In the UK & Ireland, digital channel E4 broadcasts a show called Fanorama where two diehard fans go head to head to win some prizes associated with their particular fandom. Today’s show involved two Tolkien fans going head to head over Middle-earth-styled questions, with the winner earning the autographs of every member of the cast.

Are you a top notch LOTR TCG Player? Have you smacked the Balrog around and lived to tell the tale in the Fellowship of the Ring for XBox? Have you mastered every last one of Aragorn’s combo’s in The Two Towers for PS2? If so then you might be perfect as a Gaming Havens Chat Helper!

We’re looking for Gaming Savy individuals who can be on call to help our chatters in #Havens. Be it with a trick to get through a certain level, or just a rules clarification for stacking sites. Plus members of our Chat Helper program will be eligible for a special prize each month from one of the many Gaming Companies who make Lord of the Rings Games!

If you’re interested in becoming a Chat Helper drop me an e-mail to Flinch@TheOneRing.net. See you all in #Havens! [Click Here to Chat Now]

Youthful encounters with the magic of Middle have inspired many wonderful creative works, including the artistry of John Howe and Alan Lee, the writings of Ursula LeGuin, the BBB production adapted by recent TORn guest Brian Sibley and a host of others.

On Friday, December 13 at 6 p.m. EST (11 p.m. GMT), TheOneRing.net is pleased to host a chat with renowned Tolkien scholar, Douglas Anderson, editor of “The Annotated Hobbit.” [More]

Youthful encounters with the magic of Middle have inspired many wonderful creative works, including the artistry of John Howe and Alan Lee, the writings of Ursula LeGuin, the BBB production adapted by recent TORn guest Brian Sibley and a host of others.

On Friday, December 13 at 6 p.m. EST (11 p.m. GMT), TheOneRing.net is pleased to host a chat with renowned Tolkien scholar, Douglas Anderson, editor of “The Annotated Hobbit.”

This newly revised and expanded book is an exhaustive look at the sources for, influences upon, and alterations to Tolkien’s “Hobbit.” In addition to the full text and annotations, there are over 150 illustrations — including many of Tolkien’s own creation.

Anderson’s own early readings of “The Lord of the Rings” set him upon a path of medieval and mythology studies and a life-long interest in Tolkien’s publishing history. His other works include J. R. R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography (1993) with Wayne G. Hammond.

As Anderson wrote in tribute to the professor, “Tolkien’s writings have occupied a large part of my mental landscape for nearly thirty years, and I expect that they shall do so for another thirty years, as I continue to study the man and his writings, and learn new ways to appreciate various aspects of his creative genius.”
Please join us for what promises to be a most interesting examination of Tolkien’s first published work. To participate, join Barlimans and then type /join #thehalloffire. Further connection help can be found [Here]

Maegwen

Nessimë did some serious digging for us and found almost every link you can possibly think of related to NZ and LOTR, take a look! [More]

Nessimë writes: Went down to the cafe at work, did the stealth thing and stole the souvenir mag to delight over at my desk. It covers the following articles:

A time for hearts to pound again

The new armies of The Two Towers

New faces in The Two Towers: Faramir

Other ‘new faces’ that they talk about include King Theoden, Grima Wormtongue, Eomer, and Gamling.

There is an article on “The Creatures” (Gollum and Treebeard), an article on “The Frocks” (Arwen’s and Eowyn’s dresses), there is a small part on the locations, a Middle Earth map of the journey of the Fellowship, an article on Eowyn/Miranda Otto entitled “The Warrior Woman”, an article on Saruman/Christopher Lee entitled “The Evil Wizard”, and finally a piec on “The Story – Shaking Middle-Earth’s middle” which talks about changes and the script.

There are also some excellent ads in there including the LotR exhibition at Te Papa between 19 December – 28 February (www.tepapa.govt.nz and also found through www.wellingtonnz.com, the books and DVD (The Collector’s Edition is $179.99 – save $20 *ouch*). There are some adverts for tertiary courses in NZ in regards to media, sfx, makeup artistry etc.

The soundtrack is out, with one of five collector cards in each one.

There is also a “Safari of the Rings” – A 4X4 tour visiting locations (www.outback.net.nz), and an advert for Brinkley Village (www.brinkleyvillage.co.nz where PJ and the actors stayed. Further information on this area or “stunning film locations” for screen production companies are given as www.ashburtontourism.co.nz and www.filmsouth.com. This last information is more generalised than LotR.

Now that I’ve had my LotR fix for the day, I guess I’d better get back to work. Hope you have a great day – mine has certainly started out the right way!