We hope you placed your votes in the first round of Middle-earth March madness: Clash of the Collectibles! It certainly was hard to choose amongst all those treasures – so many things we’d like to have on our shelves… But half of them have been voted out, and we’re down to 32. Let’s see how Round One played out:
Connecting to Middle-earth through favourite figures
In the first of our four brackets, we gathered statues and figures in a range of styles – even including Royal Selangor’s beautiful pewter goblets, crafted to present their own versions of various well-loved Tolkien characters. The closest dual in this bracket was between two stunning pieces from Weta Workshop – their Smaug the Terrible figure vs the charming image of Gandalf and Frodo, as the wizard arrives ‘precisely when he means to’ at the Shire. Bucolic delight triumphed over fearsome majesty, but only by 2%. At the other end of the range, a tabletop figure of the Rankin Bass Gollum was totally overwhelmed by those Argonath bookends we all know and love – only 8% of the vote went Gollum’s way!
Royal Selangor’s Aragorn goblet
Experiencing Middle-earth in Print and Music
Calendars and LPs and maps, oh my! From Howard Shore’s epic soundtracks to Alan Lee’s stunning art, there were incredible works to choose from in this bracket. It’s really hard to see some of these beauties go! But choices had to be made. The closest face-off in this bracket saw TORn’s own ‘Prancing Pony Club’ t-shirt take on the sheet music for Donald Swann’s musical settings for seven of Tolkien’s poems. That was tough competition for our shirt to face! – but somehow the apparel snuck through with just over half of the vote. Personally, this writer is sad to see the Rankin/Bass Hobbit LP fall at the first fence – I have many fond memories of listening to that LP as a kid! But coming up against The Professor’s own art, it’s not really surprising it should be defeated; it did well to secure even 18% of the vote against an item which could well go on to be this year’s Grand Champion.
The Rankin/Bass Hobbit LP
Inhabiting Middle-earth through Environments and Replicas
For many, replica props are the most coveted collectibles. Who doesn’t dream of wielding their own Sting, or wearing their own Evenstar pendant? Familiar companies such as The Noble Collection, United Cutlery and Badali Jewelry went up against the might of Weta Workshop in this bracket. This section of the round saw the most tight contests, with many vote percentages in the 40s and 50s. Even the Ring itself (as made by Jens Hansen) could not overcome Weta’s incredible Edoras environment – but it was close, with Rohan taking just 52% of the vote.
The ‘movie ring’ from jeweler Jens Hansen
Playing in Middle-earth with toys, games and other curiosities
Can anything defeat the might of LEGO in this bracket? The stunning Rivendell set took over three-quarters of the vote (against the beautiful playing cards from Kings Wild). There were some fabulous vintage items in this section; alas, the buttons from the 1960s could not defeat the pinball machine, though it was a closely fought dual! And once again, this writer was sad to see a personal fave vanquished so early in the contest – those Burger King goblets hold a special place in my heart, but only one-third of voters agreed with me! So out they go, defeated by the worthy Hobbiton Green Dragon mug.
Who could forget those Burger King goblets?
How the bracket looks now:
How the bracket looks now – down to 32!
Time to vote! But how does it work, I hear you ask. Simple! Click on the button below. This will take you to the voting site, where you can view the entire bracket, region by region. Scroll down to find the buttons to click (under ‘Open Voting’) to view each pairing of items, in all their glory – and there place your vote. Let’s get voting!
You have until the end of the day Tuesday March 31st to vote in Round Two; we’ll take a look at how the vote is going on TORn Tuesday this week, and then launch the Sweet Sixteen the next day, Wednesday April 1st. The choices will get tougher with each passing round – which precious item do you hope to see crowned Grand Champion for 2026? Rally the troops to vote for your favourites – and VOTE NOW!
Let us know YOUR thoughts – join us on TORn Tuesday each week during the competition, and tell us how you’re making your choices. And if you want to discuss the votes with other fans, head on over to the Collectibles channel on our Discord.
With the announcement of a second upcoming Lord of the Rings movie in the works written by Stephen Colbert, Philippa Boyens, and Peter McGee,and the release of its synopsis, speculation about what the movie will be about is only just beginning.
