The Rohirrim – encumbered by a seemingly isolated Merry – find the way to Mundberg is cut by a strong force of orcs encamped on the road. However, in an odd echo of Merry’s own earlier good fortune, a way opens.
The Rohirrim pass on towards Minas Tirith through a long-forgotten valley. But who are the mysterious denizens of the Druadan Forest, solitary and unlovely, and what is their relation to the Pukel men?
Join us this weekend as Hall of Fire explores Return of the King Book V, Chapter 4 – The Ride of the Rohirrim.
Upcoming Discussions:
April 12/13 Stewards of Middle Earth Several characters take up the role as stewards at some point; Denethor is obvious, but Manwe, Treebeard, Samwise, Gandalf and maybe even Tom Bombadil can also be viewed as stewards. Apart from a great love for their individual ‘stewardships’, what do they have in common and what sets them apart?
April 19/20 The Druedain Here we take a closer look at that remarkable and mysterious people. As many of you know they were one of the tribes of Edain to come into Beleriand and fight the hosts of Morgoth. What you might be surprised to hear is that they went to Numenor! And how did they get to Druadan Forest? And what is their connection with the strange Pukel men of Dunharrow?
April 26/27 Ents, Entwives and all things Treeish Not entirely sure what this will involve yet, but expect lots of book talk … old forest, origons and fate of the ents and entwives, rumours of trees wandering the moors and what the heck are huorns?
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Times: Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
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.
Ian writes in to share his feelings on The Two Towers from Electronic Arts, and his hopes for the future with Return of the King!
I really did like the game it had good action and its fun slaching up orcs. Though It was too short. Also at Helms Deep I did not like the fact that their were orcs there. I thought it should of been just Uruks. It would make the game feel more authentic, and closer to the films. I mean what the hell are orcs from Balins Tomb doing at helms deep. I know its a video game, but come on. Atleast create some sort of choice on which creatures you would like to fight.
I know it would be harder to create, but it would be much better if each character had their own agenda. Like at Helms deep, if you play as Aragorn you would have to protect the doors with Gimli. That was one of the best scenes in the movie, when Aragorn and Gimli were defending the door. I would of loved to play that, hordes of orcs coming at you, and only the two of you standing in their way. Another scene in Helms deep was when Gandalf and Eomer rode down to save the day, it would of been so epic if you could play as aragorn or legolas, hacking at orcs from atop a horse.
In the Return of the King game I do hope horses are available. being able to charge down on a horse would be the best. I hope there are more than one hidden character. Isildur was a crap secret charcter, he played exactly like Aragorn but stronger. It was just like playing Aragorn all over again. I would of rathered like a Rohan Soldier, that would of been better. It would of made a bit more sense, atleast the Rohan Soldier is alive. Isildur been dead for years.
Though these may be ordinary remarks and you have probaly heard them before, I just want to say that Two Towers was good, but Return of the King better be Great.
What do you think? Share your opinions with us and they just might get posted! Just drop us an e-mail to Havens@TheOneRing.net!
Richardson, Texas, March 14, 2003 — Fossil Collector’s Club Online is now offering fans a chance to win the original sculpture of “Lord of the Rings” Barad–dûr tower, autographed by Stephen Bates, Fossil’s Art Director/Sculptor. Framed in a black display case, the sculpture of Barad–dûr tower has captured the spirit of “Lord of the Rings” in detail forever.
“When we decided to do the Eye of Sauron watch, the image of that dark tower of Barad–dûr immediately came to mind,” said Bates. “We have a wonderful merger of technology and handcraft with the watch and the sculpture. These two characteristics are in keeping with what I believe is the essence of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies.”
The autographed original sculpture of Barad–dûr tower giveaway contest will run from April 3rd to the 30th. Fans may log onto www.fossil.com/fun to enter their email address and register to win.
For all “Lord of the Rings” fans, the 3000 piece limited edition Eye of Sauron watch will be available April 1st at www.fossil.com. Dramatically sitting on top of the tower of Barad–dûr, the watch has a black leather band with a specially molded silver case and dial with color changing technology. The dial alters between black and the blazing red Eye of Sauron and can be made to stay on one color by the press of a button. Certificate of authenticity is etched in the tower’s base. For more details and information on “Lord of the Rings” watches, including the One Ring watch and more upcoming giveaways this summer, please visit www.fossil.com.
Bayrakdarian’s Armenian hymns moved film’s composer to call
The Gazette, Montreal, Saturday, March 29, 2003 Bill Rankin, Canwest News Service
Edmonton – Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian has held crowds spellbound in music halls all over the world, but she’s never had an audience as big as the one that has bee hearing her sing in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
On the phone from Toronto, Bayrakdarian gleefully reminds the caller that The Two Towers went on to win a Grammy.
Bayrakdarian says she got The Two Towers call after Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore heard some of her otherworldly Armenian hymns on her first CD, Joyous Light.
“The composer heard it and said, ‘This is the voice I’ve been looking for,’” she says.
Both Evenstar – the song she sings on The Two Towers’ soundtrack – and her album’s Armenian liturgical music reveal a singer who clearly loves the sound of the pure human voice.
Her repertoire includes opera – she’s off to Brussels to sing Elisa in Mozart’s Il Re Pastore – but it also features Rachmaninoff’s Vocalese and Villa Lobo’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, both songs without words.
Bayrakdarian says she’s after something very personal in her music.
“What I’m most interested in is beautiful singing, not bel canto repertoire, which is Bellini, Dnizetti, Rossini.
“I’m interested in something that speaks to me. That’s my main guideline to everything that I sing, whether it’s opera, recital or concert.”
But what grounds Bayrakdarian’s life are her Armernian heritage and Christian tradition. Christos Hatzis’s Light From the Cross, dedicated to Bayrakdarian and premiered Wednesday at a concert in Edmonton, is an orchestral treatment of Armenian hymns.
The religious significance is at the foreground for the soprano, who began her singing life in her Armenian church.
At the Oscar party I mentioned to Barrie Osbourne and Dan Hennah that I’d love to head down there in June or July for the ROTK filming, ‘sure, we’ll make you an Orc’ Barrie joked.
We then hear from Sean Astin (Sam) that filming is starting a lot sooner than anticipated, this month in fact.
Now Emily sends this along: A few months ago, I wrote to Richard Taylor begging for work experience at Weta. Now, reading your reshoot speculations, I thought you might be interested in a part of his reply (yes, I got a reply! 🙂 It said no of course, but hey!).
“During the period that you have noted [February] we wont actually be working on LOTR, but rather will be working on a shoot for a whole other job which has a strict confidentiality clause on it. We dont start pick ups for LOTR until April”.
Last year Paul Badali created 18 stunning mallorn leaf pins for the LOTR cast and crew nominated for an Oscar. We were more than stunned while watching the Oscars from our first party, and seeing PJ and others wearing the pins! It was at that moment that I knew we’d be doing something special for them again in 2003.
This time around the pins were red in color, cast in the shape of a roman numeral ‘two’ (II) they showed the two towers of Orthanc and Barad-dur with the words ‘Good Luck from TheOneRing.net’ set in gold. These pins were given to the crew nominated for Oscars this time around, we were delighted to see sound engineer Ethan Van Der Ryn proudly wearing his pin up on stage!
When all the Oscar winners arrived at the party later in the night I made sure to ask them if they had their pin, and ask them how they liked them. They were all very gracious and thanked Badali Jewelry and us for the pins.
Leave room on your lapels for next year boys and girls!
