The crew of Ringers is ready to take on the Comic-Con International 2003 in San Diego, which opens Thursday, July 17, 2003. In August we will also be filming LOTR fans at the amazing Dragon*Con in Atlanta.
If you’ve never been to one of these events, put on your furry feet and hurry on down…. you will surely experience the rush of Fandom at its height!
From July 17 to 20, deep in the heart of Comic-Con, you will find a great Lord of the Rings pavilion – and we will be there with cameras rolling in or around the booth for TheOneRing.net (please check Comic-Con’s website for convention center details).
WE WELCOME FANS OF EVERY STRIPE TO ENTER OUR SECRET “CONFESSIONAL!” When you visit us at the LOTR pavilion, take a moment to step into our confessional booth, which is equipped with video and audio equipment just like in the “Big Brother” house. While inside you can speak directly to the camera about your love of Tolkien books, your obsession with Orlando Bloom, or whatever vibrant passion brings forth! All the footage we collect will be considered for Ringers: Lord of the Fans! You could be part of this great documentary, so be sure to come by!
Join us this coming Saturday (July 19th) for an exclusive chat preview of Shadow and Flame! Shadow and Flame creators Alessio Cavatore and Alan and Michael Perry will be joining us in #Havens to discuss their work on Shadow and Flame and answer questions about Game Workshop’s latest expansion to the Lotr Tabletop Battle Game: Shadow and Flame!
The chat will be held at 1:00 pm EST (6:00 pm GMT, 10:00 am PST, and 3:00 am AEST for all you down-under night-owls) at #Havens in Barliman’s chatroom, which is located at irc.theonering.net port 6667. For instructions on how to get to Barliman’s, check out Barliman’s homepage here. If you don’t have an IRC Client and would like to connect directly through your browser, you can access #Havens by clicking here.
Bring your questions and enthusiasm. We hope to see you there!
There is no doubt that trees had a special place in Tolkiens heart. In Middle-Earth they whisper, they walk, and before Sun and Moon was made, two trees gave light to the world. The forces of darkness, like Saruman and his orcs delight in cutting the woods down, but in Middle-Earth the trees themselves can go to war, led by those most curious of Tolkiens creations: the shepherds of the trees.
Trees and Tolkien
Some of the most enchanted places in Tolkiens world, like Lorien and Ithilien, were covered with woods. Where else find Galadriel and the heart of elvendom than in a golden wood of Mallorn trees? And the elves were not the only ones who gave special significance to trees. The very symbol of the Numenorean culture is a White Tree. When Aragorn, whose name means ‘royal-tree’, ascends the throne of Gondor, a sapling of the White Tree is sought out and found.\par
It is therefor not surprising that when Tolkien set out to write an allegory about storytelling, he chose to compare a story with a Tree. Most fitting when considering how The Lord Of The Rings branches out as we move from the gardens of Bag End.\par
Join us this weekend in #thehallofire as we explore the importance of trees in Tolkiens writings.
Upcoming Topics: July 19-20: Tooks and Brandybucks July 26-27: What fascinates you most about LoTR and Middle-earth? August 2-3: RoTK, Book 6, Chapter 1: The Tower of Cirith Ungol. August 9-10: Tolkien and Canon August 16-17: Colours in Tolkien’s World August 23-24: RoTK, Book 6, Chapter 2: The Land of Shadow.
Times:
Saturday Chat: 5:30pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe AET = Australian East Coast
Having trouble working out a time zone near you? Try this.
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net. And don’t forget that you can check out previous chats here.
Screenshots, interviews, it’s a Middle-earth Online frenzy! Take a read through July’s letter from the MEO Team!
Hi all,
Close your eyes and picture Bag End. Chances are that you can see it almost as clearly as many of the places that you go every day. The homes that Tolkien visits throughout The Lord of the Rings are described in such vivid and loving detail that they are almost characters in and of themselves. One of the tasks of the MEO team is to recreate these dwellings so that players can live as well as adventure in Middle-earth. This month we’ll be sharing more information on the MEO housing system.
The first step with every aspect of MEO game development is to look at how a feature fits into the work of Tolkien. In this case one of the things that immediately springs to mind is that the races of Middle-earth live, for the most part, in distinct towns and regions, such as the Shire or Rivendell. At the same time, individuals of every race wander through the world, and frequently take up residence with new friends. To conform to this vision each race in MEO will have separate housing areas within the game, but any characters of any race will be able to stay close to their friends by purchasing housing in any town they can reach.
Another question that had to be addressed was the issue of who could claim a house. There had been some thought that only Kinships should be allowed to own housing. Ultimately, we thought that this system would be overly restrictive – after all Bilbo owned Bag End all by himself. So players in MEO will be able to inhabit individual houses, which they will have to pay individual rent on.
But there are some areas of the world where paying rent would conflict with our goal of staying true to Tolkien’s vision. For instance, gaining a house among the Elves will be based on proving your usefulness to their cause and your importance among your peers, as measured by Kinship size, not by paying rent!
