Blast from the past, Middle-earth March Madness circa 2012
TORn staff have been busy mixing things up a little bit this year. With Amazon Prime floating all these versions of Middle-earth Maps, we decided it would be fun to take some familiar and some not so familiar Middle-earth locations and spread them out in a Bracket and let you readers decide which destination is your favorite. This year’s madness will be known as Middle-earth Map March Madness for this reason, so you may want to pull out your books and start looking at your maps. Sure, we’ll have some handy little guides to help remind you of some of the more obscure locations, but in the end, this will help you get ready for Amazon’s series, if their teased maps are any indication.
We’ve decided upon a rather simple format of divvying up by books, giving one quarter draw to locations within Silmarillion, one to places found in the Hobbit, and one to locations found in the Lord of the Rings. To fill out the fourth quarter draw, we separated the Shire from the other books and gave it a place of it’s own. So, our final Four will include one location from each of these draws, but will your favorite Middle-earth locations even make the cut? We are still finalizing the draw, which basically consisted of various staff members tossing out loads of names until we had a good 20-25 from each segment, then we began voting to narrow each Quarter draw down to just 16 selections. We hope to have things ready to go in the next few days, so make sure to vote and keep track of the game as it moves through each round.
AP – Elizabeth Jones, “Betty,” Ballantine, passed away on Tuesday, February 12 at her home in Bearsmouth, New York. She was 99 years old. Together with her husband, Ian, who passed away in 1995, they Founded Bantam Books and Ballantine Books, expanding and mainstreaming the market for paperback books in the U.S. Of course, the name ‘Ballantine Books’ is near and dear to readers of J.R.R. Tolkien. What lover of Tolkien’s books doesn’t have several beloved, dog-eared Ballantine editions of “The Hobbit” and/or “The Lord of the Rings” on their bookshelves?
Great news for lovers of Tolkien-inspired art. TORn’s good friend Donato Giancola is to release a new collection of his incredible Middle-earth paintings, Middle-earth: Journeys in Myth and Legend. Published by Dark Horse, the volume will be available in April.
Giancola shares some insight into the development of the book on the blog MuddyColors; click here to read more.
To preorder the book, visit Giancola’s website, here. For those who’d like to splash out on a Limited Edition, Giancola and Shawn Speakman (of the SignedPage.com) are offering signed and embossed books; the emboss is the sigil of the Kings of Gondor. Click here to order one.
If you aren’t familiar with Donata Giancola’s work, you have a treat in store. He is an astonishing artist – and also a very nice guy, whom TORn followers may have met at past TORn events. Don’t miss out on getting a copy of this fabulous book – and check out some sneak previews of content, above right and below:
Principle photography was completed on this film a little over a year ago and the first test audience screenings began in June, so we’ve been waiting quite a while for this release date to be announced. This film will open on May 10, 2019 in a limited release, as is usual for indie films. This is good news if you live in big cities that typically get art films, but others may have to make a little more effort to get out and see it. Once we get word on just how many theaters it will open in and whether it will go into a wider release, we will share that news here. Also, there are those among us who have seen the film, and once permission has been given you can expect a review or two. But first, just what is this film about and when is it set? Continue reading “Save the Date: May 10, 2019 for “Tolkien”, the Biopic about J.R.R. Tolkien will finally hit theaters”
Hey Tolkienites, MrCere here, with a love for Tolkien undiminished. A few days and 127 years after The Professor was born seemed like a good time to share the work of a member of the Tolkien community that examines Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and The Inklings.
Christopher Herzberg, known sometimes as Chris Greenleaf, wrote a thesis on his way to earning a masters degree. One of the great aspects of our fandom, and TheOneRing, is how many different ways there are to enjoy Tolkien and his works. That definitely includes scholarship.
Chris is probably best known to the Tolkien community in Atlanta. He participates in Middle-earth cosplay and is known to frequent Dragon Con in Tolkien finery. He also shapes young minds by teaching school.
I’ll get out of the way and let Chris do his thing. Enjoy!
He writes:
“In the early 1930s, a group of writers met each week and discussed their literary works in progress. The types of support varied from confidence builder to constructive criticism from fellow writers. At least six of the founding members had served in World War I. The group would end up providing member J.R.R. Tolkien with invaluable friendships, as well as a place to find solace with others who had witnessed the atrocities of World War I.”
This one’s come as a bolt from the blue! Throughout this year Rhino Records has been releasing limited editions of the Complete Recordings of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the Kingon coloured vinyl.
And to wrap things up, they’ve just announced that the original motion picture soundtracks (the 2001, 2002, and 2003 OSTs that accompanied the theatrical releases of the films) will be available as part of a Limited-Edition 6-LP Trilogy BoxedSet from November 30, 2018.
No details yet on the edition limit, but for the record, the FOTR vinyl set was limited to 5,000 while those for TTT and ROTK were limited to 8,000 each.
Rhino Records’ official press release and track listing follow.
This one’s come as a bolt from the blue! Throughout this year Rhino Records has been releasing limited editions of the Complete Recordings of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King on coloured vinyl.