Over the last week I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with PeckishOwl about her hilarious Oakentoons. We…
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Over the last week I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with PeckishOwl about her hilarious Oakentoons. We discussed where she gets her inspirations for the various toons and which one she loves the most. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did doing it. So without further ado, over to PeckishOwl 🙂
Continue reading “TORn chats with PeckishOwl creator of the Oakentoons”
Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch up on the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and enjoy the fun!
Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – September 29, 2013”
Anyone who’s read both The Silmarillion and The Hobbit will have noted the strong similarities between the Elvenking of Mirkwood and Thingol Greycloak. In this article, Tolkien scholar Michael Martinez examines whether, at the time Tolkien was writing The Hobbit, the Elvenking was intended to be Thingol himself.
John Rateliff addressed this question in The History of The Hobbit without really closing the issue, although he favors the view (based on the available evidence) that the Elvenking of The Hobbit (whom we learn is named Thranduil in The Lord of the Rings) is NOT to be equated with King Thingol in The Silmarillion. Continue reading “Was the Elvenking of The Hobbit supposed to be Thingol?”
Garth introduces the feature as follows: A salutary lesson in his youth taught Tolkien that fairy-stories are not only or mainly for children. Here I uncover the who, the where and the when. Continue reading “Tolkien and the boy who didn’t believe in fairies”
I have been reading Tolkien for as long as I’ve been able to. That is to say, that when, in fourth grade I became capable of reading and understanding the Hobbit, I did. And I have been reading the Hobbit (and the Lord of the Rings) annually ever since. It’s fair to say that the lessons taught in the Hobbit were as formative to me as a human being as those taught from my Sunday School’s Bibles or Slater Elementary’s textbooks. “What lessons?” I hear you ask. “It’s just a silly story. It’s not a parable or fable.” How wrong you are. Continue reading “Seven things I learned reading The Hobbit”
TORn’s LA staffers hosted their 11th annual Baggins Birthday Bash today in Griffith Park. We’ve always held it here, but have been a couple different positions over the years. Today, we moved over to the Mineral Wells area, past the Harding Golf Course, and it finally afforded us some much needed room, since the party has been expanding the past couple of years. There must have been close to 150 folks eating, drinking and having a Tolkien Good Time.
The design motif this year was definitely Dragons and Spiders, we had spiders all over the cake and cupcakes, they were on every table, in the trees and all over the food tent. But there were also dragons, also on the tables and in the trees, but it was Smaug sitting on his pile of gold that got the most attention. You may not be able to notice it, but there are some jewels under his belly in this image, look closely and maybe you will see them. Nothing remains of Smaug, he was desolated when one child ate his head and another ate one of his wings. Someone else asked for a foot, no word on what happened to the tail. There was plenty of Dragon Gold to go around as well, thanks to Wonderland Bakery and their amazing cake designers.
Many games were played, including everyone’s favorite Hobbit game, Golfimbul. Prizes of Hats, Bags and Shirts were given out to winners of Golfimbul, both in the Adult and Youth divisions. There was also a very interactive Trivia game contest, two rounds, to determine who knew their Hobbit material best. There are only a few images here, check out the facebook page to find the Baggins Birthday Bash photo album to see the rest. In the crowd, you will notice many Hobbits, Elves, Dwarf women and Gandalf, among other Middle-earth notables.
Yes, we will be hosting this party again next year, so if you find yourself in Los Angeles the weekend of Sept. 20/21, look for the Party Sign and party like a Hobbit, or Dwarf, or Elf, or even a Wizard or two.
