It may only be the end of May, but many of us have already been thinking ahead to the end of the year, as we speculate about The Desolation of Smaug and wonder just how that dragon will look. Publishers HarperCollins are clearly thinking ahead too – it’s already possible to preorder their Tolkien Calendar 2014! This year the calendar features illustrations by British artist Jemima Catlin, and the ‘wicked worm’ himself takes pride of place on the cover. It’s great to see another take on the magnificent fellow!
Catlin is also the artist for a brand new illustrated edition of The Hobbit, which will be released this Fall and will contain 150 new, colour illustrations. More visual goodies from Middle-earth! You can preorder both the book and the calendar at Amazon – click on the links below!
As we excitedly mentioned earlier, the folks at Asmus Toys have acquired a license to make 1:6th figures from The Lord of the Rings. The first figure revealed was the imposing Morgul Lord. Today, we’re pleased reveal this impressive looking figure! The Morgul Lord will stand stand 13.7″ tall, have 36 points of articulation, come with a metal helmet, and a plethora of other items that are going to make for a great figure. You can order the Morgul Lord figure right now from our friends at Alter-Ego Comics for $159.99. The figure is expected to ship in July so place your order today! (Check out the amazing gallery after the break!) [Pre-Order]
We’ve got a great reason to build up your Tolkien t-shirt collection! From now through Monday, we are offering 25% OFF our entire catalog with purchase of $30 or more. The sale includes our most popular designs: OBEY (The Eye of Sauron), May the Dwarves be With You, ‘I Like Big Books…,’ Lake Town Archery Club, Peter’s Dragon and more! We have also heard your feedback and adjusted our shipping rates to make purchasing even easier and more affordable. Don’t delay, this 25% Off offer is only good through Monday night at Midnight (Pacific). [Click here] As always, when you support TheOneRing.net all proceeds go to directly running the website. We are a true 100% volunteer not for profit website. Thank you in advance!
As we all know, J R R Tolkien was, from an early age, fascinated by myth and heroic legend, reading all he could of the romances and epics of many nations. In a letter to Milton Waldman, which appears in the Preface to the second edition of The Silmarillion, he wrote that he was ‘grieved by the poverty of my own beloved country: it had no stories of its own … Of course there was and is all the Arthurian world, but powerful as it is, it is imperfectly naturalized, associated with the soil of Britain but not with the English; and does not replace what I felt to be missing…’
The Professor, then, had little time for the legends of King Arthur; but he did make one foray into those tales, and we are about to be able to read for ourselves the results of those labours! Tomorrow, publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt release Tolkien’s narrative poem The Fall of Arthur, edited as ever by his son Christopher. HMH’s press release tells us:
‘The Fall of Arthur, the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur, king of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skillful achievement in the use of Old English alliterative meter, in which he brought to his transforming perceptions of the old narratives a pervasive sense of the grave and fateful nature of all that is told: of Arthur’s expedition overseas into distant heathen lands, of Guinevere’s flight from Camelot, of the great sea battle on Arthur’s return to Britain, in the portrait of the traitor Mordred, in the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle.’
Alas, Tolkien never finished his poem; but amongst his manuscripts were sketches and drafts, which included ‘significant tantalizing notes. In these notes can be discerned clear if mysterious associations of the Arthurian conclusion with The Silmarillion, and the bitter ending of the love of Lancelot and Guinevere, which was never written.’
It’s a day of celebration for Tolkien fans whenever we have a chance to read more of the Professor’s work, and gain further insight into the explorations which lead to his great myth of Middle-earth. You can read Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s full information about the book here; and you can order your copy from Amazon by clicking here. The Fall of Arthur will also be available as an e-book. Happy reading!
Azog holds aloft the head of the Dwarven King, Thorin Oakenshield’s grandfather.
Last year for Comic-Con the folks at The Bridge Direct lead off their line of figures for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with the Invisible Bilbo 6″ figure. Well, today via their Facebook page they announced the figure they will be bringing with them to Comic-Con 2013. This year’s figure will go the bad guy route with the choice being Azog the pale Orc. This figure is going to come with a huge assortment of choices and stand 7″ tall. No price has been announced (but Bilbo last year was $25 so that gives you an idea). The edition size for Azog will be 26oo pieces.
Here is the full listing from The Bridge Direct’s Facebook Page:
We are excited to announce:
San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Exclusive Hobbit Collector Figure Azog
Our 7″ tall Orc Commander Azog comes in a numbered, limited edition of 2,600 pieces. Azog is depicted as he appears in the prologue scene from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In the battle between the dwarves and an army of orcs to reclaim Moria, Azog holds the severed head of the dwarf King Thror up in victory. The figure comes with interchangeable hands – the right hand that holds Thror’s head can be replaced with a hand capable of holding either his dagger or mace, and the left hand can be switched with the prosthetic spikes that replaced the hand he lost to Thorin’s sword.
