Tomorrow is Tolkien Reading Day! And as so many of us are social distancing and staying at home right now, let’s get our copies down off the shelves and share some favourite paragraphs together. Farmer Giles, Roverandom, Father Christmas Letters, The Hobbit – whatever works by the Professor take your fancy, head on over to the message boards or the Facebook group, and post a passage for us all to enjoy.
Our good friends at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have put together an online kit to inspire you, including maps, trivia, and a complete list of Tolkien’s works. Check it out, here. Let’s escape together into the pages of a book by our favourite author!
Once again, we face that eternal question, “What gift can I buy for the Tolkien fanatic in my life this year?” As always, we here at TheOneRing.net have provided answers to this question, to help make it as easy and painless as possible. So, without further ado, welcome to TORn’s Holiday Gift Guide 2019.
From everyone at TheOneRing.net, we wish you all a safe and peaceful Holiday season.
greendragon recommends: Letters from Father Christmas. A must have for every Tolkien fan. Click here to order.
35 BAGSHOT ROW – CHRISTMAS EDITION. From New Line Cinema, Peter Jackson and Warner Bros. comes J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, brought to the big screen in an epic trilogy. Weta Workshop was thrilled to return to Middle-earth once again, contributing design, specialty props and specialty costumes to all three films. Click here to order.
deej recommends: Badali Jewelry’s The Rings of Men: Umbar. Click here to order.
Weta Workshop; Arwen and Frodo on Asfaloth. Click here to order.
Garfeimao recommends: “Tolkien”, biopic that came out earlier this year. It is a lovely film with some really nice acting and moments of humor that brings J.R.R. Tolkien’s younger years to life. Click here to order.
grammaboodawg recommends: Gandalf Deluxe Statue by Iron Studios for Sideshow. Click here to order.
Frodo Statue by Iron Studios for Sideshow. Click here to order.
Nazgûl Deluxe Statue by Iron Studios for Sideshow. Click here to order.
“Attacking” Nazgûl Deluxe Statue by Iron Studios for Sideshow. Click here to order.
Balrog (Deluxe Version) by Star Ace Toys Ltd. for Sideshow. Click here to order.
Kelvarhin recommends : Funko Pop! Rides: Lord of The Rings – Gwaihir with Gandalf and Funko Pop! Rides: Lord of The Rings – Witch King with Fellbeast. I absolutely love these two collectibles from Funko Pop! I’d be a very happy little tiger if they were left under my tree this year. Click here and here to order.
Kristin recommends: Catherine McIlwaine’s Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth as a great gift for Tolkien fans. Click here to order.
Joel recommends checking out the Bodleian library website for that extra special gift.
All prices are in US dollars, except for the items from the Bodleian, which are in UK pounds.
This special edition looks at J.R.R. Tolkien’s history, creativity and his influence on current works in the fantasy genre.
This edition also includes articles on the biopic “Tolkien” in theatres now, and Amazon’s television series in a stunning, high-quality, glossy 100-page issue filled with full-page photos. Another wonderful collectible by Newsweek in its 3rd Tolkien Special Editions on newsstands and store check-out lanes until June 29, 2019. [Topix Media Specials]
The Man Behind Middle-earth: The life of the 20th century’s most imaginative writer.
Laying the Foundations: The story behind Beren and Lúthien.
Fantasy to Reality: Tolkien’s creation of Middle-earth.
Searching For Tolkien: A look at Fox Searchlight’s film “Tolkien”.
Exploring Middle-earth:
Tale of the Ages: A timeline of major event in Middle-earth.
Tracing Their Journey: A wonderful map showing the paths of the Fellowship during the Quest.
Welcome to the Second Age: Looks at Amazon’s Tolkien Series (w/map)
Ring Bearers: Diagram tracing the history of the Rings of Power (Awesome!)
Celebrating Middle-earth:
A Literary Legacy: Tolkien’s influence on the genre: Looks at films, music and literature from Game of Thrones to Led Zeppelin; including comments by many famous authors.
The Saga’s Breakout Star: An interview with Andy Serkis.
Ring Games: Reveals a new game made available in 2021.
Quenya: Speak like an Elf?: Looks at Tolkien and language.
Tolkien Maker of Middle-earth: Looks at an exhibit at NY’s Morgan Library works by Tolkien.
1919: A Most Momentous Year: Tolkien’s steps in the direction of Middle-earth.
One Fan To School Them All: Stephen Colbert is a noted Tolkien fan.
I recently visited “Tolkien – Maker of Middle-earth”, an exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, which runs through May 12. The exhibit is the most extensive display of original Tolkien material gathered in one place for several generations. It includes pieces from The Morgan, The Bodlein Library archive at Oxford University, the Marquette University Libraries in Milwaukee, and private lenders. It takes you on a journey through the life of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (or as we know him – J.R.R.) with photos, letters, text, and Tolkien’s own work. For me, it was a truly awe-filled and emotional experience.
