Today marks the final contest in the ‘contest extravaganza’ brought to us by our friends at The Noble Collection. The final collectible giveaway is a sterling silver version of The One Ring from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The ring has been laser inscribed with the elvish writing that only fire can tell. The ring comes in a beautiful wooden box and sports  a 20″ chain that will allow you to show it off as a proud fan of Middle-earth. You can grab this ring now from The Noble Collection for a stellar price of only $129, or you can enter the contest and try your luck. This final contest starts today and will run through December 28th at midnight PST.

To enter, simply fill out this FORM.

NB: One entry per person per email for this contest. Alas entry is for US residents only. Good luck!

Readers who are skeptical after seeing the title of this piece have a right to be. English professors have been known to find all sorts of things in books which the authors never put there. In addition, at first glance Middle-earth seems a particularly non-religious place. We find no mention of God in The Hobbit, no prayers, Bibles, churches, priests, or ministers — none of the things typically associated with the Christian faith.

Fans also know Tolkien was a Professor of Anglo-Saxon and that his writings were influenced by the myths of Northern Europe which he and his friend, C. S. Lewis, loved to read aloud with the circle of friends that later grew into their famous writing group, the Inklings.

So how might it be claimed that The Hobbit is a Christian story? Continue reading “The Hobbit: an essentially Christian story?”

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 is widely known that the novel called The Hobbit is supposed to be the journal, or autobiography of Bilbo Baggins, and his recollections of his adventures with Gandalf and the Company of Dwarves. In the beginning of both The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo is seen writing his story. That book is then passed along to Frodo to include his grand adventure, The Lord of the Rings, and then finally given to Sam to finish. But where does this love of storytelling come from?

Again, in the FOTR in the chapter called “Concerning Hobbits” not only does Bilbo describe every little detail of just what is a Hobbit, but he mentions their love of genealogy, biographies, nature studies and maps. And while it is made clear Hobbits do not like going on Adventures, they are not opposed to listening to stories of adventure. Later on in FOTR, in Rivendell, there is a Hall of Fire, where songs are sung and stories told and thus, it becomes clear that Elves love storytelling as well. And finally, in The Hobbit during the Unexpected Party, the Dwarves sing their own songs tell some tales of their own history. It is clear that while Professor Tolkien is telling us a tale, to make each culture richer and seem more real, he is giving them individualized stories of their own within his greater story.

Continue reading “Telling Tall Tales in the Hobbit: Just how was Golf invented anyhow?”

From independent.ie: PRE-exam nerves are bad enough, but if your examiner is JRR Tolkien, then you’d really have your work cut out.

Well that was the case for students at NUI Galway more than 60 years ago when ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ author worked as an English literature examiner.

Recently discovered exam papers reveal that the creative genius was an external examiner for the summer exams over a number of years at the Galway university.

Barry Houlihan, an archivist at the James Hardiman Library in the university, said the find came about thanks to a Tolkien enthusiast who contacted the college.

“We decided to have a search and we found the volume in question. We went through all the exam papers and we found that Tolkien had been an external on four occasions. It was fascinating to see his name printed on them,” said Mr Houlihan. [Read More]

Tribute.ca brings us this behind-the-scenes special on the making of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. We hear from director Peter Jackson and many of the film’s stars about their journey back to Middle-earth. It’s also a good recap of Lord of the Rings with plenty of footage and scenes that you might have forgotten! Check it out! Continue reading “Behind the scenes of An Unexpected Journey”

New Zealand Post's hobbit coins Back in October, New Zealand Post announced that they would mint special-issue gold coins as a tie-in with Jackson’s The Hobbit. The press release stated:

The rim of each coin is inscribed in both English and Dwarvish with the words “Middle-earth — New Zealand.” Continue reading “Say it right: Middle-earth language usage”

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.