SD comic-con-logo2If it’s July it must be San Diego Comic Con, and with that biggest of popular culture events you can bet TheOneRing.net is right in the middle of it all. No, there are no new Tolkien films on the horizon, but there are new collectibles, in a variety of styles, coming to fans bookshelves soon. There are also fan gatherings, at SDCC and beyond, and plenty of other tidbits of Tolkien news just waiting to be shared with one and all. And there will be a few Middle-earth alums attending the con this year, chiefly Elijah Wood and Graham McTavish. So keep a wary eye on TheOneRing.net for any and all Middle-earth news, rumors and cosplay. Oh, and don’t forget our panel, which is listed after the cut.  Continue reading “TheOneRing.net’s panel at San Diego Comic con is this Friday”

BTFtreeLogoReworkedHobbits for Kids in Care is an initiative of The Brisbane Tolkien Fellowship in Queensland Australia.

Their aim is to donate  Hobbit Books to  present as gifts to children who are in Foster and Statutory Care. They aim to achieve a target of 1500 Hobbit Books before October 15, 2016. The books will be presented at their Annual Dinner Dance to The Pyjama Foundation.

Continue reading “Hobbits for Kids in Care”

Founders Day 17 Tree 2016 fullWhen TheOneRing.net marked its 10th anniversary in 2009, we celebrated in style. In fact, we had such a good time, we decided to continue to celebrate every year on April 26, the date that TORn was established.

Founders Day is TheOneRing.net’s official holiday, filled with the best that a virtual party can offer. If you’re new(er) to the site, it’s a chance to find out about the roots of the site, about the four founders, and to say thanks to the people who keep this place going. If you’ve been around for a bit, it’s a great day to reminisce, tell war stories, and reflect on all the adventures and friendships that have been forged over the years.

Look for a few special party threads on our message boards (mostly on Main, Off Topic and Feedback) — so don’t be shy! Hunt around, find a party game you like, or a conversation you enjoy, and dive in! Plus Barliman’s chat is always open, as is our facebook page, of course. While we understand they don’t currently have a special event planned, they always welcome both old friends and new visitors, so why not drop in and say Hi!

Here’s to our Founders (from left to right below: Corvar, Xoanon, Tehanu, Calisuri)!

Happy 16th TORniversary, TheOneRing.net!
Happy 17th TORniversary, TheOneRing.net!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As part of our celebrations every year we reprise posting the TORn “Valaquenta” below. The TORn “Valaquenta” was written by member Alassëa Eruvende and set most beautifully to paper by our dear friend Daniel Reeve, calligrapher and artist for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. Enjoy!

Valaquenta

memadness2016-championThe mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth – Galadriel.

Over 2000 votes were cast in our final event, and Galadriel took 66% of the vote – a significant victory.

We hope you enjoyed our unique twist on Middle-earth March Madness this year, and as always, we’d love to hear your comments and suggestions below. Do you have a unique way to run this event? Let us hear about it!

Your final brackets: [Final] [Finals Bracket] [Final Four Bracket] [Elite Eight Bracket] [Sweet Sixteen Bracket] [Round 2 Bracket] [Round 1 Bracket]



A note on how the bracket combatants were determined. TheOneRing.net created a document containing all combatants, sub divided into divisions. We asked staff to cast sixteen votes per division, with the votes having a weight of 1-4. Each staffer cast four 4 votes, four 3 votes, four 2 votes and four 1 votes in each division. We then totaled all the votes from each division to determine their rank, and ultimately placed those into our bracket for seeding.

memadness2016-thefinalCongrats to the Villanova Wildcats as they won the ‘real’ March Madness last night. But while that was possibly the most dramatic ending in college basketball history, it pales in comparison to our final of Middle-earth March Madness 2016!

(Drumroll…)

Galadriel vs. Morgoth

Could there be a more epic battle? Beauty and Brains facing the ultimate Baddie with Brawn.

Voting was close for the winners of the Beauty and Brains divisions. Galadriel pulled out of the victory over last year’s Champ by only 50 votes! Unfortunately for Beorn, the other match-up was not quite as close. Morgoth blew-out Beorn, garnering 60% of the votes.

So it all comes down to this. Will we have our first female character champion? Will an ultimate baddie win for the first time? Only time, and your votes, will tell!

Voting is now open below. Voting will remain open until tomorrow night (April 6) at 10pm ET.

[Finals Bracket] [Final Four Bracket] [Elite Eight Bracket] [Sweet Sixteen Bracket] [Round 2 Bracket] [Round 1 Bracket]

Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness Final – Morgoth vs. Galadriel! Choose the champ!”

final-four2016While the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament may have set their final last night, we at TheOneRing.net are getting set for our Final Four match-ups!

The winner of the Beauty division, Galadriel, will take on the two-time champion from the Brains division, Gandalf. In the 2012 edition of Middle-earth March Madness, Gandalf defeated Galadriel in the Elite Eight round…can he do it in 2016? If Gandalf wins this year, he will be our first repeat champion and will lead the total championship count with three.

On the other side we have two first time Final Four combatants. Defeating Eowyn by just 9 votes, Beorn wins the Brawn division and moves on to face the ultimate Baddie – Morgoth! As an interesting side note, this is the first time Morgoth has made any type of run in Middle-earth March Madness. He has soundly defeated all combatants in this year’s event, but he is coming up against the top seed from the Brawn division in the form of Beorn. (Speaking of, which ‘form’ will Beorn take in this match-up? We’ll let you decide.) It’s an ultimate battle of two number 1 seeds…let’s see who wins!

Voting is now open in our Final Four! It will remain open until April 4th at 10pm ET. Our Final will be set and announced on April 5th. Follow after the break for a complete bracket image (download it), and to vote on all of our two Final Four match-ups! [Final Four Bracket] [Elite Eight Bracket] [Sweet Sixteen Bracket] [Round 2 Bracket] [Round 1 Bracket]

Continue reading “The Final Four – Middle-earth March Madness – Gandalf vs. Galadriel – Morgoth vs. Beorn”