We’ve been getting lots of mail alerting us to events all over the world meant to celebrate World Hobbit Day (September 22 -also Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday) and cap off a fabulous Hobbit week that included the debut of a new Hobbit Trailer. As a service to our readers, we’ve gathered information about all of the events we know about into one place so you can plan your weekends accordingly. Starting with world-wide second breakfasts tomorrow, and moving on to online events and local celebrations, the weekend promises food, friends and fun for all: what Hobbit wouldn’t love that? If you have an event that you’d like us to include, please drop us a line at spymaster@theonering.net and we’ll add it to the list.
Category: Tolkien
Cardiff Metropolitan University is offering another great online course: J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth and Middle-earth in Context. Online registration is available now for the course that begins September 19 and runs for twelve weeks. The course is available to anyone who can access the internet – you don’t need to live in the U.K. However, only a limited number of students may enroll, so all enrollments will be treated on a first-come, first-served basis. While this is an accredited course at Masters level, students can take it for credit or just for pleasure. Students will have access to Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Electronic Library (which includes a wealth of e-books, databases such as JSTOR and Literature Online), as well as relevant journals such as Tolkien Studies and Mythlore in electronic format. According to our friends at Cardiff, this unique course will not be offered again for at least a year or two, so be sure to register soon!
For more information, follow these links: course description / unit-by-unit video introduction / enrollment / FAQ, or visit Cardiff’s Tolkien and Fantasy Online Courses facebook page.
Welcome 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 in the fun!
On Main this week, Duats has given us a heads up to keep our eyes and ears open for something coming on “Hobbit Day” September 22nd. Let the speculative fun begin 😉
The Reading Room is having an interesting discussion about when elves stop aging. Do they age slower than mortals or do they reach a certain point in time and just stop getting any older? So why don’t you pull up a chair and join the discussion here.
Over on hobbit movie board further speculation about the new ending for the first Hobbit film is running hot (Spoilers)
We’ll share more topics next week and hope you can join in on the conversation! Don’t forget, TheOneRing.net’s message boards have around 8,150 registered Tolkien fans, just like yourself. Let your voice be heard!
Tom Scott from dominion-post: A Hobbit movie set discreetly hidden in the Maupuia bush will remain for up to 16 extra months and walkers may be able to get close enough to check it out. The site which was used to film scenes of the town of Dalewas due to come down on August 31 but the Wellington City Council recently approved another resource consent. This consent means the set will remain until December 31, 2013.
This means it will be used for the making of Desolation of Smaug which — if the title is a reliable clue — will deal with the dragon Smaug. The site is privately owned, but walking tracks in the area are open at the owner’s discretion and glimpses of the site ”may be possible” from sites in Evans Bay and Roseneath. Potential spoiler warning
[More]
Since the Hobbit film trilogy began shooting principal photography 18 months ago, the production has played its very cards close to its chest, and Stone Street Studios has proved more leak-proof than the White House.
In light of this, speculation on the films — whether pertaining to structure or content — has the hallmark of paleolithic archaeology: not only are large inferences having to be made from an extremely small amount of evidence, but the legitimacy and relevance of the evidence itself is by no means certain.
With all this in mind, I’ll try and draw some tentative conclusions about the trilogy’s plot and structure — with particular attention to any evidence of departures from the book — from what we understand to be official biographical notes that will accompany the character figurines from The Hobbit.
While it is impossible to confirm that the descriptive information released with these figurines accurately reflects the film-makers vision, they are detailed and idiosyncratic enough to suggest there is a high degree of alignment.
Note that some of the biographies (Kili, Fili, Gloin and Dwalin, for example) are left out here. Where this occurs this is because, in my view, they offered no insight on the trilogy plot, structure, or departures from the source material. And if spoilers and speculation aren’t your thing, best to stop reading now. Continue reading “Playing Sherlock: a few Hobbit plot deductions from the figurine character biographies”
Can you believe it has been 10 years since we first gathered at Griffith Park to celebrate the birthday of not one, but two imaginary characters from a book and film? The Baggins’ Birthday Bash has always been a great way to celebrate Fellowship amongst LA Fandom, act a little goofy, and to farewell the Summer. This year the party comes just a day after the official 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit back in 1937, so we’ll have more to celebrate than just Bilbo and Frodo. Here are the pertinent details:
When: September 22 from Noon till 6pm
Where: Griffith Park in LA, just past the Carousel turnoff. There are directions and a link to a map at the bottom of the description on the Facebook Event Page. Baggins’ Birthday Bash Facebook page
What can you bring?: Take a peek at the Facebook page, and open the description fully to see what food and beverage needs we have and what you can bring. The list will be updated when people RSVP, which can be done on the Facebook event page, or by emailing Garfeimao@TheOneRing.net
Activities: There will be some trivia, we will have fans taking turns to read The Hobbit aloud during the day, and there will be a rousing game of Golfimbul, followed by a Birthday Cake.