June 1st, 6:00 p.m. Gaythorne Bowls and Sporting Club, Brisbane, Queensland.
Join
Hobbits and Friends at Brisbane’s biggest and best Hobbit Party – “An Evening in
Middle-earth” hosted by The Brisbane Tolkien Fellowship.
This
will be the most memorable night of entertainment, humour, music, dancing and
fine foods for all your family and friends.
On
arrival at the venue enter into a decorated banquet hall of Middle-earth. Each
table will be decorated as a Middle-earth location. You and your party can
pre-nominate which table to sit at. Choose from one of the realms of Hobbits,
Elves, Dwarves, Men or Orcs.
During
the Evening have your photo taken at Bag End with Hobbits, Wizards, Dwarves and
Elves.
Smaug’s
Treasure Hoard will be on display, complete with a large Dragon Cake surrounded
by treasures which will later in the Evening be shared with all
guests.
Leanne
our Hobbit Chef will prepare a wonderful buffet meal, including many dishes
especially cooked for a traditional Hobbit Feast. Leanne adds, “all you can
eat”.
Our
night’s music includes Middle-earth favourites, Hobbit music and dance music
after dinner and formalities.
This
is a Charity Event in support of The Pyjama Foundation, with donated prizes from
companies and individual donors from here and overseas. There will be raffles,
door prizes, numerous spot prizes, and costume prizes. During the night those in
costumes will be invited to parade before guests and a number of prizes will be
awarded to the finest and best costumes on display.
All
children 12 and under in attendance will receive a small gift from The Hobbit
Sack.
And like that, it was over. March Madness is put to bed for another year; all that remains for us to do is announce our Grand Champion 2019.
We started back on March 19, with 64 locations facing off in four brackets: The Shire, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Each round saw some fairly close fights, and some strange pairings (Lonely Mountain vs Misty Mountains! Bag End taking on Hobbiton!). In the very first round, what some say are Tolkien’s ‘two towers’ (Barad-dur and Isengard) faced off. The only battle which matched one found in the Professor’s books was in Round 2, when Fangorn Forest marched to Isengard. Alas, my personal favourite (the Green Dragon, naturally!) fell in Round 3.
Of our two finalists, both started off with pretty easy journeys through the rounds. Early on, Numenor gave Gondolin the biggest challenge, but even they could only take 40% against the elvish city. In the fourth round, however, Gondolin faced tougher competition, and just narrowly defeated the other very strong contender from the Silmarillion bracket, Valinor. And in the Final Four, Gondolin again had a hard time of it, securing victory by just 3% over the Lonely Mountain!
Rivendell, on the other hand, pretty much cruised through; even against Lothlorien, Elrond’s home in the valley was still able to take two thirds of the vote. Did that make Rivendell the favourite in the epic final?
The votes have been counted, and the margin between the two locations was just about 15%. Without further ado, we can reveal this year’s Middle-earth Map March Madness Grand Champion:
Yes, as the early rounds would seem to indicate, Rivendell was the firm favourite. They will be singing tra-la-la-lally there down in the valley to celebrate, no doubt!
Many thanks to all of you who played along, voted, and commented. We always enjoy seeing folks taking part in our version of March Madness, and reading what you have to say. Let us know what you thought of this year’s theme in the comments below, or on Facebook. We hope you’ll join the fun again next year!
And then there were two… After two weeks of battles between some of the key locations of Middle-earth, we’re down to the two places which will fight it out to see who will be Grand Champion 2019.
Two tough duels made up the semi-final. On one side, Bag End took on Rivendell; and as hard as that hole in the ground tried, it just could not overcome the power of Lord Elrond. In the end, Rivendell took almost two thirds of the vote in this contest.
On the other side, Gondolin faced off against the Lonely Mountain; and this was an epic fight indeed! The difference came down to less than 3%! But once again, the magic of the elves won through, and Gondolin just defeated Erebor. The dwarves will not be pleased!
So now the hidden city takes on the hidden valley! Two elvish realms face off in the final: Rivendell vs Gondolin. Which location will be the ultimate victor? YOU DECIDE! Voting in the Final is open now, and only goes for TWO days, until 10pm EST on Friday 5 April. So don’t delay! Rally the troops and VOTE NOW on this post! The Grand Champion will be crowned on Saturday!
The end is nigh; just two rounds of Middle-earth Map March Madness 2019 remain! We’re down to 4 locations; which are still in with a chance for the title of Grand Champion 2019?
Three of our four categories in this round ended up with roughly two thirds to one third results. In The Shire this saw Bag End conquer its home, Hobbiton. In the Hobbit section, the one overcame the many, as The Lonely Mountain defeated the Misty Mountains. And in the Lord of the Rings bracket, the power of the elves remained strong: Minas Tirith could not overthrow Rivendell.
