Tolkien fandom will be prominent at San Diego Comic-Con this year, with exclusives from Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, New Line Cinema’s The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, and the fan community here at TheOneRing.net. Get ready for a week of reveals from Middle-earth!

Panels

Three amazing panels happening this year for all The Lord of the Rings related adaptations!

  • Hall H, Friday 11amThe Rings of Power comes to the biggest pop culture stage with a preview for Season 2 of the biggest show in TV history. Most of the cast and showrunners are expected, along with a new extended trailer.
  • Friday 8pm, Room 25 ABCTheOneRing.net “main” LOTR panel This is one not to miss! We’ll be featuring exclusive footage from upcoming animated movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, plus official info on the future of LOTR from Middle-earth Enterprises, with some very special guests and some surprises!
  • Saturday 5:30pm, Room 5 AB – “I Am No Man: Women in Middle-earth” Hosted by TORn staffer Kellie Rice and featuring women leaders from Weta Workshop, EA games, Wizards of the Coast, and Middle-earth Enterprises.

Parties

Prime Video and TheOneRing.net are celebrating the upcoming Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power with a Middle-earth Moot! We’re honoured to be co-hosting this exciting event on Friday afternoon – but we’re sorry to have to tell you that the tickets were all snapped up in record time, and the party is full! Looking forward to seeing folks with tickets on Friday afternoon!

  • When: Friday 1:15pm
  • Where: Venue 808 (map)

And don’t forget, if you have a ticket, you can try your luck to claim one of the Autograph Opportunity Wristbands for this special event. Visit TheOneRing.net’s booth (#1934) during the following times:

Thursday 25th July 10-11am; OR 12-1pm; OR 2-3pm

Ask for greendragon! Bring proof that you have a ticket to the gathering (either printed out or on your phone). A certain number of lucky folks who come to the booth, during each hour slot, with proof of their party ticket, will be given a special wristband, which will allow them access to meet the cast and get autographs at the event.

You must be there in person to get a lucky wristband, and you must already have a party ticket. People will not be allowed to claim wristbands for others who are not at the booth in person.

TheOneRing.net Booth 1934 and new LOTR Merch Exclusives

TheOneRing.net is partnering with the #1 Tolkien YouTuber (with over 1 Million subscribers) Nerd of the Rings! Alongside Matt’s knowledgable expertise on the lore of LOTR, also joining us in the booth is the fabulous Jordan Rannells, creator of A Long Expected Soundscape. Step up to the booth to get an audio experience of original musical scores inspired by the books of Tolkien.

We’re delighted to welcome the one and only Jed Brophy back to our booth! As many fans know, Jed is one of the most fun folks to meet; an actor who has appeared in all six of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films AND in The Rings of Power, he’s always delighted to chat with fans, and has some amazing stories. Come and meet him, and snag a signed photograph!

As if that wasn’t enough, we’ll have MORE friends joining us throughout the weekend, including some of your favorite LOTR influencers! Kili from Happy Hobbit will be there much of the time; people will be popping by throughout the con; and we can confirm the following specifically:

Saturday 27th at the booth:
11am-12noon Tea with Tolkien; 1-2pm Knewbettadobetta; 3-4pm The Tolkien Professor.

Come and meet some of the coolest folks in fandom! Win some amazing prizes in our trivia contests – including the newest published editions of Tolkien’s books. Or treat yourself to some merch…

It wouldn’t be Comic-con without brand new EXCLUSIVE merch from TheOneRing.net! For our 25th anniversary this year, we’ve made a commemorative silver shimmer “You Haven’t Aged A Day” shirt, limited to only 100. Then to complicate the upcoming election even further, Gollum has announced his candidacy with our “Gollum/Smeagol 2024” shirt on vintage heather black.

Nerd of the Rings and Happy Hobbit have their first convention shirts ever this year! With these shirts, Happy Hobbit have sourced sustainable fabric and chemical-free printing for a better Shire. Here are the fun LOTR themed designs available only at the booth, not online, while supplies last.

Hot off a hugely successful kickstarter, Jackson Robinson has sent over packs of his officially licensed The Lord of the Rings playing card decks, featuring custom drawn 52-cards from both Fellowship and Two Towers. Shire Post Mint also returns to SDCC show floor inside our booth with their high quality coinage and jewelry. AND – we’ll be revealing a special collaboration with Oscha, celebrating our Silver Anniversary, which will be available for pre-order throughout the con. Stay tuned for more on that…!

Looking forward to seeing all you shire folk in San Diego next week, July 24-28. Our booth is open all hours of the convention floor. One final word of warning: you’ll want to get in line extra early for a seat at our 2 LOTR panels. Be sure to join TheOneRing Discord to get caught up on the excitement when things are revealed!

