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”
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:
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.
In Imagining Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, guest writer Eric M. Van draws together the threads of known facts, and add a dash of logic to speculate on how Peter Jackson and his crew may have imagined their version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
This third part of the series continues to analyse the unique challenges Jackson and his fellow screenwriters face adapting The Hobbit for the screen — and examines how the unusual way J.R.R. Tolkien constructs the fantasy world of The Hobbit introduces its own special set of headaches. Warning: this feature contains spoiler images. Continue reading “Imagining Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: Part Three”
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.
You may have read recently that the Tolkien Estate has brought a lawsuit against Warner Bros., regarding Warner Bros.’ marketing rights for Lord of the Rings and Hobbit products. Our friend Erik Wecks has written a great piece for Geek Dad at Wired.com, clarifying some of the issues at stake and suggesting why the Tolkien Estate may have felt the need to take such action. For fans of Tolkien’s work, just how far is too far – when does a franchise become a sell out? Check out the excellent article here.
The grandson of JRR Tolkien said he felt ‘suffocated’ by the legacy of his famous relative and feared never being able to emerge from his shadow.
Barrister-turned-novelist Simon Tolkien said the unstoppable success of the film adaptations of his grandfather’s classic Lord of the Rings trilogy caused a bitter feud within his family.
Mr Tolkien said the problems led to an ‘incredibly, dreadfully painful’ feud with his father Christoper.
The 53-year-old author of The Stepmother and the Inspector Trave trilogy said ‘nothing could prepare’ his family for the release of the films, which he said was like being ‘hit by a juggernaut’.
He said the success of the films, which grossed almost $3 billion worldwide, made him feel as if he had ‘disappeared’.
He told The Sunday Times: ‘It was like being hit by a juggernaut. One minute, I was Simon Tolkien, a barrister from London. The next, I was JRR Tolkien’s grandson. This might sound strange, but I began to lose sight of who I was. It was as if I — me, Simon — had disappeared. I felt suffocated.’
It was reported at the time that the family row stemmed from Mr Tolkien’s willingness to cooperate with director Peter Jackson despite opposition from the rest of the estate. However this was later denied.
Mr Tolkien said: ‘Maybe some people assumed it was about money…I don’t know.
‘In hindsight, I think all of my anger was being driven by this feeling that I was trapped. All I ever was going to be was the grandson of a very famous writer. That was the sum total of my achievements.’
He and his father have since managed to reconcile their differences and he even dedicated his latest book to his father. He said: ‘I guess I feel lucky that I got the chance to put things right with my dad.
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.
