Waaaayyy back in time in the late 20th Century, four creatives lurked about the wild frontier of the internet, pursuing their disparate interests, unknowingly united by a common passion. The internet was undiscovered country in that time, fertile ground for those with the right ingredients to plow, till and toil. This passion – a love of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien – brought together in an unlikely alliance a visionary, a musician, a server lord and a coder from three nations and two continents who would make history and launch the greatest gathering, collection and expression of Tolkien fandom as yet seen on this Earth.
When TheOneRing.net marked its 10th anniversary in 2009, we celebrated in style. We had such a good time, we decided to celebrate every year on April 26, the date when TORn was established.
On April 26, 2009, TheOneRing.net marked its 10th anniversary with a huge celebration. It was quickly agreed that the TORn-born Founders Day holiday would be an annual event. The Discussion Board members wanted a proper logo to mark each year; so being fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, we decided a Party Tree would be perfect! Discussion Board member Ainu Laire gave us this lovely elvish design to build upon. Every year, a unique leaf has been added to mark each TORniversary. So, beginning with our 11th Founders Day/Anniversary/TORniversary (also like Tolkien… there are several names applied ;), we planted our Founders Day Party tree with a leaf for our 10th and 11th TORniversaries (2009 & 2010). We have just added our 20th Anniversary Leaf (2019), which is actually Pine with a very special meaning. Please see below for the description of each year’s leaf. Continue reading “TORn’s Founders Day Party Tree”
Since TORn’s beginning early in 1999, Corvar (William R. Thomas) has been the mystery man behind the scenes working on TheOneRing.net’s server from where he lives in Wisconsin. A computer programming professional who, along with Calisuri (Chris Pirrotta), is the guy responsible for making sure that everything runs smoothly and the lights stay on. Corvar’s vast programming knowledge in the ever-changing computer field ensures that TheOneRing.net keeps clipping along without a hitch. But when we do hitch… he’s the one they call.
June 1st, 6:00 p.m. Gaythorne Bowls and Sporting Club, Brisbane, Queensland.
Join
Hobbits and Friends at Brisbane’s biggest and best Hobbit Party – “An Evening in
Middle-earth” hosted by The Brisbane Tolkien Fellowship.
This
will be the most memorable night of entertainment, humour, music, dancing and
fine foods for all your family and friends.
On
arrival at the venue enter into a decorated banquet hall of Middle-earth. Each
table will be decorated as a Middle-earth location. You and your party can
pre-nominate which table to sit at. Choose from one of the realms of Hobbits,
Elves, Dwarves, Men or Orcs.
During
the Evening have your photo taken at Bag End with Hobbits, Wizards, Dwarves and
Elves.
Smaug’s
Treasure Hoard will be on display, complete with a large Dragon Cake surrounded
by treasures which will later in the Evening be shared with all
guests.
Leanne
our Hobbit Chef will prepare a wonderful buffet meal, including many dishes
especially cooked for a traditional Hobbit Feast. Leanne adds, “all you can
eat”.
Our
night’s music includes Middle-earth favourites, Hobbit music and dance music
after dinner and formalities.
This
is a Charity Event in support of The Pyjama Foundation, with donated prizes from
companies and individual donors from here and overseas. There will be raffles,
door prizes, numerous spot prizes, and costume prizes. During the night those in
costumes will be invited to parade before guests and a number of prizes will be
awarded to the finest and best costumes on display.
All
children 12 and under in attendance will receive a small gift from The Hobbit
Sack.
And like that, it was over. March Madness is put to bed for another year; all that remains for us to do is announce our Grand Champion 2019.
We started back on March 19, with 64 locations facing off in four brackets: The Shire, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Each round saw some fairly close fights, and some strange pairings (Lonely Mountain vs Misty Mountains! Bag End taking on Hobbiton!). In the very first round, what some say are Tolkien’s ‘two towers’ (Barad-dur and Isengard) faced off. The only battle which matched one found in the Professor’s books was in Round 2, when Fangorn Forest marched to Isengard. Alas, my personal favourite (the Green Dragon, naturally!) fell in Round 3.
Of our two finalists, both started off with pretty easy journeys through the rounds. Early on, Numenor gave Gondolin the biggest challenge, but even they could only take 40% against the elvish city. In the fourth round, however, Gondolin faced tougher competition, and just narrowly defeated the other very strong contender from the Silmarillion bracket, Valinor. And in the Final Four, Gondolin again had a hard time of it, securing victory by just 3% over the Lonely Mountain!
Rivendell, on the other hand, pretty much cruised through; even against Lothlorien, Elrond’s home in the valley was still able to take two thirds of the vote. Did that make Rivendell the favourite in the epic final?
The votes have been counted, and the margin between the two locations was just about 15%. Without further ado, we can reveal this year’s Middle-earth Map March Madness Grand Champion:
Yes, as the early rounds would seem to indicate, Rivendell was the firm favourite. They will be singing tra-la-la-lally there down in the valley to celebrate, no doubt!
Many thanks to all of you who played along, voted, and commented. We always enjoy seeing folks taking part in our version of March Madness, and reading what you have to say. Let us know what you thought of this year’s theme in the comments below, or on Facebook. We hope you’ll join the fun again next year!