Here we are, at the final day of TORn’s Advent Calendar. We hope you’ve enjoyed our 24 days of posts: exploring Amazon’s new cast announcements, day dreaming about visiting New Zealand, taking a closer look at a seasonally appropriate work of the Professor’s, and even releasing some merchandise, to bring hope for the coming year!

It just remains for us to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. We know that lots of people are alone this year, and that the holiday season will be very different for many. You may feel that you are ‘the furthest away from home you’ve ever been’; but we hope that you always find yourself at home in Middle-earth, in the pages of Tolkien’s books, in Peter Jackson’s movies, and here at TheOneRing.net. We are a Fellowship of Fans; one big, happy, geeky family.

For something extra special to end our Advent Calendar, a few actor members of our family wanted to send greetings to you all. These three charming dwarven fellows are sending love to everyone.

Continue reading “Christmas greetings! – from some familiar faces.”

It’s that time of year, when fans from the world over gather in downtown Atlanta, for a weekend for well-mannered frivolity. Or crazed depravity. Or, most likely, some combination of the two. This year, alas, coronavirus means no in-person DragonCon, which is sad for all those who are missing seeing friends there. But it’s great new for anyone who has never been able to get to Atlanta, as this year you can join the fun online! And there is PLENTY going on for fans of Middle-earth. Let’s take a look…

Staffers deej and greendragon will be taking part as ever, and TheOneRing.net’s panel will be online at 11.30am ET on Saturday (5th). There, deej and greendragon will be joined by High Fantasy Track assistant director Madeye Gamgee, who was recently lured into joining the TORn staff. We’ll be looking back on the past 12 months of Tolkien fandom, and looking forward to see what we can be excited about in the year ahead. (Spoiler: there’s actually rather a lot!)

Before that, on Friday evening at 8.30pm ET we’ll be hosting a Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (EE) watch along. Set up your own device, and we’ll all hit play together at 9pm precisely; and text chat along as we watch. AND earlier on Friday, you can catch a panel with none other than Nori, Ori, Bombur and Bifur: Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, Stephen Hunter and William Kircher will be appearing together to chat all things dwarvish!

There are lots of other things happening which will be of interest to Tolkien fans. Here’s a list of highlights of the con weekend, beginning this evening:

Tolkien Come to Virtual Dragon Con High Fantasy
Schedule 2020 (all times are Eastern Daylight)

Thursday, Sept. 3
9-10 pmSylvester McCoy (from 2011)D*C Classics
10-11 pmWe Have Always Fought: Warrior Women in High Fantasy D*C Fan Tracks
Friday, Sept. 4
10–11 amGreg Hildebrandt SpotlightD*C Main
5:30–6:30 pmDwarves on the Loose!(Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher)D*C Main
8:30 pm onwardWatch-a-Thon! Fellowship of the Ring (hitting “play” together at 9 pm EDT)High Fantasy track YouTube:https://youtu.be/zO3UAWQJX-4
Saturday, Sept. 5
5:30-6:30 amGreg Hildebrandt Spotlight (rebroadcast)D*C Main
11:30am – 12:30 pmAn Unexpected Virtual Party: the Latest News from Middle-earth from TheOneRing.netHigh Fantasy track YouTube:https://youtu.be/dssLi0d5WpQ
Sunday, Sept. 6
4 – 5 amSylvester McCoy (from 2012)D*C Classics
11:30am – 12:30 pm“The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien”: an Hour with Author John GarthHigh Fantasy track
YouTube:https://youtu.be/pgX1AeHrC4Q
4 – 5 pmÉowyn and Faramir: The Faces of the Fourth AgeHigh Fantasy track YouTube:https://youtu.be/v_0AhJiaUS8
6 – 7 pmHobbit Guests (from 2015)D*C Classics
7 – 8 pmThe Silmarillion in 60 Minutes (with costumes!)High Fantasy track YouTube:https://youtu.be/iWxhNKw33XI
8:30 pm onwardHobbit Drinking Songs (with the Brobdingnagian Bards)High Fantasy track. YouTube:https://youtu.be/EtKfDPR_tus

All of this content is available on links. For DragonCon Classics, click here. For DragonCon Fan Tracks, click here. For DragonCon Main, click here. And for any of the High Fantasy track panels, see the specific links included above. Also be sure to check out the High Fantasy track’s Facebook page for further details, and all the other exciting panels they have lined up. (You can catch Madeye Gamgee talking Narnia, and greendragon talking The Witcher!) AND you’ll also want to check out opportunities for autographs and virtual meet and greets, from Jed Brophy, Adam Brown and Stephen Hunter! Click here for details.

And as if that weren’t enough… We are also excited to let you know that there WILL be TORn t-shirts available! You’ll be able to order them online, and we’ll be revealing the designs for 2020 in our panel on Saturday, 11.30am ET. So please join us then! We’ll also post links here for buying, after Saturday’s reveal.

