Were Legolas, Gimli, Merry and Pippin essential to the quest?

This is the question we will be posing in the Hall of Fire this weekend.

Gimli, the stought-hearted dwarf of Erebor. What is the sum of his contribution to the quest? Is it any more than being Legolas’s passenger on the back of Hasufel and helping Gandalf thread a path through the dark depths of Moria?

Then there’s Legolas, the fleet-footed archer of Mirkwood. Did he do any more than ease the passage through Lothlorien and bring down a Nazgul at Sarn Gebir?

What of Pippin, the youngest member of the fellowship? Was his messing with the Palantir that vital in saving Gandalf from exposure to Sauron? Did he in some way help sustain Denethor for longer and help save Minas Tirith – and Frodo? Or was his presence simply a foolish risk — as exposed by his capture at Amon Hen?

And then there’s Merry, leader of the conspiracy to prevent Frodo from running away from Bag End by himself. But apart from ensuring that Frodo got to Bree without falling into Mordor’s hands, how much did he really accomplish?

These are just a few of the questions that we’ll be posing at what’s sure to be a lively Hall of Fire debate this weekend. So come and join us on Sunday October 16 2pm EDT in #thehalloffire on the TORn IRC server.

Time and date:
Sunday October 16

America:
2pm EDT
1pm CDT
12pm MDT
11am PDT

Europe:
7pm UK
8pm Central Europe

Asia-Pacific:
4am (Monday) Brisbane
4am (Monday) Sydney
6am (Monday) Wellington

Chats usually last 45 mins to an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation!

Upcoming topics:
Sun October 16 Were Merry, Pippin, Gimli and Legolas essential to the quest?
Sat October 22 – Silmarillion Ch 14
Sun October 30 – Silmarillion Ch 14
Sat November 5 – Alan Lee live Q&A

Special reminder

Don’t forget our live chat with famed Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee on November 5. Alan will be answering your questions on his work for an hour. However, this chat is sure to be popular, so get your question in early and here! ) or choose to install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer.

To find out more about using mIRC to connect to TORn IRC server, check out these instructions.

Got a topic? Let us know your idea!

If you have a burning desire to discuss something in Hall of Fire, drop us a line with your topic at halloffire@theonering.net. If we like it, we’ll probably give it a run in the coming weeks – you might even get to guest moderate the session!

Join HoF Announce!

Did you know that Hall of Fire has a mailing list? Join today and get topic announcements and news delivered regularly to your inbox!

Hof-announce@theonering.net
http://www.theonering.net/mailman/listinfo/hof-announce

The Grand Rapids Symphony will be performing the LOTR Score at the DeVoss Hall in Grand Rapids, Michigan tonight (October 14th). Sadly the event is sold out, but follow this link for more cities and showtimes! [More]

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The film we seem to have been speaking out for months has finally hit the big screen today, Orlando Bloom’s “Elizabethtown”. Click here for showtimes. [Showtimes USA] [Showtimes CAN]

Reports are coming in that Howard Shore has been replaced by James Newton Howard to score the King Kong film. From Soundtrack.net: Sources in the film music industry have indicated to SoundtrackNet that Howard Shore’s score to Peter Jackson’s King Kong has been dropped. Hired to replace him is composer James Newton Howard. Due out on December 14, the film requires over two hours of music, which must now be written over the next few weeks.

There is no indication currently as to why Shore’s score has been replaced, and all indications are that most – if not all – of the score has already been recorded in New Zealand. The replacement score will be recorded in Los Angeles. More details to come as we get them.

UPDATE: Sadly it seems the story is true as the PRNewswire confirmed the story in a press release by Universal. [More]

Meghan, Online Community Manager for The Lord of the Rings Online writes: This week, Jill “Dwynna” Harrington has written a dev diary about setting up a character model for animation, with a Ringwraith as her example. [More]