To enter the exhibit, you walk through the round green door of Bag End to behold a wall-sized mural of Tolkien’s painting of Hobbiton. There are other murals throughout the exhibit, and it is cool to see his work so large because things that are usually seen as tiny details are suddenly more apparent, and you are drawn in to the landscape. But the real attraction of the exhibit is Tolkien’s actual work.
On display is an extensive selection of his original drawings, paintings and hand-written manuscripts. I can’t possibly describe in words what it is like to stand in front of the original hand-painted dust jacket for “The Hobbit”, replete with Tolkien’s handwritten comments in the margins; to view “Conversations with Smaug” so closely that you can see J.R.R’s brushstrokes; to revel in the light of “The Forest of Lothlorien in Spring.” One of my personal favorites is “Bilbo Comes to the Huts of the Raft Elves”, the image chosen for the exhibition’s catalog cover. If you can’t make it to the museum, I highly recommend this book with the same title as the exhibit. It is available online and includes full color images of every piece in the exhibit along with the accompanying text.
Exhibition catalog available online
There are early sketches for The Doors of Durin, which were a special treat for me because I recently painted a life-sized version of the West-Gate of Moria (Speak “Friend” and Enter) at Scum and Villainy Cantina in Hollywood, where Torn Tuesday is broadcast from. There are even pages Tolkien created to look like they were from The Book of Mazarbul – the book that the Fellowship finds besides Balin’s tomb – hand-calligraphed, painted, torn and burnt. Tolkien the artist could have found himself a place on the team at WETA.
Page from The Book of Mazarbul
There were many manuscript pages filled with Tolkien’s tight, flourishy handwriting, written first in pencil, then erased and crossed-out, then written over in ink. It’s amazing to me that these were able to be deciphered and included in the books.
There were quite a few different, and often large, hand-drawn maps of Middle-earth; original book jackets for LotR; some of the charming drawings and letters from Father Christmas that Tolkien sent to his children. And there were illustrations I’d never seen before – beautiful pieces expressing Tolkien’s vision of Fairy and his ideas about how creativity flows. There were even full-sized newspaper pages crammed with his colorful doodles, some quite Elven in style.
One thing that really struck me was a hand-calligraphed
letter that was meant to be reproduced and included at the end of the Lord of
the Rings, but unfortunately, the publishers nixed the idea. The letter was
from Aragorn to Master Samwise, letting Sam know the King would be stopping for
a visit outside the Shire. The letter has two versions side-by-side written in
Tengwar – one in Sindarin, the common tongue, and one in the high-Elven speech,
Quenya.
Aragorn’s letter to Sam
And there was mention of an epilogue for LotR that Tolkien wanted to write. In it Sam was to tell his family what happens to all the characters after the end of the Lord of the Rings. When I researched this further, I found a snippet of his intended conclusion, which appears in the ninth volume of “The History of Middle-earth”:
‘… said Elanor. “A story is quite
different, even when it is about what happened. I wish I could go back to old
days!”
“Folk
of our sort often wish that,” said Sam. “You came at the end of a great age,
Elanor; but though it’s over… things don’t really end sharp like that… There
are still things for you to see, and maybe you’ll see them sooner than you
hope.”’
It makes me think Tolkien knew that his epic story would go on and on, even if he could never have imagined the film-making technology that would become available to make it happen.
I hope you have a chance to see the
exhibit, for it is truly incredible and a joy to behold.
AP – Elizabeth Jones, “Betty,” Ballantine, passed away on Tuesday, February 12 at her home in Bearsmouth, New York. She was 99 years old. Together with her husband, Ian, who passed away in 1995, they Founded Bantam Books and Ballantine Books, expanding and mainstreaming the market for paperback books in the U.S. Of course, the name ‘Ballantine Books’ is near and dear to readers of J.R.R. Tolkien. What lover of Tolkien’s books doesn’t have several beloved, dog-eared Ballantine editions of “The Hobbit” and/or “The Lord of the Rings” on their bookshelves?
Great news for lovers of Tolkien-inspired art. TORn’s good friend Donato Giancola is to release a new collection of his incredible Middle-earth paintings, Middle-earth: Journeys in Myth and Legend. Published by Dark Horse, the volume will be available in April.
Giancola shares some insight into the development of the book on the blog MuddyColors; click here to read more.
To preorder the book, visit Giancola’s website, here. For those who’d like to splash out on a Limited Edition, Giancola and Shawn Speakman (of the SignedPage.com) are offering signed and embossed books; the emboss is the sigil of the Kings of Gondor. Click here to order one.
If you aren’t familiar with Donata Giancola’s work, you have a treat in store. He is an astonishing artist – and also a very nice guy, whom TORn followers may have met at past TORn events. Don’t miss out on getting a copy of this fabulous book – and check out some sneak previews of content, above right and below:
