Dan Brown writes: Let’s get one thing straight: The Hobbit is not a prequel.
By this point, you’ve probably heard about the much-delayed big-screen project.
Based on the 1937 fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, it is being adapted into two motion pictures by Kiwi filmmaker Peter Jackson. Jackson is the director whose Lord of the Rings trilogy grossed roughly a kazillion dollars and prompted nerdgasms around the world.
Since Jackson’s Hobbit will be released nearly a decade after his last LOTR installment, but is set in an earlier period of Middle Earth history, it has been described in online news reports as a prequel, giving rise to sentences such as these: *In a statement released by his production company 3foot7 Ltd, director Peter Jackson said that “despite some delays, we are fully back on track and excited to get started” with regards to the highly anticipated two-part Lord of the Rings prequel (from E! Online) More..
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If you are following along with the Westminster Dog Show, you’ll know that a Bearded Collie by the name of ‘Tolkien Raintree Mister Baggins‘ has taken the first prize in the 2011 Best of Herding group. After some more research, it looks like the owners were inspired to name many of their dogs after the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Pretty neat! We can’t help but think being named ‘Baggins’ helps with the judges. The Westminster Dog Show wraps up tonight on USA Network, check your local listings. [Westminster Dog Show] [ Tolkien Raintree Mister Baggins Homepage]
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Donato Giancola’s artwork will be familiar to many readers of TORn. His paintings have been used as the covers for many books, including the Science Fiction Book Club’s combined edition of The Lord of the Rings. Recently, he published a volume which brings together many of his Middle Earth depictions. If you haven’t yet seen Giancola’s gorgeous book Middle Earth: Visions of a Modern Myth, then you’ve missed a treat. Crammed with beautiful prints of his paintings and sketches inspired by Tolkien’s writing, the book includes fascinating comments and up close images of details from Giancola’s amazing pictures. It’s a great opportunity to see Middle Earth afresh; we know so well the images from the movies or from John Howe and Alan Lee (amongst others); but here we find well known characters and places reimagined. Giancola’s focus tends to be on faces, and he brilliantly brings to life the anguish or ecstasy of a moment as seen in a character’s eyes. His drawings of anatomy are like ancient Greek sculptures, with every muscle seen as, for example, Gollum struggles against Sam and Frodo in Emyn Muil. I especially love his ‘The Great Dragon Smaug’ and ‘Eowyn and the Lord of the Nazgul’. Ted Nasmith wrote the foreword for Visions of a Modern Myth; he writes of Giancola, ‘His art is exactingly and lovingly rendered with consummate skill, yet the end result is typically relaxed and very pleasant to the eye – no easy feat!’
Donato is a good friend to TheOneRing.net, and he was recently interviewed by another good friend of ours, George Beahm – writer of books such as The Essential J.R.R. Tolkien Sourcebook (with Colleen Doran) and Kirk’s Works (with George Barr, on the artwork of Tim Kirk). Beahm’s interview appears below. I hope it wets your appetite to see more of the stunning art of Donato Giancola.
Continue reading “Donato Giancola: Drawn to Middle-earth”
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CHESTERTOWN, MD. – Corey Olsen had a lot to say about J.R.R. Tolkien. But it seemed a pity to consign his thoughts to a scholarly journal, to be read by a few hundred fellow academics who already knew more than enough about the author of “The Lord of the Rings.”
So in spring 2007, the Washington College professor took his scholarship public, with a podcast called “How to Read Tolkien and Why” and a Web site called The Tolkien Professor.
A million downloads later, Olsen is one of the most popular medievalists in America. His unusual path to success – a smartly branded Web site and a legion of iTunes listeners – marks an alternative to the publish-or-perish tradition of scholarship on the tenure track. More..
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Purchase any signed copies of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit on Ebay recently? We hope not! Looks like the UK police are investigating a 65 year old man who was selling forged signatures of Winston Churchill, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and others. [Read More]
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We’re ecstatic today to be announcing a new feature on TheOneRing.net called ‘Hobbit in 5’. ‘Hobbit in 5’ brings you the latest news and rumors from TheOneRing.net in a convenient 5 minute HD video for you to digest and pass along to your friends! Check out the first episode and press release below, be sure to check back every Friday for a new episode. Subscribe to the YouTube channel and never miss a segment!
Press Release:
TheOneRing.net and Galatia Films Come Together to Produce Unique Online Experience with ‘Hobbit in 5’
All the news of TheOneRing.net condensed into 5 minute video segments available on all platforms.
January 24th, 2011 – TheOneRing.net and Galatia films have joined forces to produce ‘Hobbit in 5’, a weekly video series of Hobbit movie news.
“The staff at TheOneRing.net have been eager to get news out to as many people as possible, producing original online videos and hosting them on YouTube is the best way of going about it” says Michael Regina, editor-in-chief and co-founder of TheOneRing.net. “The video format provides a unique experience to our fan base, while new viewers can easily catch up with the latest news about The Hobbit Movie”. Galatia Films spokesman and Reclaiming the Blade director Daniel McNicoll co-produces the series with Regina. Continue reading “TheOneRing.net and Galatia Films Present: ‘Hobbit in 5’”
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