It’s the centenary of Middle-earth. In a piece in The Guardian, Tolkien scholar John Garth analyses Tolkien’s 1914…
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It’s the centenary of Middle-earth.
In a piece in The Guardian, Tolkien scholar John Garth analyses Tolkien’s 1914 creative breakthrough — and the poem The Voyage of Éarendel the Evening Star from 24 September 1914 — that ultimately leads to Middle-earth as we know it today. Continue reading “Tolkien’s 100-year-old poem that marked the beginning of Middle-earth”
Another September 22 — the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo — has just passed. In our latest Library piece, TORn feature writer Tedoras reflects on Letter #214 from The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien and examines Tolkien’s thoughts on birthday customs in hobbit society and culture.
by Tedoras
The epistolary nature of Tolkien’s literary existence is more than prodigious. If any book so illuminates the man, his deepest thoughts and truest character, it is The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Continue reading “Beyond birthdays: examining Tolkien’s Letter #214”
This is just a final reminder that TORn’s big Baggins Birthday Bash will be kicking off on Sunday at noon in Griffith Park. Luckily, the triple digit heat we’ve been having for the past week has finally broken, so it will only by in the low 80’s on Sunday, woohoo. Come celebrate with your fellow Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits and Wizards as we salute our favorite Halfling Heroes, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. This is a Potluck, so bring some munchies and/or beverages of choice and get ready for one fine party to remember. We’ve set up an Event page on Facebook with all the details, such as maps, directions and a list of items being brought already. So check it out at Baggins Birthday Bash Please RSVP on either the Facebook Event page, listing what you are bringing, or send me an email at Garfeimao@TheOneRing.net. Oh, and remember, there will be a special contest for creating the most creative and/or delicious Middle-earth themed Cake or Cupcakes, so bring it ON!
Previously only seen decorating the screens of The Hobbit panel at this year’s San Diego Comic Con (and in lower quality snapshots we were able to post shortly after), the full scroll for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has now been released, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.
This latest tapestry takes us through the final chapter of Peter Jackson’s epic Hobbit trilogy, beginning with Smaug’s attack on Laketown and finishing with the titular Battle of Five Armies.
Visit Entertainment Weekly’s site to take a close look at the scroll with a magnifier, or click on the preview below to see the full image.
Ranks of skilled archers cleverly readying their bows. Organized groups of infantrymen waiting for the signal to attack. One word and any intruders will find themselves facing serious consequences.
It is hard to conjure up the imagery of an army within the Shire, based on the rather rustic and easy-going characteristics.
Lord Richard Attenborough has sailed into the West at 90. Though mostly known from Jurassic Park (and as older brother of David Attenborough) he holds a dear place for Tolkien fans as the director of Shadowlands, a wonderful film about C.S.Lewis featuring the first cinematic representation of the Inklings group which Tolkien was part of. Lord Attenborough considered Shadowlands his most perfect work, and we can only hope that the two upcoming J.R.R. Tolkien biographical films will be made with as much care and passion as Attenborough put into his films.
There are many tributes and remembrances around the net celebrating his career as actor, director, executive and philanthropist. It is the 1993 film Shadowlands starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger where Attenborough’s talent shines as a storyteller of storytellers. The film is a biographical look at author C.S. Lewis and his relationships both personally and professionally. Importantly it is the first film to include the Inklings – a group of famed authors and writers which J.R.R. Tolkien was part of. Actor John Wood plays a loosely based figure of Tolkien through the character Christopher Riley. Although Riley/Tolkien is the fictional antagonist of the film, his portrayal includes Tolkien’s dialog from what we know of their relationship at the time.
Many biographies detail how John Tolkien helped bring his fellow author, Oxford academic and close friend Jack Lewis to Christianity, but was dismayed when Lewis chose the Anglican Church of England instead of Tolkien’s Catholicism. This would provide the significant break in their friendship; Tolkien’s Catholicism disapproved of divorce and was not supportive of Lewis’ marriage to Joy Gresham. Shadowlands focuses solely on that marriage and uses Tolkien’s own words and writings in the Christopher Riley character, saying ‘any book written faster than his own books couldn’t possibly be good–and Tolkien wrote slowly, very slowly; he never did finish the dictionary of Icelandic he promised for decades to Oxford University Press.’ (LA Times) Lewis’ brother Warren was more supportive, writing “For Jack the attraction was at first undoubtedly intellectual. Joy was the only woman whom he had met … who had a brain which matched his own in suppleness, in width of interest, and in analytical grasp, and above all in humour and a sense of fun.”
Lord Richard Attenborough was one of the very few directors or storytellers who could make an emotionally captivating film of a bunch of Oxford professors. Although Shadowlands deviates significantly from real life in some of the character portrayals, Lord Attenborough provides careful directorial attention in bringing this important literary era of Oxford to life.
Shadowlands is close to a perfect film and Richard Attenborough rightly considers it his most perfect work of his career. It demonstrates a nuanced control of the material – the retelling of C.S. Lewis’ late blooming. Even the antagonist, a Tolkienesque figure, is portrayed respectfully without falling into caricature. Films such as Shadowlands, Chaplin and Gandhi prove that Lord Attenborough is one of the greatest biographical storytellers Hollywood has seen. With TWO distinct biographical films in development on the life of J.R.R. Tolkien, studios and filmmakers would be smart to carefully study Lord Richard Attenborough’s biographical output.