From TimesOnline.com: “Christopher Tolkien, 83, is calling for “one last crusade” in a long-running court battle against the producers of The Lord of the Rings only weeks before carpenters are due to begin work in New Zealand on the sets for the latest Middle-earth epic.” Read more (Thanks to Ringer Spy J for the link)
Category: Tolkien
Just a quick reminder to Ringers in England – this weekend is “Monsters at the Mill” at Tolkien’s beloved Sarehole mill near Birmingham. Read More The Tolkien Society seminar, “Freedom, Fate and Choice in Middle-earth” takes place on June 28 in London – they are calling for papers now.
Author Kristin Thompson writes: There has been a development in the lawsuit the Tolkien Trust filed against New Line Cinema in February. It’s not clear what it means, but I offer some suggestions on The Frodo Franchise. New Details on Tolkien Trust vs New Line Cinema
Beren over at the Tolkien Library has just released his interview with Andrew Moreton. Moreton has written a book on one of the lesser-known, but possibly quite influential people in Tolkien’s early years: His Aunt Neave. Owner of the farm called Bag End, and a woman of wit, learning and strength, her relationship with her famous nephew is explored for the first time in the book Tolkien’s Gedling.
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Stories of dragons are as old as the written word and probably a lot older. To keep things inside the J.R.R. Tolkien realm, “Beowulf”, one of the oldest written stories of Europe features not only the monstrous Grendel but his serpentine Mother. Ancient biblical writings allude to the great serpent or dragon while global mythology has oversized lizard creatures popping up so consistently that some have suggested there must be some common shared memory or primitive survival instinct built into humanity to cause us to tell our tribal stories about such a monstrosity. Continue reading “The Dragon Problem: What challenges await GDT and WETA?”
Shire Productions alerts us to their upcoming ‘Middle Earth Weekend’ event taking place May 17th-18th 2008 at Sarehole Recreation Ground, Cole Bank Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England.:
This popular event, formerly known as the Tolkien Weekend, takes place at Sarehole, the hamlet where J.R.R. Tolkien spent a very happy childhood. It will include all the usual attractions for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien (including Elvish speaking lessons and writing) plus new events and interests for all people of any age from the world of mortals, who appreciate a festival with an ‘old-fashioned’ air about it. The theme this year is ‘Myths and Monsters’ and there will be dragons patrolling the field and no doubt as targets with the Bowmen of Swanshurst. Visitors in costume will be very welcome and using giant puppets and live performances Shire Productions will be performing extracts from Beowulf in the atmospheric Moseley Bog. Tolkien made his own translation of Beowulf from the Anglo-Saxon, but this has, regrettably, not been published.
Sounds like a great event! For more information visit their website. [Read More]