The results are in! After many weeks of intense competition we can finally crown a winner! In the end, Samwise Gamgee, a sturdy and faithful Hobbit from The Shire takes the prize in our first annual Middle-earth March Madness!
Sam defeated his worthy opponent Aragorn with 65% of the votes!
We’d like to thank you all for participating in this year’s event, and look forward to next year’s competition in which we will institute a few of the changes that you have suggested in comments/facebook posts, etc. For a review of each round, click on the following links: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Final Four , Championship
One of our Facebook friends has developed a fantastic new use for the timeline feature of the site. New TheOneRing.net contributor Irfon put together a broad outline of many of the works of Middle-earth. In his own words: In 1937, The Hobbit was published, which introduced us to Middle-earth. Since then there’s been many books, films, games etc. set in Middle-earth. In this page we take you on an journey which takes us as far back as 1892 in the History of Middle-earth.
You can like the new Faceook page to see how it works and view many of the interpretations of Middle-earth in things like games. It may also spark a lot of creative possibilities for a way to put lives, history and works into an interactive timeline. Thanks Irfon!
After weeks of competition and a series of amazing match-ups, it all comes down to this! The final two combatants in our inaugural Middle-earth March Madness are Samwise Gamgee and Aragorn! Just when it looked like Legolas was simply unstoppable, Samwise proved his muster by soundly defeating the elf by nearly 13 percentage points! Gandalf was primed for defeat when he barely advanced (by one vote) against Feanor in round 1, so it was no surprise to see Aragorn pull away and beat him by 9 percent. Both characters were number two seeds throughout a tournament that seemed to heavily favor the number 1 seeds. (Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Final Four )
Samwise Gamgee: The Trilogy starts and ends with him, the coolest landscape architect ever. After a stellar turn as Frodo’s backbone he came home to a beautiful family and a rewarding political career. “Well, I’m back,” he said.
Aragorn: This man claimed the Crown, brought powers of healing through strange herbal remedies, and kept the lovefires burning for a certain Elven Princess… He had it all, even choosing his own exit on his own terms. Now that’s why it’s good to be the King.
This historic match-up will last until April 4th at Noon ET. If you are passionate about either choice, please take a moment to share with your friends and family! We’ll keep you updated on the match-up throughout the week.
Middle-earth March Madness is down to the Final Four! Coming out of the Rankin/Bass Division, battered and bruised by some close calls, is none other than everyone’s favorite wizard, Gandalf! From the Ralph Bakshi Division, with a final match that was not nearly as close as one might expect, is Aragorn! From the Tolkien Family Division is the solid number one seed Legolas, coming hot off his latest victory over the Ringbearer himself, Frodo. Last, but certainly not least, out of the Peter Jackson Division, is tournament dark horse, and the only remaining Hobbit…Samwise Gamgee! Voting in for the Final Four will last until April 1st at 6pm ET. Check out the results from the previous rounds: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3.
Follow after the break to place your vote and see the latest version of the bracket. (Download) Good luck to all of our competitors!
We have asked in delightful geeky conversations, and you have too: “Why are fantasy accents British?” In fact, at a recent TORn staff meeting at John Carter, that very topic came up. Well, bless the BBC and writer Brian Wheeler for taking the conversation to the next level and checking with some experts and for including LOTR and The Hobbit in the discussion. You can read it right here. Thanks to spy Elessar (but not the TORn staffer of the same name) for the tip.
After weeks of competition and a series of amazing match-ups, it all comes down to this! The final two combatants in our inaugural Middle-earth March Madness are Samwise Gamgee and Aragorn! Just when it looked like Legolas was simply unstoppable, Samwise proved his muster by soundly defeating the elf by nearly 13 percentage points! Gandalf was primed for defeat when he barely advanced (by one vote) against Feanor in round 1, so it was no surprise to see Aragorn pull away and beat him by 9 percent. Both characters were number two seeds throughout a tournament that seemed to heavily favor the number 1 seeds. (