on Arathorn and Gilraen, the parents of Aragorn, from their first meeting through a turbulent time in their people’s history. Filming has already begun in Epping Forest in Essex, with the latest footage showing actors trudging through the woods dressed as sword-wielding Orcs. Kate Robinson, who is directing the film, said: “Born of Hope is a prequel to the New Line Trilogy and my aim is to make a film that can sit alongside those films without looking too out of place. Orcs are back in Lord of the Rings-inspired Born of Hope

Eowyn Rohan writes: First off, the staff and committee of A Long-Expected Party wish to thank those at TheOneRing.net for their support of our little Party, both past and current. We wanted you to know about the magic, love, and Fellowship created in the wilderness of Kentucky during the event. On the message boards here at TheOneRing is a post detailing the weekend, with several links included. A Long-Expected Party: A Wonderful Success!

Bluepilgrim writes: The 2-week-old Montgomery Cinema n’ Drafthouse in Wheaton, Maryland will be presenting the annual Lord of the Rings Movie Festival with all-three theatrical versions, costume and Gollum impersonation contests on Sunday October 26th beginning at 11:30am. This event has been held in Virginia for the last few years and it’s been a blast! If you wish to join the DC Ringers: Fellowship of the Beltway at this event, follow this link.

Vivienne sends this along: Organizers of the above weekend held annually in Birmingham ask you to pencil in next year’s diary the date of their special Tenth Anniversary Weekend. This event will take place on the 16th and 17th May 2009 within The Shire Country Park in Hall Green near to Sarehole Mill, and the home that Tolkien loved as a child. Ideas have already been forthcoming. Continue reading “The Middle Earth Weekend 2009”

Daniel alerted us to this impressive undertaking: Have you heard of Patrick Action, the matchstick man of Iowa? He is currently working on a large model of Minas Tirith and it should be completed by the end of 2009. The link to his website is below. The second link is to a St. Paul, Minnesota TV station that did a 5 minute story on the Matchstick man. It is well worth watching.

Here is a link to Patrick’s site Matchstick Marvels.com with more pictures of his Minas Tirith model, and a link to the news story about Patrick. Check it out.