Stephen Colbert in his “Lord of the Rings” fan film “Darrylgorn“
The synopsis in the Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema press release about The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past is: “Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo – Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.”
For reference, let’s take a look at the timeline that is mentioned.
3rd Age 3021/Shire Reckoning 1421, September 29: “Frodo and and Bilbo depart over Sea with the Three Keepers. The end of the Third Age.”
Fourteen years after Frodo’s departure means the movie takes place in S.R. 1435/Fourth Age Year 14.
Elanor the Fair is born March 13, S.R. 1421, the same year that Frodo sets sail for the Undying Lands. Her birth day is also the start of the Fourth Age of Gondor.
In book canon, Elanor will be fourteen years old at the time Shadow of the Past will take place, giving the film a young female Hobbit lead.
We’ve just learned that for the past few years, Stephen Colbert and his son Peter have been working on a script for the six chapters that were left out of Peter Jackson’s film version of Fellowship of the Ring, and will be named after one of the missing chapters: The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.
These six chapters fall between Three is Company and Fog on the Barrow-Downs, and happen right before Merry stumbles out of the Old Forest in Fellowship.
During Peter Jackson’s Tolkien Reading Day announcement, he brought Colbert onto a video call to announce the movie.
One of the very last things Jackson asked him was, “Now, do you have the time for this?”
And Colbert said, “I did not think I would have the time, as much as I love it. I knew I couldn’t do that and do this show at the same time, but it turns out that I’m going to be free starting this summer, so…”
“Isn’t that fortunate!” Jackson interjected.
“Isn’t that a ‘eucatastrophe’ right there?” Colbert finished.
Our Tolkien-loving hearts here at Theonering.net glowed at Colbert’s use of eucatastrophe, because the word is symbolic of this production on a number of levels. Not only is “eucatastrophe” a word that Tolkien invented for his paper On Fairy-Stories to mean “The sudden turn toward the good in a hopeless situation,” but Tolkien also posits that all good stories NEED this happy ending.
For Colbert, the eucatastrophe is that after the news that his show was cancelled, he had the time and opportunity to play in the world that he loves, with other creative people that he adores.
For us fans, the eucatastrophe is that we too get another happy ending — we get to play more in this world. Not only will the addition of the chapters add sorely missed content, including Tom Bombadil and the barrow wights (and who knows what else — will we see Freddy Bolger? Knowing Colbert, we might), but the framing of the movie will undoubtedly draw from material that Tolkien himself had to remove from the many endings to Return of the King.
Fans of the books know that the original ending of Return of the King was much longer with MANY more eucatastrophies. This is all detailed in the drafts of Lord of the Rings that Christopher Tolkien preserved in several books — the book of drafts pertaining to Return of the King is Sauron Defeated.
One of the framing devices of the movie, per the Newline presser, is that Elanor Gamgee “has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.”
“What?” You might ask. “Why Elanor?”
Well. We find out in Sauron Defeated that Tolkien’s unpublished (except in draft form) original ending of Return of the King is all about the relationship between Sam and his daughter Elanor, and her excitement about meeting the King and Queen of Gondor as they go on a state procession up to Aragorn’s northern kingdom. (Read Sauron Defeated chapter The Epilogue for more!) Yes, the original ending of Return of the King made a hard pivot to Elanor Gamgee as the main character — and the Colberts are restoring this eucatastrophe to us!
It is also fitting that Colbert is working with his son on this script, because the original very last eucatastrophe of Return of the King was Samwise passing on his love of Elves to his daughter, including — eventually — the Red Book of Westmarch (Frodo’s story-within-a-story of Lord of the Rings) itself.
One more easter egg: The name that Christopher Tolkien gave to the book of drafts for Fellowship was Shadow of the Past, taken from the chapter that will begin this fun further adventure. If you want another deep dive into the history behind the writing, start there!
It’s that time of year again! Time when hares are boxing, Spring is springing, basketballs are being thrown, and TheOneRing.net brings you our annual Middle-earth March Madness contest.
This year our theme is Clash of the Collectibles.
