Our friends at Weta Workshop were not at Comic-Con in San Diego last week, but that didn’t stop them from showing off some really cool stuff down in New Zealand, coinciding with the timing of SDCC. The items from the Collectibles Unleashed event ranged from their amazing Masters Collection series to those very fun Mini Epics. This year’s Masters Collection piece captures Frodo’s journey to destroy the Ring as he, Sam, and Gollum make it through the Dead Marshes. This stunning piece is a 25-inch tall multi-layer collectible that gives you a full view of what each character was going through during this moment. It is currently in low stock and I’m sure with only 550 pieces available it will be gone quite soon. Not due to ship until the first quarter of next year, fans have plenty of time to save up the $2599USD required; or you can use Weta’s awesome payment plans to help break it down.
Category: TheOneRing.net Community
The newly released teaser trailer for Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power dropped on July 14 and sent ripples of excitement throughout Tolkien fandom, including through the ranks of TORn staff. Here below is a presentation of spur of the moment reactions; there will be another post soon that delves deep into some of the lore being presented in this teaser trailer.
But first, if this two and a half minutes is a ‘Teaser Trailer’ in Amazon’s estimation, we can’t wait to see what they consider a full Trailer! Check out our post from Thursday morning about the teaser trailer; and not to be lost in all the flash and bang from the teaser trailer, take a moment to read the official Amazon Press Release at the bottom of the post, and note that when the show debuts on September 2, it will be an 8-part series. It’s still not clear if the episodes will drop all at once or one episode a week. Hopefully we’ll find out that answer during Amazon’s panel at San Diego Comic-con next week, so keep an eye out for our reports from the panel and exhibit hall floor throughout the week.
As we work our way through the 20th anniversary period of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, we can at the same time celebrate the 10th anniversaries of The Hobbit Trilogy. Our friends at Weta Workshop currently have a timed pre-order going for an amazing-looking Smaug statue from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. This timed pre-order runs until July 6th, which is just next week! However many fans order this by that cut off date will set the edition size of this collectible. You can snag Smaug right now for $1,299 (USD), or $187.50 a month on a payment plan – allowing you more easily to acquire this piece. If you decide to do the full payment plan you have time to save, with this stunning Smaug not arriving until quarter one of next year.
Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets.
So come and join us by the hearth, and enjoy!
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.
Lament for Númenor
by J. Newsom
Before the surging seas were bent and Ulmo's fury fully spent and Númenor in all its pride to doom was sent, sweet Elvenhome could still be seen, it's peaks aglow in silver sheen, by Kingly eyes both clear and keen from the peak of Meneltarma. Oh Númenor, oh Númenor! Precious gift of Valinor! The creeping fear of mortal tide estranged your folk from wisdom's guide now lost for evermore. The faithful trod with reverent step the road which round the mountain swept to reach the view that far and wide their senses wrapped. Overhead the eagles soared while on the summit stillness roared and none could voice a single word on the peak of Meneltarma. Oh Númenor, oh Númenor! Precious gift of Valinor! The creeping fear of mortal tide estranged your folk from wisdom's guide now lost for evermore. The land is lost beneath the wave. From tower tall to quiet nave, into the depths did each one slide. None were saved. Elendil and his faithful few with nine ships fled the ocean's spew. Into their sails the torrents blew from the isle of Meneltarma. Oh Númenor, oh Númenor precious gift of Valinor the creeping fear of mortal tide estranged your folk from wisdom's guide now lost for evermore.
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A Silmarillion Haiku
by Henry Herz
In the beginning, Grew trees, golden and silver, Lighting the heavens.
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Is Love So Dear
by Lynda K. Ward
Ice bright and cold the mountain seemed The sun was shining bright Yet from faraway the darkness came and soon began the night With the moon reflecting on the cold hard way every scene so clear Reflecting the hearts of many men when love was no longer dear.
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Lament For Hurin
by mimiï
Oh Hurin, Hurin, now thee set free, oh Hurin, Hurin, how can it be? You will never know, what a dreadful sin, you will never know, you have doomed your kin, Oh Turin, Turin, Turin, why must your sad fate befall? Oh Turin, Turin, Turin, beckon to Thingol’s calls, Beleg did try, to heal the curse, Beleg did try, Turin only got worse, Oh Hurin, Hurin, why has fate turned this way? men bewitched by greed, of the line of Hurin, Morgoth needn’t slay…
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TheOneRing.net has been a long-time supporter of the Duffy Books in Homes literacy program in New Zealand.
The program provides books to New Zealand children in areas where books can not be taken for granted as part of the normal furniture of life. It aims to break the cycle of booklessness amongst children at low decile schools throughout New Zealand.
Duffy Books in Homes coordinator Jacqui Whyte writes to tell us that the program’s schools — including Runanga, the school that TORn sponsors — recently received their latest orders of books.
As part of the program, Duffy role models also typically visit different schools to foster a love of reading and tell kids that reading is a cool thing to do.
Jacqui writes:
Due to Covid-19, the usual visits by our Role Models to celebrate the books arriving at school assemblies were not able to take place; however, we were able to provide inspirational messages about the importance of literacy via video instead.
These have become a great resource for our teachers as they can share them anytime and with individual students and/or in class groups. We now have a fantastic and varied collection available on our website.
I wanted to share with you the video Runanga School received from Role Model and ultra-marathon swimmer Liana Smith.
Duffy Role Model Ultra Marathon Swimmer Liana Smith from Jacqui Whyte on Vimeo.
Since 1995, the Duffy program has grown to encompass more than 520 schools and 280 early childhood centres In 2018, with the backing of over 200 funding partners, supporters and donors in 2018, it was able to distribute books to more than 100,000 students.
As well as their website, Duffy Books in Homes is very active on both Facebook and Instagram. Go check out all the great literacy work they do!
Last week, staffers greendragon (writing here) and Justin from TORn were delighted to join a merry band, invited by Amazon to a The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power sneak peek event. The group, made up of YouTubers, TikTokkers, podcasters and more from across the Tolkien fandom, enjoyed a day in Oxford, walking in the footsteps of the Professor. They were then treated to a viewing of footage from Season One of the show, complete with music and visual effects. This was all topped off with a chance to meet the showrunners, and hear some of their insight into the show they are bringing to life.
It was wonderful to see some finished footage; and even more wonderful to hear the enthusiasm and passion of the two folks in charge. There will no doubt be many varied opinions on the details of The Rings of Power when finally we all get to watch it this Fall; but anyone who hears the showrunners speak could not doubt their respect for the writings of Tolkien, their in-depth knowledge of the legendarium, and their desire to do justice to the Middle-earth we all know and love. It seemed like everyone in attendance was impressed and excited by what they heard. Alas, we can’t share any details right now – but we can tell you there are wonders being crafted, to bring to the small screen this September and beyond. And we hope you’ll find that an encouraging thought.
Read on for Justin’s thoughts on the experience:
