The Raynor Memorial Library at Marquette University in Milwaukee is home to original manuscripts and working drafts for…
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If you’ve never visited the Tolkien Collection or are unaware of the contents of the archive, this two-part report from Tolkienist and Norse mythologist Dr Karl Seigfried documents just some of the literary treasures it holds. Continue reading “A field trip to the Marquette University Tolkien archives”
The biggest problem –– and this started with Fellowship –– was we had the dreaded F word; we were the fantasy movie, and there was no fantasy movies that ever won for best picture. Russell Schwartz, executive vice president of marketing at New Line Cinema in 2004.
Thanks to Ringer Boromir’s Bane for the heads-up. Continue reading “How The Return of the King won best picture and 11 Oscars”
J.R.R. Tolkien changed fantasy books and publishing forever with his inclusion of maps of Middle-earth. One of the staples of world-building fantasy novels since, maps tell readers they aren’t quite in Kansas anymore and help them know they are instead in places like Westeros or Randland.
So it’s absolutely fitting that the Middle-Earth DEM Project (somebody tell those amazing folks its lower case “e”) is putting Middle-earth in the hands of the public with views from space and can also be explored on foot virtually. The video above demonstrates that walk while the link to the project gives you choices of how you wish to see Middle-earth. Enjoy as team continues its work to put Middle-earth everywhere, including a demo you can download.
TORN’s latest library piece tries to uncover the origins of the Ringwraiths.
Some of Tolkien’s most mysterious and alluring characters in Middle-earth, the Nazgûl have remained in the shadows (no pun intended) ever since their appearance in The Lord of the Rings.
The following article has examines many of Tolkien’s sources in an attempt to “map out” the possible locations where the Nazgûl may have originally come from. Continue reading “On the identity and origins of the Nazgûl”
Calling all Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits and Wizards, you are hereby invited to ‘Ringers take Disneyland’ on Saturday, March 1 as part of the Oscar weekend festivities for fans of Middle-earth. Disneyland has been the site for Star Wars days, Potter Days, Browncoat Days and more, so why not fans of Middle-earth?
Here at TORn headquarters, we began to wonder what else we could do on Oscar weekend apart from our “One Dragon, One Party” that would be fun for locals and out-of-towners alike. LA and Hollywood are a popular tourist destination for dozens of reasons, but we needed a place that everyone wants to go to at least once in their lifetime, and is also family friendly and super fun. Disneyland fits the bill in oh so many ways, not the least of which is the fact that it has Dwarves, a Wizard and Mines, as well as many other Middle-earth-like realms and magical folk.
Continue reading “Ringers take Disneyland on March 1, 2014”
Arthur Rankin Junior, the director, producer and writer who helped establish the famous Rankin/Bass production house and animate The Hobbit in 1977 and The Return of the King in 1980 has died at his home in Harrington Sound, Bermuda. He was 89.
Rankin ran the successful Rankin/Bass production banner with business partner Jules Bass, putting out a many popular cartoon series and specials in a period spanning the early 1960s through to the late 1980s. The pair won a Peabody Award for their work on The Hobbit in 1977. Continue reading “Arthur Rankin Jnr, creator of the 1977 Hobbit and 1980 Return of the King films dies, aged 89”