Are your shelves and walls filled with Middle-earth masterpieces? What are your most treasured works? Do you have items from the First Age of Fandom, before even the faintest whiff of a Peter Jackson movie? Do you stroke an Etsy-crafted piece, muttering ‘Myyy Precioussss…’? Or perhaps you are particularly enjoying a Renaissance in your collection, snapping up every new release from Weta, or revelling in the work of artisans and artists who continue to add their ‘other minds and hands’ to the legacy of the Professor?
Whatever your collecting style, no doubt some of the goodies you love will be included in our bracket – and no doubt you’ll be outraged by some with have been overlooked! Remember how hard it was to choose from all the amazing artworks in our bracket last year? Our team of volunteer staffers have been grappling for weeks, to come up with a list of 64 varied collectibles to start you off. Now it is up to YOU!
The entire opening bracket of 64 treasures!
How does it work, you ask? Simple! Click on the button below. This will take you to the voting site, where you can view the entire bracket, region by region. Scroll down to find the buttons to click (under ‘Open Voting’) to view each pairing of items, in all their glory – and there place your vote. (A word of warning – some items will have links where you can buy them – so maybe lock your wallet away before you check out the bracket!). Let’s get voting!
You have until the end of the day Saturday March 28th to vote in Round One; on Sunday 29th voting will open for Round Two! But – I hear you ask – how am I supposed to choose from such an embarrassment of riches?? HOW you choose is up to you – pick the items you own, or the ones you long to own, or simply toss a coin. Vote how you wish – but VOTE NOW!
Let us know YOUR thoughts – join us on TORn Tuesday each week during the competition, and tell us what we SHOULD have included. And if you want to discuss the votes with other fans, head on over to the Collectibles channel on our Discord.
Longtime Wētā Workshop designer Daniel Falconer presented a treasure trove of thoughts, images, and lore to a gathering of MegaCon Tolkien fans in Orlando this past weekend.
Falconer’s presentation was entitled, “WETA: Delving too Deep? A Tolkien Nerd’s Stories Designing for the Lord of the Rings films,” – but let me tell you, fellow nerds, Falconer delved the PERFECT amount.
The panel was the first time that Wētā Workshop had ever attended MegaCon Orlando, and provided a rare chance for fans of the Lord of the Rings books and movies alike to look at details from the artwork that touched upon all of the history embedded in the appendices of Return of the King.
The design work of these movies has always been some of the most fascinating parts of the production, not just because fans were provided a glimpse behind the scenes via the DVD Extras, but also because it has always been clear that the artists were bent on creating close to the same historic resonances that Tolkien infused into his works.
Falconer asked that we not share photos of any of his slides and I will abide with his request, but I’ll attempt to describe some of the fantastic details as best I can.
The Nine
For example, one of the opening slides that Falconer showed was an extremely important but not often dwelt upon detail: What did the Nine Rings for Mortal Men actually look like?
The Nine actually had two different designs, Falconer said. For the living kings, the rings had a red stone encircled by a spiked crown, and the likeness of each king engraved onto the side of their ring. But the rings changed when they became wraiths, with the design becoming both harsher and simpler. The kings’ engraved likenesses turned from faces to skulls. “But this change is never seen because the wraiths are too bright to show the detail of their rings,” Falconer concluded.
Details like this just kill me. Get ready for some more…
Sting
Falconer said that he was just thrilled when his design for Sting made it onto the screen. The inscription on the blade was done by David Salo, who wrote out the Elvish for “Sting is my name, and I am the spiders’ bane.”
Of course, this caused a bit of a continuity concern for The Hobbit, Falconer said, because Sting would not have the inscription on it BEFORE Bilbo named it Sting. So the design for Sting does not have the inscription when Bilbo finds it. Falconer’s head canon is that Bilbo had the inscription added to the blade during his stay in Rivendell, before Frodo joins him.
Glamdring
Glamdring also caused a few continuity issues, Falconer said, because Gandalf loses his sword and staff at Isengard, but of course he has to have his famous sword for the rest of the films. So the sword that Gandalf carries to Orthanc is a different sword, with a design based on a longsword that John Howe brought with him to New Zealand, with the idea that Gandalf had left Glamdring in the care of Elrond during his trip to visit Saruman.
“It was interesting seeing John talk his way through customs with that longsword,” Falconer said.
