It has come to light on the Tolkien Collector’s Guide that Harper Collins and Houghton Mifflin have plans to publish a new book titled The Nature of Middle-earth in 2021 containing previously unpublished writings by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The book has been edited by Tolkien expert Carl F. Hostetter who heads the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship. The materials on which the book is based were sent to Hostetter in photocopy by Christopher Tolkien, before his passing, for potential publication.
The details were first released in a catalogue for the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2019. The description, excerpted from the catalogue (page 64), follows.
The first ever publication of J. R. R. Tolkien’s final writings on Middle-earth, covering a wide-range of subjects, and the perfect next read for those who have enjoyed Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle-earth series and are hungry for more.
The Nature of Middle-earth will comprise numerous late (c. 1959-73) and previously unpublished writings by J.R.R. Tolkien on the “nature” of Middle-earth, in both chief senses of that word: both metaphysical and natural/historical.
For Tolkien fans, readers, and scholars interested in learning more about Tolkien’s own views on Middle-earth. It will appeal in particular to those readers who enjoyed Unfinished Tales, and some of the later volumes of the History of Middle-earth. Indeed, many of the texts to be included are closely associated with materials published in those places, and were sent to Hostetter, specifically, in photocopy by Christopher Tolkien for potential publication.
Much as Unfinished Tales forms an unofficial thirteenth volume of the History of Middle-earth, this new book will sit very nicely alongside as an unofficial 14th volume. Of particular note, given the impending Amazon series, are several texts detailing the lands, flora, and fauna of Númenor, and the lives of Númenóreans.
Harper Collins Publishers, Frankfurt BookFair 2019, Fiction Translation Rights
For the one year anniversary of the release of TOLKIEN we are excited to be joined by the director for a LIVE watch-along on #TORnTuesday.
Get your Blu-rays or streaming accounts ready to join Cliff Broadway and director Dome Karukoski for a live discussion of the feature film TOLKIEN on Tuesday, May 12 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET.
TOLKIEN (2019) can be found digitally for purchase on iTunes & Amazon, or can be streamed free with your HBO account. Get your copy ready to play, then tune into to TORn’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Twitch account where we will all press play at the same time!
Starring Nicholas Hoult & Lily Collins, and produced by FOX Searchlight Pictures, TOLKIEN tells the story of John Ronald & his school friends as they navigate school, war, orphan life, romance and friendship.
Several staff members of TheOneRing.net praised its depiction of The Professor’s life and the craftsmanship of the classical style film. Co-Founder of TheOneRing.net Calisuri found TOLKIEN so remarkable that it brought back to him a level of positivity in Ringer fandom that had been missing since 2005.
We are extremely excited to watch this movie with you the fans and the creative behind the film. So queue up your copy of TOLKIEN at 8pm ET on Tuesday!
The Pembroke College’s annual Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature this year will be turned into an online symposium. This year’s lecture will discuss a particularly timely subject: “…the importance of fantasy in times of crisis: how science-fiction and fantasy literature respond to, and provide inspiration during, moments of despair and personal difficulty.”
More on The Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature:
The Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature was established in 2013 at Pembroke College, Oxford, where J.R.R. Tolkien worked for twenty years as professor of Anglo-Saxon. Speakers in the series are given freedom to discuss any aspect of fantasy literature, broadly defined to include other types of speculative fiction. Our aim is to honour J.R.R. Tolkien’s legacy by promoting the study of fantasy literature.
Six rounds, with well over 5,000 votes in each round; much impassioned discussion in chat rooms and on Facebook threads; multiple live results shows; and now it’s done. Middle-earth March Madness 2020 drew to a close last night; if you missed the live results show, you can catch it here. (Last night the panelists looked back on the past nine years of Middle-earth March Madness, and also discussed some of our least favourite scenes in Peter Jackson’s movies, before the big reveal of this year’s winner!) Or simply read on, to find out which scene was declared Grand Champion 2020.
This year’s theme was ‘Film Scenes’, and we started off with a selection of 64 favourite moments from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, chosen and voted on for seeding by TORn staffers. These were divided into four categroies: Scenic, Laughter, Tearjerkers and Drama/Action. Staff chose considerably more Lord of the Rings moments than Hobbit moments as favourites, and only one Hobbit scene (Bilbo saying farewell to the dwarves) made it out of Round One. (It was defeated in Round Two by Boromir’s death.) Perhaps the most notable upset in Round One was the defeat in the Tearjerker group of the number one seed, the Grey Havens, by the number 16 seed, ‘You bow to no one’. This latter scene went all the way to the Semi Final, suggesting that it should perhaps have started with a higher seed; but clearly it wasn’t a high favourite amongst the staff who voted on seeding. (What do TORn staff know…?! I’m still shocked that the ‘Dare we risk a little more light’ moment in the great hall of Moria didn’t make it past the first round!)
