Gary GygaxGary Gygax, a pioneer of the imagination who transported a fantasy realm of wizards, goblins and elves onto millions of kitchen tables around the world through the game he helped create, Dungeons & Dragons, died Tuesday at his home in Lake Geneva, Wis. He was 69. Many Tolkien fans were introduced to the world of The Lord of the Rings after first being involved with D&D. It is a sad day for all fans of the fantasy realm. [NYTimes]

Aragorn by Ainu Laire

Aragorn by Ainu Laire

Ringer board member and artist, Ainu Laire, was kind enough to point out that today is Aragorn’s official birthday:

Aragorn is one of the few Tolkien characters to be actually granted a date of birth and not just a year. He was born on March 1st, 2931 of the Third Age to Arathorn and Gilraen. At two years old, his father was slain by an orc-arrow that pierced his eye and he died at the age of sixty. Gilraen took her child to Rivendell, and Elrond took the place of his father and loved him as if he were his own. In this house his lineage was kept secret from him, and he was called Estel, which means ‘hope’ in the Elven tongue.

Ainu Laire has posted a complete history on our boards, as well as some links to their wonderful artwork (featured in this post). Please check out the full post! [Read More]

Grant Gould ThemeWe’ve finally had a chance to choose another fan submitted design for TheOneRing.net, and this time its from Grant Gould, artist and contributor to the TOPPS LOTR Masterpieces II set. Grant Gould is a freelance illustrator — His clients range from private collectors and small publishers to companies such as Lucasfilm and TOPPS. He just so happens to be a fan of TORn as well! If you like this theme, please click on the ‘discuss’ link below to leave your feedback. If you are interested in submitting your own design for TORn, please check out our original request by clicking on the following link. Thanks! [Submitting Designs] [GrantGould.com] [TOPPS LOTR Masterpieces II]

Tolkien SocietyGet ready to sit down with friends and family to celebrate the 5th Annual Tolkien Reading Day sponsored by The Tolkien Society. Each year, Tolkien Reading Day is a chance for grownups and children to read together and share their thoughts about stories by Tolkien that they have read and to maybe discover new ones. Here at TheOneRing.net we encourage fans to virtually connect with our ‘Reading Room‘ discussion area and if you are planning on getting together in the real world, the Tolkien Society is offering free posters and free publicity for your event. Continue reading “March 25th is Tolkien Reading Day!”

Phil Dragash Design 01A few weeks back we asked Ringers to submit designs to skin TheOneRing.net. Since then we’ve had received a lot of wonderful artwork from all parts of the world. We plan on featuring one design every few weeks, so if you submitted something, please be patient! Our first skin comes from Phil Dragash. Among the many designs Phil submitted, this ‘Aragorn’ skin based on stills from The Lord of the Rings films, really stood out. (We’ll be seeing more of Phil’s skins in the coming weeks as there are many great ones) If you like this theme, please click on the ‘discuss’ link below to leave your feedback. If you are interested in submitting your own design for TORn, please check out our original request by clicking on the following link. Thanks! [Submitting Designs]