Alan Lee in ParisBoard member Beren had the good fortune to interview Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee recently at the Paris Book Fair where Lee was invited by the French Tolkien publishing company, Christian Bourgois Editeurs, to sign the French translation of “The Children of Hurin.” In the in-depth interview, Lee describes the joys and challenges of illustrating Tolkien’s world, and comments that it would be nice to be involved with The Hobbit. [Read More]

Guillermo del ToroTheOneRing.net reported here at the end of January that Guillermo del Toro was 99 percent sure to direct “The Hobbit”. Since then the Tolkien Estate filed a lawsuit against New Line Cinema (a copy of which can be found here) and the movie studio has been folded up and put in the pocket of its owner Warner Bros. and its bigger parent Time Warner Inc.

After all the speculation and angst, the director of two “Hellboy” films (the second set for a July 11 release) still seems to be the top choice for director and despite the legal uncertainty, the quiet movements by the key players seem to suggest the film will still be made and sooner rather than later. So in this season of waiting, TORn was finally able to contact the fan-friendly director.
Continue reading “Guillermo del Toro reaches out to TORn”

SilmarilIf there are any horse-racing fans out there, check out this tidbit sent to use from Ringer Susanita: Silmaril has a chance to reach $1 million in earnings when she faces seven other fillies and mares in Saturday’s $80,000 What A Summer Stakes at Laurel Park. The 7-year-old is just $15,027 shy of becoming the 17th Maryland-bred and fifth mare in history to reach the milestone. A first or second place finish would allow the daughter of Diamond to join elite company.[Read More]

Starting November 2, the Field Museum in Chicago is hosting an exhibit that will include some of J.R.R. Tolkien’s maps and writing. Specifically, included will be Thror’s Map from The Hobbit, Topographical View of Minas Tirith from The Return of the King, and Notes on Times and Distances by J.R.R. Tolkien (all of the John P. Raynor, S.J. Library, Marquette University).

From clay tablets to sea charts, from satellite navigation systems to sketches of worlds real and imagined—maps are much more than wayfinding. Travel through landscapes of time and space, science and imagination, in a rare exhibition of more than 100 of the world’s greatest maps. Explore high-tech interactive displays, and see original works by Ptolemy, Leonardo da Vinci, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many others. You’ll learn how early maps were made, see how the technology changed over centuries, and discover the latest advances in digital map-making. [More]

Quest for Middle-earthAuthor Dirk Vander Ploeg has recently published ‘Quest for Middle-earth,’ a non-fiction look at earth before the time of Man, before the time of the flood, approximately 4000 BCE. The book ponders the question that Middle-earth may have really existed. Learn more about the book at Dirk’s website. [Click Here]