Our two eventual finalists were the winner of the Scenic bracket, ‘Lighting the Beacons’, vs the Drama/Action champion, ‘The Charge of the Rohirrim’. Feelings ran high for this one, with many fans expressing their love for one side of the other. As more and more comments appeared on Facebook, however, it seemed pretty clearly that voting was going more to one side – and in the end, it wasn’t a particularly close battle. The victorious scene took 68% of the vote.
And so, we can reveal the Grand Champion of Middle-earth March Madness 2020:
…
The stirring speech by King Theoden, and the heroic plunge into battle, defeated the call for aid which lead directly to that moment, as Rohan comes to help Gondor – making the Charge of the Rohirrim this year’s overall winner.
Here is the final bracket for 2020:
We also announced last night the winner of the fabulous Balrog statue, from our friends at Sideshow. Congratulations to A. Fuentes; look out for an email coming your way! Thanks again to Sideshow for letting us do such a great giveaway.
And thanks to all of YOU, for having some March Madness fun with us over these last couple of weeks. Don’t forget, you can still catch last night’s live results show, here. We’re already thinking about what our theme next year might be… Meanwhile, stay tuned for more fun and live events from TORn, as we get through these strange, locked-down days together. Your friends are with you! Fear no darkness!
And then there were two… Middle-earth March Madness 2020 began just over two weeks ago, and here we are, arrived at the FINAL. We started out with 64 scenes from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, divided into four categories: Tearjerkers, Scenic, Laughter, and Drama/Action. Five rounds later, and just two scenes remain, to battle for the title of Grand Champion 2020.
Once again we had almost 5,500 people vote in the last round; if you missed last night’s live results show, you can watch it here. (Panelists on last night’s show also discussed what they would choose for their own personal top four scenes from PJ’s movies; see if your choices coincide with theirs!)
In Round Five, we saw the Laughter division winner take on the champion from the Drama/Action category: ‘Would you like me to find you a box?’ vs The Charge of the Rohirrim. Comedy, it turned out, was no match for an epic battle sequence; the Rohirrim took almost three quarters of the vote to secure their place in the final.
But Theoden shouldn’t be cheering too soon; the Rohirrim face a very tough opponent in the Final. The other Semi Final was between the Scenic and Tearjerker brackets, and this was a really closely fought contest. It went right down to the wire, with strong feelings on both sides; the final vote split was 51% to 49%! By this narrowest of margins, Lighting the Beacons defeated ‘You bow to no one’; so it is Gondor’s call for aid which goes through to this year’s final.
Here is the bracket as it currently stands:
Feelings are likely to run high for this face off. Which epic sequence gets YOUR vote? You have until 10pm TOMORROW night (Wednesday 15th) to make your voice heard, so don’t delay! We’re also still taking entries for our GIVEAWAY of an awesome Balrog statue, from our friends at Sideshow. Vote again, submit your details again, and be in with a second chance to win!
We’ll have our final LIVE RESULTS SHOW tomorrow night at 10pm ET; you can find that, as ever, on our facebook page. Hope to see you there; or check back here on Thursday morning to find out who is Middle-earth March Madness Grand Champion 2020. VOTE NOW!
THE BEACONS ARE LIT, and Gondor calls for aid – but the aid is needed for the ‘You bow to no one’ scene! We know that many of you want to see ‘You bow to no one’ go through to the Final of Middle-earth March Madness 2020. Right now, however, it’s being beaten by the Lighting the Beacons scene; but there is only 10% in it!
Muster the Rohirrim! (Whose charge, by the way, is currently easily beating the ‘Would you like me to find you a box?’ scene; but that could all change, if there is a final day surge in voting as there was in the previous round. No scene is safe!)
Rally the troops! Get your fellow fans to VOTE before 10pm ET TONIGHT!
And don’t forget, everyone who votes can enter to win an amazing Balrog statue, thanks to our good friends and sponsors Sideshow. So check out the Final Four scenes, make your choices, and vote! VOTE NOW!
Then tune in to our facebook page at 10pm ET tonight to watch our live results show!
More on The Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature:
