Following on from staffer Kili’s post, here’s the official word from UK publisher Harper Collins on the upcoming release of Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf. The Harper Collins article contains comment from Tolkien’s son, Christopher, on how he has gathered, along side his father’s translation of the Old English poem, text from lectures given at Oxford by J R R Tolkien. These show his fascination for Beowulf, Grendel and, in particular, the lure and power of treasure – which of course we see reflected in The Hobbit, in Thorin’s struggles against, as Richard Armitage has called it, ‘gold lust’.
This new publication will also contain Sellic Spell, ‘a story written by Tolkien suggesting what might have been the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf, in which there was no association with the “historical legends” of the Northern kingdoms.’ This further insight into Tolkien’s desire to create English native myth, unadulterated by Norse or Germanic legends, is an exciting prospect. Fans of Tolkien, of Anglo-Saxon, and of legendary battles, will be able to get their hands on this edition of Beowulf from 22nd May.
Read the full article from Harper Collins here, and the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (US Publisher) version here.
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We’re delighted to bring you this excerpt from Cinefex’s forthcoming behind-the-scenes account of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Written by Joe Fordham, the 25-page feature draws on in-depth interviews with key effects artists who worked on the film, and is accompanied by behind-the-scenes photos and frame clips — many of them exclusive.
Here’s a little teaser for you! Continue reading “Sneak-preview Cinefex Issue 137 and go behind-the-scenes on The Desolation of Smaug”
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This image was slipped under our door deep in our network of mines where TheOneRing.net staff labors to make the internet safe and interesting for Tolkienites. Unable to find the sneaky culprit, we have no choice but to share with the world this exclusive look at page 22-23 from Weta Workshop’s new book, “Smaug: Unleashing The Dragon.”
As you might expect, the book brings readers face-to-face with the magnificent creature created for Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” From the pages we can preview, this is a book with concept art and text from the artists at Weta Digital and Weta Workshop; This spread from Gus Hunter who presents a couple of variations of body types of Old Smaugy. TORn friend Daniel Falconer is the author as he has been on Weta’s previous books about the creation of the Hobbit films.
A larger size version is available by clicking below.
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Hobbit fans won’t want to miss the upcoming spring issue of quarterly film magazine Cinefex. Due out in mid-March, Cinefex 137 will feature a 25-page story on the making of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, based on in-depth interviews with key effects artists who worked on the film, and accompanied by 25 behind-the-scenes photos and frame clips — many of them exclusive.
Continue reading “Cinefex spring edition to feature 25-page Hobbit feature”
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As we told you a while back, our friends from Weta Workshop have another amazing book detailing The Hobbit Trilogy up for pre-order. Now, we get to see what the cover of the book will look like, which is a great shot of Smaug and Bilbo having their conversation inside Erebor. This book will go behind the scenes to show us the work that went into briging to life the best dragon fans have ever seen on the big screen Smaug the Terrible. Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon is packed with exclusive images and amazing insights by the talented artists at Weta Digital. You can pre-order Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon right now from Weta’s website for $19.99 with it shipping in April of this year.
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Adding to an already lengthy list of scholarly works related to J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings and artwork, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull are putting the finishing touches on a new edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, scheduled for release on October 4, 2014. Tolkien fans and scholars know the book, originally published in 1962, as a collection of entertaining poems wonderfully illustrated by artist Pauline Baynes. The original book contained 16 poems, some about Tom Bombadil, others related to Middle-earth, and still others unrelated to his invented fantasy world.
From Wayne and Christina’s webblog: “This new edition will contain the sixteen poems as published in 1962, together with the original drawings by Pauline Baynes. But it will also include earlier versions of the poems, where earlier versions exist – some of these were published in magazines and journals which are now hard to find – and it will reprint a later ‘Bombadil’ poem, Once upon a Time. In addition, we are very pleased to be allowed to publish for the first time, from Tolkien’s manuscript, the predecessor of Perry-the-Winkle, called The Bumpus, and the complete, tantalizingly brief fragment of a prose story featuring Tom Bombadil, in the days of ‘King Bonhedig’. To these, we have added an introduction, comments on the poems and on Tolkien’s preface, and glosses for unusual words, as we did previously for Roverandom and Farmer Giles of Ham.”
Those of us with well-worn copies of the book on our bookshelves will definitely want to add the new edition to our collections this October! Thanks to ringer malickfan for alerting us to this great news!
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Following on from staffer Kili’s post, here’s the official word from UK publisher Harper Collins on the upcoming release of Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf. The Harper Collins article contains comment from Tolkien’s son, Christopher, on how he has gathered, along side his father’s translation of the Old English poem, text from lectures given at Oxford by J R R Tolkien. These show his fascination for Beowulf, Grendel and, in particular, the lure and power of treasure – which of course we see reflected in The Hobbit, in Thorin’s struggles against, as Richard Armitage has called it, ‘gold lust’.