Gandalf’s Staffs
It never occurred to me that Gandalf’s staff changes so often during The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Of course it changes when he becomes Gandalf the White, but Falconer revealed just how many times Gandalf has to replace his staff: six!
First is the staff that Gandalf uses to inscribe his initials onto the door of Bilbo’s house. He loses it at some point in The Hobbit movies, and Radagast provides Gandalf with his own staff before the Battle of Five Armies. The staff from Battle of Five Armies gets a few rough pointy bits knocked off before Fellowship of the Ring, and that is what Gandalf uses until he visits Saruman in Orthanc.
He loses that staff in Orthanc along with his unnamed “first sword,” and another staff is made in Rivendell before they set out on their quest.
Finally, Gandalf becomes The White and has a staff that is designed around the shape of flame – because he bears Narya, the ring of fire. But he loses this when he confronts the Witch King, and has to make himself one more staff before the end of Return of the King.
Other Wizard Staffs
Falconer showed us the design for the two blue wizards that were initially going to be in the prologue of Fellowship of the Ring, before they were cut. The designs were much more astrological and Eastern looking than the staffs of Gandalf, Radagast, or Saruman.
(Wētā, if you’re reading this, a 25th anniversary “Concept Art of The Fellowship of the Ring” book should definitely contain all of these unused bits of concept art. Please!)
A Look Around Rivendell
Falconer then took us through all of the wonderful historic frescos and objects that Elrond (“A pack rat,” Falconer said) kept around Rivendell.
Sauron’s Missing Ring
Falconer mentioned that Alan Lee painted the mural of Isildur battling Sauron at The Last Alliance for Fellowship of the Ring, but when the mural was brought back for The Hobbit, someone noticed that Sauron did not actually have the One Ring on his finger – Alan Lee painted it in just in time for filming it in The Hobbit, but if you look closely at this mural in Fellowship, it’s still missing.
(As an aside, Falconer said that Rivendell in general had a kind of “Elven magic,” very little set continuity, but somehow it all worked.)
Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor the ring-forger is presented in a that shows him forging one of the Three Rings. But another of the murals in Rivendell resembles the ruins of Celebrimbor’s great Second Age city, Ost-in-Edhel in Eregion, which the Fellowship walks through before encountering the Crebain.
“I asked Alan Lee whether the painting was of Ost-in-Edhel, and he said, ‘Could be,’ so I never really had it verified,” Falconer said.
Gil-galad
Elrond also carefully kept and displayed the shield of Gil-galad after his death at the Last Alliance. Gil-galad’s crest, as drawn by Tolkien, shows a number of four-pointed white stars on a field of blue; the artists took inspiration from this and created livery and a shield that mirrored the crest.
“Elrond also has Gil-galad’s crown on display, but he must not have been thinking too hard about it, because it’s upside down,” Falconer said, showing a picture of Mark Ferguson’s Gil-galad wearing the crown in the other direction.
Aeglos, “Snow-tip” in Sindarin Elvish, the spear of Gil-galad, was designed by Falconer’s colleague at WĒTĀ whose name I was unable to catch (“Incidentally the best man at my wedding,” Falconer said). The inscription on the blade is:
Gil-galad wields a well-made spear
The Orc will fear my point of ice
When he sees me, in fear of death
He will know my name:
Aeglos
Aragorn’s hunting knife is made to echo the design of Aeglos, and has a portion of this inscription on it too.
Arwen (and Idril’s) sword, Hadhafang
Also on display in Rivendell is the sword that was originally designed for Arwen. Here is where my own inner Tolkien geek felt a wash of joy: the sword was designed to be an heirloom from Gondolin, specifically from the princess of that realm, Idril.
Here’s the history: Turgon son of Fingolfin was king of Beleriand’s hidden city of Gondolin. His daughter was Idril Celebrindal. She is better known in Lord of the Rings as Elrond’s grandmother, however. She married the human Tuor and had one son, Ëarendil, who eventually bore the Silmaril on his airship Vingilot; but before that, Ëarendil married Elwing of Doriath and became the dad of Elrond and Elros.