Those are just some of the issues that we wrestled with in designing the housing system of MEO. Each week this month we’ll be releasing more info about the houses; their look and style, how they’ll be rented, and even some artwork. Stay tuned!
Namarie, -The Middle-Earth Online Team
So who wants to come crash at Camp Flinch? Middle-earth Online is just going to be one awesome Tolkien Gaming Experience!
CD REVIEW: Arturo Stàlteri, ‘Rings – Il Decimo Anello’, Materiali Sonori Records, 2003
By Chris Seeman:
To the English-speaking world, Italy remains very much the terra incognita for Tolkien-inspired music. Boasting a spectrum that embraces traditions as disparate as nationalist rock and avant garde jazz, Italia is home to no fewer than twenty-eight Tolkien-inspired artists. The most recent addition to this growing edifice is classically trained pianist Arturo Stàlteri, whose concept CD, ‘Rings – Il Decimo Anello’, has just hit the stores.
“Unfortunately, the nine rings given to men by the Dark Lord in the past devastated their souls,” remarks Stàlteri, explaining the title’s subtext, “it is my hope that the new peoples in the future can forge a tenth that will perpetually renew love and respect amongst all the creatures of this living earth.” ‘Il Decimo Anello’ delivers on this promise with an array of fifteen (principally instrumental) meditations upon LotR.
A true musician resists the temptation of reducing his art to a mere vehicle of personal promotion. Stàlteri shows his quality in this regard by sharing the spotlight – indeed, yielding it in many cases – to a fellowship of virtuosos who coalesce into a richly textured ensemble. Stàlteri’s piano establishes the rhythmic foundation for a variety of strings and woodwinds (some of medieval or renaissance origin) to create a warm, robust sound that is both unfamiliar and attractive.
With the exception of two lyrical pieces sung (in English and Italian) by Jenny Sorrenti, ‘Rings’ presents itself as something akin to a gallery of impressionist painting, focusing upon broad contours rather than a precise narrative. Stàlteri accents this original collection with a striking new rendition of Bo Hansson’s “The Old Forest,” a track from the latter’s pioneering 1970 concept album, ‘Sagan om ringen’.
This ‘hommàge’ suggests a not unfitting comparison between the two works. Both are unique in their instrumentation, arrangement and underlying spirit. The first has become a milestone in the history of Tolkien-inspired music; the second deserves no less.
‘Il Decimo Anello’ can be purchased on-line through Materiali Sonori (http://www.matson.it/).
A while back we featured a review of the Audio version of The Lord of the Rings. Now Jan has given us this review of The Silmarillion, a work that many people find more difficult to read. The verdict is that it is wonderful to hear it instead!
“The Silmarillion” by J.R.R. Tolkien – CD Audio Version
Narrated by Martin Shaw
Random House Audio
Oh, how I do enjoy listening to someone read the Silmarillion to me and Martin Shaw has just the voice to do it. Of course, Martin Shaw’s narration would be nothing without the almost “biblical” language created by Prof. Tolkien. But Mr. Shaw, in every respect, pays homage to the Prof. Tolkien’s creation by taking a mostly narrative book and somehow making you believe he is an observer recanting exactly what he has witnessed himself from the beginning of time to well into the Third Age.
It is the kind of narration that, to truly enjoy it, one must at least be in a secluded area where you can (maybe) close your eyes and concentrate. Mr. Shaw does more than just pronounce the names and places correctly, he is amazingly articulate with even the smallest words making the most ordinary of phrases sound like poetry. His deep rich voice is wonderful for quoting such characters as Manwe, Glamrung and Morgoth but he also manages to quote the feminine characters like Melian and Galadriel with enough lightness and strength to make you crave for more. His tone rises and falls so effortlessly that you almost don’t see it coming. It just fits. I am sure Prof. Tolkien would be pleased with the lilting magic he applied to those wonderful words.
Anyone I have spoken to about the book The Silmarillion, has the same comment. They have either attempted many times to “get into it” and failed or somehow succeeded and have maybe returned to read it again. My attempts totaled 3 then I decided to have a listen to a clip of the audio version, sadly these clips are not the best quality but somehow I decided to purchase it in spite of that because Mr. Shaw did seemed to have a lock on pronouncing the hundreds of names and places, and that was enough for me. I was not disappointed and was extremely impressed by the CD quality of the final product. Those lyrical pronunciations of persons and places escaped my imagination completely when I tried to read it myself and I thought there was no hope for me until I heard them actually pronounced. I am on my third complete read so far and listen to part of it almost daily. It never sounds the same as there is way too much detail to remember. I always seem to hear something new somehow.
If I had to compare both Rob Inglis and Martin Shaw, Rob Inglis was the best match for both The Hobbit and LOTR. Those books were more story telling, including both humor and tragedy whereas The Silmarillion tends to explain the myth, majesty and history more. It is no less interesting or dramatic but tends to be more fact based. And both gentlemen do their readings with extreme flair.
