MorgothAndFingolfinThis quizz came up on my Facebook feed yesterday, so just for fun, I thought I’d share it here with all of you.  The Silmarillion is my favourite of all of Tolkien’s books, so I was interested to see how it worked out.  I got Ëarendil 🙂

Let us know who you are in the Silmarillion via our comments section below or here on our Message Boards.

What Silmarillion Character Are You?

*And yes, I know it should be “Which”, but that’s how they wrote it on the site* Cheers Kel 😉

alan_lee_the children of hurin_the fall of nargothrond2 What folks call dark fantasy — that niche within fantasy of bloody tales full of morally grey people, supernatural forces and a distinct lack of happy endings — has become incredibly popular over the last few years.

But who are the progenitors of the dark fantasy movement? What are their key works?

Here’s a thought-provoking list from io9 of some of the landmark titles that have helped define dark fantasy. It contains some interesting entries.

One readers of Tolkien will certainly recognise is The Children of Hurin — a grim read if ever there was one. Beowulf and The Kalavela were also key inspirations for Tolkien. Victorian proto-fantasy author William Morris was too, although Tolkien’s letters cite influence from The House of the Wolflings and The Roots of the Mountains rather than Williams’ archaically-styled magnum opus The Well at the World’s End. Continue reading “A list of the landmark novels in the history of Dark Fantasy”

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

Beowulf Tolkien scholar John Garth reviews Tolkien’s long-awaited translation of Beowulf (together with the short story Sellic Spell) in The New Statesman.


 

J R R Tolkien’s Beowulf: one man’s passion for the threshold between myth and reality

by John Garth

In his story “Leaf by Niggle”, J R R Tolkien imagines an artist painting a picture he can neither complete nor abandon. “It had begun with a leaf caught in the wind, and it became a tree; and the tree grew, sending out innumerable branches, and thrusting out the most fantastic roots.” In the end the picture is never put on show. Continue reading “John Garth reviews Tolkien’s Beowulf translation”

Children of HurinWelcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week.  If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights.  Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards.  Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join the fun!

Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – May 18, 2014”

A couple of weeks ago we revealed LOTRProject’s new interactive map of Middle-earth — complete with key dates, events and character movements for events of the Second Age and Third Age.

Now Emil Johannson has reached back into the events of the Elder Days of Middle-earth’s history, creating a similar interactive map that depicts the key events of the elves’ war against Morgoth on a map of Beleriand. Continue reading “Explore this great interactive map of lost Beleriand”

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

The Silmarillion and the birth of Middle-earth

As soon as you open your copy of The Silmarillion, you are faced with what is perhaps the most difficult chapter in all of the book.

Have you ever tried to image how the scene of the Music of the Ainur and the vision of the world, would unfold?

How is Tolkien’s highly-complex imagination perceived by you?

The following post presents a three-minute video with one fan’s outlook towards the Ainulindalë.

________________________________________________________________________

– Comprehending and Conceptualizing the Ainulindalë in the real world

Ever read Dante Alighieri’s La Vita Nuova?

That passion. That love. All the emotions in just a few cleverly-constructed sentences.

Transform that text into music and you get Patrick Cassidy’s Vide Cor Meum; and you might just start to comprehend what the Music of the Ainur may have sounded like.

No discords of Melkor. At first.

Just all the Ainur signing in unison before the seat of Ilúvatar – the glory, the majesty, love and subtleties of nostalgia.

[Read More]