And somehow, Elrond preserved his grandmother’s sword through the third Kinslaying at Sirion, his kidnapping by the sons of Fëanor, the War of Wrath, the drowning of his entire birth country of Beleriand, and finally through a long journey East toward Middle-earth, where he eventually uses it in several battles including the Last Alliance — before he gives it to his daughter.
The inscription on the sword reads, “This blade is called Hadhafang, a noble defense against the enemy throng for a noble lady.” If this inscription was put there by Idril, she had more foresight than just building a secret tunnel out of Gondolin, because “noble lady” translates directly to the word “AR-WEN.”
Amazing, learning this detail alone justified my entire con experience!
Two figures on a boat
Given that this Rivendell mural displayed TWO figures on a boat instead of ONE figure and a BIRD on a boat, I can assume that this is Idril and Tuor aboard the boat Eärramë, off to vanish into the West. I did not get to verify this with Falconer, however.
The Scepter of Annúminas
Why does Aragorn wear a wingéd helm during his coronation instead of a crown? It’s because there isn’t a crown.
Elrond keeps the actual indicator of Aragorn’s kingship, the Scepter of Annúminas, at Rivendell because he’s the keeper of all the important Dunedaín artifacts until there’s a king of unified Gondor and Arnor again. He brings it to Aragorn upon the midsummer wedding of Aragorn and Arwen.
Elrond’s Telescope
This detail slew me. “Elrond has a telescope because his father is a star,” Falconer said. The telescope was a gorgeous and graceful fall of art nouveau lines, decorated with a small paean to Varda, or Elbereth, the Valar who created the stars.
Gimliand the Caves of Aglarond
Falconer showed us concept art of the Caves of Aglarond beneath Helm’s Deep. He said that one of the original endings to Return of the King showed Gimli’s life post-quest, as the lord of Aglarond. The art department created a jeweler’s glass for him to use while at work on the gems of these caves.
“But we had plenty of endings already,” Falconer said.
Falconer also showed us details of the Book of Mazarbul from the Mines of Moria, based on Tolkien’s own drawing of the cover. Incidentally, Tolkien wanted his own illustration of it to be in Fellowship of the Ring, but it proved to be too costly for Unwin & Allen to publish.
Edoras
Falconer showed close-ups of the hangings from around Meduseld. The hangings are scenes from the history of the Horse-lords. (If you are at all interested, this history is nicely summarized in Unfinished Tales Part II: Chapter 3.)
I noticed Scatha the Worm fighting Fram, and Eorl the Young pledging his friendship to Cirion the Steward of Gondor, among other moments.
Knights of Dol Amroth
We got to see some of the original concept art for the Knights of Dol Amroth. These were not used in the movies, but the banner (a swan and a ship, argent, on a blue field) shows up at the Battle of Pelennor Field.
“These were some of the first pen-and-ink drawings we did in the days before Photoshop, and we’d all played Dungeons and Dragons, so the designs were straight out of the rulebook from the 80s,” Falconer said.
“Elves are Art Nouveau, Dwarves are Art Deco”
You’ve probably seen the meme around the internet that proclaims that the way to tell the difference between the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles are via their Tolkien race.
I asked Falconer if he was aware that Wētā actually set the agenda for this meme.
“I have seen that meme, but for a little while, Elves were going to be Art Deco with lots of angles and points. And even before that, we took inspiration from Moorish design,” Falconer said.
“So when did the trend toward Art Nouveau begin for the Elves?”
“Probably when Alan Lee designed those columns.”
So there you have it.
Please return
There was a lot more to Falconer’s panel — about the continuity of Gollum, different types of Ents, and the shape of the Fell Beasts — but I think I’d better just leave us all wanting to see it again.
We’ll get to see everyone from Wētā over here again soon, right?!
Our friend Jerry Vanderstelt has an amazing new print out – if you haven’t already added this to your collection!
This gorgeous print captures the beautiful Rivendell – but from a different viewpoint than his previous print of the same location. We see a quiet moment between Aragorn and Arwen, most likely before Aragorn sets out to help Frodo destroy the One Ring. Fans can purchase this print right now, ranging in sizes from 16×24 to 24×36, with prices between $85-170 USD depending on the size chosen. If you know Jerry’s work you already know this is another home run piece by him. Get it now, as the paper editions have an edition size of only 2000 pieces.
