From AP and our friends at Houghton Mifflin: NEW YORK – An early, long-unpublished work by J.R.R. Tolkien is coming out. “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun,” a thorough reworking in verse of old Norse epics that predates Tolkien’s writing of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, will be published in May by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. According to Houghton, the book will include an introduction by Tolkien and notes by his son, Christopher Tolkien. J.R.R. Tolkien, whose fantasy novels have sold millions of copies, died in 1973. “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun” was written in the 1920s and ’30s, when the author was teaching at Oxford University.

FredO writes: Our local newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, publishes a topical cartoon called “Brewed On Grant.” It references the political center of Pittsburgh which is on Grant Street. I’m attaching the February 4, 2009 cartoon. They went LOTR geek about the Steelers win in the Super Bowl. Enjoy!

Doug Adams
Doug Adams

Doug has announced that John Howe is creating an original illustration for Doug’s upcoming book, “The Music of the LOTR Films“. Doug writes that Howe’s “Melkor’s Theme”…

(is) a stunning work — a vortex of detail that exposes layers of details and nuance with each viewing. Here Howe has depicted…the face of Melkor and the fury of his contact with a dawning world.

Doug also added that another guest contributor would be announced in the next few weeks. “The Music of the LOTR Films” will be released in conjunction with “The Rarities Archive”, a collection of music that was composed for the LOTR films, but not used.

Matt in Minneapolis sends this in: Sally Forth goes Geek last Friday while meeting her new marketing team.

From Empire Magazine: January is, statistically speaking, the most miserable of months. It’s cold, it’s dark, and Moira Stuart is forever banging on about paying your tax bill by the 31st, or Mr. Taxman will be round to cut off a pound, or three, of flesh. So here at Empire, we feel it’s our duty to cheer you up – and what better way than by presenting to you our brand new issue, which should be hitting newsagent and supermarket shelves near you any… second… now. Inside, you’ll find all kinds of cheery tonics, such as our horror overload, featuring Bruce Campbell, Freddy and Jason, the Wolfman’s Emily Blunt, and the Lesbian Vampire Killers, and our lovely look at the individuals who make up the Watchmen. But pride of place – on our cover and in our hearts – is our big special on The Hobbit. What’s that, you say? It’s not even out for two years? Well, yes, but inside our special feature, you’ll find a one-stop shop of information on the films that may be the most anticipated of the next few years. New Empire Hobbit Cover

From Ian Collier, Tolkien Society Publicity Officer: Edited by Angela Gardner (a long-standing member of the Tolkien Society) this book describes the childhood adventures of Hilary and JRR Tolkien. Hilary was JRR Tolkien’s younger brother and this book uses Hilary’s own words from recently discovered notebooks and previously unpublished letters between the brothers. Illustrated in colour by Jef Murray. 80 pages, Hardback with dustjacket, available from end January.

Sign up to learn when ‘Black & White Ogre Country: The Lost Tales of Hilary Tolkien (Hardcover)’ becomes available for Pre-Order!

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