It’s all happening at DragonCon 2020. We may not be able to gather in person, but we can still have merry meetings online; see you for panels, movie viewing, and more. Let the fun begin!

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Lord of the Rings internet teaser for The Lord of the Rings, we’ve put together an all-star line-up to join us LIVE for TORn Tuesday!

Join us on all our social channels at 5pm PT/8pm ET (All Timezones) as we welcome guests…

  • Mark Ordesky – Executive Producer
  • Richard Taylor – Creative Director Weta Workshop, VFX Supervisor
  • Gordon Paddison – VP Marketing, New Line Cinema
  • Jed Brophy – Actor, Snaga and Sharku
  • Rick Porras – Co-Producer
  • Michael Pellerin – Director The Appendices

Where to watch…

When our friends from within the Tolkien Community heard we’re having a special birthday they sent us these lovely messages as part of our celebrations. So Happy 20th Anniversary TORn! Here’s to many many more!

Kia Ora TORn,

Happy 20th Anniversary, well done on making this wonderful achievement! We have been involved with TORn through one of your founding members Erica Challis, from New Zealand since 2002. We have enjoyed the fantastic Premier movie parties that Red Carpet Tours has provided and TORn attended, along with the stars from the films. Looking forward to future calibrations and hopefully a great Lotr TV series for all the fans. Congratulations again on 20 years! Best regards, Julie James and the team at Red Carpet Tours.

Happy 20th Birthday to TheOneRing.net from The Brisbane Tolkien Fellowship. We hope you continue to have another successful 20 years at least sharing the news of all things Middle-earth.

TORn 20th Anniversary Message from Gamling, Bruce Hopkins

Dear Friends at TheOneRing,


Congratulations on reaching the ripe old age of 20  ; ) Thank you for all the support and love you’ve given us all.


When I took the job of playing Ori in The Hobbit, I didn’t think I’d collect so many chums. Like the cast, you too are part of my extended dysfunctional Tolkien family!


Have a great celebration – drink, be merry… and avoid the green food!
See you all soon. Adam x

A big happy 20th anniversary to TheOneRing.net ! All this time you have been delivering to us critical and wonderful news regarding the world of JRR Tolkien, from the books to the films to the Collectibles and everything in between. May 20 more years be forthcoming!

Cheers, Jerry Vanderstelt

Our good friend Donato Giancola also has given us a mathom to offer to you all! For the next ten days, you can get 50% (!!) off on all of Donato’s incredible art prints. Just use the coupon code TORN at checkout. Take a look at the wonderful prints on sale, here. Thanks so much, Donato!

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already – it’s been an amazing 
community to have been a part of, and all good wishes to everyone 
involved, from everyone at Welly-moot!

Jack Machiela
Welly-moot.com

We will be adding more messages to this post as and when we receive them, so do check back! Thanks to everyone who has sent greetings and anniversary messages!

Just two rounds remain in this year’s Middle-earth March Madness – we’re down to the final four, facing off against each other in the Semi-Finals! Who has the strength to rule over all?

Let’s take a look back at the Quarter Finals – where none of the battles was as tight as might have been predicted. In a pairing which presented voters with a tough choice, the stout-hearted hobbit overcame his long-shanked foe; Aragorn was defeated by Samwise, with the Ranger unable to claim much more than a third of the vote. This result may surprise some, but then, Master Gamgee has always proved to have hidden strengths and depths.

Division II saw Galadriel going nuclear on Gollum, but still losing to the tricksssy one! Who would have thought that one of the River-folk could overcome a high elf, and a margin of two thirds to one third?

The mighty Maiar match was also not the closely fought duel one might have expected; it must indeed have been Gandalf the White who entered the lists, as he thrashed Saruman, taking over 85% of the vote!

Finally, in Division IV two elves faced off; a high (but half) elf against a woodland dweller. Thranduil may have ridden in on his war moose, but in the end, it was Elrond who came out victorious, claiming about three quarters of the vote.

And now we are down to just FOUR. Samwise vs Gollum – there’s no love lost between these two! Will the faithful gardener be able to overcome ‘Stinker’, or if he lets his guard down, will Gollum defeat the ‘stupid, fat hobbit’? Will it just devolve into a contest of name calling?! You decide!

Gandalf vs Elrond – will the wizard finally teach Half-elven a lesson, for failing to throw Isildur and the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom at the end of the Second Age? Or does Rivendell’s ruler have a trick or two up his voluminous sleeves? It’s up to you – VOTE NOW!

The Semi-Final voting is open NOW, and will close at 10pm EST on Tuesday 3rd April. The FINAL will then run April 4th -5th. Only a few more days to play along with Middle-earth March Madness, before it’s over for another year. VOTE NOW![Final Four] [Elite Eight] [Round 3 Bracket] [Round 2 Bracket] [Round 1 Bracket]

Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness – The Final Four are Chosen!”