In the Silmarillion group, however, the battle was much closer; and this time, elvish magic did not win the day. Valinor took an early lead, but in the end it was Gondolin which came out victorious, in a narrow victory with 52% of the vote.
Now the brackets mix, for our final two rounds! Bilbo will have to choose between his own home in The Shire, and the home he loves to visit down in the valley, as Bag End takes on Rivendell. Gondolin marches for the Lonely Mountain; can men overthrow the dwarvish kingdom of Erebor? Will it be elvish stronghold vs dwarvish realm in the final, or will a simple hole in the ground (but not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, mind you) be facing off against a mountain? YOU DECIDE! Voting in the Semi Finals is open now, until 10pm EST on Wednesday 3 April. Tell your friends; get your supporters lined up; and VOTE NOW on this post!
Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular monthly feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets.
So come and join us by the hearth and enjoy!
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.
The Walk to Bree
by David McG.
I met a wise old Hobbit on the winding path to Bree.
And as we strolled down woodland paths he began to sing to me.
He sang of high adventure, of friendship and of woe.
Of how he’d helped to save this world, many years ago.
The song it told a stirring tale as we seemed to float along.
Down ancient paths and long lost towns now living in his song.
He sang of safe security and days of endless fun.
And how that changed the fateful day his friends were forced to run.
From Hobbiton to Gondor’s halls his song it told the tale.
Of the greatest Hobbit who ever lived and a mission seemed doomed to fail.
The lifelong friends he came to make and those he’d come to lose.
And the terrible fate that haunted them all, and dark paths they had to chose.
The song unfolded a wondrous tale of his life spent in the Shire.
From farmers fields to Dragon’s Inn and feasting round a fire.
A long expected party, to honour a life long friend.
And the forming of a Fellowship, that stayed true to journey’s end.
He sang the tale of the Crownless King whose rule had long seemed lost.
A Captain who had saved them all, but paid a terrible cost
The mighty Ents, the Shepherds of Trees. White Wizard with a dark desire.
And a ring of gold that consumed all will, forged in a mountain of fire!
The pathway grew much darker as he sang of battles grand.
Hard fought by all the free folk assailed throughout the land.
The horrors at the Hornburg, Osgiliath overrun.
The last ride of the Rohirrim and the beating of the drum.
The Battle of the Pelennor, the fight to seal all fate.
The last march of all Free Folk to tear down the Dark Lord’s gate.
The shadows they all lifted and the sun shone brightly down.
Then a beaming smile lit the Hobbits face as we came into Bree town.
Into the Prancing Pony, a bustling, ancient Inn.
And he toasted as he raised his beer “Let adventure new begin!”
And there stood the ‘Citadel Guardian’ And there stood the ‘Fool of a Took!’ And there stood the ‘Defeater of Wizards’ As told in the Westmarch Red Book.
~~ * ~~
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.
It’s Quarter Final time in Middle-earth Map March Madness 2019! 64 locations began this epic battle; now only 8 remain. Which are still with us?
News from The Shire which I personally find tragic: the Green Dragon Inn is out! Alas, the pub could only muster just over a quarter of the vote; Bag End looks like a hot favourite to go all the way in this contest. The Shire’s other pub, the Prancing Pony, is also out, beaten by Hobbiton.
In the Lord of the Rings section Minas Tirith easily conquered Fangorn Forest, once again securing a victory with almost three quarters of the vote. The other duel in this bracket was a tough one: Lothlorien vs Rivendell! How did YOU choose between those two elvish strongholds? In the end, it was Elrond who conquered Galadriel, with two thirds of the poll.
For the second round running, the closest face off in this round was to be found in the Hobbit bracket; this time Elrond was not victorious, as the Misty Mountains defeated the Last Homely House, but with only just over 1% in it! The Lonely Mountain had a more convincing win over Mirkwood, claiming almost 70% of the vote.
Finally, in the Silmarillion group Gondolin and Valinor are still cruising through, taking 86% and 85% respectively. Could one of these locations go on to be the overall winner?
Just one more round within brackets remains, and there are some tough choices to be made! Hobbiton takes on Bag End; Minas Tirith throws down with Rivendell; the mountains face off as Erebor challenges the Misty Mountains; and in perhaps the most epics of duels, Gondolin confront Valinor. Which locations will be triumphant, and move on to the semi finals? YOU DECIDE! Voting in Round 4 is open now, until 10pm EST on Sunday 31 March. Rally the troops for your favourites, and VOTE NOW on this post!
