Novelist Helen Cross, who herself lives in Birmingham, uncovers the story of the young J.R.R. Tolkien, falling in love with Edith Bratt. Their relationship was the inspiration for the love story of Beren and Luthien at the heart of The Silmarillion.
Listen to Cross in this BBC radio program broadcast just last weekend as she visits key locations in Birmingham, Cheltenham and Oxford, and tells the story of Tolkien’s young life and the love story at the heart of it. NB: you may have to be in the UK to listen to this. Thanks to Ringer David for the tip.
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Ringer Lissuin provides a translation of the Aftonbladet article about the self-sufficient Hobbit village planned for Stockholm in Sweden.
You’ll soon be able to live like a Hobbit — in Sweden
An entire village from The Lord of the Rings is going to be built — on Musk Island. Soon you’ll be able to live like Bilbo in Stockholm’s archipelago. The Lord of the Rings village will entice stressed-out city dwellers to live under the ground. Continue reading “Translation: Swedes plan self-sufficient Hobbit village”
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We all listened to and read Peter Jackson’s words from Comic-Con about three possible “Hobbit,” movies carefully. But we didn’t listen to all the words and we missed a few things.
He told us. He told us — he did.
He said exactly what he meant, he said it plainly and the media and fans (and me) tried to figure out what he meant when he told us in plainness. Monday, Jackson dropped an atomic bomb of news and fandom reacted accordingly.
“The Hobbit,” adapted for the screen from the 300-page, 75-year-old book by J.R.R. Tolkien changed from from two movies to three in the blink of a Facebook post.
AMBITION
More on the words we ignored in a minute. We need to figure out when these films break, what it means for fans and websites and studios and cinema and the director, but lets not rush past the size and scope of this news. Lets not walk around Paris admiring all the cafes and churches without also pausing and noticing the big tower in the center of town.
We witnessed, the last few weeks since Comic-Con, something monumental, unprecedented, unparalleled and a little bit crazy. Jackson (and when we say “Jackson” we always mean the director and Walsh, Boyens and a team of others supporting their vision) is in unchartered territory here. Continue reading “The bold ‘Hobbit’ trilogy decision and what to expect”
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This Saturday (August 4) at 10.30am, Billy Boyd will narrate the story behind the first ever stage production of of J.R.R.Tolkien’s The Hobbit on BBC Radio 4.
The very first stage production, written by Humphrey Carpenter with music composed by Paul Drayton, was performed at New College School in Oxford in 1967.
Some of the choristers in that first production are now eminent in the musical world: choral conductor Simon Halsey, Opera North’s Martin Pickard and artist’s agent Stephen Lumsden. Composer Howard Goodall watched his older brother Ashley perform. They talk about their memories and of Tolkien’s presence in the audience on the last night.
Thanks to Ringer Andrew for the heads-up.
Update: Ringer HuanCry adds that Radio 4 is also broadcasting a documentary Tolkien in Love the day before.
[Billy Boyd and the Hobbit] | [Tolkien in Love]
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Alan Jacobs muses in The Atlantic that “from the beginnings of modern fantasy, in the work of Tolkien, technology has always been the enemy of the good life. But does it have to be that way?”
It’s an interesting thought piece that draws on some key comments Tolkien made in letters around the time Lord of the Rings was published.
“Anyway all this stuff is mainly concerned with Fall, Mortality, and the Machine.” Letter 131. Letters of JRR Tolkien.
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The Hobbit News for iPad App from TheOneRing.net is finally here! A feast of rich imagery and content, many have already found it in the Apple App store and downloaded it. As well as the good stuff already found in the iPhone App, the iPad version spreads it out for easier and more colourful reading with a brand new interface. Among the highlights are reading through all of the major stories from TheOneRing.net, a complete listing of cast and characters, video features, a diverse variety of Tolkien content, and even the ability to chat in Barlimans! We did have to charge a very small fee for this one, so we hope you consider spending the 99¢ to get it from the App store today. And of course, if you like it, why not drop us a review on the store! [
iPad Version] [
Free iPhone App]
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