Hobbit LOTR boxed setNew York ComicCon is almost upon us, and as you know, TheOneRing.net will be there, at booth 3040, at our panel Saturday at 9pm, and at our party with Weta Workshop on Thursday evening. (More details here – two more tickets just became available for the party, so snap ’em up before they’re gone!)

One of our generous sponsors for New York ComicCon is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – publishers of Tolkien in the United States. They have given us some wonderful items for the party goody bags, as well as some lovely prizes for giveaways. One such item is a SNEAK PREVIEW – this beautiful ‘pocket boxed set’ of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings will not be available to buy until October 21st, but we have two sets to give away to some lucky folks at ComicCon!

Here’s what Houghton Mifflin Harcourt say about this new set:

‘This four-volume, deluxe pocket boxed set contains J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic masterworks The Hobbit and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King). Each book features a leatherette cover with stamped title and all  four books are held in a leatherette bound box with gold foil stamping.’

The books are roughly 7 inches tall, and are therefore an ideal size to take with you whenever you want to have the Professor’s words to hand! If you aren’t lucky enough to win a set from us at New York ComicCon, you can order from HMH here. Our thanks to them for their continued support of TheOneRing.net!

 

JRR Tolkien The Beeb, as part of its commemorations of WWI, have assembled this multi-part online educational guide exploring how — and where — World War One influenced JRR Tolkien and his writings.

Narrated in part by John Rhys-Davies, and including a short interview with Tolkien scholar and Cardiff Metropolitan University lecturer Dr Dimitra Fimi, it’s worth a look. Continue reading “How The Lord of the Rings was influenced by WWI”

Eowyn and Aragorn by Alan Lee.
Eowyn and Aragorn by Alan Lee.
Over the years J.R.R. Tolkien corrected a number of typographical errors and inconsistencies within The Lord of the Rings. The 50th anniversary edition, released in 2004 and overseen by Christopher Tolkien, remains the most recent such revision.

In this TORn library article Barliman chatter and Hall of Fire regular Puma examines one error regarding Aragorn’s age that was actually introduced in the transition to the revised editions, and has seemingly remained unnoticed ever since.

 


The tale of one word

The Lord of the Rings is a complex book with just as complex a history. Through all the revisions there is one error in the appendices that has persisted even into the 50th anniversary edition, which is the most correct version we have. Continue reading “Regarding Aragorn: a matter of age”

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.

Balrog wings or not Cinefex writer Graham Edwards examines what magic in movies should look like, and lists some of his favourite depictions of magic in movies through the years. Continue reading “Magic, movies and The Lord of the Rings”

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.

Peter-Jackson-Doctor-Who In this 50-minute lecture at at Swarthmore College, Professor Tom Shippey, the author of J.R.R. Tolkien, Author of the Century, charts the creative reshaping of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings into Peter Jackson’s award-winning trilogy of films. Continue reading “Tolkien book to Jackson script: the medium and the message”

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.

dwarf-rings In his newest piece, TORn friend and regular Tolkien blogger Michael Martinez considers the intriguing proposition of how Sauron might have distributed the seven rings of power to the dwarf lords (in their halls of stone).

It’s also a great little primer if you’re not aware of, or had forgotten, your history of the seven great families of dwarves — the Broadbeams and Firebeards of Ered Luin, the Longbeards of Moria and the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots that dwelt in the eastern reaches of Middle-earth.

 
Continue reading “How did Sauron give the Seven Rings to the Dwarven kings?”

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.