
Legacy.com has posted feature to celebrate the 119th Birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien. The article highlights the many influences that crafted a very memorable life:
On January 3, 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born. Forty-five years later, he published The Hobbit, the first of his books set in Middle Earth and the precursor to his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Along the way, as a child and young adult, J.R.R. Tolkien gathered a collection of influences – stories and authors and mythological traditions that helped him envision his richly detailed world of hobbits and elves, orcs and ents. On the author’s birthday, we look at some of his primary influences.
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“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” — J.R.R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, S.A., on January 3, 1892. He would eventually move to England, become an accomplished linguist and scholar, an Oxford professor and a beloved husband and father. While in his twenties, he began developing a series of stories that went on to become the rich, complex history of a place called Middle-earth: a world that millions would eventually visit, both on the written page and on the big screen, and come to love. TheOneRing.net raises a glass to “The Professor!” today, in honor of all the enjoyment and camaradarie his birth would lead to. Thank you, professor Tolkien!
And don’t forget, today is the annual Tolkien Society’s Birthday Toast to Professor Tolkien. For complete details on the toast, jump on over to the Tolkien Society’s website. [Tolkien Toast]
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Dear reader –
Welcome to 2011 and TheOneRing.net. We have been around for a while now but this is an exceptionally exciting time heading into a year that will finally see the production of ‘The Hobbit’ start in earnest.
2010 was pretty eventful in dramatic and difficult ways. With lots of J.R.R. Tolkien books on our shelves along with our Middle-earth inspired movies, it will be fun to follow the production again as Peter Jackson, Weta and Warner Bros. move a reportedly wonderful two-part scrip from the page into digital 3D (also available in 2D!) The year ahead will bring us plenty of news, ideas, rumors and fun.
While many media outlets world wide will jump on the Hobbit news-reporting bandwagon, we will stay right here in our well-worn and comfortable seats and enjoy the ride.
We look forward to the experience along with you, dear reader. As always, TORn remains not-for-profit and forged by and for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien so thank you all for your past and future contributions and support. This is going to be fun!
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Here at TheOneRing.net, we will be posting series of profiles for cast and characters we expect to play a role in The Hobbit films. Today’s highlight: Beorn.

Beorn
Alias: Skin-changer
Cast: Mikael Persbrandt
Little is known of Beorn’s origins. He once lived in the Misty Mountains near the Goblin’s cave, but at the time of The Hobbit he lived in the edge of the mountains near the Carrock. Beorn was a skin-changer and could transform himself into a great bear. On the first night the Party stayed in his house, he warned them not to stray outside ‘on their own peril.’ Later that night, Bilbo heard growling and scuffling outside and Gandalf later told the Company he witnesses ‘a regular bear’s meeting’ that night.
The enchantment associated with Beorn didn’t stop with his ability to turn into a bear. His servants were animals that could walk upright and talk. He aided the Company by providing them food, and the use of his ponies as far as the eaves of Mirkwood. Later, Beorn killed the goblin Bolg in the Battle of Five Armies. Beorn’s descendants were valiant men who aided Aragorn during his search for Gollum (Unfinished Tales – “The Hunt for the Ring”). At the Council of Elrond, Gimli credited the Beornings with keeping the High Pass through the Misty Mountains open for travel between Rivendell and Dale.
[Read the Full Profile]
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File this under weird science news of the day. As many of you know, the larger than life Eagles in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, tend to be a bit more noble-hearted than the birds mentioned in this real-life story. As we learned in 2003, hobbit sized humanoid fossils were found in the Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. News reaches us recently that these poor Hobbit-like humans may have been hunted by extremely large, stork-like birds. Birds that stood nearly 6 feet tall!! Let’s just say, this reporter is happy those birds are not around today. To read the full story, check out LiveScience.com. [Read More]
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Ian Collier from The Tolkien Society sends this in: At 9pm (local times) on January 3rd fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast J.R.R. Tolkien’s Birthday.
The Tolkien Society has some webpages where fans across the globe can let other fans know where they’ll be celebrating if they’re hosting a party, or just what particular tipple they’ll be raising. Fans will be able to check the webpage and see who is celebrating where and if they wish to get in touch and join in. This news and an event page can also be found on Facebook.
The Birthday Toast event should be understood to consist of the saying of the toast and a drink (not necessarily alcoholic) of an individual’s choice. The information posted by anybody on the Birthday Toast web pages will not be sold or passed on to any third party (outside of the context of the web pages and the ‘Birthday Toast’ event). The organisers do not condone drinking alcohol if it endangers the health or safety of the drinker or others, or contravenes the law.
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