In 2005 we premiered our very own documentary feature film RINGERS: Lord of the Fans at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, where it was quickly snapped up by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for worldwide distribution on DVD and cable! It is finally available on iTunes after 7 years of hopeful waiting… you can also find it on Amazon Instant and on VUDU.
What a fun movie! Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc Brandybuck) came on board to be our wonderful narrator! Actually this film is a time capsule of many decades of pop culture history — giving us the full story on how the world has embraced Tolkien’s masterpiece THE LORD OF THE RINGS over 50 years and more!
Winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival, RINGERS was produced in association with TheOneRing.net — this remarkable little film was forged BY fans and FOR fans, just like our website, with the production/writing talent of Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway (who hosts TORn TUESDAY every week), Jeff Marchelletta, and supercool director Carlene Cordova. It was executive produced by X-Men/Transformers guru Tom DeSanto.
With a wonderful rock-driven score and detailing all the outpouring of love bestowed on Tolkien over many generations, this film is a must-have for your digital collection! Get it on iTunes now for only $9.99!
From the original Sony Press Release:
“RINGERS is comprehensive, entertaining and informative pop culture history.” – The Toronto Star
“…Will always be a salient part of ‘LORD OF THE RINGS’ history…
See it, absorb it, love it.” – FilmThreat
Winner of “Outstanding Achievement” Award at the
Newport Beach Film Festival
FASCINATING DOCUMENTARY CAPTURES THE HISTORY, INFLUENCE AND PHENOMENON THAT IS LORD OF THE RINGS
CULVER CITY, Calif. (September 12, 2005) – Sony invites you to return to the Shirewith the release of the feature-length documentary RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS,direct to DVD.In association with the popular fan-site TheOneRing.net, Carlene Cordova produced, directed and wrote this award-winning film with executive producer Tom DeSanto(X-Men, X2: X-Men United and Transformers), which charts the incredible influence and ripple-effect that Lord of the Rings has had on worldwide pop culture over the past five decades.Whether you are a fan or first timer, critics agree, RINGERS, stands as the most comprehensive film documenting the ongoing impact of J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary achievement.
Dominic Monaghan (star of ABC’s Lost and the Academy Award® winning Lord of the Rings trilogy) narrates the documentary as it looks behind the curtain between Lord of the Rings andhow it inspired so many artists of different mediums.The film moves beyond “cult classic” and through different generations unearthing the way legendary rock musicians, filmmakers, professors, actors and authors all unite under the banner of ‘Ringer.’Interviewees included in the film are Lord of the Rings trilogy filmmaker Peter Jackson as well as Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin and David Carradine.Infused with a dynamic rock-driven score, irreverent cut-out animation (á la Terry Gilliam), and a centerpiece audience sing-a-long, RINGERS is a genre-busting documentary that shows how a single literary work continues to spark the minds and hearts of millions.
RINGERS continues the momentum of the motion picture trilogy Lord of the Rings, a winner of 17 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Peter Jackson, who made history as the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously.
From the official synopsis:
Ringers: Lord of the Fans is a feature-length documentary that reveals the ongoing cultural phenomenon created by The Lord of the Rings. Very funny and often moving, Ringers shows the hidden power behind Tolkien’s books — and how after 50 years a single literary work continues to spark the minds and hearts of millions, across cultures and across time.
Shot with groundbreaking new digital technology in 24P, Ringers explores the real foundations of Middle-earth; a community of true fans who share a common bond. Moving beyond “cult classic” and over several different generations, the film unearths academics, musicians, authors, filmmakers, and a plethora of pop junkies — the people gathered under the banner of ‘Ringer.’ From the hippie counter-culture to the electronic age; from the Bakshi animated film to Jackson’s epic trilogy; this documentary brings together extensive footage from across the globe. With units in Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Bonn, Germany, Wellington, New Zealand, and Oxford, England, our cameras capture the most fascinating “Ringers” and Lord of the Rings events.
What began as the private amusement of a tweedy Oxford professor has now become a new mythology for the 21st century. Ringers: Lord of the Fans shows how an adventure story published in 1954 has had dynamic ripple-effects through Western pop-culture. Ringers carefully pulls away the veil between Tolkien’s book and the creations of art, music, and community that have been inspired by it.
It may only be the end of May, but many of us have already been thinking ahead to the end of the year, as we speculate about The Desolation of Smaug and wonder just how that dragon will look. Publishers HarperCollins are clearly thinking ahead too – it’s already possible to preorder their Tolkien Calendar 2014! This year the calendar features illustrations by British artist Jemima Catlin, and the ‘wicked worm’ himself takes pride of place on the cover. It’s great to see another take on the magnificent fellow!
