Finrod Felagund and the people of Bëor; art by Ted Nasmith.
Finrod Felagund and the people of Bëor; art by Ted Nasmith.
In this new TORn Library feature, Dr Timothy Furnish explores a lesser-known, but important, philosophical treatise from The History of Middle-earth and speculates whether J.R.R. Tolkien may have doing more than “merely” evoking Christian myth.

Continue reading “Christmas, Eru and Middle-earth. A look at The Debate of Finrod and Andreth”

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

country squire radioOver at Radio Station Podastery, one can find the charming gents who host Country Squire Radio.  These fellows are avid pipe smokers (and run a tabacco store); they are also huge Tolkien fans.  When they wanted to discuss pipes, pipeweed and Middle-earth, they turned to TheOneRing.net, and staffer greendragon – not a pipe smoker herself, but the daughter of one! – answered the call.  The conversation covers topics such as the latest Hobbit movie, the Rankin Bass animated Hobbit, how pipeweed first came to Middle-earth, and what Tolkien thought about pipe smoking.  (Clue – he was a fan!)  You can hear the chat they had in the latest Country Squire Radio podcast, which can be found here.

 

 

100_0413Sean Robinson has two passions that have recently found their way together in a most amazing fashion. Sean discovered his passion for pottery in 2007 – a hobby that sprang from his love of several different arts. He is also a huge fan of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien – a love, I think, we can all appreciate. Working from his pottery studio in Jamestown, NC, Sean spends his free time crafting many fine objects.

Most recently, his works have taken on the form of some very recognizable objects
from the lands of Middle-earth. It began in the most unexpected way for Sean – with
his father, Bill Robinson, indulging him in his appreciation for Tolkien’s stories. This
took the form of some intricately constructed wooden signs as seen in Peter Jackson’s films – one for The Prancing Pony in Bree, and the other for The Green Dragon in the Shire.

I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with Sean and ask him about his work and how his father’s projects led to a collaboration in creating other artifacts from the world of Professor Tolkien. Continue reading “Father and son’s craftwork inspired by Middle-earth”

13-eowyn-and-the-nazgul
To the Death – Eowyn and Nazgul

Rare and Unique Items from Greg and Tim Hildebrandt Available Now!

Back in the 1970’s Greg and Tim Hildebrandt created 3 Tolkien themed calendars for Ballantine Books, beginning around the time of the 25th anniversary of the publishing of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. During this resurgence of popularity for Tolkien’s collective works, those calendars provided an entire generation’s vision of Middle-earth and all the characters within. Since the release of those calendars, very few alternative versions of those images have been available outside of the calendars and a few art books. Greg and Tim were always very particular about the quality of how their art was showcased. That is all changing, much of this work is now being released in multiple formats that meet with Greg’s exacting standards. Continue reading “Classic Hildebrandt Artwork Exclusively Available in New Formats”

Desolation_PressThis is a word-for-word transcription of a press conference held for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” in a hotel in Los Angeles after the World Premiere of the film. Seated were: Philippa Boyens, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage, Peter Jackson, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Aidan Turner and Dean O’Gorman.

Press were given microphones by moderators. Although TheOneRing.net attended, for which we thank Warner Bros., we did not have a chance to ask a question to the assembled group; we apologize for some that did. Transcribed by Twitter staffer @Saoirse_Loachlann Continue reading “Transcript: ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ world premiere press conference”

Bilbo in The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugAs some of you may have noticed – something rather unexpected happened today.
While reviews for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug were expected to
begin getting published this coming Sunday – the embargo was lifted early and we began getting reviews today! TORN staffers, who have been lucky enough to see the film already, will be reviewing the film soon enough. First up will be our own Quickbeam, who is currently finalizing his thoughts. In the meantime, however, we thought we’d post a couple of the early reviews for your reading pleasure. Continue reading “First ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ reviews released as embargo lifts”